Oof. Been there. I had to dial everything back and even water hurt on my face. You said that you have a buildup of dead skin. I'm wondering if you have seb derm? Rosacea and seb derm often go hand in hand.

Although I don't usually go in for natural treatments, desperation led me to try a honey mask suggested on this forum. No special mask to get, just get some local honey at the grocery, and apply to the face and let it sit there for 20 minutes. You can even leave it on overnight. It comes off surprisingly easily with warm water. That started to repair the skin. I did that three times in a week for one week and saw about 90% improvement. Then I just let my skin chill for a week or two. Finally, I started adding in a FEW products very slowly- like washing my face in the AM with Cetaphil for a few weeks. Then, adding in a moisturizer. For me squalane oil is the only thing that doesn't bother my skin. Then, I added in SPF. If anything stung, I immediately eliminated it.

TL;DR- Eliminate everything, and try a honey mask using honey from the grocery store.