Remedies for overzealous exfoliation?

[mundodabolsa]

For some unknown reason last night as I was using an exfoliating glove on my body in the shower, I decided to use it on my face.

And thinking this was a good idea, I decided to scrub extra hard in these few spots that are particularly problematic.

However now, I have really red, gross patches on my face. It's like I rubbed the skin raw. And if it were all over my face, it would blend, but it's just this really acute area above my lip and on my chin. The best way to describe it is that it looks like I have poison ivy.

I'm trying to just leave it alone, putting lots of moisturizer on the spots and thinking time will heal. However there is 0 improvement today compared to yesterday.

Any other suggestions? It's really embarrassing

 

[SomethingElse]

I've done that! Just keep your skin clean (Cetaphil) and moist (coconut oil). Johnson & Johnson makes a product called "First Aid Cream". If you can find it, use it four times a day. It is mostly synthetic beeswax, and everything heals so much better with it. Here is a picture of the product. I'd do a free commercial for this stuff...

Don't pick and don't scrub your skin for seven days! Oh, and avoid the sun for a while - you have a new layer of skin coming up and if you expose it to the sun while it's growing, it will be darker than it should be. At least, that's what happens to me.

cleansweepsupply.com

 

[mundodabolsa]

thank you! until I can go buy that stuff, you gave me a great idea, I think some neosporin might be good for it tonight.

p.s. it makes me feel better to know someone else has done this to themselves

 

[miu_miu]

SomethingElse has given the best advice

I find my skin gets easily irritated from over exfolation and over cleansing. The best thing you can do is leave the skin to heal itself, keep your face clean and protected from the elements. Particularly important is protection from the sun - this is advised after all exfoliation. Use the gentlest products you can find - and hopefully your skin will improve within a few days.

Good luck, hope everything works out

 

[mundodabolsa]

thanks for the advice, I use 55 spf on my face everyday anyhow so I'm just being more cautious about reapplying throughout the day.

the neosporin worked wonders, there was huge improvment overnight! It's just hard because neosporin doesn't really absorb into the skin so I think I hurt my neck trying really hard not to sleep on top of my cheek last night.

I'm kind of encouraged now to keep using the neosporin, do you guys see any reason to not use that and the johnson and johnson cream together? Should I stick to either or?

 

[miu_miu]

Perhaps if neosporin has given good results already, you should stick with it? Since your skin is very delicate at the moment, it might be best to stick with one product only?

 

[SomethingElse]

I usually use Neosporin under a bandage. If the Neosporin is working for you, don't change. But if you get tired of having shiny places on your face from the Neosporin, try the J&J product I mentioned. It's consistency is such that it's easy to wear in public. Please check with the chemist, but I believe there would not be any problem using the products simultaneously. Hope you are feeling better!

 

[LetThemEatCake]

You're an esthetician's nightmare. I just cringe at the thought of one of those gloves on my face.

You should also switch from Cetaphil as it actually doesnt even cleanse your skin. It has wax in it and other preservatives which cause buildup, leading to you overexfoliating leading to more skin problems. So you're not solving anything. And never exfoliate on a daily basis. Limit it to twice a week.

The Neosporin underneath a bandage is a good idea. Also, get some Vitamin E tablets, puncture it with a pin and smooth it on your red patches at bedtime.

 

[kaleigh]

read up on active Manuka honey,it has amazing healing properties.

 

[mundodabolsa]

thanks everyone, I'm actually quite healed already, it's been much faster than I expected! The raw area is peeling quite a bit, which I guess means it was so damaged that new, better skin is ready to replace it. I'm definitely not touching the peeling though, letting it happen on its own.

You're an esthetician's nightmare. I just cringe at the thought of one of those gloves on my face.

And never exfoliate on a daily basis. Limit it to twice a week.

Let me ask you, if you're not actually meant to use an exfoliating glove or mitt or whatever on your face, how do you actually exfoliate your face? Is it just a matter of finding a product that has those beads already in it and washing your face with that product? I'm really clueless, this is the first in at least 10 years that I actually have good skin (thanks to the best dermatologist on the planet ), so I really know little about proper care of skin. I never cared when my skin was ugly!

