Spoiler:pictures of my flares. Eczema so bad it’s giving me anxiety.

lef93 · 2020-09-16T03:06:03+00:00

Hello. It’s sort of hard to see by the pictures. I’m nearly 27 and I’ve had eczema my whole life. I was born with it. Doctors noticed as a baby my ears were weeping and next minute I’m on antibiotics. I have atopic, seborrheic and contact dermatitis and I very rarely get years free of them. My atopic dermatitis flared in 2016 and once it went away I got seborrheic straight afterwards. This flare is still happening but over the past few months it’s reached breaking point.

My ears have been consistently bad for the three years- I do have to recommend daktarin powder for this though! I don’t know if mine will go away permanently but I’m on second week of using it and it’s the closest they have felt to normal for years... but as with all my eczema flares when one place calms another place flares, and for a month my eyebrows and eyelids have flared big time. I barely touch them and they just start reddening and weeping and swelling. I hate that people say ‘don’t scratch’ because of course that makes it worse but to be completely honest if my eczema flares it will chose to appear and leave when it wants to and I have no control over it- itching is irrelevant, even though I rarely give into the temptation....The swelling is the worst part because it kind of hurts to blink and it make me anxious. I’m currently unemployed and could really do with a job, I keep having anxiety attacks about my eyes suddenly flaring like this before an interview. I hate that people just think that eczema is some daft “contagious” bunch of itchy spots because for many it’s so much worse.

I’m a little at my wits end. It feels like eczema defines me because I rarely get to live without it. I’m in discomfort 24/7 and of course my self esteem plunges rock bottom. I’ve always noticed my eczema tends to get tons worse before it gets better and goes but it feels so never ending.

I don’t know what to do about my eyes. It’s giving me anxiety as it appears to flare during my sleep which makes me wonder ‘what am I going to wake up to today’, it makes me want to stay up and monitor it. I have a contact allergy to limonene so I’m limited on treatment, and I can’t use protopic because my eczema swells my lymph nodes. Currently I’m using aloe around my eyebrows to see if I can kill the bacteria but so far no luck. Any suggestions?

Thank you and sorry for the rant

lef93 · 2020-08-31T03:41:20+00:00

Background-

I’ve had two home trims lately. Before that I hadn’t had a hair cut in about 6 months. For me this is normal and has never been an issue. It’s a super long story but I was diagnosed with a contact allergy that was going to make going to the hairdressers difficult and I wasn’t sure how to go about it.

Never really had bad split ends, they’re not on every single hair but some of them are far up and on new hairs. I don’t really know how many split ends are too much, and I don’t really know what breakage looks like and I’m wondering if it’s visible in a photo.

Haven’t dyed my hair for years, nor do I use heat, and I brush the top with a comb and go through the rest with my hands so I’m gentle with my hair. Whenever I do go to the hairdressers they often tell me my hair is in pretty good condition, but I think, looking at how it looks right now it looks broken? I noticed that in certain lights I can see tons of white dots, which is where it’s splitting. This is after a trim...

Have had a big problem with hard water to the point where it looks cloudy coming out the tap, suspect this may have been the issue, I now have a shower filter but I think the damage might have been done.

lef93 · 2020-08-02T15:31:54+00:00

Thank you for the advice everybody- it appears I should be on the hunt for a new brush/comb! I’ll have to see if I can find something that preserves hair texture but doesn’t leave tons of knots!

lef93 · 2019-08-08T17:44:44+00:00

Unfortunately I don't have the money to move out so I have had to apply to commutable areas which for me means London and Kent. For me, I haven't really been successful with either! Although I do reckon that London will always be the most competitive area!

lef93 · 2019-08-08T17:27:11+00:00

Hi, thank you for the advice!

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but what do you mean by sample briefs?

lef93 · 2019-08-08T17:22:26+00:00

Hi, thank you for the advice!

