Newly sensitive skin - NHS worker

[bestegg]

I'd really appreciate some recomendations for what i can buy as a gift for a relative who's having some skin issues. She is working on a Covid ward and her skin has gone sensitive to the point of painful and her mask is badly marking her skin.

I want to get her something, ideally a set with cleanser & moisturiser, that'll help calm her skin but am not sure what would be best - any recomendations would be really appreciated!

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Anything from la roche posay sensitive skin range should work wonders. In particular, their cicaplast balm is a miracle- repairs the skin barrier and really nourishes the skin. Bless your daughter- sending lots of love xx

Thank you, off to have a look for that now.

Aveeno skin cream/lotion is fabulous! So moisturising ☺️

Most likely a reaction to the hand wash as well as the sanitisers.
Might be helpful for her to find out if she has a sensitivity to either

Child's farm is great, but not very luxurious as a gift. There are some companies giving away free hand cream for NHS workers, might be worth letting her know :)

I second la Roche posay cicaplast baume. But I have very dry skin and find the la Roche posay lipikar baume thicker and more moisturising.

Weleda make lovely creams for babies (for sensitive skin with no SLS's or nasty ingredients).

I have sensitive skin and love this brand. Also she could try pure almond oil (half a cup with a couple of drops of lavender essential oil.) It's wonderfully healing .

Superdrug pure hydration serum is lovely, cheap and has ceramides to help the skin barrier so worth adding
Loccitane hand cream

I really rate almond oil- as someone who has sensitive/rosacea prone skin. And avene products.

Would she find sudocreme or bepanthen useful?

Bepanthen in particular might be a good barrier to have under the mask, if that’s allowed.

Sudocreme would be more for soreness. Both products aren’t too pricey.

If there's one thing I've learned it's that all sensitive skin is not the same. But when I have a bad episode (which thankfully happens rarely now as I'm very careful) plain olive oil works best for both moisturising and cleansing. Or, as zippy says, almond oil.
I know they won't feel very 'gifty' but, if they work, she won't care.

weleda skin food

Thank you so much for the suggestions, really appreciate it.

Am off to look at them all!

My mum had contact dermatitis on her hands and used Atrixo. I use it myself but only in the evening (no point during hte day with all that hand gel/washing thing going on.

Agree with the post about La Roche posay.

I cannot use anything from Weleda as am horrendously allergic to something in the base of their ingredients but don't let that put anyone off as their cosmetics have been lauded far and wide.

Death Weleda use calendula in all their baby products which some people can be allergic to. In a lot of their 'adult' products they use coconut a lot which I'm not good with.

I agree you need to look at ingredients with 'natural' products, they often contain lanolin, calendula or citrus extracts.
they can be brilliant if you are fine with those.

You need to look at ALL the ingredients of all the products, famous brands and others, sometimes the famous ones are packed with rubbish.

I'm always amazed at companies like L'Occitane which have ingredients that are as fake as the others. They are just more expensive and the perfumes are soo strong !!!! OMG

I've ordered the la Roche Posay balm and also a day moisturisor from the same range, hopefully they'll do the trick.

Thank you for all the suggestions, really appreciate people taking the time to advise.

All sorts of things can cause skin problems on the wards.
When I had dermatitis at work it was due to the blue nitrile gloves, I literally got what looked like burns on my wrists, I switched to the clear vinyl gloves & my skin cleared up.

One of my colleagues is actually allergic to the surgical masks as his skin goes very red & inflamed the minute he puts one on, so he's not allowed to wear them.
But it sounds as if your relative just has more of a sensitivity to the mask rather than that kind of allergy.

And a lot of people find that their hands get dry & sore just from using the alcohol hand gels & repeatedly washing hands.

I was given Dermol cream which you can I believe buy over the counter at Boots, it's brilliant for hands especially.
As your relative is having face sensitivity I would avoid using soap to clean her face & stick to an old fashioned gentle unfragranced cream cleanser like Simple. & not even use toner.
Then patch test the moisturiser she intends to use in case it irritates her skin further.

Terralee Iam allergic to Simple products!!! The best would be as I said upthread pure organic almond oil with a few drops of ess. oil of lavender which is the best healer I have ever used.

DM had cut her hand (she's 92) and still had a nasty scar\cut not well healed, when I visited aa few days later. I immediately put organic lavender oil on it and it was better in a day or so!! It cures itching\spots etc. I don't sell it btw!!! Oh it also helps sleep.

Aveeno hands down. I have sensitive skin and swear by it. Love the Moisturising Creamy Oil (only £4.66 on amazon at the moment). Yum.