October is National Eczema Awareness Month - Think AVEENO

Not saved for Breast Cancer Awareness only, October is National Eczema Awareness Month too. According to Dr. Kenneth Beer, a board-certified dermatologist and dermapathologist, a voluntary Assistant Professor at the University of Miami, and a consulting associate in the Department of Medicine at Duke University, eczema is an immune reaction that targets the skin. This chronic skin disorder is produced by inflammation that causes the skin to become itchy, red, and dry - even cracked and leathery. Eczema can be triggered by stress, heat, and sweat; sudden changes in temperature; extreme cold/dry climates; heredity; a nd airborne/food allergens or irritants. Atopic dermatitis is the most common type of eczema, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. Left untreated, eczema can have an enormously negative impact on overall health, well-being, quality of life, and restful sleep.

I had eczema at one point in my life, and I hated it. According to the National Eczema Association, eczema is very common and affects more than 32 million people. As a result, most dermatologists see eczema patients frequently. Mine did.

Treating eczema for babies, children, and adults requires a combination of preventive and therapeutic efforts. Dr. Beer recommends hydrating cleansers and barrier creams with soothing ingredients, like colloidal oatmeal (found in AVEENO Eczema Therapy and AVEENO Baby Eczema Therapy products). He says to use them daily to maintain the integrity of the skin's barrier. Look for products with ceramides - essential lipids found naturally within the skin - that play a key role in enhancing and restoring the skin’s protective function.

When I had eczema, I tried all kinds of remedies - prescription and non-prescription - and those that worked the best included AVEENO products. That's why I'm proud to be an AVEENO Ambassador. AVEENO, a pioneer in the study of natural ingredients, has harnessed the naturally soothing power of the Active Naturals Colloidal Oatmeal to develop the AVEENO Eczema Therapy Collection. This eczema-soothing collection uses the best ingredients in nature to care for your eczema and help break the cycle of irritated skin.

Colloidal Oatmeal effectively relieves the itch associated with minor skin irritations like eczema. The AVEENO Eczema Therapy Collection has been awarded the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance for providing gentle, superior ingredients to soothe skin with eczema.

There are two collections, and I have used them both. The AVEENO Eczema Therapy and AVEENO Baby Eczema Therapy Collections are available at AVEENO.com and at national food, drug, and mass merchandisers.

AVEENO Eczema Therapy Bath Treatment was my all-time favorite. I still use it, and the eczema is long gone. It's an extremely soothing bath.

• Formulated with Active Naturals Colloidal Oatmeal, a long recognized ingredient to relieve itching and soothe and moisturize skin
• Disperses in your bathwater to treat itchy, dry, or irritated skin
• Unlike some sprays and creams, this soothing treatment also gently cleanses and moisturizes for soft, smooth, and healthy looking skin
• Steroid-Free, Fragrance-free
• Dermatologist recommended

AVEENO's Moisturing Cream takes over after you step out of your treatment bath.  With Active Naturals Colloidal Oatmeal, humectants, and ceramide, this fragrance-free moisturizer will keep your skin from itching.

You can also find corresponding products for use on your baby's irritated skin. Check out all of AVEENO's Eczema Therapy products at this link. Then go to your nearest drugstore to get rid of the itch. Remember, eczema is treatable. It won't plague you forever if you take good care of your skin.

Photos courtesy of AVEENO

AVEENO and Best Things in Beauty Giveaway Contest

Congratulations to Kathy T! She won these wonderful AVEENO sets!

To celebrate Mother's Day, AVEENO and its partner, Recyclebank, are sponsoring an incredible giveaway contest. As I mentioned in a Friday Forum, I joined the AVEENO Ambassadors program for bloggers who care about beauty and the environment. You reap the benefits.

Whether you're a new mom, a seasoned mom, or excited to shower your lovely mom this holiday with appreciation (possibly a bit late since our contest ends Saturday), we know you are ready to celebrate this Mother's Day. AVEENO wants to help with a Mother's Day giveaway!

AVEENO believes that the ingredients found in nature, and proven by science, have the power to help every woman discover the full potential of her own natural beauty. The contest prize is a 2011 Mother's Day Kit starring the AVEENO Positively Ageless Complete Starter Regimen and the AVEENO Baby Eczema Therapy line, perfect for mother and baby!

Each product in the POSITIVELY AGELESS Complete Starter Regimen is specially formulated with the ACTIVE NATURALS Natural Shiitake Complex. A natural antioxidant, Natural Shiitake Complex works with the skin's own natural renewal process and has been shown in scientific studies to provide a broad range of benefits to the skin.

With its unique blend of shiitake and mannentake mushrooms, Natural Shiitake Complex has been shown to provide antioxidant activity to help defend against free radicals that can damage the skin. In a clinical study, when women used the kit as directed, 100% of them showed improvement in their skin in as little as one week.

Eczema is among the top five skin conditions for babies 0 to 36 months of age, with 10% to 20% of all infants experiencing some kind of eczema. I developed it as an adult - and started using baby eczema products! The AVEENO BABY Brand, one of the most preferred brands of infant skin care by pediatricians, has harnessed the naturally soothing power of ACTIVE NATURALS oatmeal to help care for baby's skin with eczema.

