★★★★★
I began using the oil cleansing method (look it up - it's awesome) to wash my face at night. I have a few different mixtures that I use. Mostly my cleansers are comprised of 20% cold-pressed castor oil to 80% other oil (I interchange almond oil, olive oil, avocado oil, jojoba oil, etc). Contrary to what you may think, this really cleanses the face well (the blackheads on my nose are no longer visible to me), but it didn't do anything for my blepharitis.
I then began experimenting with different moisturizers to use after oil-cleansing my face. I started with one type of oil like coconut or olive and while they were good for my overall facial skin - they weren't healing my dry patch which by this point had actually extended into the corner of my eye and was causing a painful little split in my skin (not fun! ). Then one day a friend gave me a moisturizer that she had made. She had whipped together (literally, in a bowl with a mixer) shea butter, coconut oil, and almond oil. The texture of this stuff is AMAZING. I actually even use it as my oil cleanser sometimes. For the first time I could tell that although the patch wasn't healing - it was being soothed. This was the first time I've ever used shea butter and because I'm insanely inquisitive - I decided to do some research. I found tons of info where people vouched that shea really helped many of their flaky, irritated, dry skin issues. I decided to give it a try and I am so glad that I did!! I got online and ordered 100% unrefined organic shea butter; grade A; ivory color. I was able to get 1 pound (16 ounces) of the stuff for $15.99 (and I got a free ebook with body butter recipes which is handy trying to go all natural). I began using the shea butter immediately. I didn't mix or whip it with anything else - just the pure shea! I used a spoon to scrape some off of the block (mine came in a 1lb bar) and then I rubbed it between my forefinger and thumb for a minute just to make it more malleable, then I massaged it into the scaly spot on my eyelid and all around my eye. I did this several times throughout the day. By the 4th day of my new routine with the shea - my blepharitis is gone again!!! The sore crack in the corner of my eye is completely healed and my eyelid looks normal again! I am so happy to have found something that works again and I hope this helps someone else find relief as well.
