Dancey sorry to hear about your skin troubles. I cannot speak to the menopause and hormone issues (though I remember my older sister telling me her skin became super-soft following hysterctomy hormone therapy) - but I have lived with dermatitis, exzema, and fussy skin allergies all my life and over the years have found these helps: 1. To the extent you can, try to reduce the total chemical load in your environment - do not use dryer sheets, fabric softener, room fresheners, hair creme rinse (or minimize it at least); put your clothing through a double rinse cycle; use gloves/other barrier to protect your skin from harsh detergents, etc. 2. Add evening primrose, flaxseed, tocotrienols, and more fish to your diet (the inside-out approach). 3. I have fussy impossible skin, and my red-head spouse has his own set of skin troubles (sun damage, pre-actinic keratoses, etc.). We're both in our 50s now, and though we're fit, free of health problems, and comfortable with our ages, we wondered if we might improve the appearance of our sun-damaged faces. Together we read Perricone's Cosmeceuticals book, and decided to try some of his recommendations. We found the author's products to be way beyond what we considered reasonable to spent, but we have had stunning results with similar products we found online through Amazon.com from Reviva Labs: Alpha Lipoic Acid Vitamin C Ester and DMAE Cream (for the face and neck day and night); Firming Eye Serum (night-time eye cream); and their hand lotion from the same line (sorry my bottle is out in the car so I can't give you specific name). My skin responded immediately (thank god I was getting a little worried about lip creases and papery eye and throat). We're both looking a lot clearer and more well-rested, with much-improved skin texture - that's as much as we can expect because we'd never go for elective surgery - only a natural approach... and no, we have no financial interest in the above-noted products. 4. Two other creams that settle my skin, as well as seeming to change the texture, are Nivea Skin Firming Lotion with Q10 plus Biotin, and Aveeno Stress Relief Moisturizing Lotion with Natural Colloidal Oatmeal, Lavender, Chamomile and YlangYlang. You can find these at any of the larger drugstores (I am on West Coast) - they're a bit more expensive than, say, Jergens, but I have been thrilled to find them. Sorry for the rambler, but I hope you'll try any or all of the above. So nice to have happy skin. Good luck!

Be very cautious with Witch Hazel⦠many cats will develop intense allergies to that product⦠but peroxide is not a good choice, either as it can damage the sensitive skin of a pet. There are many more gentle products you can get at vet that will help control that disease. Most bowls that historically have caused skin reactions have been taken off the market. Can be a tough disease to completely eliminate, but in most cats it is more annoying than serious. Gentle cleansing soaps following by mild antibiotic or antiseptic creams (applied very thinly) are what I have found best for chin acne in cats. Some Benzyl Peroxide products work well (just note Benzyl peroxide is not the same as Hydrogen peroxide).

Violet, my post disappeared or I must not have hit send, but I would start with the ins. covered doctor, and go from there. If she is not getting anywhere, then I would do a self-pay consultation with a homeopathic MD. I found one in her area (Dr. Soule) but have no idea how good he is. Anyway, that isn't the starting point, just good to know there are options, if that makes sense. She just shouldn't give up. Duluth, wow-- Addison's Disease. My dear friend, who was really more like a cousin to me, passed away from it. She was 10 and I was 12. It was undiagnosed. She was half Mexican, half Irish. Her mother (Mexican) was very pale . . .as was she. VERY pale. She came home from a trip to Mexico and her skin was unusually dark-- in a tone that I've never seen anyone with. Along with this, she had symptoms like licking pickles, licking the salt off potato chips. Her test scores went down. They put a cot in the classroom for her. Etc., etc. The doctors would NOT believe her mom. They said she was fine. Said she needed her tonsils out (now we are amazed she survived the operation). Said she got dark because she was Mexican. Doctor appointment after doctor appointment, and they turned her away. As her parents were sitting down to discuss what they would say at the doctor's appointment (scheduled for the following day)-- they were not going to leave without answers-- she went into cardiac arrest and passed away. I miss her dearly. Shortly thereafter she passed away, my father had a dentist appointment. Our dear friend's death was weighing heavily on his mind, and told the dentist her symptoms. The dentist immediately diagnosed her with Addison's Disease. We could never figure out how the dentist knew, and these doctors-- for years-- did not. If only we had information back then as we do now. So glad you were diagnosed and are OK.

I also have frizzy hair. I'd like to try keratin, but I don't think I understand how it works. I'll have to research. When I was in my 20s, I used to comb Toni home perm solution through my hair in the shower. It would come out straight without the frizziness and it also bleached my mousy brown hair so it appeared sunkissed. I only did it once every couple of years because it was so hard on my hair, but man did it look good when I did. Well, you all convinced me and I just cut a couple of inches off the bottom to get back to shoulder length. I'd been growing it out over the summer, I did love being able to pull it back into a loose messy bun, but this is overall a better look for me. I can still get it into a pony tail, so still have some options. On the subject of going short, for me, I try to remember to go slow. I often think I want really short, but sometimes just a couple of inches is enough of a change. If it's not, then I go shorter. I once went from really long to a pixie cut. Big mistake.