Pretty much my entire face is red right now, except for my nose and right under my eyes. Even some of my neck is red. It all burns a lotttt and hurts so much ): My regimen is: (morning) gently wash face, apply 5% benzoyl peroxide, apply banana boat aloe vera gel, (night) gently wash face, apply retin-a, apply banana boat aloe vera gel.

Also, my skin is really flakey as of lately. Even after I moisturize my face, sometimes some flakes still show.

I don't know what to do, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
I can't stand this stinging/burning and red face.
It's so embarrassing..

Banana Boat Aloe Vera gel is not a proper moisturizer. The primary ingredients are water and SD alcohol.

Stop using the BP and Retin-A immediately. For the next 3-5 days apply either vaseline, aquaphor or eucerin to your skin several times a day. Do not apply anything else. The irritation should go away quickly. Even though these are greasy products, none of them cause breakouts. They will help your skin to get back to normal quickly.

If I had a dollar for every poster who came on here with red, irritated skin from BP I would be a rich woman. Retin-A is also very irritatin.

Did a dermatologist tell you to use both?

When your skin has gotten better I can tell you how you can build a tolerance to Retin-A or suggest other products that are similar but not as irritating.

Thank you so so much! I didn't use Retin-A last night and only used a small amount of BP this morning, before I got your reply to my post. When I woke up, my face was a lot less red but still had that sun-burnt kind of look. But until my face heals, I'll take your advice and not use either one.

I previously bought Eucerin's "Plus Intensive Repair Enriched Lotion" but I didn't use it for very long and switched to the aloe vera because it stung my face a lot. I guess my skin was just way too irritated. But now I will switch back to the Eucerin.

Yes, I was prescribed both BP and Retin-A by a dermatologist. That was around the middle of May, but I was told not to use the BP until I had been on Retin-A for two weeks.

Once again, thank you so much for your help! Any other advice or tips would be greatly appreciated! &I would definitely love to hear about how to build a tolerance to Retin-A or the other products you had in mind, once my skin gets better.

No, you need to use a product that has petroleum jelly in it. The Eucerin product I was referring to is the Eucerin Moisturizing Cream in a jar (contains petroleum jelly and mineral oil). Plaid old Vaseline or generic petroleum jelly is fine as is Aquaphor (petroleum jelly and mineral oil).

Petroleum jelly sounds gross, but I swear it will get the irritation under control quickly and it does not clog pores. I have been using it for years, for sunburn, when I was first on Retin-A and every time I have had a bad reaction to a skin care product.

Ohh, I see. I'll be at a grocery store today, so I will pick up what I find, which will most likely just be petroleum jelly hahah. Thank you so much! I can't wait to buy &use it