Winter is back, and that means making sure that you and your body modifications stay warm. The cold can cause the skin to get brittle, hence causing splits and bleeding on your body mod; and a higher risk of downsizing and infection. It’s more important than ever to keep your body mods and tattoos moisturized, so that it combats the chance of the skin getting brittle. Clean daily, moisture more daily; you know the deal. 🤗 Hot showers are great to warm up and wash your body mods, but remember that taking a hot shower can dry out your skin as well; and if you have to go out in the cold having already dry skin and being exposed to more causes even more irritation to the area. Don’t rub on the skin when it’s itchy, gently tap it until the itch goes away. Causing friction on brittle skin can cause tearing; which is an entirely other problem. I recommend heated gloves, heated socks, a heated scarf, a heated vest, and something you can wear around your face to cover your nose and mouth; like a crocheted piece. You can find those on Etsy, or look up free patterns for them online. Metal jewelry is harder to wear in the cold, and in turn the cold makes it colder and you could get frostbite on the area if exposed for too long with no cover. I usually wear stone plugs during this time because the cold isn’t so severe with the jewelry as compared to metal jewelry. Wood is a really good option, but a lot of us can’t do wood; and I personally cannot without some form of tape. 😔 Silicone is a really good option in a pinch, but it can cause friction, and causing friction results with more chances of your skin to rip. For me, winter can be some of the worst times for my body mods. I have a weak immune system, so I’m susceptible to more things than other people. Overall, I would recommend stone. Metal is a big risk, wood causes too much irritation in a lot of people, and silicone can cause friction. If you need to shower with your plugs in, just switch them to the metal ones and shower. After you get out you can switch them back to the stone ones. If you repeatedly shower with the stone plugs the water can widely away at the jewelry, with causes them to snap; and you’re out a pair of jewelry. I use cocoa butter lotion to make everything moisturized. I also use vitamin E oil, but not as much as the cocoa butter lotion. On my experience, vitamin E oil is great to have your body mods remain elastic and ready for stretching, and cocoa butter lotion maintains them when you’re not stretching. That’s what worked for me, so this is still my personal opinion. You can honestly find vitamin E oil at the dollar tree, and it’s just the same as a high end one. You can find the photo below of the cocoa butter that I use. ⬇️ You can find this at Walmart. This bottle alone has lasted me over a year and a half, and I use it multiple times daily. If you need a great bang for your buck, this is an amazing product for the price, and amount of product you get. Dollar tree sometimes has decent sized bottles of vitamin E oil and you can grab multiple for under 10.00 Those have lasted me almost a year now. Body modification is an expensive passion, and sometimes you really need something affordable. I don’t see the harm in saving a few dollars here and there for a cheaper product when it does the same as a high end one. If it works, it works. And don’t based this off of my own experiences. What works for me, might not work for you; and vice versa. Everything is try and try again, and hits or misses. That’s how you build experience. It’s okay to learn from others, but no one knows you better than yourself. So it’s like working out the kinks to find what best works for YOU. Keep your body mods safe out there! 🥶❄️🧤🧣
