Emergency face disaster - SOS!

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I woke up and went to the kitchen this morning and my mom screamed that my face was bright red - I rushed to the mirror and I have flaming, angry red cheeks that look as if the top layer of the skin has been burnt off. I have an important meeting tomorrow - someone please help me calm my skin down! I used to wash my face twice a day with Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash - it worked just fine for years. Suddenly, they changed it from red logo to black logo and the formula felt different, and I was getting more lather, more breakouts and dry skin. So the SA recommended Vichy Normaderm deep cleansing gel, as it contains 2% salicylic acid like the Neutrogena. I did a patch test and then tried it once a day for the last 10 days - nothing happened. So I washed my face with it twice yesterday and this is the result. That's the story. My questions are: 1. Could someone tell me how I can calm my skin and make it look less parboiled - I applied Cetaphil Moisturising Lotion now and I could feel the soreness and burning so I rinsed it off and am applying ice. 2. Could someone please recommend a replacement daily face wash that is most similar to the Neutrogena one? I have combination skin and am prone to breakouts, but this is the first time my skin has burnt off. Thanks!

 
If you have any sudacrem put that on your face. I know you might think its weird but trust Me it works

 
Originally Posted by BeautyJunction /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I did a patch test and then tried it once a day for the last 10 days - nothing happened. So I washed my face with it twice yesterday and this is the result.
Do you have a different morning/night routine?  I wonder if maybe anything you applied after washing your face on the 2nd attempt may have been different from the once a day test results.

Some of the girls who do at-home glycolic peels might be able to step in with some suggestions on things you can apply to your face to help soothe it.

 
No, I normally wash in the morning and at night, apply moisturiser afterwards and makeup (tinted moisturiser, eyes, lips) if I go out. Yesterday being Saturday, I didn't apply makeup - just the wash and my regular Shiseido moisturiser. Six hours later, you can see the tight, very shiny patches on both cheeks where the skin seems to have burnt off. There is this weird outline around the patch on the left cheek, which is darker in colour. And yes, still two angry red patches. A lot of ice later, burning has gone down and I haven't washed or applied anything (I don't have Sudacrem either). Is there any way I can get to the meeting tomorrow looking like a human being? Please! Anything!

 
Do not put anything on your face today. Just wash with mild soap and put a very thin layer of hydrocortisone with aloe at least twice today. It will reduce the redness but as for the patches, you might want to put blistex tonight and hope they come off tmrw morning.

 
Thanks - I slept with a tonne of Cetaphil moisturiser on. Didn't use face wash in the morning - just splashed in the shower, moisturised again and didn't apply makeup apart from lippy, eyes and light dusting of loose powder (first time in my professional life without foundation). It wasn't too bad - I moisturised again during the day and used blotting papers and loose powder frequently for the shine. A couple of colleagues asked me what was going on, but I got through. I went to see my derm and she said I'm allergic to the SLS in the facewash. Wow! She's prescribed an aloe cleansing gel instead.

 
DONT use soap. Your skin is very irritated right now. Ice/cold water is fine, and it probably makes it feel better. Let your skin breathe..I wouldn't put anything on it. Even if it's aloe or something gentle, it could still hurt it. Don';t touch our face. Avoid using hot water. If it's cold there, don't let the heat blow directly on your face. Just leave it alone for now. If it's as bad as it sounds, it's not psoriasis or anything. It's just irritated and needs to repair itself.
 

 
Oatmeal is super soothing to irritated skin. I just did an oatmeal mask tonight because my skin was feeling a bit off balance. You can even cleanse with it. Grind some whole, raw oats up in a coffee grinder, blender or food processor til it's a very fine powder. Mix enough liquid honey into it to make a very thick paste. Add just enough water to this mixture to make it a good consistency for spreading on the skin. You can even add some fresh, ripe avocado to this, which will moisturizer the skin. You can leave this on overnight with no negative effects. In the morning just use a cool, damp cloth to moisten the masks and rinse it off. It will leave your skin clean, soft & much much less irritated. Keep any left over mask in the fridge. You can use this mask every night with no negative effects. It's very gentle & calming for all skin types. You can use this mixture to cleanse your face every night as well. Just dampen your face and gently massage it into your skin, then rinse off with cool water. Pat dry, don't rub. You likely won't feel the need for moisturizer right after but if you do, try using just pure jojoba oil massaged into the skin until your problem has completely cleared up. It's best to avoid anything that might irritate your problem, even the preservatives & emulsifiers in skin care products. If you want to use foundation during this time, use only mineral foundation that's totally free of bismuth oxychloride. That includes MAC's products especially. Look for a product that has titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, and iron oxides - and perhaps kaolin clay. Nothing else. The zinc oxide will help heal your skin up while covering up your redness somewhat. The rest if the ingredients are very unlikely to irritate your skin further. If you want to order a good brand online, Monave makes great loose mineral foundations that are very affordable. Their liquid/cream foundations are also very good quality & free of anything that would cause any problems for you. Good luck.

 
Originally Posted by satojoko /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Oatmeal is super soothing to irritated skin. I just did an oatmeal mask tonight because my skin was feeling a bit off balance. You can even cleanse with it.

Grind some whole, raw oats up in a coffee grinder, blender or food processor til it's a very fine powder. Mix enough liquid honey into it to make a very thick paste. Add just enough water to this mixture to make it a good consistency for spreading on the skin. You can even add some fresh, ripe avocado to this, which will moisturizer the skin. You can leave this on overnight with no negative effects. In the morning just use a cool, damp cloth to moisten the masks and rinse it off. It will leave your skin clean, soft & much much less irritated. Keep any left over mask in the fridge. You can use this mask every night with no negative effects. It's very gentle & calming for all skin types.

You can use this mixture to cleanse your face every night as well. Just dampen your face and gently massage it into your skin, then rinse off with cool water. Pat dry, don't rub. You likely won't feel the need for moisturizer right after but if you do, try using just pure jojoba oil massaged into the skin until your problem has completely cleared up. It's best to avoid anything that might irritate your problem, even the preservatives & emulsifiers in skin care products.

If you want to use foundation during this time, use only mineral foundation that's totally free of bismuth oxychloride. That includes MAC's products especially. Look for a product that has titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, and iron oxides - and perhaps kaolin clay. Nothing else. The zinc oxide will help heal your skin up while covering up your redness somewhat. The rest if the ingredients are very unlikely to irritate your skin further. If you want to order a good brand online, Monave makes great loose mineral foundations that are very affordable. Their liquid/cream foundations are also very good quality & free of anything that would cause any problems for you.

Good luck.
I second the bolded statement. I've used normal oatmeal straight out of the package on my face and it kept it very calm and not so blotchy.

 

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