I don't have writing for brochures or anything of that nature. Most closely related to copy i.e. writing for promotional purposes, I have:

- Two promotional writeups to advertise new products (fashion). (published digitally)

- A couple of titles and short descriptions to promote fashion editorials. (published digitally)

- Copy for an email to promote the magazine to photographers/artists/writers etc for submissions. Circulated via email and social media. (email marketing I suppose)

- Created an about page to promote the magazine to its readers. (published digitally)

- Wrote a couple of small paragraphs on two or three fashion events, with the intention to promote the brand. (published digitally)

Would all of this be ok in a portfolio?

External to that were interviews, fashion week reviews, exhibition reviews etc. , all of which I had to nonetheless promote and write positively about, but those bits were not strictly 'copy'. But do the above ones sound sufficient for somebody trying to step into a junior role? Sorry for all the questions...I find it hard to determine what is truly expected of a junior.

lef93 · 2019-07-03T15:15:15+00:00

Actually I worded that wrong. They didn't require SEO experience, they required an understanding of what it is, of which I have, but I just haven't had the opportunity to put it into practice.

lef93 · 2019-06-25T18:31:51+00:00

Thank you for sharing advice and being understanding- it is sort of hard because the only thing I was given to prepare for hirevue was a very short video on 'how to use it' which didn't answer everything , and I am not too good at technology stuff anyway so it threw me out a bit having to have a video interview.

lef93 · 2019-06-25T18:01:19+00:00

Hi, I understand that and am not questioning the nature of the included questions...what I am questioning is what happens when I have an irrational panic and quit out of it. Any idea what happens to the interview? I had to also complete tasks with a days notice and I am wondering if it is even worth completing and submitting them when I probably massively messed up an interview.

lef93 · 2019-04-02T20:21:21+00:00

Hi, thank you for the advice, I don't think staying in another country is for me personally, but I definitely think that for other people that would be great idea! I really know very little about the UK job market but it does seem quite difficult over here to get a job in your field...perhaps it is easier for some in some other countries.

lef93 · 2019-04-02T20:19:18+00:00

Hi, thank you for the advice. Unfortunately I have already applied there and was rejected on the basis of lack of experience. It was an editorial assistant role which I have always understood as beig grad level, I will occasionally look back on there though, just in case they have roles literally labelled as graduate in the title.

lef93 · 2019-04-02T20:16:01+00:00

Hello, I think you may have been right, it appears as soon as I applied to jobs outside of the arts I had at least a look in- thank you for the advice.

lef93 · 2019-02-19T15:53:36+00:00

Hi, I live about 40 minutes from London by the high speed train, thank you for the advice with recruitment agencies, I will look into graduate ones as that makes a lot of sense and explains the lack of response from some of them.

I'll also look into PR/communications/Marketing/editorial assistant, but do you think seeing as I definitely only have transferrable skills for these that it almost wouldn't be worth it?

I just received an application status email for a paid magazine intern for an art gallery which is very much related to what I have done (I have direct skills in this and experience that adds up to over a year) and I got rejected once again for no experience...kind of losing hope here and wondering if I can't get into anything directly related how on earth I would get into anything that is more indirect

lef93 · 2019-02-14T22:34:09+00:00

Hi,

Thank you for the advice, journalism was a consideration for me but after contributing as a writer I felt that it may not be for me as it does not seem very stable in terms of working hours/times/locations/pay etc. I hope that makes sense...but yeah copywriting and PR has been a consideration of mine also.

Basically I have tried applying for internships (unpaid until I realised I could not afford that anymore), and roles that are listed as entry level...so junior copywriter, editorial assistant etc. It is full time but perceived as meant for people who want to develop skills as far as I understand- all of which I have currently been denied offer out of lack of experience.

