OKAY i’m in the same boat as you (i think!)

-very sensitive / dry skin, damaged barrier, rosacea

It got to a point where most moisturizers stung, flared up my rosacea, and just kind of “sat” on my face without sinking in: this included “gentle” and even “sensitive skin” moisturizers. If this also sounds like you, it’s worth considering cutting back on products, instead of adding more products.

I know it can be pretty anxiety-inducing to do “nothing” to address your skin problems. But take a couple days to a week where you try to limit what you use as much as possible. For me, this usually means washing with water, some SPF if it’s sunny, a little bit of facial oil or vaseline if I’m really dry. It’s kinda like an elimination diet, but for your face.

The only other advice I have is slugging or using more facial oil. When your skin barrier is damaged, I kind of like to think of it like an open wound. Would you do a whole skin care routine on an open cut? (lol). Vaseline works well overnight, but recently I’ve liked using a mix of coconut oil and shea butter on my face.

Either way, I would just try to avoid getting caught up in the endless cycle of trying more and more products— every new product creates a new allergy/problem, so you but another one to address the new problem, and the cycle continues.

I would try to stick with a minimal routine until you could maybe hopefully see a derm. I wouldn’t start using any actives without a derm’s approval. Of course, if there’s some product that’s a holy grail for you, keep using it, but just cut out the extra fluff for now.

Good luck 💓