Saturday, 25 August 2018

Sensitive skin sucks

Me: My skin is so sensitive...
You all: How sensitive is it?
Me: It is so sensitive, I get breakouts from my Neutrogena light therapy mask


Yea, it´s not really that funny. Sorry.

No joke though: I get really annoyed when people "abuse" the classification of having sensitive skin.
Too often have I heard people say they have sensitive skin when they flat out abuse it. 

If your skin is dry and cranky and your only "care" is to let your shampoo wash over your face when you rinse and maybe, maybe slap some crappy low SPF sunscreen on if you have to be outside in burning sun for too long, you don´t have sensitive skin. If your skin is oily and breaks out and you "care" for it by using whatever trendy, perfumy, brightly coloured, unicorn-themed product some editor was paid to advertise for in a glossy magazine, you don´t have sensitive skin. If your response to "Do you know if you have any allergies?" is "Uhhhh.....", you don´t have sensitive skin. 

So. Back to how sensitive sensitive skin can be.


For over a month, I have had this annoying breakout happening at two spots near my hairline. Above my ears, symmetrical placement.

Usually a breakout at my hairline points to a sensitivity to one or more of my skincare products. Because of the "massaging" motion, you end up pushing excess products into the hairline with your fingertips. Especially the hairline around the forehead is a typical area to get breakouts if the culprit is a product. It never really spreads very far into my scalp-area though: My scalps moisture barrier is strong and resilient and rarely causes me any problems. CO washes are my holy grail to protect my scalp from dehydration and irritation. I wish I could do the same for the skin on the rest of my body.

But the breakouts only happened right there. Slightly below where my glasses rests. Just in these two spots.

But I finally figured out what the problem is: It´s my hacked Neutrogena light therapy mask.
The mask fits a lot tighter around my face than a pair of glasses, and the earpieces touches my skin right there. The plastic ear pieces. Of course.
*Sigh*
I already knew that you should be aware what you let touch your face when you have sensitive skin. And I knew that you should always look for silicone tools since they are less reactive to any chemical (And therefore any product it might come into contact with) and more resistant to bacteria colonizing it.
But still.
This was a surprise.
And now I need to figure out what to do about it. Removing the earpieces would ruin the point of the mask. Maybe wrap something around right at the contact point? Like a bandaid that I can replace often?


Awkward selfie trying to show where the problem is.

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