I had bouts of sensitive skin as a child but largely grew out of them by the time I was in my teens. Yet, life throws its curveballs as it usually does, and by my mid-20s, it looked like my skin would never recover. Stubbornly sticking to my drying, exfoliating salicylic acid face scrub I’d been using for well over a decade didn’t do me any favors — as you can imagine. All it took was a dermatology appointment and one drugstore product to turn my skin back into its glowing, smooth self.
While I’ll spare you the sordid details of how I ended up there, a series of B12 injections led to a rare reaction — an acneiform eruption. This wasn’t your regular hormonal breakout; no, this was a complete disruption of my face’s microbiome. After checking in with a dermatologist and some strong prescription products later, I found myself in the throes of an unexpected eczema outbreak.
Need To Know
Always consult with a dermatologist if any new and unusual skin developments appear. And if you have preexisting conditions, check with them before testing any new skin products.
The drying prescription creams irritated my latent eczema-prone skin and resulted in quite nasty burning and itchy patches all over my face. But the dermatologist made me swear off my tried-and-true childhood face scrub and commit to a gentler one. They gave me a laundry list of brands and options, and I went with La Roche-Posay’s Lipikar AP+ gentle foaming moisturizing wash. I’d used their mineral sunscreen before and thoroughly loved it, so figured it’d be a great place to start.
La Roche-Posay’s Gentle Moisturizing Wash Saved My Broken Out, Eczema Affected Skin
The skin on your face can be incredibly sensitive, so you need products that treat it with care. Cue La Roche-Posay’s Lipikar AP+ gentle foaming moisturizing wash. Accepted by the National Eczema Association and fragrance-free, this face & body wash is safe enough you could slather it all over your two-week-old. Packed with skin-nourishing shea butter and niacinamide, this cleanser ruined all other cleansers for me.
I’m not convinced that there's not a little magic going on in the bottling process because this product completely changed my life. The gentle cleansing properties nourished my stripped skin, gave it a great foundation for the various retinoids and immunosuppressants to do their thing, and left my face more moisturized than it’d been in years.
I Only Have Eyes for This Face Wash
I may be one for the dramatics, but I’m not kidding when I say this face wash saved my skin. And if you’re fighting irritated, itchy, dry skin, then you’ve got to give this one a try.