So last month or so I posted here on acne.org and at that time I only had 2 pimples and only a bit of dry skin and flakes only around my nose, that was fine and whatever.
Then last week, my forehead broke out in a TON of small red bumps and a few big zits on my chin, around my mouth, in and outside of my ears.
There are so many flakes on my face. I literally could not handle it and I took a washcloth filled with cold water and scrubbed all the flakes off my face. I'm not even kidding, I sat in front of the mirror and waited 5 minutes after because my face was red, and guess what, flakes started appearing again.
I put lotion on, my face just sucks it right up and more flakes appear. I spend literally 40 minutes scrubbing flakes off my face in the morning, putting more lotion, scrubbing, more flakes appear, more lotion, feels dry still, more lotion..
I have no idea what to do. Why does my skin feel do damn dry even though I'm slathering a generous layer of Olay with spf15 lotion on everyday?! And the flakes?! What the hell am I supposed to do? I'm going to the doctor Thursday for my skin because I think I have eczema on my face possibly because that's what my mother thinks it is and also to see what I should do about the zits.
I'm still curious if anyone else has this problem though with the flakes and the peeling even though I'm using lotion and only cetaphil cleanser as my entire routine!
( also I'm really nervous about going to the dermatologist for the first time. What happens? I'm so scared omg )
I don't know how vigorously you're scrubbing but from the sounds of it (a washcloth??), you're treating your skin fairly harshly. All that scrubbing is irritating your skin and not allowing it to heal which is probably why new flakes keep appearing because it's just your skin trying to heel. Keep using the lotion, add some jojoba oil and leave it alone. I know how frustrating it is - I had a bout of really dry flaky skin last summer. If you really want to "rub" off some flakes, you can use jojoba oil and massage it all over your face and gently, with only 2 fingers, massage the flakes off. But do it gently...otherwise your skin is never going to recover!
You can also incorporate some AHA into your routine later when your skin settles down a little more to keep your skin moisturised and flake-free.
After scrubbing my skin last night, I actually woke up only with a small amount of flakes on my face! ( only a bit around my nose and that's it! ) Also, it didn't feel dry or tight or to oily when i woke up even though all I did was splash cold water on after scrubbing the flakes off last night. I don't scrub my face like that a lot, probably once a week, maybe even less then that.
After scrubbing my skin last night, I actually woke up only with a small amount of flakes on my face! ( only a bit around my nose and that's it! ) Also, it didn't feel dry or tight or to oily when i woke up even though all I did was splash cold water on after scrubbing the flakes off last night. I don't scrub my face like that a lot, probably once a week, maybe even less then that.
I guess then its okay, I know that it is just bad to do it often
Personally, if I even scratch my face, it gets so irritated, so I can't imagine scrubbing it
The scrubbing is possibly what made you get more pimples. I used to scrub a lot and it never helped. I use AHA every night and ALWAYS mix jojoba oil with everything and my skin seems satisfied with that. You said your moisturizer has SPF. Have you ever had problems with SPF before? It actually dries out my skin, so I only use it if I have to (I'm very pale so I stay out of the sun anyway), and when i do, I mix it with a moisturizer.
I had the pimples before I scrubbed the flakes off (:
anyways, I found out why my face was flaking so bad! I thought it was me, that was doing something wrong, or that I just had dry skin no matter how much lotion I slathered on. I went to the doctor and she said I have seborrheic dermatitis and that's why it was so flaky. I got lotion, used it once and the flakes are gone from using the lotion once! ( I went to the doctor Thursday. I have no flakes today and it's Sunday! It worked seriously right away!! ) I'm obviously still using it everyday so they don't come back )
so yeah, I just thought I would share that! If anyone thinks they have bad flaking that won't go away no matter what, go to the doctor! I'm so happy I went omg
I had the pimples before I scrubbed the flakes off (:
anyways, I found out why my face was flaking so bad! I thought it was me, that was doing something wrong, or that I just had dry skin no matter how much lotion I slathered on. I went to the doctor and she said I have seborrheic dermatitis and that's why it was so flaky. I got lotion, used it once and the flakes are gone from using the lotion once! ( I went to the doctor Thursday. I have no flakes today and it's Sunday! It worked seriously right away!! ) I'm obviously still using it everyday so they don't come back )
so yeah, I just thought I would share that! If anyone thinks they have bad flaking that won't go away no matter what, go to the doctor! I'm so happy I went omg
So glad you got it diagnosed! That dermatitis can mimic a few things!
What kind of lotion are you using? Come on, you must tell us. 
I had the pimples before I scrubbed the flakes off (:
anyways, I found out why my face was flaking so bad! I thought it was me, that was doing something wrong, or that I just had dry skin no matter how much lotion I slathered on. I went to the doctor and she said I have seborrheic dermatitis and that's why it was so flaky. I got lotion, used it once and the flakes are gone from using the lotion once! ( I went to the doctor Thursday. I have no flakes today and it's Sunday! It worked seriously right away!! ) I'm obviously still using it everyday so they don't come back )
so yeah, I just thought I would share that! If anyone thinks they have bad flaking that won't go away no matter what, go to the doctor! I'm so happy I went omg
So glad you got it diagnosed! That dermatitis can mimic a few things!
What kind of lotion are you using? Come on, you must tell us.
Oh my doctor just gave me 1% clindamycin and some kind of cream for the dermatitis ( which doesn't help pimples. just the flakes. but not for people that just have normal dry flakes.. )