cocoa better...

A bit of background first ok?

I am allergic to something quite common. In fact, I bet 99.9% have this thing in your cupboard and would use it without even thinking if you are injured. I am allergic to common Plasters &  strapping plaster. You know the flesh-coloured, fabric one? Yes. The one most people use without a 2nd thought.

Well, technically, I am allergic to the adhesive. And generally I remember to tell the person who may be treating me for a medical condition that I am allergic to this. What is irritating, is that when I went to have my 2nd child, I told the doctors and nurses and midwives that I was allergic to common adhesive tapes used (even the hypo allergenic ones) for wound dressing and they needed to use an alternative wound dressing (I knew I was probably going to have a Caesarean)... and then find that they ignored me completely. Eh?? So you chose to ignore the Allergies section of the forms then doc? Thanks doc. No really, Thanks for the burning, blistered scarred skin. Eejits.

Anyways. So I go for physio on my knees a week or 2 ago and the physio-man is really nice We go through all the questions, including the allergies one and for some reason I forget to mention plasters & strapping tape. All I have in my head is that this man is finally going to help me get rid of my knee pain. Do the assessment and jump through all the hoops he asks me to jump through and then he straps my knees. Righty-ho: "thanks doc, see you next week". Leave the office walking funny, but determined to do everything he has asked. Including keeping the strapping on for 2 - 3 days.

When I get into the car, the skin under the strapping is starting to itch and burn a bit now.

Er. Flip. Ag no man!!!! WTF. How did I forget??? Okay, fine. I can do this, Its only 48hrs. I can do this, Breathe. I can do this.

I couldn't get though the 48 Hours. I lasted 11 hours. And when I removed the tape I was cursing myself for not taking it off sooner. The skin was red, swollen, itching, burning, peeling.  Ouch .  Ouchouchouchouchouchouch. Ouch.

I know have no silcox base in the house, its 11pm at night and I am in tears. So I go digging to see what I can use that is gentle and won't hurt me and will help the skin recover.

This little tub came to my rescue.

It's even got a foil seal, to keep it fresh see?

I bought it as part of a set in the post-christmas sales. According to www.Ziaja.ie , the 50ml tub of Cocoa Butter Cream (for the face) is good for:

1 Supplies the skin with valuable nourishing substances.
2 The skin receives excellent revitalizing, smoothing and protective benefits.
3 Moisturises and prevents excessive moisture loss.
4 Reduces the skin propensity to irritation.
5 Regularly applied improves the appearance and color of the skin.
6 Prolongs the skin’s natural tan.

Cool. I don't care about the tan prolonging, I care about points 2 and 4. Will is help??? Cos its all I have.

I took a bit out and patted it onto the sore skin. Sigh. Its helps. It cooled the burning, without replacing it with stinging. It eased the itching a bit and took the redness down a few notches. Relief. I was able to sleep fairly comfortably. Cool.

I carried on applying every time I remembered and I was fairly impressed with the results. Redness that would normally stick around for around 3 weeks disappeared in a week. I had no flaking skin (like I normally do) and the itching and burning was completely gone after 2 days. Awesome. The cocoa butter made my skin much much better.

The cream smells Like cocoa butter, almost like the Palmers one, but this is definitely a lighter scent. And the smell fades (but it still detectable  as this is meant for use on the face. Its a thick white cream that warms and spreads easily, so a little goes a long way. Its lovely and moisturising and leaves skin feeling

They recommend patting it into the skin gently and you should, because if you rub it in, it kind of separates into (what feels like) a waxy base and "water" and takes a bit longer to sink in. Having said that when you pat it in, it sinks in sooooooo quickly.

I haven't used this on my face and I won't because it contains mineral oil. But on dry irritated patches on my body, its working a treat. And its helped my allergic reaction patches to heal super-fast.

You can get this in selected pharmacies around the country and this 50ml tub retails at approx. €5.  Check out their website here: www.ziaja.ie