Angela K,
Thanks for making this thread active again. It was a good review for me. I hope that it helps you too.
Starbright, lotion and oils are good. Sometimes I really need lotion and deliberately don't use it. I struggled with allowing myself to use moisturizer, and rebelled every time someone on one of my email lists said to use moisturizer, but finally was able to do that.
One of the best things for me is to hold my dog or my cat. Although I have several pets, I am blessed with one dog and one cat who each just love being held on my lap, and will stay there as long as I need them to, and they seem pretty sensitive to comforting me, and I feel like they understand when I'm feeling bad, and I don't have to find words to explain it to them. A soft toy animal might not be quite the same, but I have gotten a lot of comfort that way too.