Oh, boy. What do you do when you find that you are terribly allergic to that mini-horse you were playing with, and you have one hour to get ready for a dressy church event? Your eyes are a swollen mess, your nose is plugged or running like crazy, and you can barely breath. Follow these simple steps to relief!
1. Take a Claritin or non-drowsy antihistamine immediately. Take a whiff from your inhaler if you have one.
2. Get in the shower immediately, wash down and shampoo. Try, try, TRY not to rub your eyes!
If you have peppermint or rosemary oil in the house, throw a few drops in the shower to inhale as you bathe away the dander.
3. After you get out of the shower, wrap up your hair and do a neti pot nasal irrigation. This will get rid of any of the dander that is still up yer nose. Do a keyword search of “neti pot” on this blog and read the archives if you have no idea what I mean. This is the best entry.
4. Soak 2 cotton rounds with witch hazel if you have some. If not, just ice water will do. Place them on your eyes and put two ice cubes on top of the cotton. Recline for 10 minutes.
5. Use allergy-relief eye drops.
6. Since your face will be dried out by now, apply a rich moisturizer, but not under your eyes.
7. If you have an anti-puffing eye serum, pat it on and let dry.
8. Go light on the make-up. Make sure to apply foundation around your ruddy nose and T-zone, but apply concealer under your eyes LAST, as you may need less than you think. Tap the product on with your pinkie finger.
9. Use blush and an illuminating powder on your cheekbones but nothing shimmery on your eye. Keep eye make-up minimal. I will probably use a gel eyeliner in black and lots of waterproof mascara, and wear my glasses.
10. Don’t wear red lipstick, as it will only make your face look puffier. Stick to something lower-key, like a nice peachy-neutral gloss.
The culprit.
OH NO! So sorry that this happened to you! The horse was awefully cute, though. 😉 I hope you made it through your evening alright.
Oh my goodness…I hope that you are okay! [I’m fine! Just puffy! thanks! – PB]
My church secretary knows that her scented candle can make me feel VERY bad…sinus stuff. We agree that she might have to snuff it sooner rather than later.
Ugh, allergy attacks when you have to be somewhere are the worst! I once had 3 back to back classes right after I worked my job as a research assistant out in the field. The day the ragweed bloomed, I’d spend the 3 hours afterwards in agony with my nose and eyes running and near constant sneezing. I don’t know how I made it through class.