Guest Review: Eli screams for help, and finds it in Australia Organic products.

Remember what I said about some girls being allergic to water? Bet you thought I was exaggerating, didn't you? Well, turns out our beloved guest reviewer, Eli is one! So HAH! Luckily for her she finds solace in her organic saviour.

Help! I’m in a Rash! (Or, Why Eli is going Organic)

While I can dump most products on my face without having to worry about getting a rash, my rest of my body is different story altogether. My skin gets angry red rashes and turns itchy whenever I use things like soap powder, dishwashing liquid, dog shampoo, hotel products, soap, bath gels, Dove, St. Ives, Body Shop…

Well, you get the idea. My upper torso looks like it was ravaged by mosquitoes after I shower.

Dad has the same problem as well. According to him, the traditional Kadazan explanation is that we have too much “wind” or dampness in our constitutions and this reacts with water, giving us rashes.

Riiiiiiight.

Over the years, I have discovered that basically anything with lots of perfume, sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), sodium laureth sulphate (SLES) or anything drying made me itch like a dog with ticks. Even bathing in hard water (difficult to avoid in Australia unless I installed my own filtration system) made my skin break out in rashes. It drove me absolutely bonkers each time I showered.

Amongst the things which helped me from itching were: rubbing yogurt or dampened ground oats on my skin Cleopatra-style before showering and slathering on lightly scented moisturisers. Then, I discovered Australian organic products.

Organic skincare products do not contain SLS or SLES, do not use parabens and are not tested on animals. Perfect for me.

One of the things I love about Australia is the variety of home-grown organic skincare products available in the market. Stuff from Alchemy and A’kin which are from the same company are a little expensive and out of my budget. Happily, most pharmacies and health stores offer cheaper alternatives from Natural Instinct (Ni) and Sukin.

Pricewise, there isn’t much difference between Ni and Sukin as they both sell their bodywash at AUD 7.95, AUD 11.95 and AUD 19.95 for 250ml, 500ml and 1L. bottles respectively. Their ingredients aren’t very different either. The only real difference for me is that Sukin smells more citrusy (because of all the citrus essential oils) while Ni smells of lavender (no citrus).

Right now, I am veering towards Ni as I still had some rashes (but no itching) while I was using Sukin. I have been using Ni for the past month in Malaysia and have not seen any rashes. This might change in Australia though. Either way, going SLS free has definitely helped; I am now considering a complete move to organic skincare products.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that someone would bring these two brands to Malaysian shores soon. Goodness knows what I am going to do once I come back after my degree. Eeeks.