Atopy is a wretched affliction. It has plagued me almost all my life. In childhood it appeared as infant eczema in the creases of my joints. I remember how, as a child, my arms were covered in thick scabs and at its worst the skin was completely weeping. I remember spending both my 15th and my 20th birthdays on a hospital ward. In those days the skin was treated during a stay on the ward.
Pregnancies and having children eased the condition for several years, only for it to return worse than before. After the age of forty nothing seemed to relieve the maddening itching and scratching. Modern treatment is more effective, but on its own it does not help when the chemical load in the environment is considerable. Clothes are on the skin all the time, and the detergent residues in them have irritated the skin to varying degrees. When my skin has been at its worst, it has not tolerated even laundry detergents for sensitive skin.
I remember from a couple of decades ago how a fellow teacher always praised the excellence of Marseille soap. At the time I did not understand how versatile the product is. When the need then became great and I had to find a truly non-irritating laundry detergent, those words came back to me. Tero spoke wise words. In the wake of the Spain trip, the Marseille laundry detergent we developed ourselves has turned out to be a real top product!