Aveeno Baby Care was developed in partnership with leading dermatologists. AVEENO's BABY Eczema Therapy Moisturizing Cream and BABY Cleansing Therapy Moisturizing Wash have been shown to improve the quality of life for babies with eczema and have been awarded the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance. In a clinical study, over 90% of babies showed improvement in multiple symptoms of eczema (roughness, dryness, itchiness, or scaling) when used daily.

How would you like to win these sets of products? Pretty cool contest, I think.

How can you enter to win? Easy! Just leave a comment here once. After you comment, feel free to send me an e-mail at bestthingsinbeautycontests@gmail.com and identify your comment. You can never be too careful about sharing an e-mail address you care about on a blog, so feel free to follow this step (an alternative is to code your e-mail, e.g., myname at gmail dot com, in your comment).

You can "earn" a second entry by tweeting this contest. Just make sure to include "@BTiBeauty" (without the quotes) and "AVEENO" in your tweet. I will tweet the contest this evening, and you can simply retweet it to earn that second entry. You can earn a third entry by following the blog - either here or on Twitter (any entrant who is already a follower will automatically earn the follower point, but you can save me time by telling me you're a follower in your comment). I can't track followers through a third-party service, so you need to be on Google's list for me to verify the entry.

We'd love it if you would sign up on Facebook to be an Active Natural. Check out this link. You'll get valuable coupons when you pledge to take smell steps for big changes in our environment.

The deadline for entries will be Saturday, May 7, at midnight. The next morning, I will use a random number generator (random.org) to select the winner. I will e-mail the winner at that time. The winner will have 48 hours to reply to my message and provide a shipping address. After 48 hours, the prize will be forfeited, and another winner will be selected. Make sure to check your e-mail - and look in your spam folder - when the contest ends. The winner's prize will be shipped by Recyclebank and AVEENO.

The contest is open to residents of the United States. Good luck!

Photos courtesy of AVEENO and Recyclebank

ATOPALM - The Remedy for Dry, Sensitive, Reactive Skin

Years ago, my skin was in rebellion. It looked tired and lifeless; it reacted to nearly everything; it peeled without sun exposure; it was red. I had eczema. Not a pretty sight!

I did some online research and came across the ATOPALM products. Am I happy I did! ATOPALM, advertised for dry, sensitive, and mature skin, eczema, and rosacea, was a skinsaver for me.

Why ATOPALM? The line is a safe alternative, without side effects, to steriodal treatments and other physician-prescribed remedies (these can be great, but costly). Here's some information from the company.

Common and severe skin disorders are related to an abnormal skin barrier function. In addition, harmful environmental factors, harsh cleansers, and other products can strip the skin of lipids (essential in skin protection). The technology behind ATOPALM - MLE (Multi-Lamellar Emulsion), is the latest breakthrough in skin-care technology that replenishes lipids and restores skin's own barrier function allowing it to repair itself and therefore protect your skin more effectively.

The effectiveness of ATOPALM MLE Cream on dry skin, itching, erythema, scales, lichenification, and stretch marks is shown below. After four weeks of using ATOPALM, symptoms improved by 72.6% (scales), 58.6% (itching), 52.5% (dry skin), 52.5% (lichenification), 47.7% (erythema), 35.6% (stretch marks). Some significant improvement was already seen by the second week.

You can see some before and after images at this SkinStore link.

There is a whole line of products. I started with the ATOPALM MLE Cream ($36), one I highly recommend. I used this cream for months. It healed me! There are lots of ATOPALM products available, so you can select the one that you need. For example, you might want to try the Body Wash ($25) if your problems are not on your face.

Check out the entire ATOPALM line at SkinStore.com, where you can receive a 20% discount during October with code OCT20. If you need ATOPALM, you will be glad you did. If you simply want a very gentle, effective skin care treatment, you will find it with ATOPALM.

Photos courtesy of SkinStore.com

Have Eczema or Just Dry, Itchy, Red Skin?

Gentle Naturals Baby Eczema Cream is perfect for adults too! I love it. After telling a loyal reader about this cream in a comment, I realized that others might want to know about it too.

Quite a few years ago, I got a "patch" of eczema on my chest. Eczema is a red, itchy skin rash that comes and goes. There are many environmental factors that can trigger eczema, including heat, scratchy fabrics, allergens, detergents, or plain old stress. My dermatologist diagnosed mine as stress-induced and gave me a prescription for Elidel. About a year later, I started reading awful news that Elidel had been linked to skin cancer and lymphoma. That was the end of Elidel for me.

A friend told me about the Gentle Naturals product; she swore by it. Off I went to the drugstore, and there it was - in the baby section. It worked for me just as well as the prescription product worked, and at a significantly lower cost than my co-pay. Now, I always have it on hand for use when I get that telltale itchiness - my sign a little rash may be coming.

Gentle Naturals Baby Eczema Cream is formulated with petrolatum and dimethicone to form a barrier on the skin to prevent moisture loss. It contains aloe vera to help heal irritated skin; calendula, jojoba oil, apricot oil, and soybean oil to soften and moisturize; and vitamins A, D, and E to nurture skin and help it heal. It's thick, but spreads pretty easily with the body's warmth. There's a Gentle Naturals Eczema Baby Wash too.

Whether you need this for yourself or your baby, it's a nice product. You can purchase the cream at Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Giant, and other stores on this list. It's not available at every store in a chain, so I recommend calling before you run around looking for it.

Photo courtesy of Gentle Naturals.