Dry Leg Syndrome: It's Hereditary

I am getting my mother's body skin. OMG.

Okay, let me start again. Because that just sounds weird.

I am turning into my mother - physically.

My mother has always had skin issues. Her face has been OILY (with a capital everything) for as long as I can remember (she tries to wear eyeshadow, but after an hour it slides right off her eyes - I am not kidding), but her legs? Her legs have been dry as the Sahara in July. Maybe drier. I don't know. So dry that when she scratches her legs, it flakes. I know. Gross. She used to get so dry and itchy that she would scratch with a comb.

I never had that problem. I always thought she was just a freak. I had the oily face problems as a teen, but mostly grew out of it and am now normal-to-oily/combination which is totally manageable. I love skin lotions, but mostly I like them for the smell (I'm addicted right now to this Bath and Body Works one that smells like a margarita. Oh yeah.) and was never that consistent about applying them regularly. I did okay w/ applying stuff to my belly while pregnant - especially once I started to get the stretchmarks (the underside of my tummy was SOOOOOOO awful), but the rest always seemed a bit much.

Until now. My legs have gotten SOOOOOO dry. I shave with baby oil to help bring some moisture back. If I forget one day of lotion, it's manageable, but 2 days and I'm toast. My skin is like crepe paper. I cannot believe I am turning into my mom.

What's funny is, I've always had more in common with my dad's side of the family. Sure, now adays people comment when we're out about similar we look, but that has way more to do with the fact that my mom now dyes her hair auburn than anything else. Really, if her hair went back to nearly black, as it was when I was a kid, no one would get the connection. But unfortunately, I inherited 2 of her less-than-wonderful phsyical traits. Her eyesight (mine has officially gone past where hers was before she got vision implants) and now her horribly dry skin. I guess I can at least be grateful that I didn't inherit her ugly feet. (Funny story: when my mom gave birth to me and called her dad she was gushing on the phone to him about how beautiful I was, as every new mother does. She said "she has these tiny ears and this tiny nose and these sweet little feet" and my grandfather interrupted her and said "well, she's certainly not a W!" since most people from his line have big ears - grampa and all 3 of his kids, big noses - grampa and 2 out of 3 kids, and ugly feet - pretty much every relative on that side of the family.)

I guess I'd better by some more lotion. This is not going to get any better.