When I was younger, I tanned instantly and went the kind of golden brown that you now get out of an expensive bottle. My hair was white blonde and quite frankly I probably looked a bit odd, but I was glad that unlike my family, I could go brown without burning first - I was the lucky one. 

That soon changed. As I grew up and coincidentally (or not) after a big allergic reaction aged 18, my skin became very, very sensitive. If you've read any of my beauty posts you've probably gathered that I still have sensitive skin and now have to be very careful about anything I use (not ideal when you're a beauty writer!) - I can't even spray perfume onto my skin, so make do with spritzing my clothes. 

All this is annoying but I can live with it, especially now I've found my trusty brands to stick to (Avene, E45 and occasionally Liz Earle). But when it comes to going on holiday, for the past eight years I have often dreaded going away because I know my skin won't cope with the heat, or even worse, the suncream. 

Allergies

Until recently I thought that the awful - and I really do mean awful, it covers my arms and legs like an extra layer of alien skin - prickly heat or heat rash was just down to the heat since I'm not great in hotter weather in general, but I couldn't understand why I got it so very bad, to the point that my doctor has to give me steroids on my return from the holiday. I just did a quick Google search and can't find a photo that does it justice - mine was so terrible I even had tests to see if I had a 'sun allergy' but they came back to say I was perfectly normal (insert joke about second opinion here).

Then I started reading up on suncreams and finding out that if you're sensitive, it might be that you're allergic to the chemical filters that give them their SPF - and suddenly it all made sense. I had tried so many brands - Ambre Solaire, Soltan, Nivea, Malibu - but my skin always had an instant rash the moment I was on holiday and became increasingly itchy with use. I can't be certain that I am allergic, but I'm making a pretty good guess that I am; and this year may even have proved it...

Avoiding prickly heat and allergies in the sun

Armed with this info and after asking around, I decided that as I was going on my longest holiday ever this year (a whole 2 weeks - post on it to come), I needed to be prepared. So, I wanted:

1) Something from my doctor 

2) An allergy-friendly sun cream 

3) Something to give quick relief if heat rash appeared. 

The first was easy - though I'd heard about getting cortisone injections pre-holiday, my doctor wouldn't agree but did give me Telfast, a prescribed anti-histamine. You're generally meant to take one a day, but she said to increase it to two (one morning, one night time) and start taking them two weeks before I was due to leave. They didn't make me too drowsy, but when I started to feel the effects I dropped down to one a day and they still did the job. 

The second involved a bit of research, but I decided on Piz Buin's Allergy range (the Aftersun is lovely), Ultrasun sun cream, and Avene's tinted SPF 50 for the face which was ideal for going makeup free on the beach. I genuinely feel like these discoveries have changed my life, and yes, I realise that makes me sound like an idiot. The Ultrasun only needs applying once a day and has no fragrance, rubs in deliciously and feels good on the skin - and I had no allergies or rashes in sight. I couldn't believe it - I was in the same country as where I had my worst hit of skin reaction two years ago and yet there wasn't a patch of redness to be seen. Ultrasun, you rock.

The third is so simple but utterly brilliant - Aqueous Cream with Calamine. This stuff is magical. It costs about £1 for a pot from your local chemist or Boots and it's cooling, calming and moisturising in one. I used it on sunburn (I stupidly managed to burn on the last day) and the tiniest hint of heat rash (which only appeared on day 10 of the holiday - miracle!) and within half an hour it had disappeared. Now I am never without the stuff, even at home.

So, it's only taken eight years but I think I've finally worked out the formula for keeping prickly heat away - I still can't cope too well with the hot weather and have to be pretty obsessive about my skin, but it's all worth it if I can go out without looking down at my arms and wanting to cry. I'll never buy a different sun cream again. 

Do you suffer with sensitive skin? What products do you swear by?

*Update*
It's important to point out here that I may have used the term 'prickly heat' too loosely - I'm pretty sure I am allergic to most sunscreens due to their many chemicals but prickly heat is something which is caused by blocked, sweaty pores and too much heat. That said, the above made sure I had no allergies and no prickly heat so I hope it works for you!

You might also find my more recent column on Get The Gloss helpful - here's my ultimate guide to SPF for sensitive skin, and my top ten sun creams for sensitive skin. 

*UPDATE* I've written a new piece on how to stop prickly heat on Get The Gloss with some great expert advice - check it out and hope it helps! x

When I was little, my favourite shop to go into with my mum was a place in Lindfield called Witchcraft; a beautifully quaint little gift shop which was full of soaps in the shapes of roses, dolphins and stars, bath pearls that melted into water to make it soft and scented, and all kinds of gorgeous smelling bath products that I couldn't get enough of and happily sniff all day.

AEOS, or Active Energised Organic Skincare, instantly reminded me of Witchcraft because of the lovely scents in their products. We all know I have a super sensitive skin type, which usually means I steer clear from fragrances, but if I'm careful I tend to be OK with organic products - something I definitely need to research more. A few patch tests later and I've discovered AEOS is on my 'safe' list - and thank goodness for that.

