THE SENSITIVE SKIN STRUGGLE

All natural, fragrance free, oil free, acne safe, dermatologist approved, AWESOME! SO WHY IS THERE A MINI VOLCANO ERUPTING ON MY FACE?!

And so goes the sensitive skin struggle. For years, I've marveled at my mom/sister/friends/every single person in Sephora slathering on, spritzing, BATHING in the oiliest, sparkliest, goopiest products with zero f*cks given, as I would dab the tiniest drop of moisturizer on my wrist and count down the seconds until I'd break out in hives.

If you've been wearing the same four makeup products for years, if you fear anything with "jojoba" in the title, if your skin crawls watching beauty bloggers cake on layers of makeup, I SEE YOU, I HEAR YOU, I'M ITCHING WITH YOU. Here are seven struggles you can relate to:

1. The salon is not your friend. Who doesn't love a fresh blowout? Well when it leads to a week worth of forehead pimples and a burning scalp, COUNT ME OUT. The hairspray, the heat protective oils, the shampoo and conditioner that inevitably make their way into my ear canal as I'm getting washed - sure, I strut out feeling like a silken haired goddess, BUT AT WHAT COST? I will rock my split ends as long as humanly possible before I subject my skin to such torture. I long for a day when I can bring my own personal stock of pre-approved hair supplies with me to the salon without looking certifiably insane. Until such a time, semi-annual haircuts it is.

2. Food is not your friend either. Yes, food. Greasy, salty, delicious, fried food. If you reach for hand sanitizer after touching a french fry (if you even touch a french fry at all - I, myself, have been known to eat them with a fork a la George Costanza), you know the sensitive skin struggle. Oil is not your friend, in any form. And you will go to great lengths to avoid the acne eruption that results from indulging in something as innocent as a potato chip, even if it means being the weirdo who eats foods like popcorn with a spoon in public.

3. A spa day?! LOLOL. A facial? Where you pay hundreds of dollars for someone to apply layer upon layer of fragrant, greasy concoctions all over your skin?? YEA, NO THANKS. I might as well just shove my face into a deep dish pizza and call it a day.

4. When it comes to beauty advice, you trust no b*tch. "Oh this is all natural you'll be fine!" "I use this on my skin!" "It won't clog your pores!" "It's fragrance free so you're good!"

5. You're freaked out by slash mildly jealous of beauty bloggers. I watch makeup tutorials as if they're some sort of extreme sport. With each swipe of the makeup brush, my stomach churns. HOW can someone experiment with their face like that?!? Someone just sends them products they've never tried before and they actually put them on THEIR FACE?!? MY SKIN IS ITCHING AT THE THOUGHT.

6. You travel with a full arsenal of products. "No need to pack soap, they'll have at the hotel," said no one with sensitive skin, ever. If I'm spending even one night away from home you best believe I'll be toting an unnecessarily large bag of toiletries with me.

7. You fear change. I have been using the same bronzer since 2005. The same foundation since 2003. My entire beauty regimen consists of maybe 8 products I've been using for years. Every once in a while I'll throw in a new lipstick if I'm feeling adventurous. I will probably age like a raisin since my skin rejects any sort of moisturizer placed outside of my face's very defined moisturizer-safe zones. But we are in this together. And the next time random hives break out on your skin for seemingly no reason whatsoever, know that somewhere, someone (me) is hivey too.