I’m fed up with the skin on my face.
It is extremely dry. Untreated, it will be flaking off terribly every time I exit the shower.
Treated, it doesn’t do much better. What I’ve been doing lately is washing it with a homemade, natural goat milk soap only once per day and applying moisturizer. Nonetheless, no more than 45 minutes later, my skin has soaked in all the moisturizer and is flaking again in places.
The only thing that somewhat works is to apply a thick layer of mineral oil based cold cream and leave it on all day and night. That obviously isn’t ideal, because it makes my skin look really shiny and it’s impossible to put makeup on over that.
Does anyone have any advice? Do you have dry skin, and if so, what works for you?
I should probably go to a dermatologist, but I don’t have insurance. And no, it’s not the ingredients in my soap/lotion/moisturizer/detergent/anything else. I’ve had this problem my entire life and use extremely mild and natural options for all of those products (well, besides the cold cream, but I’ve tried leaving that out and it makes my skin much worse).
I ask because a lot of people who have normal skin say their skin is dry and a certain moisturizer did wonders for them. But really any moisturizer probably would have worked.
So yeah, just curious!
One thing to look at is your washing technique. You probably already know all this but, be gentle. Blot, don’t rub.
That said, facial skin as dry as you describe is outside the range of normal, and is probably beyond the help of anything you can buy without a prescription. If you don’t have insurance to see a doctor, could you go to an emergency room (I don’t know what they would do with a non-emergency visit for dry skin, except make you wait until they had seen everyone else)? Is Medicaid available to you to help pay for a doctor visit?
In other words, I think you will not get real help without a doctor, however you can make that happen.
Roddy
Thanks, I’ll research that a bit. I’ve never heard of that.
Thanks for the advice. Yeah, asking here is sort of the last resort before seeing a doctor.
I should have insurance in February, so if things don’t improve by then, I will see a doctor.
I’ve lived with it for 19 years so apparently it is not a dangerous condition.
About washing technique - I’ve been experimenting with that lately.
My latest strange idea is to not wash the soap off my face. I figure water dries skin out, and goat milk (+ the other ingredients in the soap) act as moisturizers.
So if I just wash my face and then blot off the excess soap, I figured maybe that would be better.
Actually, it does help a bit.
I’m also thinking about washing my face every other day during times when I don’t wear makeup. I know it sounds gross, but really, my face does not get that dirty.
Plus, cold cream is technically a cleanser as well.
If anyone else has experimented with washing techniques, I’d be interested to know.
Have you tried getting all the dead, flaking skin off before you moisturize?
My father and I have ichthyosis vulgaris, a genetic skin disorder. Mine is much milder. Characteristics of the less serious forms of the disorder are your skin both producing very little oil, and your dead skin cells not shedding properly (which means the oils your skin does produce gets trapped inside your pores by a scaly layer of dead skin). If you don’t remove the dead skin, it builds up into visible fish-like scales on the surface of your skin. Hence the name of the disorder. Yes, pretty gross.
I’m not saying you have it, but it sounds like your real problem is excessive flaking dead skin, which your moisturizer is not penetrating.
I have very nice, soft, symptom-free skin as long as I manually exfoliate every 2-3 days in the shower and physically scrub off all the dead skin sticking to me, then moisturize to protect and soften the new skin I’ve exposed. I use an Asian nylon exfoliating cloth, it’s very rough, and some unscented ‘natural’ hair conditioner as a lubricant and pre-moisturizer.
My dad has more serious problems, less oil production and more scaling as well as chronically cracking skin on his hands and feet, so he only showers twice a week, uses a dermatologist- prescribed, chemical exfoliant lotion in addition to manual methods, and covers his whole body in Vaseline on non-shower days.
rhubarbarin -
I’m glad you brought up the topic of exfoliation.
I find it extremely confusing because some sources say it makes dry skin worse and some say it improves it.
I honestly do feel my skin doesn’t produce much oil. The reason is that any little part I forget to moisturize will get flaky: above the eyelids, around the nose, etc. On most people, these seem to be oily. It doesn’t even feel that dry, I guess, now that you mention it. It’s mostly the flaking part that is troublesome.
My skin does feel much better after I exfoliate but all the products I have to do that are quite expensive, so I don’t want to use them too often. I also worry that again, maybe it will make the problem worse.
Is this the kind of cloth you use?
And to confirm, you put on conditioner, rub your face with that, and then moisturize?
