Canesten: Not Just For Your Fanny! *Sexy Post Alert*

Anyone who follows the beauty section of this blog will know that I often suffer with a rash that starts at my nostrils and goes to the sides of my mouth, and when it’s bad reaches my jawline.

It started about four years ago and really, really irritates me.

I often get it when I have dry skin and use a face wash, and it takes four or so days of using a very plain cream like Avene’s Compensating Cream to calm it down.

I recently visited The Harley Street Medical Group and met one of their top dermatologists. When I said about the nose rash, she immediately told me that this is often caused by too much yeast in the diet and that using Canesten topically would get it under control.

I got mine from a Lloyd’s Pharmacy

Well, what do you know. After a few shoots where I kept myself going by nibbling (/slash gorging) on croissants and pain au chocolats, a couple of hangover days with the inevitable carb fest that follows and accidentally buying Sukin’s facewash rather than their cleansing cream and the rash was back and BAD. I went to take a pic but I felt quite self conscious. I had three days shooting with M Life (previously Manuka Life) yoga and a livid red rash doesn’t exactly scream wellness.

The evening of the first day’s shoot, where my skin was really rashy, I removed the make up with Avene’s Extremely Gentle Cleanser that I bought from a Lloyd’s Pharmacy the second I got home. Then I put Canestan on the rash and left the rest of my skin bare while I made dinner and relaxed a bit.

What do you know? In about half an hour, it was calmer. It was still red but less inflamed and less raised.

Before I went to sleep I applied some again, then put on Avene’s Cicalfate Cream everywhere but the rash, which is meant to be so soothing you can put it on after a minor procedure. Copper sulfate and zinc sulphate reduce the risk of bacterial proliferation and it’s a great barrier to preventing moisture loss.

The next morning and my skin was so much better. You could see where the rash had been but it was no longer inflamed and angry. I had one more day’s shoot and I didn’t cleanse in the morning, just applied more Canesten then Cicalfate over my whole face as a make up base.

The make up certainly irritated it and I was aware of an itch, but I didn’t touch my skin and the bumps never raised and the itch subsided.

In the past, being very gentle and simplifying my routine has worked to reduce the rash over a few days, but this was instant. If you have a similar rash in a similar place then you ought to seek medical advice, but I’m really happy I tried this out as I now have a much more instant cure for a rash that has plagued me for ages.

It also gives me a great excuse to avoid bread and (sob) pastries, which I love but I know aren’t good for me (not in terms of weight – we all gotta treat ourselves – but I know I’m mildly intolerant, hence the rashes).

If you can, try this out at night just in case it irritates your skin more. Once, the doc prescribed me a different cream and it made my skin SO sore, red and bumpy that I was in mild discomfort all day on my castings and hyper aware of how I looked. It took ages to calm down.

Rebecca x

Avene are brilliant for irritated skin, and they’re always my fallback. Check out avene.co.uk

I popped into a Lloyd’s Pharmacy and found everything I needed for this. Good range of French pharma brands and, of course, thrush stuff!

Lastly check out Canesten.co.uk for ingredients and info.

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