Halloween is a time to release your inner ghoul, but without careful preparation your skin might end up a horror story too.
Halloween make up, hair dynes, costumes and body art can all be triggers for skin flares, break outs and contact dermatitis reactions.
Dermatologist Dr Eve Melegh offers four tips to safeguard your skin against becoming a victim of Halloween havoc.
- Eye Frights
Most Halloween make up centres around the eyes in order to create monstrous effects. The use of fake eye lashes, coloured contact lenses and heavy eye make are common to create many ghoulish impressions.
However, the skin around the eye is particularly sensitive and so reactions to heavy costume make up, particularly dark colours, glitters and the glue in fake lashes are common and can trigger eye contact dermatitis or a flare of blepharitis, which can leave eyes red, itchy and inflamed for weeks after the horrors of Halloween night are over.
Protecting eyes from the sudden onslaught of Halloween make up can prevent a great deal of discomfort afterwards.
Try Hydrosil Dry Eye Gel (www.hydrosil.co.uk) which is a plant-based light eye gel containing a plant equivalent to steroids to help keep skin around the eyes calm and helps protect it from potential skin reactions to eye make up if applied before the eye make. And then after it has been removed.
- Make Up Remover Torment
Make up removers are generally a nightmare for sensitive skin anyway as they contain solvents that can irritate skin and trigger skin reactions.
Make up remover wipes are the worst culprits so when it comes to removing heavy Halloween make up, don’t be tempted to use make up remover wipes.
Instead loosen stubborn make up with a natural facial oil first like rosehip oil. Then use a chemical free cream cleanser to remover the majority of the makeup. Try Kalme Cream Cleanser (www.kalme.co.uk) which is perfume and chemical free and contains calming and anti-redness ingredients to calm down reactive skin.
Finally, if the skin is still not feeling clean do a double cleanse with a gentle pore cleaning toner. Try Clarol Birch Water Pore Minimising Toner (www.clarol.co.uk) which is chemical and perfume free and contains birch bark which is natural alternative to salicylic acid and helps to dissolve any residue make up in clogged pores and reduce the appearance of open pores.
- Scalp Scares
Temporary hair dy
es, hair spray and gels are harsh on scalps and can quickly and easily trigger scalp reactions which can lead to irritated and itchy scalps followed by dry scalp flaking for weeks after Halloween.
When rinsing out hair dyes, or hair gels and sprays try to avoid using even more chemicals in shampoos as the scalp will already been quite sensitive and reactive after the chemicals in the products that have been use for Halloween hair.
Use a chemical and perfume free shampoo designed for use on sensitive scalps for the first 2-3 washes after Halloween and then use a leave in hair product designed to calm sensitive scalps and repair scalp barrier function which will have been damaged my Halloween hair styles.
Try Hydrosil Scalp Shield Shampoo and Scalp Tonic (www.hydrosil.co.uk) which contains plant equivalents to steroids to help calm down any minor scalp reactions as well a plant -based skin prebiotic to help repair scalp barrier function.
- Lip Jitters
Lipsticks in dark matt colours, lip glitters, costume lip jewellery and all manner of other scary mouth make up effects combined with cold Halloween night air can quickly cause micro damage and dryness to lips.
Chaffing and micro abrasions are a red alert for triggering a cold sore outbreak, which is caused by the herpes simplex virus that lies dormant in the skin around the lips and is suffered by approximately 50% of the UK population.
Add to this October being the most active season for colds and you could have a perfect storm for a cold sore outbreak which can last up to two weeks after Halloween.
Protecting lips with a cold sore prevention balm worn under Halloween make up could help save you from weeks of discomfort. Try Lip Q Liquorice Balm (www.lipq.co.uk) which is a 100% natural, clear and odourless lip balm containing a highly concentrated extract of liquorice root which has been proven by the Herpes Virus Association to help reduce the severity and frequency of cold sore outbreaks.