Is my shampoo damaging my skin??

I have made a recent discovery since using the TRESemmé 24 Hour Body Shampoo and Conditioner. I normally stick with premium brands for my hair but as December is a pretty expensive month (spending too much on skincare probably doesn’t help!) I thought I would try this out seeing as though it was on offer for just a few quid and the bottles are huge at 750ml.

 

I immediately realised it was rubbish for my hair. It was ok on the first day I washed it but the very next day my hair would feel greasy at the roots but very dry at the ends. I kept using it (so I could get through it quicker) and used dry shampoo for my roots and hair oil for my ends in the hope of making the best of a bad situation! It’s made me realise that it is definitely worth spending that bit extra for a product that does a better job and keeps my hair in good condition, quality over quantity wins every time.

However, what’s made me finally pour it down the drain today is what its actually doing to my face! In the past I have talked about how physical exfoliators make me come out in red little bumps on my skin and this is why I much prefer to use acid exfoliators. Whilst this still occurs nearly every time, however, I have noticed that the irritation predominately occurs around my mouth, nose and chin area.

I think that my skin is showing signs of ‘perioral dermatitis’ which is a separate skin issue entirely. Perioral dermatitis is a rash and/or, small red or pink lumpy spots develop on the skin anywhere around the outside of the mouth, they may appear on the chin, cheeks, and the skin next to and below the nose. For more info on this condition, check out; http://patient.info/health/perioral-dermatitis-leaflet

I have noticed that this has been happening for a while now and I couldn’t put my finger on what was actually causing it. I tried to slaver on sudocream, eczema cream, facial oils, and so on to try to reduce the redness and inflammation around my mouth, nose and chin. I don’t think its terribly bad, not compared to if you google perioral dermatitis, but it does feel slightly sore at times and I feel as though you can see the bumps under my make up, I never had this problem before. It is more prominent when I have hot showers (I shower in near boiling temperatures, this doesn’t help either!) which leads me to smothering my face with aloe vera gel which is one of the only things which would calm it slightly.

However, when I used the Tresemme shampoo and conditioner yesterday I could see the usual irritation but after a while my chin was covered in little bumps and around my nose was very red and sore looking, much more the usual.  I had changed nothing in my skincare routine and I couldn’t understand what was causing it. After some research, I found many people saying that shampoos containing sulfates can exacerbate the problem further along with certain cosmetics, especially those that are petrolatum or paraffin-based or contain isopropyl myristate and topical steroid creams. Before using Tresemme, I used the ‘LOréal Hair Expertise EverPure Colour Care & Volume Shampoo’ which contains no sulfates and I don’t remember having any flare ups, or nearly this bad ...hey presto, I think I have found the reason!

I was never really bothered if my shampoo contained sulfates or not, as long as it did a good job who cares? Whilst sulfates help to make you hair feel clean and free of grease/dirt, I have realised that this can potentially be overly drying for my coloured hair and an unnecessary irritant for my skin too, not something I need in my life thanks!

Now I think I understand what’s going on, I’m making a conscious effort to ensure my haircare products are free of sulphates and my makeup and skincare doesn’t contain ingredients which could make it worse. To help with any more flare ups which I may get, I have recently bought the ‘Avene Cicalfate Cream’ which contains properties such thermal spring water and sulcrafates which protect and sooth irritated skin. It also contains zinc which is widely used to treat perioral dermatitis… I hope it works!

I know that this is a bit of a random blog post, but I hope you found it insightful.

Please share your comment/thoughts, I would love to know if you have had similar experience!

Xoxo