Face Battle - Week 2
As mentioned in a previous post, I had an allergic reaction to my new Avon eyelash curler. OUCH!
After treating the afflicted areas with hydrocortisone for a few days, my face had recovered for the most part. I was left with dry patches where the hives had been. Not a good thing for around the eyes. It aged me ten years! So I thought the next obvious step would moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. I proceeded to clean my face to make sure there was no hydrocortisone residue left on my face and put my night cream on. It was a little tingly at first but it wasn’t too bad. So I went to bed. After an hour, I had to get up and wash the night cream off as it was really stinging by this point. I went back to bed sans cream. I cannot remember the last time I went to bed without anything on my face.
During the night I must have been rubbing my face because when I woke up in the morning my eyes were swollen. The areas where the hives had been had seemed to plump up again. They weren’t actually hives but the area was certainly VERY irritated. I was in shock and was on the verge of tears. I didn’t dare cry because the moisture coming from my eyes stung the swollen areas. Now what to do?
I knew I had to re-treat my face again with the hydrocortisone cream but I needed to find something for super sensitive skin so I could clean and moisturise my face! I went to my local beauty counter which is Shoppers Drug Mart. The lady at the counter greeted me as I approached the counter “Hello dear how are you” and as she saw my face she said,”Oh my poor dear, what happened?” I told her my story and what I was looking for – a moisturizer for super sensitive skin that does not have any SPF in it. That would probably just irritate my skin even more.
At this point, I noticed a lady on the other side of the counter. She was staring at me with her mouth open. I asked her if it was that bad. She said sorry for staring but she never seen a reaction to an eyelash curler before. She said she felt sorry for me and hoped I recovered soon.
The beauty assistant and I went off to the moisturizer section and really scoured through them. We found a Nivea sensitive cream, an Aveeno lotion and a Neutrogena moisturizer for dry sensitive skin. After reading all the labels, I settled on the Neutrogena Oil Free Ultra Gentle Facial moisturizer for sensitive skin. It is hypoallergenic, fragrance and alcohol free. No SPF.
Then the beauty assistant said that I should probably use a different face wash in the mean time as well. So we rummaged through the multitude of face washes -washes for sensitive skin, washes for dry skin, hypoallergenic washes etc. Then the beauty assistant stood up and said, “I am such an idiot! The Vichy wash! “
I was like what? Vichy? Isn’t that expensive? She said it’s about $20.00 but Vichy has a milk cream face wash for dry sensitive skin. It would probably the best thing to help my skin recover. So off we went to find it. Vichy's Absolute Softness Cleansing Milk was was on sale for $15. Sold!
Off I went home and I washed my face with the Vichy face wash. OMG! This stuff was amazing! It was so soothing. I could have dunked my face in all day. I have been using it for a week now and I love how nice and smooth my face feels after. This face wash is a keeper. I have been using cream face washes for years. I love how moisturizing they are. They are dry skin’s best friend.
The Neutrogena moisturizer is really helping out as well. It is very moisturizing but I feel sometimes I need to reapply it during the day. It could be just my skin recovering and crying out for more hydration but I feel it doesn’t last all day like my other moisturizers do. And I am feeling a little guilty about using a moisturizer during the day that does not have any SPF in it. Until my skin has completely recovered I will continue to use it. And I am keeping my hands away from my face!!!
So far my face has recovered pretty well. A few fine lines remain :( but until I am back to using my nightcream (Arbonne's RE9 Advance) I will brave it out. Hopefully they aren't here to stay!
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