What's causing my sensitivity/reaction? (Face wash, toners etc)

[Eranzer]

After a few days of using almost any face wash/toner (occasionally moisturiser, but not always), my eyes become swollen, sore, dry and I look a little like Bear Grylls that time he got stung by a wasp. No treatment is needed and it just goes away on its own after a day or two.

Thing is, I've got really shitty, spotty, ageing combination skin, so I feel I have to use some kind of product to help clear that up (and my skin does clear up and look fresh and nice with the use of cleansing products, my eyes just swell up too! 😒)

What are the most common allergens in face washes and whatnot? Google is telling me Benzoyl Peroxide, which isn't an ingredient in any that I'm currently using. What else could it be?
I can attach images of what I'm using currently, just seeing if anybody reacts similarly to products and what they found to cause it - AND if you've found something that DOESN'T cause a reaction? That would be ace!

I use Dermalogica special cleansing gel it lasts for ages as you only need a tiny bit so it's worth every penny

You can buy directly from them which I have done but now I buy from JL so it gets delivered to my local Waitrose where u can pick it up whenever

If your acid mantle is shot then anything can cause a reaction. In face wash it's probably sodium laureth sulfate, and in toner it could be the alcohol.

Try much gentler products - even with spots as you get older it's better to keep it simple.
Once you've got the redness under control take some photos and send to skin and me and they can prescribe a cream that works along with recommend a cleanser and moisturiser to use alongside.

If it's your eyes then are you using the face wash over your eyes? If so stop doing that!!

@Artemisty off to Google acid mantle! If it isn't obvious, I don't have a clue what I'm doing, I'm just completely winging it and hoping something works that I don't react to

I generally try to avoid my eyes, but when I rinse off it's hard to avoid some of the product having contact with the eyelids/under eyes. I've been using a wet cotton pad to wipe most product away before rinsing to avoid this, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I do tend to use moisturising face washes, so I wonder if it soaks in a little before rinsing? I'm not sure.

Ah sorry - your acid mantle is basically the very top layer of your skin which protects it from the elements. You can damage it with over exfoliation, harsh products etc.

Face wash (even moisturising types) tends to be drying.

What do you currently use?

Which toner are you using? It might be too harsh. I only use a toner about once every 10days.
If you exfoliate using a face cloth when you take your cleanser off you don't need to tone every day.
I'd try using cerave or La Roche posay tolerian products.

I damaged my skin burning it with neat oregano oil in error. The only thing that helped it repair was Dermalogica barrier repair. What products are you using? I normally avoid my eyes with cotton wool and products unless I have make up on. There's nothing worse than irritating skin on uiur face.

I react to a lot of things too, have never been able to narrow it down to an exact ingredient - it just depends, but any kind of chemical exfoliate is a disaster.

My last flare up gave me a raised pimply rash over both cheeks, felt like sandpaper. I bought some Aveeno Calm + Restore Oat Gel moisturiser. Magic stuff, can get it on Amazon or from pretty much any pharmacy - smoothed me out in a day or two!

I irritated my skin with something a couple of years back. Under my eyes was awful for a while.
The problem was once I had made it sore then anything else added to it, even all the stuff that I could usually use without a problem.
can you go right back to a very basic and gentle wash and moisturise for a while until it settles?

I'm currently using Simple Soothing Facial Toner. I'll take the advice about not using it every day - I'll see what happens if I use it once a week or so instead.

I think the acid mantle thing makes sense - the reaction doesn't happen instantly, and you'd think it would if I was allergic/sensitive to something, it takes a few days for anything to swell.. so maybe it just takes a few days to strip the acid mantle?

Absolutely going back to basics for a few days and do some more research. Just looked up Sodium Laureth Sulphate - that's in most of the products I'm using and seen many other experiences of similar reactions!

I'm currently using the Creightons Vit C range for cleanser and moisturiser, super duper cheap and clearly really effective at clearing skin up and making it more radiant, my skin itself looks well. 'Tis a shame! I've used absolutely loads in the past which have all had similar effects. Thinking of it, when I used CeraVe stuff I didn't experience it, BUT it didn't clear my skin up/give me the glow i'd been aiming for, it was just a bit 'meh', which is why I'd stopped using it.

Just ordered some! Thanks for the suggestion!

I react to quite a few things - SPF, fragrance, Bismuth Oxychloride, ceramides to name a few. Makes it difficult choosing products.

Me too, and Methylisothiazolinone preservative too

Bismuth is awful for me

If your barrier is damaged, then sometimes people recommend just washing with water and using a ceramide product or a repair product like LRP Cicaplast Baume.