Cracked dry

I am so happy to be away from the heat and humidity back home.  I used to complain about the weather at home a lot.  No matter if it's sunny and bright or cloudy or rainy and wet, the humidity makes it so unbearable.  I seem to always be covered in sweat and the humidty makes it sticky and icky.  With temperatures around 30 - 34C I always need the fan near me. 

But as much as I hated the humidity, it was the one thing that made my skin soft because the dry air here meant that I had to spend a lot of time using body lotion.  Skimping on that would lead to a painful aftereffect.  And I had to learn it the hard way.

Back home, I was very lazy when it comes to taking care of my skin, weather on the face or body.  And with the humidity the way it is, I could get away without moisturising.  I only need to make sure I clean my face well since it'll get oily.  But here, the opposite thing is happening.  I have to moisturise every day or else my skin will be dry and flaky, or in the case of my hands, crack and bleed. 

Since I got here, I haven't been that regular in using body lotion.  Sometimes I would just put some on my face and arms, the easy to reach places.  I tried using hand lotion but with cooking up to three times and day and all the gardening that I do, I always have to wash my hands and using hand lotion just doesn't work as I would have to wash it off soon after, when I prepare food.

But yesterday, my whole body felt tight and itchy.  You can see how dry my legs and feet are.  But my hands have been hit the hardest.  The were cracked, especially around the joints and my middle finger on my right hand bled a little.

I guess I can't be lazy any more and make sure I apply lotion every day after my showers.  I should also get gloves for when I'm doing the dishes.   Hopefully that will help.  And I will have hand lotion every where - by the bed, on my desk and the coffee table.  Every time I'm sitting down to watch tv or doing scrapbooking, I am going to put lotion on.  Talking about that, I am so grateful to friends who gave me hand and body lotions as gifts.  They are really just the thing I need here.   

So, after a month here, one of the important things I have learnt is to moisturise, moisturise, moisturise!