alabasterbabydoll

[alabasterbabydoll]

Simone Ferriero  -  https://simzart.tumblr.com  -  https://www.youtube.com/c/simoneferriero  -  https://www.reddit.com/user/Simz88  -  https://discordapp.com/invite/r7zcB6a  -  https://www.facebook.com/simoneferrieroart  -  https://www.redbubble.com/es/people/simzart  -  https://www.instagram.com/simz.art  -  https://www.twitch.tv/simzart  -  https://ko-fi.com/simzart  -  https://www.patreon.com/simz  -  https://twitter.com/SimzArts  -  https://linktr.ee/simz.art

[alabasterbabydoll]

my soul personified, stalking the room screaming: I AM A GENUIS! GENIUS! THE BOUNDS PLACED ON MY GENIUS ARE CAST OFF!

the clown: oh okay, vibe *sleeps*

[alabasterbabydoll]

*picks skin because has acne, has acne because picks skin*

[alabasterbabydoll]

I was talking with some fandom folks recently, and they made me think about the fact I’ve rarely (if ever, really) seen a character in fiction who skinpicks in a realistic fashion. I’ve picked for my entire life, and hey, I want to see some of those neurotic characters that I identify with picking, too! Give me rough skin and old scars, thanks. Not every tic is pretty.

(For me, skinpicking doesn’t feel like self-harm. It’s just something I do without thinking about it… I’ve tagged it that way because I know other people do it consciously as self-harm, though.)

[alabasterbabydoll]

[alabasterbabydoll]

me when i have dermatillomania

[alabasterbabydoll]

[alabasterbabydoll]

[alabasterbabydoll]

Not to promote self harm but god I fucking miss it so much

[alabasterbabydoll]

im sick!! im disgusting!! im imperfect!!

[alabasterbabydoll]

Hey! Guess what I didn’t see many drawings of this task and I think is important that people know more about it… This is not exactly dermatillomania obviously but sometimes it’s good to see this kind of problems in a different way to understand them and overcome them. It’s not like I try make it look like something good but due to the fact that there is not a lot of information of this you can get to the point of feeling lonely and ashamed. Maybe this drawing could help someone to feel better, I hope so, so they don’t feel like they’re alone and that their dermatillomania or any bfrb (body focus repetitive behaivior) define them.                         This kind of art can help other people and even ourselves to understand this things in a different way, so don’t be afraid to express it in the way you want to! You can write about it, draw or whatever. Just do it

do it(?

[alabasterbabydoll]

I may make this a zine later but for now here’s a list while i’m thinking about it: 1) Accept it happened so you can move on Obsessing over how you picked isn’t going to unpick your skin, but keeping yourself agitated about it might stress you out enough to go back for round two.

2) DON’T EXFOLIATE A WOUND DO NOT use exfoliating face wash within a good 48 hours of picking.  We don’t exfoliate gashes, we shouldn’t exfoliate facial wounds either.

3) Gentle face wash I use Cetaphil daily facial cleanser. Try not to scrub or pull at your face too hard or you might open up your wounds more and delay healing.  Aggressively sanitizing your face usually only does more damage & can hurt the integrity of the rest of your skin (your sheild!), leaving you open to getting painful deep cystic acne from any passing dirt in the air.  If you have an especially deep wound, GENTLY! wash it out.  If it feels kinda zingy like a splinter (like there is something Not Right in there) use an antibiotic cream.  Avoid things like hydrogen peroxide, as tempting as it is, it mostly just bleaches and flakes up your skin and makes things very painful, dry, and difficult to heal.

4) Gentle moisturizer As soon as you pat your face dry, slap some moisturizer on there to keep in that precious healing energy.  Make sure to use an unscented uncolored (?) (unpigmented?) moisturizer that is at least marginally suitable for use on / around wounds.  Again, you don’t want to irritate your skin further.  If nothing else, having itchy, burny skin is going to make you hyper aware of it & that tends to be ermm bad for derma.  (e.g. i learned that even though my snail face cream is really nice on closed scabs, i don’t want to use it within 24 hrs of picking or else it burns) I use an aquaphor (what people use on healing tattoos) knockoff for the really bad wounds & I use neutrogena hydroboost gel-cream for all-over gentle moisture. 5) Leave it alone Slap a bunch of bandaids over it or put on some gloves if you need to.  Distract yourself with something until you no longer feel that vibrational pull to the mirror.  Your skin (mostly) knows what it’s doing.  It can repair itself, but just like with tattoos and piercings, the more you fuss over it, the more you risk it getting messy.  Look out for signs of infection over the next few days & take them seriously. In the meantime, you can try using Distracting techniques like watching a show you like / listening to music / taking a shower / scrolling tumblr to get your brain to Chill.  Whatever works for you.

Good luck  <3 Side Note: Other people are oblivious.  I know that paranoia where it feels like the world is staring at your inflamed face.  Even when people notice, they tend to think it’s your standard acne.  AND Those who would recognize it as self-inflicted are usually other people with dermatilliomania (and are probably experiencing some sort of “same hat!!!” feeling).  When you’re feeling really paranoid / self-conscious, you can try wearing sunglasses to hide a bit of your face, it helps a lot for me (even though my sunglasses don’t cover a whole lot, it makes me FEEL covered and that’s all that’s important.  Whatever helps you get out of the house afterwards)

[alabasterbabydoll]

i just want to bleed

[alabasterbabydoll]

[alabasterbabydoll]

[Dermatillomania]

It feels like brushing my hand over a surface vandalized by stickers, I feel the need to pick them off even if I know it’ll damage the walls.

_(:з」∠)_

I was thinking about posting this on instagram, but this particular topic was so personal that I couldn’t bring myself to given the amount of people who follow me there orz but I also didn’t want to post it without giving some sort of awareness to this disorder. Maybe sometime in the future I’ll have the courage to hhh,, Also, I tend to draw cheerful artworks when I’m venting about anything, so this drawing in no way intends to downplay the severeness of this disorder. My main focus was simply expressing how the urges feel like from my perspective, :’^))

[alabasterbabydoll]

Hi! Ive seen you answer some skincare stuff here, sorry if this isnt the right place/time. So i have a small skincare routine that would probably work fine if i could just keep my hands off my face. Anytime there's a mirror i have to find something on my face to squeeze or pop or scratch and i cant seem to stop. I have a lot of scars from this and extended zits (?) That are more blood than pimple. Do you have any advice on how i can stop bothering my face and just leave it alone?

I’m sorry, friend! I deal with this too, it’s called dermatillomania and it’s pretty common, so don’t worry!

Here are some ideas that might help:

wear gloves when you can

get rid of tweezers or other tools

use a gentle exfoliant once a week

if you get the urge to pick, use lotion on your hands so your hands are a bit slippery and it’s less easy to pick

keep your nails short, or alternatively keep them long and fancy with fake nails

cover or avoid mirrors

use a fidget toy, knit, or do something else to occupy your hands

if you get the urge to pick, try rubbing an ice cube on the spot instead

put a bandaid on the bad areas if you can tolerate it

stick stickers onto things like your notebook, desk, or phone case and pick/peel them off instead of your face!

talk to a dermatologist about scars and acne

getting on acne medication might seriously change your life and help!

also, talking to a therapist about it might be useful. Skin picking is sometimes but not always a symptom of OCD, and being on a med for my mental health has helped reduce my picking somewhat.

Good luck!– Mimi

[alabasterbabydoll]

a little different than the art i usually post on here, but... dermatillomania, huh?