A Well Earned Handshake

Setting: A Friday evening.  Circle Craft Show, Vancouver

A young man enters the booth.

The palm of his left hand is red, raw, open and bleeding.  I have seen severely eczema-like damaged skin but nothing as extreme as this.  Painful. His right hand was not a mirror image, as sometimes is a norm, but it, too, looked sensitive.

In a quiet manner, he explains, “I came to Canada from India 4 years ago. I know diet and climate change can have an effect on us, but I cannot seem to get my skin under control.  Especially this hand, and especially in the winter.  Nothing seems to help and I am reluctant to continue using the prescribed cortisone.  Someone told me that it thins the skin even more.”

It turns out that this left hand is the main recipient of shampoo and the readily available, too accessible hand sanitizers out there. He agrees that perhaps the extreme use of these commercial chemicals in the cosmetics might be irritating his situation.  He had not thought of that. 

As we chat, I carefully apply our X Cream to his torn skin.  He likes the feel and is mega happy that there is no stinging.  “Feels good”, he smiles.

He buys a small X Cream and an ESP shampoo bar, promising to clean only with the soap bar, head to toe and use nothing else but the soap and the cream for the next few days.  I wish him good luck, knowing that he is on a good journey to tackling his problem.  The key: No more commercial products laden with hidden folamdehype and other skin irritating ingredients that can adversely affect so many people.  He had been to every doctor under the sun and he seemed happy to try something different.

Sunday afternoon.

He returns with friends in tow, anxious to show me his hand, grinning from ear to ear, extolling what a ‘miracle’ had occurred.  “It seems surreal”, he says.

“For the first time, I see new skin growing.  No more bleeding, still tender but coming along.  I am here to stock up on your wonderful products.  Thank you for having the passion to do truly natural products.  This has been life changing for me.”  He gently offers his hand.

Another fond memory among many of our ‘road travel’ experiences. We meet fellow Canadians from all walks of life, share stories and learn from each other.  A friendly handshake often ensues.