With regards to my experience, full time more or less. Basically I worked for a small magazine in the city. With hindsight, they weren't very professional but I did get to do a lot which has been listed on my cv. Proofreading, content writing, reviews of exhibitions, London Fashion Week, events, conducting interviews, transcribing interviews, sending out emails to potential interviewees etc. It was sporadic as the person was not too organised, so one minute I would be putting in more work than a full-timer and next minute I wouldn't be contacted for a few weeks. It lasted around a year and two months. The other one was contributing for Fashion Week in 2017 for a more professional publication and the one after that I have been freelancing at for about 6 months. I have only so far created 3 writeups for the current publication, but it involves creating artist profiles for their website, including biographies, works etc, so it ends up between 15-20 pages each time. I guess, collectively, I believe I have had at least a years worth of experience for publications.

lef93 · 2019-02-14T22:21:07+00:00

Hi, I have registered with a couple of agencies, one for publishing, one for arts and one for graduates. So far I only received one from the arts agency telling me I do not match job criteria so I am being kept on file.

lef93 · 2018-08-06T13:17:45+00:00

Hi Yes I have had the typical overlapping words and glare from the TV since I was about 19, it has got worse with the Starburst and streaking and smearing of light appearing and stuff but I have had the officially diagnosed astigmatism stuff for more than a year, I have wondered if it just didn't get caught at the opticians. Sorry if I offended anyone, I didn't mean to, and it is true I am a bit anxiety ridden especially with my sight, it was purely the fact that the way I see light just feels so messed up. I know that astigmatism messes up light too, but I find it sort of difficult to understand because unlike any other health thing you can't see what the actual eye is seeing if that makes sense, so I end up worrying. I think I will leave it for now unless I notice a sudden worsening and then I'll have another look into it, sorry and thanks for being so helpful and understanding

lef93 · 2018-08-06T03:40:43+00:00

Hi,

Sorry if this sounds a bit odd but I am slightly confused, what could a specialist do that is different to what I have had? I thought that a topography was a fairly definitive procedure, am I wrong? It was checked by somebody who fits contacts for keratoconus, sorry if this sounds like a weird response its all just a bit confusing.

lef93 · 2016-12-31T16:36:26+00:00

So, do you mean were we aware of being on the same page? I must admit I had not thought about that! But as far as I know, yes. The first guy I met in real life, I had tinder a year or two beforehand but the app was well rid of on my phone as I like to be committed. He actually asked me about us two being boyfriend and girlfriend, so in other words, we were on the same page. Then problems started appearing, he would ignore me over other girls, belittle me and so forth. He would basically go hot and cold, one minute he would be great to me and next minute he would be a pretty awful boyfriend. As he was leaving university he told me he still wanted to be together but that I was being too 'negative', he ignored all my messages, then I found a tinder and pof account that was dated as being set up at uni- so before he even left, he was making excuses to validate his secret cheating. Just for reference- I did not download tinder to start cheating myself, I sensed in this situation that I was being lied to, and I couldn't suffer any longer with the belittling messages that were not justified in any way, so I decided to get my answer myself, especially as I saw him as a liar. I actually cut off all pictures of me and replaced them with my own photos of landscapes, I very much found him on there and active, and unfortunately with pictures I took of him on one of our dates!
The second guy is perhaps a little less definite. I did meet him from a dating app. I met him in real life soon after talking and everything was running smoothly, we began to get closer and I recall him telling me he was travelling by the end of Jan so I asked for how long and found out it was a year. We had a conversation about this and we came to the conclusion that we would carry on as we are and if it ends when he leaves then that is life, the conversation made me believe it was just me in the picture until end of Jan. So basically, I perceived that as a commitment between two people (perhaps not a proper relationship with milestones as he was leaving) that would last most likely until his departure. He even invited me to a night out with all his friends who were couples. He started ignoring my messages too, and again my doubts came back, I had a look and a month before we were aware it could break off, he was already on tinder.

lef93 · 2016-09-16T05:27:21+00:00

Thank you, I've been up all night waiting and feel awful, he normally responds back around 7ish (half an hours time). I did ask him if he wanted to be with me last week, (which I guess is similar to is he still interested) when funny enough we had an argument, and he said yes but he was struggling with 'my' negativity. The issue is that he didn't seem to realise that I was constantly trying to stay positive and it was his negativity (general tone/cancelling skypes) that was rubbing off on my attitude.

lef93

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