AIBU to ask for urgent skincare help. Getting married this weekend

[Faceisamess]

Posting here for traffic, sorry. I've spent the evening sobbing and I need some help.

I've had a really strong, bad reaction to a new moisturiser this past weekend. My entire forehead has erupted in lumpy, sore acne after using a different product.

I'm devastated and I look like shit. There is no sugar coating it, I look awful. To top it off we're going on holiday next week and I wanted to go makeup free - that's just not possible now.

I'm not taking a photo of my face at the moment. But it looks like the picture attached. I'm not exaggerating - mine has even bigger lumps at my temples. I'm 33 for fucks sake, I've got grey hair, I've not had a breakout this bad since I was a teenager.

AIBU to ask what I should be doing to get my forehead not lumpy? Off colour but flat I can cope with, but you can't conceal lumps. Please help me!

Right, pharmacy first thing tomorrow and get a tub of magnesium sulphate paste and bottle milk of magnesia.

Day, use milk magnesia swabbed over your whole face which will go Matt and start working

Night, clean and then hot flannel to open pores. Then wear thick as possible layer of mag sulphate like a face pack. It will go thinner than you think as it melts with body heat. Cover with cut out cling film to occlude, leave overnight.

This should stick out all the inflammation/puss within 24/48 hours.

Repeat as necessary. Only light oil like jojoba oil or La Roche posay Toleraine range to cleanse/moisture...nothing fancy at all.

If you have anything like cyst developing then get a GP or seem to inject with steroid.

You poor thing!! What on earth caused this reaction? I hope you are ok.

I feel for you - I've been there. Don't squeeze - if you must, sterilise a needle and do it that way. But from a seasoned acne sufferer, scabs are harder to cover than intact spots.

My go-to saviours:
Savlon - really rub it in
Sun and sea - do you live near the coast?
Mineral foundation - covers without splitting in this heat
I sometimes use ice to bring down the inflammation

Depends how your GP works but I'd say you could get an appointment for that - call it a 'severe reaction' or something to get you through the door.

Good luck!

I would message Caroline Hirons. She knows everything about skin. You can find her on Instagram or her blog. It looks really sore. I’m sure there is something that can help it recover before Saturday.

If you can get to a dermatologist offering omnilux type treatment (low level light therapy) this might also give you an immediate benefit wrt anti-inflammatory and redness reduction.

I’m thinking possibly antihistamine too if it’s an allergic reaction but try and get an appointment with your GP ASAP. My surgery were brilliant in getting me an appointment as well as a telephone consultation shortly before I was due to get married as I needed antibiotics ( a really bad sinus infection). If the spots/ lumps might be getting infected, maybe a course of antibiotics?

I had the exact same thing, only on the morning of my wedding! Hydrocortisone cream as mentioned above will be the best thing for you. Plus allergy tablets.

I would literally cover you in sudocrem

It's magic

I'd go on a sun bed. I know it's not ideal but my skin always used to clear up when I went on one.

Any recommendations on best antihistamines?

Oh and do they interfere with the pill?

Any antihistamine will help if it's an allergic reaction. Ask at the pharmacy to see what they recommend.

Well if you’ve had a severe or allergic reaction, I don’t think you should throw on anything and everything on your skin in the hopes that it clears up as it will probably make it worse. I wouldn’t even recommend my typical products to you as I’m not sure if they will help or trigger a reaction again. You need to baby your skin, regardless of your wedding unfortunately. Fairly flat blemishes are easy to cover up with makeup, everything else can be edited out via photo editing (which of course isn’t optimal, but a last resort option). Would recommend seeing your gp.

Don't use toothpaste!

La Roche Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 overnight, once they have started to heal, it's very good at promoting fast healing & reducing scarring.

YY to the antihistamine.

Rose water if you can't get lavender water. I use it as a toner. Buy it from an aromatherapy shop.

Don't squeeze - it can cause them to rupture into the surrounding tissue & spread the infection. Lancing with a sterilised needle, if they are clearly at a head & very uncomfortable, is an option. Cleanliness is obviously vital, & absolutely no picking or scratching - I have covered mine with a plaster at night before now to stop me scratching in my sleep.

No physical exfoliation - it's far too rough. Your facial skin is fragile & now it's irritated. Gentle everything. Pat dry when you wash. Clean face towel every day, separate from the rest of the family & don't use your bath towel.

No makeup this week if you can manage it - you'll heal faster if your skin can breathe.

Get to the doctor's first thing, OP. I wouldn't put anything on it until I had medical advice.

Personally I would see if your gp can prescribe you any products first. Then I would probably slather your skin in something like Eucerin Aquaphor or Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream overnight - something balmy that acts as a barrier for your skin - which will protect your skin whilst it’s weak, raw and sore. Only then once you’re over the worst of it and beginning to heal would I attempt more potent options. Do remember that trying new and random things might make this worse. You really need to be gentle, regardless of the wedding and holiday!

OP - are they actually pus filled spots? Are they painful/itchy. Was it only one use that caused the reaction? Have you used anything else that’s new? Any different hair products/colours? Sorry for all the questions, I used to be a Beauty therapist and it’s really important to establish what you’re treating before you start slapping on more products and make it potentially worse. How are you cleaning your face?

Toothpaste will take down a bumpy spot and make it even out and flatten, but it's very drying. The trick is to use a cotton wool bud and apply it just to the offending spot and not to a wider area of skin. Any non-spotty skin covered by toothpaste will dry out and potentially flake, which isn't what you want - so be very, very careful.

Sudocrem will help with general nasty inflammation and swelling. It won't sting either.

Re antihistamines - what you can buy over the counter is much of a muchness. Doesn't really matter. And won't interfere with the pill.

Are they definitely spots and not an angry, lumpy rash?

I would try to see a dermatologist tomorrow if you can afford it. If not, the fringe suggestion may not be such a bad idea?

Tinywhale - I agree with dermatologist. Forego GP and straight to derma.

OP - I’ve had a look at the ingredients list in the product and the one that stands out is salycylic acid. Are you allergic to aspirin?

I'm prone to breakouts similar to this, pure coconut oil usually helps me!!
Have you booked a make up artist for your wedding day?
If so, and it's not cleared by then, a good make up artist will be able to cover this for the day....
I had a reaction like this before my sisters wedding and my make up girl worked wonders, you would never have know my skin looked like this yet I didn't looked "caked" in make up.
x

witch hazel blemish gel.couple of days and then olay serum

are you getting makeup done by proffessional/

I second anti-histamine and Sudocrem. Former acne sufferer here. As it's an allergic reaction, the anti-histamine will help reduce swelling. Sudocrem is bloody marvellous for the skin. I use a regular face pack of it too. Good luck OP, what a stress

Oral antihistamine and topical hydrocortisone cream and/or Freedeem gel. It is very anti-inflammatory and takes the swelling and redness down without being too drying.