Dermatillomania- "Excoriation disorder is an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one's own skin" , it is also known as compulsive skin picking or CSP. The picking of the skin can take place in numerous different area's of the body and has been linked to obsessive compulsive disorder and shares similarities with trichotilliomania. 

In all honesty I hadn't actually heard of dermatillomania or CSP until a few years back, for me picking my skin was a completely natural and normal thing to do. I don't remember ever starting it, but I can't remember a time of not doing it. For me it's just always been there and I've always considered it to be a completely normal thing and I would just sit and do it without even realizing; it confused and grossed out a lot of people and I never understood why and would get quite upset when people would get annoyed at me for doing it because I didn't understand what I was doing wrong. 

Even when discovering what this thing I did was, it didn't actually stop me or slow me down in doing it and I'd still do it when I felt a particularly large amount of negative emotion; anger, anxiety, sadness, frustration or even boredom a lot of the time. If I'm being honest with you, there was no moment of realisation where I went "RIGHT, I need to stop this!" and I still haven't reached that point because for me personally I think it will take a long time for me to fully stop. However, compared to the rate and amount that I used to do it I have greatly improved. I used to pick my skin, every day; there was not a day I wouldn't do it. A lot of people thought that I would just pick my arms and shoulders, in actual fact I would pick my arms, shoulders, chest, face, neck, head, knee's and my thighs.

Nowadays, I pick a couple of times a week and that's usually because I'm bored, frustrated, upset etc. Although you're probably thinking "well that's still not great" considering how much I used to do it, this is an extreme improvement for me because what a lot of people don't understand is how hard it really is to stop something you can't even remember starting. The way I explain it to people who don't understand is like this if you smoke, drink, take drugs or eat food and you are particularly addicted to one of these things you are unable to willingly stop that is how I feel. It isn't that I don't want to stop; if I could have beautifully smooth and scar free arms then I would 110%. It is not as easy as that, I can't just wake up one day and say "I am never going to pick again" and then stop for the rest of my life. 

If you suffer with CSP, trichotilliomania, dermatillomania or any other problem that makes you feel bad about yourself and the way you look. I'm so sorry that you have to go through this, you are such a strong person and you aren't alone. I find a lot of methods don't work for me; the best one for me is honestly when I'm tanned or I've had the sun on my arms for a long time as I find that the heat helps to settle the scarring and any imperfections I can see that I want to pick, I can't tell you why but for me it just works. You may find that something different works for you. In all honesty you just need to trying and seeing what works best for you. I also use my nails so I find if I'm going through a particularly bad spell I will cut my nails off or get fake nails (I find it impossible to pick with fake nails on). 

The last thing I am going to say if you suffer with CSP; don't feel ashamed. Don't feel embarrassed or weird because it isn't your fault and don't let anyone tell you it is, it can't be helped. If you're patient you will eventually find a way to get better with it or stop it all together and if you do good for you and if you are still fighting with it now then you are not a failure and don't give up! 
If you suffer with ANY type of problem whether it be dermatillomania, trichotilliomania, CSP, OCD, BDD or if you're just having a bad day and don't suffer with anything and just want to moan then you can tweet me, or find my email in the side bar. I'm happy to talk and just listen if you need to chat with someone who has an outsiders perspective then I will reply ASAP. 

I hope this has been helpful for some of you and eye opening for the rest of you! 

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The full name for this product is 'Clean & clear morning energy skin energising daily facial scrub', but I felt that for a title of a blog post that was probably a little too much and so I kept it short and sweet! Unfortunately due to a number of reasons I've not had huge funds to splurge on make-up, skin care and hair care this month and I am super super sad about this. When I was out in town about a week ago I spotted this little gem on sale (I'm 50% sure it was ASDA and it was around about £2-3?) anyway, I was stood staring for a good 15 minutes because I have very little money and there were so many other products I wanted. I felt if I bought this it would hopefully numb the need to spend money, but as it was one of the cheaper options (and I have no self control) I caved and bought it and I've been seriously impressed.

The packaging just looks really nice and bright and I think that is what stood out a lot for me, the fact that it wasn't as subtle as most packaging I would usually tend to go for but it still managed to catch my eye. It also think there seems like a lot of product which is great, I tend to use it every other day at the moment and use a 2p sized dollop and this still does the trick and helps brighten my skin and smooth everything out which is a serious plus for me!

I'm still having a few problematic areas at the moment with my skin and although this hasn't cleared them up, it has done its job and made my skin look a lot brighter which just gives it such a healthy glow. I also find after using it my skin does feel a lot softer. I think for that reason I would seriously consider buying it again.

Have you ever used this product? What are you thoughts about it?

This is a product I originally bought towards the end of December, but I've actually already repurchased it last week. I really like this product and I didn't expect to as I hadn't heard amazing things about it, so I was prepared to be let down. Last month I was having a lot of problems with my skin, and as my skin is one thing I never have a big problem with it was starting to get me down. So I bought quite a few products for my face and this little gem was one of them.