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Hi there!
I've never ever posted in a forum before, but I have a problem that I was wondering if anyone else could help me with.
I had severe acne as a teenager (I'm 23 now), and I was able to clear that up a few years ago. It came back when I moved into the centre of my city (pollution maybe?) but disappeared when I moved out from the city.
I went to Venice last year and got this horrendous thing on my face, not like anything I've seen before. It's just loads and loads of white heads that feel dry, itchy, irritated and inflamed. It was all around my mouth. It started to clear as soon as I got on the plane and as I left it alone. It was gone after a couple of days and did not leave scarring.
I'm now in Athens, and the same thing has happened again. I've put photo's to help. I haven't changed any part of my skincare regime, the only difference is the place. It was fine on the first full day we were here, but it got worse yesterday and now it's at its breaking point today. A friend has given me effaclar duo to help,but we will see.
I just want to know if anyone else has experienced this or know what it is? It doesn't feel like normal acne as I used to suffer. And if you do, how do I treat it? I feel I need another skincare regime for holiday!
Thank you!
Rosie
This is definately an allergy... But to what is definately intriguing. If your skincare is staying the same it's very odd..
it is possible it may be the water? Im not sure where you come from, but water worldwide is different in regards to what is actually in it and the consistancy. I personally found venice water to be a lot softer than the uk, but now i'm living in japan and all of the water here is chlorinated!
other factors could be the change of towels and pillows... But it'll be thard to tell without an allergy test ;(
They look like tiny clusters of whiteheads. Looks exactly like this blogger who had an allergy after a facial: http://www.bunbunmakeuptips.com/my-horrific-post-facial-experience-you-need-to-read-this/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=my-horrific-post-facial-experience-you-need-to-read-this
I think you do need to see a doctor cause it looks pretty serious.
Hi there!
Sorry it's taken a while for me reply! As an update on my skin since Sunday, it has completely cleared. No weird spots left, just a little bit of redness. After I left Athens on Sunday it immediately started to clear, pretty much as soon as I got on the plane. Afterwards I just had these very small flaky bits of skin where the spots were, but I prefer this far better!
I agree with all of you, I reckon it's an allergic reaction but it's difficult knowing what. After I noticed it was starting I immediately bought some bottled water to wash my face with and avoided putting my face under the shower head. I looked at the Ph levels of Athens water too, and found its about the same as it is at home.I also didn't let the bedding touch my face in those areas at least (that was super tough!).
One thing I think it could be is pollution, being in a capital city, and similarly with Venice the air wasn't clean. I lived in the city centre of Nottingham a couple of years ago too, and I had really bad acne then, although I can't remember a reaction this bad.
With an allergy test, can I still have it done now after it's cleared up?
23 hours ago, Rosiealices said:With an allergy test, can I still have it done now after it's cleared up?
Yes definitely! You are still allergic to whatever it is, whether or not you are currently reacting to it.
If you make an appointment with a GP, it might be worth asking the receptionist at your surgery if there is one Dr there who is the best to see about allergies. It's worth a shot (my surgery happens to have one who is, so that's cool)! They may need to refer you to an immunologist (who would probably be based in a hospital), for testing (patch testing, skin prick testing, or blood test). From my experience this can be a bit of a wait! I had skin prick testing done a couple of years ago.
Maybe try to make a timeline of your different reactions and where you were at the time / anything you can think of that could possibly be a cause - just to give them somewhere to start 
.... or of course you could go to your GP and they could say it's not an allergy at all haha we could of course all be wrong!