 

[SomethingElse]

switch from Cetaphil...

What do you recommend as a replacement, please? I just reread the ingredients in the Cetaphil I use and I see that it has a lot of alcohol and various waxes in it.

Water, cetyl alcohol, prophylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate, stearyl alcohol, methylparaben, proprylparaben, butylparaben.

It has worked so well for me but these ingredients don't give me a lot of confidence in the long run.

 

[LetThemEatCake]

yeah, lots of parabens. Not good. And sodium laureth sulfate is meant to foam but that cleanser doesnt even foam.

First, what is your budget? How much are you willing to spend? I used to be of the belief that you had to buy expensive luxury products for perfect skin but then I got my aesthetician license and in school learned all about ingredients and that's what is key to look at. Look for plant extracts, like bladderwrack (helps penetrate) and yeast..I love the line Biologique Recherche for cleansers and toners. For exfoliating i love LOVE the Clarins Gentle Exfoliating Refiner...its fabulous. You both should get a sample at a Clarins counter and try it.
After school was over I stopped purchasing skincare from department stores pretty much because lines sold there are mostly a lot of hype, but I love a few products from Clarins...they're good but they do have fragrance in some of their stuff....Look up Biologique Recherche, Epicuren, Eminence, SkinCeuticals...these are sold in spas generally and are full of plant extracts, lipids and hylauronic acid, which binds water to the skin 1000x its weight. Is that right? Yeesh I should look over my notes. I've only been out of school six months but I love skincare and helping people with their skin...so no more using a glove on your face...your skin is so so SO thin...three layers of paper is about as thick as your skin on your face is. Be gentle to it!

Your homework is to look up those lines, and get a sample of the Clarins exfoliant. I like their gentle foaming cleanser too, but the only thing about a foaming cleanser is that it can leave residue if you dont tone afterwards to re-balance your PH and acid mantle. Anyway anymore questions you may have ask away!

 

[SomethingElse]

^ I promise to do my homework! Double karma, LetThemEatCake!

 

[lola belle]

Yeah, I had this great idea that using a loofah with no water would get rid of all three blackheads I had ... and it did, only I looked like a burn victim, it was horrible! I tried hydrocortisone cream for a few days and it helped a bit, and then I used the oil from a vitamin E caplet and smeared it all over my nose and it went away in a little under 48 hours, and it was really, really bad, I thought I'd have big scars.

I'd definitely not recommend spending big money on this.

 

[misssakura]

It never crossed my mind to scrub my face with an exfoliating mitt...o_o;

 

[Carmondie]

Skin reaction to exfoliation

I had a terrible scare recently! I do home facials on myself every week and as a result my skin looks great and I get lots of compliments. Two weeks ago I had an extra day off and did 2 facials that week exfoilating masking the whole works. The second one I did Sunday afternoon.Monday morning I woke up and looked like I had been in a car accident! My undereye area was swollen with huge purple bruises and broken blood vessels! I told everyone at work I had run into a door as I didnt want to seem vain. No amount of makeup would cover it. This has lasted two weeks only starting to fade within the last couple of days so that makeup will cover it. I was so afraid I had done permanent damage to myself and it would never go away.Now I can see that it is improving and will eventually go away. Thank God! I dont know what happened! I was using all my regular products that I love but I guess twice in one week was too much for the eye area.Has this ever happened to anyone else and were you as terrified as I was! I was even too scared to go to the Dr. and also risk looking foolish and vain.Thank
God it turned out all right!

 

[The_Ida]

You're not supposed to exfoliate the eye-area Not ever! The skin is so delicate, you shouldn't use anything not made specifically for the eye area.

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Yeah, the eye area, the eyelids, is where your skin is the thinnest on your body. Thickest is our palms and feet. That almost sounds so awful you really should have gone in and gotten on some antibiotics....please be careful!

 

[Carmondie]

What we do for beauty! Throw caution and sensibility to the wind. You can bet Ive learned from my experience and scare!