Product testing has gotten the best of me.
Aah! So my face is really freaking out now.
For some reason, I think too much Benzoyl Peroxide, not enough moisturizing by way of Complex 15 (which I really thought was working out but may not be for my flaky, "drier than it seems" skin), the absence of my usual vaporizer in my room, and too many hormonal issues has caused my skin to be very upset.
No real allergic reactions per se, but something is definitely wrong. I've got dry, itchy, reddish patches around my eyes and mouth and they are making me very unhappy. I recently bought some new products and I want to try them out but I don't want to do so if my face is already freaking out because then I won't know if they cause a reaction. So I have to wait for this to pass I suppose.
I am trying to go back to basics in the meantime, didn't want to do anything too extreme. I lightly washed/exfoliated with just baking soda and water today instead of using my potentially harsher sulfur soap, and then just slathered on some Vaseline in hopes that my skin would calm down. It worked for a little while.
I also made a probiotic mask (just opened up three probiotic capsules and added a few drops of cold water) and it feels like it's tightening rather nicely as it dries. I have left it on for a few minutes now... we'll see how well it works. Well, probiotics are supposed to be fantastic for your skin... and at this point, anything that will calm mine down will be a Godsend.
Any recommendations?
I should probably take an antihistamine too! Just in case it is an allergic reaction.
No pictures today, but I promise I will post some when my skin has calmed down enough for me to look pleasant!
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March 12, 2008 at 10:57 PM
Hey Swav
your skin seems to be getting naughty. I know exactly how it feels. I get that too sometimes. It could be a food allergy, esp if you took seafood. If it's an allergy, it'll just go away, the most in a week. Popping Anti-histamines will work well to combat the allergy
You can try putting hydrocortisone cream on the patches. But only use a 1% hydrocortisone cream to not thin out your skin further. stop using the benzoyl peroxide, because BP makes my skin red and they look like welts on areas that I've applied it. So if you really need it, use it as minimal as possible. BP is very drying and causes skin to redden. But I think you should stop BP to tame your skin down first
Also, try not to exfoliate for now. It may be just too harsh for your skin even if its light exfoliation. your skin is very temperamental at the moment.
Also, limit the usage of products on your face. chances are, the ingredients of each product may clash with one another.
Avoid products with alcohol, sodium laureth sulfate, witch hazel and these astringent-like ingredients. It will dry out your skin and contributes more to your red dry patches. Use vaseline on them, it's ok if you're not prone to breakouts. Vaseline is very pure and wont irritate your skin. If not, I recommend to switch to a really light moisturizer, just enough to keep off the dryness. I used
Use a calming cleanser to wash your face like Neutrogena's Cream Cleanser. It is not drying and doesnt have potentially irritating ingredients in it. skip the toner and u can go straight to moisturization. But as minimal as possible, only enough to keep dryness away
I hope your skin is back to normal soon. Let me know how it goes
March 12, 2008 at 11:20 PM
Thanks Beauty Tyrant! I appreciate the help :)
I think what may have caused the problem also was the fact that I applied Cetaphil cleanser, which I gave up on a while ago but for some reason gave a second chance... and it's loaded with Sodium Laureth Sulfate and alcohol. I unknowingly applied, waited a little while (thinking it was "moisturizing") and then washed it off. I am pretty sure thats where this excessive dryness began.
Anyway, the past day or two I have been cutting out most things, including BP... I just stopped it on those areas and I've been applying a lot of Vitamin E Oil (which I will be posting about momentarily) on the areas. They have calmed down A LOT. I also took some Claritin for an antihistamine. No more flakes or burning as of now! Yay!
I am 95% back to normal at this point... just a little bit of unsettled bumps in the previously dried areas, no extreme itching or pain though like before.
Thank you again for the help though!
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