Ultra sensitive and dry peri skin - advice pls

[Saurus72]

I’ve always had pretty sensitive skin but on the oilier side. Since I started HRT, which has been a life and sanity saver in other ways, it’s now ultra dry, with red dry patches. I use Ren Evercalm range as well as some other products but I just don’t seem to be able to get enough hydration into my face!

My routine is (I’ve included brand names in case anyone else has any random experience of them causing a reaction).

Morning
Either Ren Evercalm cleanser or Susanne Kaufmann hypersensitive face wash. Followed by Evercalm barrier support elixir, Vitamin C eye cream, Evercalm moisturiser then make up (Lisa Eldridge foundation, Beauty Pie under eye corrector, Ilia concealer, Kosas powder and bronzer, Tata Harper cream blush).

Evening
Ren Evercalm cleansing milk or Perfect Canvas jelly oil cleanser, Susanne Kaufmann soothing toner, Evercalm barrier support elixir, Evercalm overnight recovery balm, Evercalm moisturiser and sometimes I follow this with a facial oil (Haeckels). In the morning my face looks dry and often red, with patches of dry skin.

I’m not sure where to go from here - I’m so tired of my skin looking like I don’t care for it. It’s the same year-round, so not winter effects.

Any suggestions would be very gratefully received.

You’re putting an awful lot of stuff on your skin! Sometimes less is very definitely more.
I use a hot cloth cleansing cream - the ones in Lidl or Aldi are great, followed by Lidl face serum and eye cream. I’ve used all sorts of expensive products and these, which are very cheap, are the best I’ve come across. When I’m going to work, I use It cosmetics CC cream for foundation - just a very light layer - and any old powder blusher. It comes off as soon as I’m home from work.
‘All very minimal but my skin looks nice and hydrated.

I have sensitive and temperamental skin. Mine is drier because I not only am on HRT but also use retirides twice a week.

On my in between days from retinol I use Boots No 7 Future renew serum. Followed by Hada Labo premium HA.

Followed by various moisturisers I own.

Last I used my Hada Labo Tokyo repair night cream
But I'll use any of these
Boots No7 Hydraluminous overnight recovery gel cream
Bobbi Brown vitamin enriched face base
Revolution Pro miracle cream
M&S ultimate sleep cream
I can't remember what else now

The richest of these is the Bobbi Brown is quite sort of solid really in its tub like butter.

I also use a Mario Badescu facial spray ( the pink one) to create a layer

My skin didn't like or tolerate REN ever calm but I do use REN AHA tonic which helps get rid of dead skin so serums etc work far better

I use oils sometimes too like Clarins, nuxe and disciple (one has retinol the other not)

My holy grail face wash is Dermalogica Special cleansing gel

To remove make up I use Boots cleansing balm

I also like using a Hada Labo Tokyo gentle hydrating cleanser

If I do get a sore very dry area Vaseline from the tub works wonders and it's gone by the morning.

It seems like a lot. Could you be sensitive to something in all of that? Why not strip back to nothing for a few days and reintroduce one by one?

I'm a hot flannel and water woman, twice a day, followed by a day cream with high SPF or a night cream, but I'm starting to find the latter too heavy.

If wearing mascara at the weekend which I have occasionally started to do, I use Dr Hauschka cleansing milk which seems to suit my skin. I'm about to buy Dr Hauschka moisturiser to replace the night cream I was using before.

Also on HRT and skin has become sensitive, but not on face. Aveeno calms down the redness for me.

I find that I need to use less, but what works is this spray https://www.boots.com/curél-deep-moisture-spray-150ml-for-dry-sensitive-skin-10302564

i spray that on and then a really light
moisturiser. You can also
spray during the day when feeling dry.

I also get red and sensitive areas and like a previous poster some Vaseline over night sorts it out.

My skin hated the REN evercalm products. I found I got red flaky tingly skin just from using the moisturiser. I also prefer using a balm cleanser and then a very simple moisturiser such as Weleda Skin Food. My skin prefers oils and oily products and I even got breakouts and sensitive skin with Lancome Advanced Night Repair.

Echoing what @Soontobe60 is saying, that’s a lot of stuff you’re using!

I’m now menopausal rather than peri but since I’ve recently ditched the face washes and use simple soap and other products my skin much prefers that.

I agree with @Soontobe60 my Lidl or Aldi Q10 nighttime moisturiser and serums from same places are very good too, I do use retinol but only cos I’m scared of tret and use vitamin c serum when I remember! A good spf is key for me too.

