Symptoms of a reaction to Mineral Oils:

• Watery spots develop under skin on hands or feet (for me).
• The area becomes puffy, hot and itchy.
• Three days later skin will become dry and start to flake.
• New skin is revealed as the area recovers.

Cause:

• Using products that contain Liquid Paraffin (mineral oil).  Such as shampoos, soaps, moisterizers, shaving foam, wax furniture polish, and ironically creams used to treat eczema.

What the doctor gave me:

• The doctors never new what was causing the reaction, they took a skin sample (of the dry skin not the watery spots) and the results said there was nothing wrong with me.  A specialist later said it may be caused by stress.  I was 11 at the time so this seemed odd.  They gave me creams that made the problem worse (because they contain Liquid Paraffin) but being a child at the time I hadn't any knowledge of mineral oils and allergies.

• I eventually solved the problem myself when I used baby oil and had the same rash.  I read the ingredients on the back and realised it only had ''water'' and ''liquid parafinum'' (Liquid Paraffin).  Since there are only two ingredients this hugely helped to discover what was causing my reaction.

Cure:

• Don't use products containing Liquid Paraffin, Paraffinum Liquidum, Mineral Oil, Parfum, Petrochemicals.

• Replace those products with Organic alternatives.  I use products from the UK company ''Green People''.  There website can be found here: /