Face moisturiser for very dry postpartum skin

[Luckyelephant1]

I'm 4.5 months postpartum and over the last few weeks my face and neck have become unbelievably dry and itchy. Especially around my temples, around my mouth, in between my eyebrows, eyelids and in front of my ears (where sideburns would be). Initially my skin looked normal despite being itchy but in the last couple of weeks it's become really flaky. I'm assuming this is a postpartum thing? My hair loss is insane atm as well.

Thing is any rich moisturiser ends up making other areas look greasy and my makeup slide off. I've had to use extra eye cream to make my eye area less flaky looking but now my eye makeup smudges. The other weird thing is that a lot of moisturisers have started to make my face burn, even stuff like doublebase or coconut oil which I've tried overnight. My face suddenly seems to be sensitive to everything.

Can anyone recommend a decent face moisturiser that won't cause the above problems and will help with the flakiness?

Poor you, this is so horrible I know. Not only does it hurt, it feels as though it looks awful as well. In your shoes I would first contact the gp for a blood test just to make sure it’s not something like low vitamin levels or thyroid. I did this and, whilst none were low enough for ‘official’ treatment, my vit b was right at the bottom end so I got an oral spray and it is helping a little. You might also need a mild steroid or it could be thrush-related and need some canasten type cream. So I’d go doctor first. Don’t downplay the pain or the impact on self-esteem, neither are worth putting up with or should be ignored.
Then I find that just covering my whole face in plain old Vaseline at night (glamorous I know) does help with the flakiness, and if you aren’t planning to be out, shove it on in the day too. If it’s irritated then for moisturiser it’s trial and error til you find what works - The Ordinary natural moisturising factor, or lots of people use Cerave or you can try Avene or La Roche Posay which are usually tolerable for me. When it’s really raw and painful though, Vaseline is all I can take.
Congratulations on your baby and take care

Hemp heavy duty face protector from body shop is ideal. I find it softens the skin and rehydrates at the same time.

I’d ring the dr too.

Another one for the Dr. I had very dry skin when I was diagnosed with my underactive thyroid. I find oils help better when skin is really dry. Focus on the evening to night time so that you can use a regular moisturiser in the morning. Try take make up off as soon as you can and keep using the product every couple of hours. It's is prob caused by an underlining condition though.

Yeah, you need to speak to a gp.

In the meantime, I'd really recommend the la Roche posay toleraine range. Super gentle, non greasy, and very soothing.

Thanks, I think I will speak to the GP this week. I just didn't want to be overdramatic if it's a normal postpartum thing. Thing is my skin doesn't LOOK that bad by the time I've moisturised (like 3 times) because its pretty good otherwise in terms of there's no redness or spots etc. But oh man it just feels horrendous.