Spot the rough neck!

 

I'm a real **** at times.

After a shave the other day I put on a new moisturiser/after shave lotion that was SPF 15.

Woke up yesterday and, would you believe it, the elephant man is back. This has totally f*cked my weekend, but I should have learned by now not to risk anything with sun protection.

Oddly enough, even though I put it all over my face, the allergic reaction is only on the right sight above my lips and onto my cheek. It's strange that the left side doesn't get the same, as it's surely the same skin with the same sensitivity? Any medical bods fancy hazarding a guess (*cough* Mr Banks... hint, hint)?

 

Hate the stuff, makes me sweat like a pig, greasy, blocks pores (causing zits), doesn't rub in properly on hairy parts (be it face or limbs), makes any white clothing turn yellow (shirt collars etc).

The only stuff that I can put up with is Ultrasun 20 and even then it doesn't rub in that well and stings like a jellyfish if put on after shaving.

They do ultra senstive creams as well, but I find teh creams are too thick to rub in properly IMO (ok on the face, but not so easy to rub in on the head with a grade #2 cut)

 

I'm not a fan of suncream, for pretty much similar reasons. Last year, I got dry oil spray instead and it seemed much better. Wasn't greasy either, as I thought it might be. It's not specifically for sensitive skin, but my skin is a bit, and I had no problems with irritation.

 

See I don't really have a problem with it on the rest of my body. But think I'll keep if off my face now and just wear a hat instead. Never got round to trying that baby stuff last year, but to be honest I'm not keen on risking it. Every time this happens it takes a good week to feel and look normal again. But it is strange how it's only been on that one specific part of my face, and not in the same place on the other side.

My preferred after shave balm is Molton Brown. Only picked up this other stuff (Gilette) the other day as something that would do temporarily, obviously not believing it would have the same effect as a proper sun cream despite the SPF 15 element. The prospect did enter my mind for a minute but I decided to risk it.

 

if your allergic did you not think of testing a small area before covering your whole face?

 

Sorry i didnt read throught the thread so may have been suggested but you can but moisturiser with sun cream in it, worth a try maybe?

 

It takes the best part of a day for the allergic reaction to happen, so that isn't really practical. As I've said above, it only happens on one part of my face anyway.

 

 

Just a suggestion........When you try something new, how about doing a patch test at night?


Oh, and my mum used to use Uvistat sun cream. Supposed to be good for sensitive skin.

 

I use p40 which is alcohol based, once a day, very good, and may not have the same effect as oil based creams.

 

Thinking about this a bit more, could you not speak to your GP about it, maybe get referred to see a dermatologist as they might be able to find out what you are particularly sensitive/allergic to?

 

Yeah, that would be the right thing to do. Just seems a lot of hassle, and possible waste of GP's time, when I just wore a hat on the hot days last year and it pretty much solved the issue. But yeah, there will be times when a hat will be useless.

 

It's not a waste of time really, as it's not just suncream as such that is upsetting your skin. I know the other after shave lotion had SPF in, but you still can't be absolutely sure what exactly is the cause. If you don't use alot of different products at the moment in terms of moisturisers etc. it may seem that the spf is the probelm, but it may be coincidence, it might just be a certain ingredient that is the problem and it may be best to 'waste' a bit time to find out so you don't have problems like this down the line. And, yeah, there may be times when a hat is useless.

 

Try kids totally sunblock
Suggest a trip to the doctor for this one though and they can arrange a patch test
My mother has allergy to sun cream yet she's fine with kids sunblock
Sunburn is agony and can ruin a holiday to best to start the tests now rather then when your ready to actually go on holiday and yes skin cancer is not good

 

Could you please post a photo up so we can all see exactly what the reaction is like?

 

I found out I was allergic to Nivea sun cream while I was on holiday in Tunisa 3 years ago and it basically ruined my holiday for me.

Piz Buin is what I use now; a little more money than Nivea but most supermarkets stock it and it smells great too.

 

Our whole familiy uses this stuff i used to hate applying and reapplying greasy sun creams
Our eldest used to react with just about any sun block stuff even the supposedly hypoallergenic stuff, but p 20 is superb one application first thing in the morning lasts all day and you can swim with it on as well.
We all spent the whole afternoon in a water park in spain last year with no ill effects whatsoever

http://www.p20.co.uk/

there is a p10 15 20 and 30 my ginga sister inlaw (half irish as well) swears by it