5 replies to this topic

[unlovely2011]

Since my acne battle began, I had effortlessly great skin and never used moisturizer or sunscreen. Thanks to my dermatologists's Aczone AM/PM and Atralin PM regimen I've been using, my skin is finally looking presentable again. I still have a few dark marks and ice-pick scars, but they are healing. I am doing my best to take the best possible care of my skin now, and that includes wearing an SPF moisturizer every day. Since starting my new regimen, I have used Neutrogena's Gentle Cleanser and Neutrogena's Oil-Free Moisture SPF 35. I love the cleanser, it's very gentle and light. However, the moisturizer always burns my skin right after I apply it, even though I'm extremely gentle before, during, and after moisturizer application. I had used a non-SPF moisturizer before without having this problem, so I know it's the sunscreen. And also, I recall in childhood I always refused to wear sunscreen for the same reason. It was hard to explain, of course, as a child that "sunscreen makes me burn." But that's originally why I never wore sunscreen. I can wear it on the rest of my body without a problem, but after I put it on my face it burns mildly for about 45 seconds. It's bearable and it doesn't cause redness, but it still can't be good. My body is trying to tell me something. I was wondering if anyone else has a similar problem and has found a solution. Perhaps I can identify the specific ingredient causing the burning and find an alternate sunscreen (because sun protection is still a concern.) Maybe I just need to dilute my sunscreen? Please share your thoughts and advice. In case this helps, the ingredients in my current moisturizer (Neutrogena Oil-Free SPF-35) are listed exactly as follows:

Active Ingredients
Avobenzone 3%
Homosalate 12%
Octisalate 5%
Octocrylene 2.35%
Oxybenzone 6%

There are likely additional inactive ingredients, but they were listed on the box, which I threw away.

Edited by unlovely2011, 08 November 2011 - 03:07 PM.

[californiaEstie]

Hey,

It looks like you've been using mostly chemical ingredients. I would really recommend trying a physical block sunscreen/moisturizer.

Something like this
http://www.imageskin...moisturizer.php

[leighbrack2]

This is the problem with chemical filled products it makes it a lot harder to narrow down the irritating ingredients. The Neutrogena Spf 35 ingredients are.........

Active Ingredients: Avobenzone (3%), Homosalate (12%), Octisalate (5%), Octocrylene (2.35%), Oxybenzone (6%)

Inactive Ingredients: Water, Dimethicone, Trisiloxane, Diethylhexyl 2, 6 Naphthalate, Glycerin, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG 100 Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behenyl Alcohol, Caprylyl Methicone, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Ethylhexl Glycerin, Benzyl Alcohol, Methylparaben, Cetearyl Glucoside, Xanthan Gum, http://www.drugstore...Moisture+SPF+35, Disodium EDTA, BHT, Methylisothiazolinone


Oxybenzone is known to be highly toxic rating an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 at the safety cosmetic database here......http://www.ewg.org/s...372/OXYBENZONE/
Also Dimethicone is one of the main ingredients which means it is used in the majority of the product. Dimethicone and silicones are known to be very irritating to the skin in large amounts causing burning, irritation and redness. If you check the MSDS sheet this info is provided. This is a terrible chemical filled product with many known irritants and preservatives like parabens that have links to cancers. I would recommend using mineral makeup as your choice for sunscreen as they are very effective and stay on well in heat (at least the brand I use does). I am not a fan of neutrogena as their products are just as harmful as other chemical filled products on the market and contain ingredients that can cause breakouts. Just to let you know you are not the only one that had this reaction to this product. I got the ingredients from drugstore.com and others that reviewed it said they had the same burning sensation, likely due to the dimethicone or oxybenzone. Hope this helps!~ Here is a link to the reviews on drugstore.com
http://www.drugstore...Moisture+SPF+35

Edited by leighbrack2, 08 November 2011 - 10:36 PM.

[unlovely2011]

@californiaestie thank you. i will order these types of items offline if i have to, but i am hoping to just find something less harmful at the local drugstore. is there something in particular to look for to find a "physical block" or is it even available in regular stores?

@leighbrack2 thank you. i used mineral make-up already (sheercover) which i'm happy with, but it only gives SPF 15. i want better protection than that so i do need to find a higher SPF moisturizer to use beforehand. do you recommend any higher level spf moisturizers w/o the harmful ingredients/chemicals?

[leighbrack2]

@californiaestie thank you. i will order these types of items offline if i have to, but i am hoping to just find something less harmful at the local drugstore. is there something in particular to look for to find a "physical block" or is it even available in regular stores?

@leighbrack2 thank you. i used mineral make-up already (sheercover) which i'm happy with, but it only gives SPF 15. i want better protection than that so i do need to find a higher SPF moisturizer to use beforehand. do you recommend any higher level spf moisturizers w/o the harmful ingredients/chemicals?

Actually the higher SPF does not really offer better sun protection. The natural sunscreens like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide provide plenty of coverage against the suns rays. It is well known that the SPF at higher levels is actually a myth and not necessarily better. You would do better to use the minerals you are using and to make sure it stays on on hot or sunny days (reapply in areas needed that get oily like the nose.) It is now coming to light and is widely discussed in natural health circles that sunscreens themselves are known to cause skin cancer. They are usually referring to the toxic chemicals that are in sunscreen formulas as well as toxic sunscreens such as oxybenzone, which is why it is better to use the minerals you are using and just reapply throughout the day. This was actually just covered in a Forbes article I read. I found it here........http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/22/common-health-myths-lifestyle-health-myths_slide_2.html
Another news article here......http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=132534
And the most important one according to the huffington post here.......http://www.aolnews.com/2010/05/24/study-many-sunscreens-may-be-accelerating-cancer/

You will have to copy and paste the links into your browser as my links aren't working for some reason.
We should always know what we are putting on our skin. Hope this helps!

Edited by leighbrack2, 09 November 2011 - 03:54 PM.

[unlovely2011]

those articles were very informative. maybe i'll just switch back to a moisturizer with out sunscreen and just stock up on mineral make-up lol.