To those of us observing the fasting month we wish you all selamat berpuasa, and may you and your families find yourselves spending lots of quality time together. :)
Let's get right into this week's topics.
(Fortunately that's not me in the photo... 😅)
If you're living in the Klang Valley (where I am) you've probably noticed that the weather has been particularly sweltering of late. Doing house chores in the afternoons has been torturous, mostly because I do occasionally break out in a heat rash, or what is clinically known as miliaria. While our home is very well-ventilated and we don't have air conditioning outside our bedrooms, the hot and humid breeze hasn't been very helpful in keeping temperatures down.
Heat rash is generally harmless, but the discomfort brought about from the itching can lead to some complications, including secondary bacterial infection caused by broken skin. So what can we do to help care for skin that is more sensitive to heat? Here are some ideas:
- Wear light and breathable fabric such as cotton, or linen. I know there are lots of fancy fabrics out there that claim to wick away sweat from the skin, but personally I find that they cause me to break out in a rash even more quickly on hot days.
- Perspiration that is allowed to accumulate and dry on the skin can cause irritation. Take more frequent showers during the day, even if it's just with plain cold water (no soap).
- Pat some water on the surface of your skin and allow it to air dry in the breeze - it's instantly cooling! :)
- If your skin is particularly sore, you can apply 4-5 drops of lavender oil all over your body after a cool shower, and then rinse it off after a minute or two. This will help tend to any broken skin, by soothing it and keeping harmful bacteria at bay.
- Keep hydrating throughout the day to keep the skin supple and moisturized from the inside, as well as allow the body to keep regulating its temperature efficiently.
Hope this helps! Do you have some tips to stave off heat rash that you'd like to share? Write me, I'd love to hear from you. :)
Last week I spotted this piece of exciting news on Instagram from Perhentian Marine Research - they managed to observe the annual coral spawning in the waters of Perhentian, in person. This felt like some comfort amidst all the usual news about the rapid destruction of coral reef - despite dire conditions, nature still finds ways to adapt and survive.
Read their post here, and enjoy the photos and video footage of things we don't usually get to see while on land. Thank you to the team that's behind the social media account - I'm learning so much from you! :)
So. The cat's out of the bag. I've been working on a new shampoo bar formulation, this time specifically with the purpose of reducing hair fall, and encouraging hair regrowth. I've just turned 42, and even though I still receive compliments on my healthy-looking hair, I have been experiencing significant hair loss in the past couple of years (hello clumps of hair coming away on my comb, and littering the bathroom floor 🥹).
We already have a test batch on the curing racks and I can't wait to start trialing them. But I'll also need your help to test them, and to provide feedback along the way. The initial plan was to launch it at the start of this year, but because I've been sitting on the formulation for so long (lots of reading, understanding, gaining new insights and then tweaking the formulation), I've only just got the first test batch out.
If you're experiencing uncomfortable hair loss, I'd love to see if we can help. Reply to this email and let me know that you'd like to join us as a tester, and I'll send you a sample bar when it's done curing in early to mid-May. I'll put you on a separate mailing list to try to keep us organised. I only have slots for a maximum of 50 people, so do respond to this email quickly.
That's it for today. If you've found this article useful, and would like to receive similar ones as emails instead, sign up for our newsletter here.
Thank you for being part of the Kinder Soaps journey! Love,
Michelle and the Kinder Soaps Family