Help! Skin burns when I moisturize!

janny328

<3's chanel
Jul 20, 2006
1,499
0
Hi all... I'm have NO idea what is going on with my skin lately.

This is my routine: I wash my face daily and then moisturize with Aveeno face stuff. I've been using this for almost 2 years now, and it's been wonderful. I also exfoliate twice a week, and do an aspirin mask once a week. I have dry/combination skin, and I've had the same skincare regime since I started college. I also have sensitive skin, which is why I've stuck with the same routine because my face acts up if I'm erratic with my products.

But recently, when I apply eye cream and face cream (or suncreened moisturizer in the a.m.) my face BURNS. Even the area around my eyes will get this burning sensation SO badly that it gets red and I will tear up a bit. One day it got SO bad, I didn't moisturize the next day because I didn't want my face to burn, but my skin was SO dry and tight, and I was paranoid about sun damage LOL. I couldn't handle it.

Any ideas what is causing this? Should I switch products? If so, any recommendations?

Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks in advance, ladies!
 
try using baby products for a week or two... sounds like your skin is really irritated... baby products should calm it down, then you can go back to your routine...

good luck!
 
How long have you been doing the aspirin mask?

It sounds like you're exfoliating too much and you shouldn't do the aspirin mask that often either (that will really dry out and irritate your skin). If you're using a really thick paste of aspirin then you're probably peeling off too much skin since it's a Beta hydroxy acid (or derivate of salicylic acid)

Also do your moisturizers have alcohol in them?
 
Hmm.. try L'Occitane's new shea and cotton line. That whole line is fragrance free, color free, paraben free and has a minimal amount of ingredients. It's awesome for sensitive skin!
 
does your moisturizer contain AHA? That usually happens to me sometimes, but when it does I use a gentle non-exfoliating lotion at bedtime for two days and it's back to normal.
 
i bought Aveeno ultra calming cream a few months ago. my skin would burn SO bad any time i used it. i tried it maybe 5-6 times and each time it was just awful. "ultra calming", my :censor:!

i'd switch products if i were you. i gave away a whole jar of the Aveeno stuff. =/
 
I agree with previous posters.. maybe you're overdoing the exfoliating and aspirin mask? You say you've dry skin, so I don't think it's necessary for you to do it so often, at least the aspirin mask. I hope you feel better soon!
 
Thank you to everyone who replied! Face is still a little red, but I am hoping that toning it down on the exfoliation will help (if that's the problem...)

Exfoliate only once a week or only when needed.

Do you wash with a flannel or with your hands?
If you use a flannel, don't. Nobody should.

I don't use anything except my hands to lather and lightly massage my skin with cleanser. I will try to lighten up on the exfoliation... thanks!


^ agreed. i think you exfoliate a little bit too much.
you can try masks that contains fruit acid, which is good for pH balancing and skin strenghtening.
Thank you for the suggestion! I will see if I can find anything w/ fruit acid -is there any brand in particular that you recommend?


I can't go on enough about this stuff... try just plain Aquaphor at night before you go to bed. See if that will help your skin, it usually does for me when I get irritated.

I LOVE Aquaphor, I used it when I had an allergic reaction to something, but didn't realize I could use it to moisturize. Do you think it might be a tad too oily though? -Thanks for the idea


try using baby products for a week or two... sounds like your skin is really irritated... baby products should calm it down, then you can go back to your routine...

good luck!

Thank you... I will try the baby products, I'm sure they will be gentler on my face than anything out there.
 
How long have you been doing the aspirin mask?

It sounds like you're exfoliating too much and you shouldn't do the aspirin mask that often either (that will really dry out and irritate your skin). If you're using a really thick paste of aspirin then you're probably peeling off too much skin since it's a Beta hydroxy acid (or derivate of salicylic acid)

Also do your moisturizers have alcohol in them?

I've used the aspirin mask religiously for almost a year now. I used to have TERRIBLE flaky, dry skin... and if I don't do it once a week, and maintain with the bi-weekly light exfoliation, my skin looks horrible with dry, flaky bits all over my nose and chin. -Do you think it's possible that my skin has changed and I should tone it down? I'll definitely cut-down the aspirin mask, but don't know what to do to curb the flakies! (they look horrible!) Anyhow, thank you for the advice! -and my moisturizers have NO alcohol in them. I try to stay away from alcohol anything in my facial products since high school, I've found that it made my pores look big over time!


