Help me with my horrible skin please

[ChristineBaskets]

I'm so fed up of the skin on my body. It's rough, spotty (keratosis pilaris) and ugly.

I've tried so many creams etc. At present I exfoliate with a scrub made from olive oil and salt and moisturise with aveeno. I have been gluten, dairy and sugar free since January (for other reasons but my kp got much better last time I did this- eventually!). I've looked at more expensive moisturiser like ameliorate but the odd review saying it didn't work puts me off as I convince myself this would be me.

Sunshine always helps my skin but there's not much of it around at this time of year and anyway it's tricky exposing parts of my body like butt cheeks and upper thighs! I'm thinking of having some sunbed sessions even despite the risks. My skin honestly makes me so unhappy.

Supplement wise I take high dose vitamin d and magnesium with b6. I'd be interested in any recommendations there.

Please tell me what's worked for you. I'm wearing a dress for my ds's wedding in June and my forearms look awful.

You’ve given loads of detail but what are you washing with? I found that when I switched from shower gels to plain old-fashioned bars of soap, my KP disappeared all by itself. It was only on my upper arms, so not as severe as yours, but definitely worth a try as a simple switch that had huge results for me.

Please don’t do sun beds whatever you do.

If you want to attempt to cure it use a urea based product.........or get gp/dermatologist advice

If you want to cover it (somewhat) fake tan/mac face and body x

I do wash with proper soap after reading about how it improved kp - it hasn't helped.

Ameliorate. Best thing for KP. I get mine from M&S. My dd had shocking KP and it cleared it up in a fortnight.
HTH.

Nip + Fab Glycolic Body Lotion. About £8. I get mine from Ocado but Ithink Boots stock it too.

This helped mine, along with a salt scrub

www.boots.com/eucerin-dry-skin-intensive-lotion-with-cutaneous-emulsion-urea-250ml-10022069

I've tried that nip&fab and eucarin. I've also tried the foot cream that stinks, and coconut oil, aqueous cream, Palmers, the list goes on. Thanks for the suggestions though!

I think I will have to try ameliorate. It's expensive but I hope that means it might work!

I've been using ameliorate body lotion and the exfoliating mit for about 3 weeks now and I am not overly impressed. My skin does feel softer which is great, but the red spots are still there so it looks as crap as ever.

I don't know what the right thing to do is about exfoliating. I use the ameliorate mit 2-3 times a week and home made salt scrub every other day but I think they might make the redness worse. I've read that chemical exfoliation is best but I've used nip and fab pads without success in the past so I don't know what else to use that is affordable!

On the bright side I've been out in the sun today so that should help my kp, it's the only thing that does so reliably.

Tell me what's helped you with the redness of keratosis pilaris please!

I've never heard of KP on forearms and the fact it doesnt respind to urea or other acids makes me think it may not be KP? Have you been to a derm?

Anyway my sister had persistent kp and it cleared when she took a vitamin A supplement.

I'm pretty sure it's kp as I have red rough little bumps that have a tiny plug in them. It's worse on my forearms but I also have it on my upper arms and my legs. My calves used to be the worst but they have inexplicably cleared up until you can hardly see it over the years.

I will look in to vitamin A thank you.

Thought I'd post an update.

I'm very pleased with the look and feel of my arms at the moment. I stopped exfoliating with rough scrubs and just use my ameliorate mitt two or three times a week** and my Wilko exfoliating mitts in the shower. I started using Superdrug vitamin e intensive body cream (cheap as chips) liberally at least once a day, and have been letting my arms see the sun any chance I get without burning.

My skin feels lovely and soft and I'm not ashamed of my arms at the moment!

I'm having trouble posting before and after photos hang on

Now