Very dry, red, painful skin on face. Help needed from knowledgeable folks.

[MilkTrance]

- I am white, with pink-undertones, and otherwise very pale skin
- The redness is patchy and is worst after showering. It does not matter what water I use to shower in; I have lived with hard water, soft water, well water and city water, and my skin is always irritated.
- I don't wash with soap
- I wear makeup about once or twice a week, but even when I was not using any makeup for a few months, my skin was still red and sore.
- I have tried washing only with water
- I have tried: olive oil, emu oil, grapeseed oil, nothing (skin turns into sandpaper), various cosmetic products (various organic products like Burt's Bees and Avalon organics; Body Shop; Aveda; Nivea; home made potions and lotions)
- I always seem to have lots and lots of dead skin on my face
- Estheticians have told me that my skin is prone to wrinkling because I don't "moisturize enough." If only they knew how MUCH I moisturize and that I've tried EVERYTHING.
- I have had this problem as long as I can remember. I was formula fed; my mother smoked, and 9 years of my life were spent living in a town with 3 pulp mills. Related?
- I eat dairy. Related?
- I have to eat lower carb or I blow up like a balloon. So I can't eliminate all animal proteins, in case that is advice.

Well, please help. I just had a shower, washed with water, and put on some emu oil because my skin was sandpapery. Now I look like a tomato. And my skin's surface is STILL dry.

[Meiri]

No immediate suggestions, but have you researched Rosasea to see if that's what you might be dealing with?

A good bit of moisturizing needs to be from within; are you drinking enough water? Is there enough fat in your diet? You don't want over 30% of calories to be from fat for general health, but there's such a thing as too little too.

Are your thyroid numbers good? What's your hair doing? How are you feeling in general?

[notwonamesalike]

I was just going to suggest rosacea as well. I have the same problem.

I use Desowen (prescription) twice a day and it seems to help.

[SageR]

I had a really hard time finding a face care routine that worked for me too. I've never been able to tolerate soap. Cleansers were always to harsh, moisturizers didn't do enough, oils did too much...I avoided washing because by skin got too dry but then I was flaky and breaking out because my skin wasn't clean. I drink a ton of water, eat organic including good fats, get lots of exercise...I kind of gave it up for a lost cause.

But, I've been using a combination of rose water and glycerin as an all in one cleanser, toner, and moisturizer since Christmas and it is so lovely! After a few weeks of that my skin calmed down enough so I can use plain old baking soda as a once week exfoliant. My face actually looks dewy - in the middle of a Maine winter. I think the ratio is 1 part glycerin to 3 parts rosewater but I'm not positive. Different ratios might work better for different people anyway.

I'd certainly look into an underlying cause but in the meantime rose water and glycerin are relatively cheap, it might be worth a try. Just make sure you get real, distilled rose water. Most of the stuff I've seen even in health food stores is either water with rose oil or has alcohol/coloring added. I had to order some hydrosol online (which doesn't end up being exactly cheap but you don't use very much so it lasts a long time).

[swd12422]

I second the glycerin recommendation. I have horribly dry skin and live in a dry climate, and my skin kept drying out more and more as winter went on. So I tried all the different oils and they made it WORSE (something about sealing your skin so it can't absorb any moisture, or breathe, for that matter).

I use a 1:1 mix of water and glycerin and it works great. I think I'm going to try Sage's rose water suggestion though!

[OSTC]

I just wanted to warn you that I would do a test spot w/ glycerin first... I have really sensitive skin and at first glycerin worked amazing and then it started to sting when I used it and my skin was incredibly red and painful...

[jennymamame]

We have the same skin

i am otherwise completely healthy but my skin does not generate much oil at all which leaves me red, irritated and not that pretty.....
I rotate between kukui nut oil at night and products from www.simplydivinebotanicals.com; I use the the creme de rose face moisturizer, black velvet cleanser and sometimes the 'honey i shrunk the pores'. not cheap but pretty amazing, and trust me, i've tried EVERYTHING including dermatologists, esthiticians (5!) and every brand, natural and not, that promised my skin calming. if my skin is completely whacked, like in the mid-winter, i'll sleep in a shea butter which doesn't help that much but definantly keeps my skin from falling off in the night...gross, i know, but sometimes i'm afraid it's so irritated and dry that it's just going to fall off!
also, i stay totally hydrated, like 10 glasses of water and 10 cups of herbal teas a day. sun seems to help too.
i hope you find something, it's not fun!

[peridot83]

I am a counter manager for Origins and I have had many clients with rosacea have great success with our skin care line developed by Dr. Andrew Weil. The products contain reishi, coryceps, and hypozigus mushrooms which are anti-inflammatory.