Hmm.. try L'Occitane's new shea and cotton line. That whole line is fragrance free, color free, paraben free and has a minimal amount of ingredients. It's awesome for sensitive skin!

Thank you! I will look into that, it sounds very promising!


does your moisturizer contain AHA? That usually happens to me sometimes, but when it does I use a gentle non-exfoliating lotion at bedtime for two days and it's back to normal.

I don't think it contains AHA, I specifically tried to go for something that was not "age-defying" because I just wanted a good moisturizer, but nothing loaded with anti-wrinkle chemicals, as I'm still in my early 20's and don't want to "overwhelm" my skin. Thanks for the info


i bought Aveeno ultra calming cream a few months ago. my skin would burn SO bad any time i used it. i tried it maybe 5-6 times and each time it was just awful. "ultra calming", my :censor:!

i'd switch products if i were you. i gave away a whole jar of the Aveeno stuff. =/

That's HORRIBLE! I was using the positively radiant only in the day because of the spf 30, and it came highly recommended to be from a friend, who swears by it. I've used it for a while now, and it "seemed" like nothing was wrong until it made my face burn! -Sorry that happened to you. I think after this I'll probably end up switching! Thanks for sharing your scenario


I agree with previous posters.. maybe you're overdoing the exfoliating and aspirin mask? You say you've dry skin, so I don't think it's necessary for you to do it so often, at least the aspirin mask. I hope you feel better soon!

I guess I need to stop the exoliating/aspirin mask... I guess flaky skin is not half as bad as BURNING, red skin. ;) Thanks!
 
I've used the aspirin mask religiously for almost a year now. I used to have TERRIBLE flaky, dry skin... and if I don't do it once a week, and maintain with the bi-weekly light exfoliation, my skin looks horrible with dry, flaky bits all over my nose and chin. -Do you think it's possible that my skin has changed and I should tone it down? I'll definitely cut-down the aspirin mask, but don't know what to do to curb the flakies! (they look horrible!) Anyhow, thank you for the advice! -and my moisturizers have NO alcohol in them. I try to stay away from alcohol anything in my facial products since high school, I've found that it made my pores look big over time!

thing that was not "age-defying" because I just wanted a good moisturizer, but nothing loaded with anti-wrinkle chemicals, as I'm still in my early 20's and don't want to "overwhelm" my skin. Thanks for the info

I need to stop the exoliating/aspirin mask... I guess flaky skin is not half as bad as BURNING, red skin. ;) Thanks!

You can do a biweekly exfoliation but switch to something containing fruit acids and natural enzymes, it's not so harsh but works just as well. There is a great pumpkin peel by H2T, the 5% is pretty strong and gets the job done. The aspirin mask will dry you out faster than AHA products so I'd really cut this down at this point.

It's definitely possible your skin changed. My early-midtwenites all my hormones starting changing and so did my skin, it was a nightmare but now it's under control and I'm sure around early 30s it will happen again.

Stay away from alcohol and anything with retinol, Vitamin A, etc you're too young for it, plus later on your skin would be less effected by them if you start now. You could get a nice light AHA cream for day that gradually exfoliates.

I'd recommend a good moisturizing lotion with lipoic acid, Vitamin C. Get something that's PM use that hydrates well and that should curb the flaking. Spend the money and get something good. I love anything by Epicuren, Lucrece and certain Perricone products.
 
Hi Janny I have dry sensitive skin and can't use anything with AHA, BHA, or any acid or my skin will burn and flake. I find Benefit's Dear John moisturizer very calming - it keeps my face moisturized throughout the day, gets rid of redness in seconds, and smooths out flaky areas. I stopped using DJ because I'm now using Olay's skincare (a.m.: Total Effects, p.m: Night of Olay) that's saving $ and works just as fine. In 3 weeks I see a dramatic improvement in my skin tone, texture, and pore size. Olay doesn't work for everyone though.