Skin reaction/product question

[permaquandry]

I have a read rash around my lips, it's where the rim of a glass would touch when you drink. I have had it for years and years. It comes and goes.

Tried various products etc, I've now got to the point where am I only using Avene cleanser and moisturiser night and day and no make-up or scrubs etc or any other product on my face. I have been doing this for 2 weeks and the rash is even worse today than ever before.

Is it safe to say it is NOT a product making it worse?

Is it your toothpaste? Maybe change that to a non-foaming one. I have a really dry area there too - I recently changed to Oral B Pro toothpaste and I suspect mine might be due to that.

Thx for the reply, I don't think it's toothpaste, as it's not near my lips is almost like a goatee beard! But an inch or so away from lips.

Is it like this ?

Have you seen the doctor? It sounds like the link posted above.

Sounds like perioral dermatitis, I had it for the past 6 months, ditching all skincare and makeup for a few weeks and going for a sls and fluoride free toothpaste helped to clear it completely. Used just water and soap and calendula zinc nappy cream. It can also be cortisone-induced.

Oh and my regular cleanser and wipes seemed to make perioral worse, and lipstick too. So I'd ditch Avene too for a few weeks. I tried unsuccessfully to get rid of it with La Roche Posay products but it just got worse and worse. I needed about 10 days completely barefaced (no makeup, no cleansing, no moisturizing, just cleansing with castile soap and a tiny bit of nappy cream on the itchy and hurting moustache areas). I also used SLS free shampoo for a few weeks. Bonsoir has gotten it under control with a Clarisonic and antibiotics.

Lots of people seem to have had perioral triggered by whitening / tartar control toothpaste.

Thanks so much for the replies and the link. The rash is in the same area as the ones that come down from the nostrils in a circle towards to corner of the mouth, then round the chin, however, nowhere near as spotty or red, it's more a solid patch of redness.

Could this be the same thing?

I had the solid patchy redness. It started with rough skin and tiny barely noticeble bumps. At its worst, a few tiny whiteheads and peeling, cracked, itchy sore skin. Pics 3 and 4 here looked a lot like what I had. But for most of the time, just a barely noticeable red area around my nostrils and a patch on my skin.

Oh and it might be a good idea to avoid SLS for a while (it's ubiquitous), another thread here for ideas.

I'm now slowly reintroducing skincare and makeup but have had to change products a lot - lipstick and eye makeup seem to trigger more symptom and I haven't had the guts to try my face washes and wipes yet - they seem way too harsh now and my skin feels and looks better after washing with simple castile soap. Changing the toothpaste would be an excellent idea, my skin started recovering after the switch.

Oh and nobody knows what the real trigger is - a quote from the medical article above:

"Many potential etiologies of idiopathic perioral dermatitis have been suggested, including fluorinated toothpaste, overuse of “heavy” cosmetic creams and moisturizers (e.g., petrolatum or paraffin-based products), emotional stress, and microbiological factors. However, all of these suggested etiologies are speculative, and none of these factors have been shown to be definitively causative."