Is anyone's face severely irritated by washing with water?

[Jemster]

I've been so busy with things at home this morning I haven't had a shower or washed my face yet. Thing is for the first time in a while my face is not erupting in spotty red blemishes with a burning itchy feeling. I only switched to proper hot cloth washing recently as always just used to use wipe off cleanser. I'm wondering if washing with water could actually be irritating my skin. Is this possible or is it just coincidence I'm having a good skin day?

Mine doesn't all the time, but during cold weather or if I'm stressed I react really badly to water. I use a Clarins one step cleanser now (no rinsing, just applied with cotton wool) and it never gets sore or red

T

Sorry, thanks Hopefully. Do you find this makes your skin feel clean enough? I kind of like how very clean my face feels after washing but I'm prepared to give it up if it's causing these awful breakouts.

I don't use water on my face, it doesn't react like yours but it goes dry and tight.

I use normal cleansers, oil cleansing method and rose water to clean my face and it feels perfectly clean, and much better than if I use water.

Silly question maybe, but how do you wash the crusty sleepy bits from your eyes if you don't use water?

Are you sure it's the water and not the washing powder you wash your cloth with.
I come out in a dreadful rash if I use washing powder on my face cloths (the powders have a bit bleach/whitener in them) so I wash my clothes in the liquid non bio.

Is the water where you live hard or soft, OP? I have rosacea & when I'm having a flare I find our water (really hard) very irritating. Sounds a bit precious, I know, but I actually use mineral water during those phases!

My PIL have a water softening system in their house & I never have any problems with their water.

Could be other things, like the actual cleanser, or as station said, your washing powder. Do you have rosacea? The redness, itching & blemishes are quite typical of it, though of course could just be some sort of reaction.

Water is an irritant to my skin. My dermatology consultant advised only to use cleansers that can be removed with tissue/cotton wool. My skin improved massively as soon as I switched.

jem it took me a bit of time to get used to not having the 'clean' feeling with water, but it's fine now .

mejon I use my cleanser over the eye area with no probs, but when I had one previously that was stingy on my eyes I used a damp cotton wool pad/corner of a damp flannel to clean my eyes only. When my skin was really irritated by water and I didn't even want to risk that I used a bit of oil based eye makeup remover on a pad in the morning to 'clean' the eye area.

There's always the micellar water route too.

Thanks everyone. Loon how would I tell if it is rosacea, would it be there all the time or does it come & go? The water here is very hard.
I hadn't thought of the washing powder on the flannel although I do use persil non-bio so shouldn't that be ok?
I have had barely any itching today and the spots have calmed down. I have been noticing its madly itchy after I get my face wet in warm shower too.
Mcflurry can I ask what cream cleansers work for you?
The thing is though if it is a reaction to water then why doesn't the rest of my skin react in the same way?

Jemster, if the symptoms persist you might want to ask your GP what they think. S/he would diagnose based on your symptoms & appearance of the skin.

TBH it's hard to diagnose in the early stages because you could get redness, spots & blotchiness with a temporary irritation that may well go away & never come back (fingers crossed).

For many people with rosacea flushing to certain triggers, like alcohol, is also a dominant feature, but with me it started with similar symptoms to yours, brought on after using certain products. Then the same symptoms started flaring when I was out in a cold wind, & things like that.

I use a prescription cream called finacea. It controls the spots / eruptions completely & helps a fair bit with the redness too. I still get flares, mainly flushing, but it's not as bad as it was.

Oh yes, & it often does come & go to start with. The first time I went to my GP there was nothing to see as my skin had decided to behave really well when I had the appointment! She said it was rosacea when I went back with more visible redness after a few months of flares & remissions.

Dermalogica Ultra Calming Cleanser is the cleanser of choice for me. Avene Extremely a Gentle Cleanser has been ok too and is more readily available and a bit more purse friendly. I'm trying a La Roche Posay one at the minute which is fine so far too but Dermalogica is still my favourite.

I also use Dermalogica daily microfilm ant in the shower which sounds counterintuitive but it works for me.

• daily microfoliant.

Bloody autocorrect.

Bumping up this thread.
What’s the best non water cleansing for Rosecea and Seborrhoeic Dermatitis ?
Water seems to irritate and dry out my skin. I tried kalme range and it didn’t clean my face just got thicker in product

I use micellar water a lot and find my skin is a lot calmer. I use bioderma.

And yes I always rinse my flannel first in case there's any washing liquid still somehow attached to it.

I use Ariel as Persil can bring me out in a rash. Ariel used to bring me out in a rash years ago but they changed the formula or my tolerance changed anyway Ariel is best for my skin. Persil is probably also fine now tbh but I never use it anymore.

I don’t wash my face in the shower as the hot temperatures can leave my skin red/sensitive over time

I always wash my face at the sink with water/cleanser though. My skin doesn’t feel tight because my skin type is nomal/oily.

However when I did have sensitive/dry/dehydrated skin years ago, I did switch to hot cloth cleansers or Lush Ultrabland as it would feel tight after washing .

I doubt it’s a water problem, you probably just have dry/sensitive skin.

I’ve tried micellar water and it drys my skin.
I use fairy washing powder and always rinse before using.