I was twelve years old the day I got my legs’ skin burned with a wax lotion. I remember I asked for a body lotion because I forgot to bring mine and someone gave me a bottle of baby lotion. It didn’t have the particular wax smell, so I just put it on my skin like a regular lotion because that’s what I thought it was. Fifteen minutes was all I needed; my legs turned a tomato red and I felt like my body was on fire. Removing the wax from my legs was hard because it was already stuck to my skin. Since that day, I have been struggling with dermatitis.
Summer is the worst time of the year for my skin. The terrible heat produces a type of rash on my legs that doesn’t allow me to shave them, my sweat increases the itch, I can’t tolerate jeans, and going to the beach needs to be planned to avoid the pain and to get the products I need to control the rash. Those who know me, know that I love to wear short pants because it allows my legs to breathe, but even after all these years, people still make fun of the scars on my skin.
This past July, a friend made me a photoshoot for my book project and right after I published the photos on my social media, I received a lot of messages criticizing me for being comfortable with my skin and showing off my legs. There were messages like “your boyfriend should be ashamed of having a hairier girlfriend than him” (because as you see in the pictures, the scars can look like hair) or “you should be ashamed of showing off those weird legs”.
At the beginning I felt frustrated and sad because people don’t understand anything about this dilemma. I’ve been hospitalized during past summers because dermatitis deformed my skin. . Blood tests don’t reveal the cause of the terrible rash, and the meds are too strong for my body.
Living with dermatitis made me embrace and accept my body the way it is, especially when you have scars that people will always judge because they don’t know the reason why they’re there . On the other hand, I must be careful with the food I eat and the daily products I use. Drinking lots of water, using lotions and soap without fragrance, having to exfoliate my skin weekly and avoiding direct contact with the sun, are among the other precautions I have to take. Most importantly, I always remember to bring my own skincare products to avoid situations like the wax one.