Yes, exactly that kind! You are right that there is a lot of conflicting info. Derms will tell you manual exfoliation is bad, but I’ve found it to be the only thing that works. Chemical exfoliants thin out and irritate your skin, and make it sun-sensitive; I have a bad feeling that the reason they are recommended is because manual exfoliation doesn’t sell products.
I use conditioner to scrub my body. My skin buildup is worst on my lower arms and legs. For my face, I use a mild, oil based cleanser, or more often, nothing at all.
There is a learning curve with scrubbing with those cloths. They are very rough. I apply an even pressure, it doesn’t feel comfy and my skin gets red; but it goes away quickly, and after my skin is smooth, flake-free, feels nice. It’s not irritated or scratched up (the way it felt after I used exfoliating gels or washes with beads or particles).
You may not have dry skin- it could be seborrheic dermatitis. Look it up. It especially occurs above or in the eyebrows and on the sides of the nose. You would need to get a prescription for that.
I checked out seborrheic dermatitis.
It doesn’t seem to fit 100% because my scalp is not affected. My skin is also not itchy or particularly red (except where I have some acne scarring from a few years ago).
Edit: Nonetheless I appreciate the suggestion.
It is certainly still possible. I guess I won’t find out until/if I go to the doctor.
Post menopause, I have extremely dry skin but the skin on my face is the worst. Even though I used to have oily skin my face gets rough after a day. I’ve tried all sorts of moisturizers and most lately a CC-cream. What works for me best is taking a loofah to my face - I know it sounds harsh but it seems to work. Moisturizers I have tried include DHC (several versions), Clinique, Almay, Neutragena, L’Oreal and Olay - there are probably several others that I can’t recall.
The sad thing is I’m only 19 years old.
Who knows how bad this will be post menopause . . .
Another concern is that leaving this dry skin to continue will definitely give me wrinkles as I get older. (Or make them worse. I’m not entirely sure how it works.)
I don’t really care but my mother says I will eventually. So I’d like to get this sorted out before that time.
I have also tried all of those moisturizers except DHC. Never heard of that. It seems like you also rely somewhat on exfoliation with the loofah. I guess I will pursue that next.
I’ll let you know if I find anything that works, Zago.
Obviously, what you’re experiencing is not normal. You don’t have to have s.d. on your scalp to have it on your face, btw. You could try the Nizoral- you don’t need a prescription for that, and it might help. Or go to the doctor. Why suffer?
I would not recommend scrubbing or exfoliation on your face if you have a problem with acne. Excessive cleaning and scrubbing prompts the oil glands to be overactive and can make your acne worse.
In my experience, a dermatologist is going to tell you in the first instance to switch to washing your face with Cetaphil. And, frankly, if your skin’s flaking off your face, changing out the homemade soap might be worth a try.
Well, it’s not like I’ve been using the same handmade soap for 19 years.
It’s just the mildest, most moisturizing I could find.
The only thing that I could think is better is to not wash my face any more (or only once in a while) and just use cream cleanser. Which . . . I dunno, that seems a bit drastic, but I may go that route if more frequent exfoliation doesn’t seem to work.
I will definitely get Cetaphil, though. I have tried it in the past, but that was years ago.
You’re washing with cool water, right? Hot water doesn’t belong on the face.
I scrub every 2-3 days with Clinique 7-Day Scrub ($19 a bottle but it lasts a long time). Then rinse and wash with Cetaphil Daily Face Cleanser. Then I put some face oil on my face, and follow up with any spot acne treatment over that.
Face oil really has me won over. It’s expensive but you use a tiny amount each day. It makes my skin more even and supple and in no way makes it break out. It was pretty flaky before (around the mouth and at the eyebrows) and now it’s not!
Unfortunately I don’t know of any oils that are cheaper than like $35. So if you want to experiment you’ll have to see if you can get a sample somehow.
I would suggest asking a medical provider, when you see one, to perform a thyroid function test. Excessively dry skin can be a symptom of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid). You should also assess how much fluid you are taking in during the day, and what kind. Dehydration shows up early in the skin, and drinks containing caffeine could exacerbate it.
I have a problem similar to yours on my forearms in the summer. Apparently I have developed a sun “allergy” in my dotage, and after the rash fades and the itching subsides I’m left with severely dry skin that seems impervious to moisturizers. I sometimes get so frustrated with it that I coat it with Eucerin intensive moisturizer (the paste-like form of Eucerin that comes in a tub) and then have to wrap my arms and leave it while I sleep. I don’t get any lasting result, unfortunately, just temporary relief.
