I'm blessed (read: sarcasm) with eczema. It's itchy. It's ugly. It sucks. To all my fellow eczema sufferers out there, you know what I'm talking about. I'm not a doctor and I don't even play one on TV (although I think I would love saying all of that jargon), there are a few things I do to keep my own eczema in check.

1. I watch my diet. I know that dairy and sugar make my eczema flare up. Ice cream is my worst nightmare. I avoid dairy completely and use coconut and almond milk instead, but sugar is another story. I used to love me some sugar. Still, I just finished 30 days without it and I feel fantastic. When I did finally splurge and have some, I didn't feel too hot afterwards. Try it, and see if it helps you how it helped me.

2. I take shorter, cooler showers. The longer I spend steaming in a hot shower, the more likely I'm going to get out with red, angry skin. With the water shortage in California and a water crisis happening worldwide, I try to be conscientious about the amount of water I consume, anyway. My eczema gives me another reason to speed up my showers.

3. I use natural products. If I can't pronounce the ingredients on the back of the bottle, I'm wary. Neutrogena Naturals Purifying Facial Cleanser is gentle enough for my skin. And my skin is happiest when I use simple, natural products.