Could you maybe try aquaeous cream for a face wash as that’s not harsh at all?

Also I discovered recently that my usual simple eye makeup remover wasn’t that good on my tubing/waterproof mascara and eyeliner. I got a cheap sainsburys bi phase eye makeup remover and it comes off much better now.

With ultra dry skin neither moisturizer nor lotions will be much use. They're water-based, but really dry skin needs lipids, i.e. something richer.

Lancome's Nutrix cream works quite well for me. Alternated with more medical products and occasionally just pure Vaseline.

I reacted to some face cream recently and my face went swollen and puffy then all dry and flaky. Anything I put on it was stinging so I stopped my usual skincare routine.
I used organic castor oil and Vaseline and am so shocked by the outcome. My skin is super smooth and plumped up and not dry or sore at all. I think it is best to keep it simple if your skin is dry. The more products you use the worse it gets. I am 44 and probably peri as well.

My skin turned awful last year (especially eyes) and I think it got to the point where my desperation to try lots of things to find the solution made it worse and my skin barrier just got knackered.

I discovered from MN a uk, female owned brand called Pai. They offer a 90 day money back guarantee which, when you are sinking money trying to find a solution, was a godsend.

This is my routine

Am
Rinse face with tepid water
Blephasol solution over eyes to ward off bastard blepharitis
Pai Feather Canyon eye cream
Any vitamin C serum (currently boots ingredients and moving onto a Pai one next few days)
Garnier SPF50 face fluid

Pm
Remove mascara and clean eyes with Blephasol
Double cleanse (currently Evercalm cream then Superfacialist Vit C Oil
Eye cream
Alternate events with either Pai Retinal mixed with cheap Aldi night cream or on other night Pai Rosehip oil which is utterly gorgeous and my skin looks lovely the next day

If I get an red patches on my nose a teeny bit of weleda skin food helps sooth

Alternate evenings rather!

Thank you for your comments, very interesting to hear about Evercalm not being tolerated. I think that my first step will be to stop using that range to see if that makes a difference.

One of my friends uses Dermalogica, will check out those products and the Curel spray.

i know it seems a lot! But I couldn’t really think what else to do apart from layer up in the hope it might help.

Oh and whilst the weleda stuff can be pricey initially a tube lasts aaaaaaaages

OP it may just be a case of too much of the good stuff. Try paring back to basics then gradually adding as you need to. Sometimes our skin just has a diva strop

Agree with pp that it sounds like a lot of products!

Would scale it right back and try some of the pharmaceutical brands such as Eucerin or La Roche Posay.

LRP cicaplast is the classic for dry, sensitised skin – I have rosacea-like sensitivity, and it’s one of the only things that soothes and doesn’t sting or irritate.

Something with urea in could also help for really dry skin.

I would scale your routine right back to a plain cleanser and a moisturiser, possibly with some vaseline over the top to act as an occlusive and prevent moisture loss.

I wonder also if it’s worth going to your dr or a dermatologist, as there could be a range of causes for the sensitivity and dryness, and treating with the wrong product could exacerbate the issue.

I’ve used Skin Food as a hand cream but it seems very heavy for my face - no harm in trying though. Pai look like they’re cruelty free, which I should have mentioned is something I look for. Dermalogica is too it looks like.

Also OP worth considering any meds you have recently started. They can have skin sensitivity as a side effect

Just go easy as on the face a little goes a very long way. They also do a light version I think

@tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz Yes it started just after I started HRT - a complete change - so I think there’s a direct connection.

My skin is best with warm water, a magic cloth, or Dove, and lycopene or olive oil. The simpler the better. And 3l water a day!

I like dermalogica ultra calming range for my sensitive skin, especially the mist if your skin gets hot and sore. Weleda skin food is good on dry patches too. Clarins do a really nice face oil in their calming range. Some brands just don’t work for you - I can’t use clinique anything, it just doesn’t agree with me at all, so ren might be like that for you 😊.

I have really sensitive skin and my eyes have been practically bad the past couple of years I think because I’m peri. After using a lot of different eye creams without much success I use. I don’t react to it at all and my eyes are ok now.

https://www.laroche-posay.co.uk/en_GB/toleriane-dermallergo-soothing-eye-cream/LRP_132.html

I also really like Facetheory products. At night I just wash my face with water and a cloth and then use Jojoba oil. Then in the morning quick wash and Jojoba oil and then Vit-c moisturiser that has SPF30 (from Facetheory). My skin is nice and hydrated now. I only use a bit of powder so I’m not too shiny and that’s the only makeup I wear.