Facial skin care for eczema prone skin

Fusspot

Hi all, my skin is very sore at the moment. I get eczema on my hands but the whole of my body and face is sensitive aswell. For my body I use E45 bath oil and wash but I don't know what to use for my face. I have tried Liz Earle, Simple and various wipes. I am OK with facial moisturisers but never know what to use to cleanse my face. I have heard that foaming washes aren't good for sensitive skin, I wonder if I could use the E45 wash as it says it can be used on the face but it is rather greasy. I want to find something and stick to it because chopping and changing all the time is messing my skin up.

Hermia

I have eczema and extremely sensitive skin. I cannot use any type of wash-off cleanser as it upsets my skin so much. I use the Avene range which is designed for people with dodgy skin. I use the Avene Extremely Gentle Cleanser. My local Boots has Avene on 3 for 2 at the moment.

Fusspot

Thanks for your reply. Does the Avene cleanser remove eye make up too? Which moisturiser do you use? Ideally I like a cleanser that removes all make up,

Hermia

I find it's fine for normal make-up. I use waterproof mascara so do use make-up remover. But I don't wear make-up everyday.

I use Avene moisturiser too. The ones I use depends on the time of year and what my skin is doing. They have a skin diagnosis tool on their website so it would be worth you having a look as they have a moisturiser for every skin condition under the sun. I have used L'Oreal Youth Code in the past and had no problems with that, but I wanted to move into more specialist skincare.

A.Penny.Saved

If you seal your stomach/gut your skin would almost certainly improve.

Was your skin always dry or did it start becoming dry at a certain age?

Oils can help, coconut oil can provide a nice barrier to prevent drying. It's similar to natural sebum. Other oils such as hazelnut, rosehip, jojoba and shea butter can be nice, jojoba and shea buttter leave the skin feeling soft.

pinkmami

I also have eczema but mostly on my arms and a small patch on my neck. I sometimes get a flare up round my chin. I use Nivea wipes for sensitive skin, Aldi day cream and Nivea crème to top it up in winter. On my body I use Aveeno - FAB!

Rach3l

I have eczema too, mainly on my hands. I feel your pain!

My staple is E45 but I really like the Vitamin E range from Body Shop, I was gifted a set with cleanser, toner and moisturiser at Christmas and it's not irritated me at all.

After using that, I found there was loads of hype for Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish but couldn't spend £25, I found Superdrug's Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser for £4 ish (cloth included) which seems to be a direct ripoff and it's been fantastic. I really find gentle exfoliation with a flannel or something works well on my skin, turns out using the Superdrug cleanser with a muslin cloth in the shower works even better. It removes my makeup fine, but I only wear eye makeup.

I can't recommend coconut oil myself, I did try it but my skin hates it, I broke out in very bad eczema after trying it and my hands itched for days. Anything with shea butter works well for me though, Palmers hand creams are amazing for me (smell a bit odd though).

Emmala

I second the Avene Extremely Gentle Cleanser, it's fab!

moneysniffer

I've recently (well, it started 8 months ago and has never really cleared... Spiked again 2 weeks ago) had an awful flare up, all over my body, hands and face... It was just horrible, but I am a bit wary about using steroids all the time, as I don't want to wreck my skin (though may be too late!), so I've been experimenting with over the counter remedies and moisturisers.

For cleansing, I use the Simple facial cleansing wipes, which only sting a little if I have open wounds on the face (sorry for the detail ). I also use Rosehip oil, followed by Trilogy Ultra Hydrating cream on my face, - it's expensive, but really keeps my face moisturised. I know everybody is different, but my skin never got on with E45, it just felt a bit weird. I also tried Palmers cocoa butter (the solid stuff) for a few days, and found that it actively dried out my skin and made it much, much worse. I threw it away and will never use it again. My usual 'eczema' moisturiser is Oilatum, which I use on both face and body, and get it on prescription (by the kilo!).

However, I really MUST sing the praises of Aveeno Eczema Therapy cream (there are two - normal and baby, but the normal says it's suitable for babies, so not sure of the difference). I've used Aveeno normal cream and skin relief cream before, and although they gave relief, they didn't do anything to reduce the redness or reduce the eczema itself. I had to use them in conjunction with steroids (the same goes for any other moisturiser really!). For some bizarre reason you can't get it in the UK, but there are UK sellers on eBay and Amazon. I swear, to me, it is the closest to a miracle cream I will ever find. Two days ago I was red raw and flaky all over (face, chest, arms, back), and this morning? Instead of waking up a flaky mess, my skin is smooth, no hint of redness and only the tiniest patch of flaking. I am completely blown away, I know this sounds like a sales pitch, but honestly, I am so happy I could cry. I've suffered in varying degrees all my life, and have just been through an 8 month bad patch so the relief is immeasurable. Especially as it has been bad on my face - forehead, eyelids and sides of mouth. All gone. I would recommend it 100% and would urge you to try it, I wish I'd found it years ago! Though I found that using it on it's own made my skin feel a bit tacky, so I applied the Averno, then covered it with a layer of Oilatum to keep the moisture locked in. Now the eczema has gone, I will probably revert to my usual moisturising regime, but this stuff will be my first line of defence to get the skin back to a 'normal' state!

sixtiesgal_2

I have eczema too, got it on my hands at the moment but I have to be careful with all my skincare. I did try a sample of Lush's Dream Cream, thinking it would be a magic cure but my eczema has broke out more since then I am thinking it must be that, either that or its a coincidence.

What make up do you use? I tend to stick with Boots No7 or Clinique, though the latter is getting rather expensive now. Do you think foundation or tinted moisturiser is best?

I like the Simple wipes too and the No7 ones. I do try to use proper cleansers but end up going back to wipes because they are easier

cheappockets

Avene Cleanser, body butter and moisturisers work well for me!