Dealing with Keratosis Pilaris

Hi everyone! So today's post is a little bit different. Keratosis Pilaris ("KP") is something you might have heard of before, or perhaps you've never come across it in your life! It's basically quite a common skin condition that results in rough red bumpy skin. Both my sister and I have had KP on the tops of our arms for as long as I remember, and when we were younger it caused us both to be self conscious about our arms. Now I'm a little older it bothers me much less, but I've also come up with some simple ways of reducing the appearance of KP on my arms. If you have KP I hope this helps you manage it too!

Here are the products I'm featuring in today's post. Unsurprisingly they are all either exfoliators or moisturisers. The best way to tackle KP is to exfoliate regularly and use a good moisturiser afterwards.

The Soap & Glory Pulp Friction scrub is my go-to exfoliator for the tops of my arms. In summer I will use this every day to keep the bumps from reappearing but I do get a little less strict in the winter when I can cover up with layers and knitwear. Pulp Friction is ideal for everyday use as it's not too intense and it foams up easily, making exfoliation a quick and easy part of your routine. (£8, available from Boots online HERE or in store)

I always follow this exfoliation with a moisturiser - my daily choice is the Palmer's Cocoa Butter (one of my all time Holy Grail products, review coming soon), but on the weekends when I have a little more time I use a thicker moisturiser like the Soap & Glory Daily Smooth (review HERE). This takes longer to sink in but it does a remarkably good job at softening the skin and keeping KP to a minimum. The Daily Smooth is £8.50 available HERE, Palmer's Cocoa Butter is £5.30 available HERE.

Now if my KP has flared up or if I have a special occasion coming up that I need to be arm-confident for (what an odd expression!), I resort to this product. I do not recommend you do this every day, or even weekly, but sometimes when the going gets tough, the tough use a Philosophy foot scrub* on the back of their arms! This foot scrub (reviewed HERE) is absolutely bloody fantastic when used as a foot scrub, but when you use it on your KP it's also pretty darn fabulous. It's a quick fix to get rid of the bumps on my arms, but I do not use this more than once every 3-4 weeks maximum. Using Footnotes is always followed by slapping on a really thick intensive moisturiser to stop the area from drying out. Philosophy Footnotes is available for £23 as part of a set HERE.

If you follow these tips you will find your KP is much more manageable and less noticeable. It's not a cure, and the redness will still be an issue at times but generally this has changed the way I feel about my arms and I no longer think about KP very often at all!

I hope this post has been helpful if you suffer from KP too. Please share your tips and tricks in the comments below.

xx

*PR sample

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