Mum credits £49 cream for soothing mystery rash
A mum, who says her confidence was ‘destroyed’ by a lasting skin rash claims a £49 cream helped to clear her skin.
Samantha Smith, 47, said she avoided friends when a mystery rash she had in childhood returned after the death of her fiancé Steve in 2009.
Smith says her skin problems began when she was around eight years old, with red rashes spreading across her face.
Her mum, Annie, took her to see a dermatologist, who suggested it could be dermatitis or eczema.
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She recalled: “My skin was so bad on my face that the dermatologist decided to bring in a team of trainees to have a little poke and prod – and I ended up fainting.
“I suffered a lot with sore patches when I was younger. I’ve always had sensitive and troublesome skin but the older I got, the worse my skin got.”
Though Smith’s symptoms persisted, she was enjoying a period of relatively clear skin when she met her late partner Steve in 2000.
She continued: “We met through my brother. Steve was living in Worcester but came to London to take me on a date. I remember spotting him walking up the street, and me and the girls from my office were giggling and watching him from the window.
“At the time, my skin wasn’t as bad. I’d have patches that came and went but it was much more manageable.”
The pair were engaged to be married when Smith gave birth to their son, Morgan, in January 2009.
Just eight months later in September, Steve was killed in a fatal accident.
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“Suddenly I was very busy,” Smith said. “I was a widow, working and raising a child. Over time, my skin got really bad.”
To try and get it sorted, Smith went to various specialists but some of the ointments she was prescribed only made the rash worse.
“It was all steroid creams. My face was so sensitive anyway that they weren’t doing it any good,” Smith explained.
“When the rash flared up it was very aggressive and painfully sore, to the point where I couldn’t even wash with plain water.”
Then, in February 2020, during a late-night trawl of the internet, she discovered Medovie, a skincare range for chronic conditions and brought a £49 3HX cream from the store after an online consultation.
Smith said that her skin cleared up within weeks - and has stayed consistently clear for the past 12 months.
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“I’d lost hope of finding a solution so I’m still in disbelief. The key thing for me was that the founder of Medovie took the time to video chat with me. Throughout the first three months of use, they checked in on me so much and were so attentive,” Smith added.
“All that time I spent at home, too self-conscious to leave the house – it’s only now I look back, that I realise how much I was missing out on. I’m making up for lost time.”
Additional reporting by PA.
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