It's refreshing to find a range that really is all about the ingredients; AEOS use the 'living energy' of the natural ingredients to create skincare products loaded with effective plant extracts and essential oils. The brand has its own bio-dynamic Shire Farm where most of the ingredients are grown and the rest are from organic farms around the world. Their philosophy is to look after the activity and balance of the soil, which leads to the strength and the vitality of the plant, which provides optimal effects on the skin. Yes, it's all a bit scientific, but good to know how it works from the moment it's in the soil to the moment you're putting it on your face.

Apart from the scent, the first thing that struck me when I took a look at the products was the colour; not toxic and bright like so many others but subtle yet distinct. Apparently, this is down to 'spagyric tinctures', or liquid gems and crystals that are said to energise the ingredients. 

AEOS have a three-phase system: Renewal, Rebalance and Replenish. With oils, lotions and exfoliators to renew the skin, conditioners and hydrating mist to rebalance and serums to lock in moisture, they've worked out exactly what your skin needs and how to get it from natural sources. Even better, the products are light and dewy on the skin, and smell like they belong in a five star spa (or Witchcraft if you know Lindfield well). I've added them to my beauty Christmas list...

Disclosure: I received the AEOS products from a PR friend to try out for the blog. 

Sorry Sanctuary, the secret's out. After attending a very well planned blogger event at The Sanctuary Spa last summer, I finally got around to trying out the wonder product that all the therapists and PRs were raving about - the Therapist's Secret Facial Oil. 

Now, as we know, I have the most sensitive skin in the world (fact, I don't need a survey) and we also all know that faces are possibly the most sensitive area of sensitive skins - and the last place you would want to cause problems since your colleagues and, well, people have to look at it every day. They don't have a choice. 

So I was very hesitant about giving this a go. First, I tried it on my wrist. All good. Then on the inside of my elbow. Still all good. Then behind my ear (which was worryingly close to the face, but Twitter assured me it's the best test. And you have to trust Twitter.) All good. Then: the face.

Hallelujah! No allergic reaction, no redness, no nothing. And the best part? This beauty product actually does what it claims to do. 

The oil looks a lot like olive oil but has a gorgeous light sunflower scent to assure me it's not. In a slick glass bottle (I like to see what's going on my face, so this gets a tick), the lid has a dropper so there is no risk of wasting any of it - just drop what you need into your hand and enjoy the fact that this bottle (30ml) will last a long, long time. It claims to be a 'super charged plumping treatment for younger-looking skin'. It's made with pure oils of sunflower, jojoba, wheatgerm, rosehip seed oil, rose, and frankincense. And it's paraben free.

The lovely Lipgloss86 advised me to use it a few times a week, at night - that way, it has time to sink in and you don't have to worry about keeping your makeup on after. It also means you can rinse off in the morning to get rid of any that hasn't sunk in. This was a great tip since I'd already tried it in the mornings and didn't love it as a base (though this is one way of using it). Plus, once you've got it on, you won't want to cover it up with anything else - it's too luxurious. 

The only word that works to really explain how this oil makes my skin feel is 'nourished' - sorry to sound like Davina. The winter has brought back a bout of awful dry skin for me that E45 cream was barely managing to keep up with - until now. I've been using the oil every other evening plus always on the night before a night out, and it's given me the softest skin I have had in a long time. It isn't greasy, it smells good, and it definitely does plump the skin to make it more radiant. I'm not sure about the 'younger' bit yet, since I am having age issues (see other blog posts) and don't want to think about whether my skin looks old or not. But I will still be using this product when I'm 30, that's for sure.

A skin-saver that I'm not allergic to? That is a beauty regime I can get along with... 

Have you tried it, or any other Sanctuary products that are worth mentioning?

Disclosure: I received this oil as part of a goody bag at a bloggers event at The Sanctuary

I'm in completely the wrong job. I write about spa treatments and beauty products for a living and yet I have to limit my tried-and-testeds to things which involve very few products, or only products I trust - because I have sensitive skin. That might sound like a very normal thing to have but trust me, it's a nightmare. I have to stick to brands that I know and have used for years, not because they're the best but because I won't turn red when I use them. I've had some nasty allergic reactions to products before and it's made me very cautious - E45 cream and Dove shampoo are now my luxuries. Even water can be my skin's worst enemy, as London is one of the worst places in the UK for hard water. 

That's why when I do find something new that I can actually use without wearing a bag over my head for the following week, I get quite excited. The lovely ladies over at Pegasus sent me over two products to try from the Avène Eau Thermale range - the Soothing Hydrating Serum and the Hydrance Optimale Rich Hydrating Cream with SPF 20. And I can tell I'm about to be hooked on them. 

One look at the packaging was all it needed for me to be interested - when you've got sensitive skin you know not to look for glitzy covers or illustrations. Simple, clinical almost and covered in information about the product, they looked like something I could try. I had a little read about the brand - the products use Avène Thermal Spring Water to soothe and hydrate skin, based on the well known principles of hydrotherapy. 

A few facts about Avène water: