Dry skin on nose

[LannaW]

Hey everyone! 

lately I have been dealing with super dry skin just on my nose. It will just dry up, flake off, repeat no matter how much I moisturize. I am currently using CeraVe hydrating cleanser, Laroche Posay Hyla B5 serum, CeraVe moisturizer for dry skin, I exfoliate about once a week, and at night I add in jojoba oil & aquaphor on my nose. 

does any one have any suggestions on what I could do differently to help? Its getting to the point where I cant wear makeup because it just makes the dry skin more visible. 

thanks so much! 

[Racon]

I get the same problem, I tried washing my face with Head and Shoulders and it worked great to stop the dry skin and flakes. It sooo hard to wear makeup when I'm flakey, but the H&S really helped.

[WinglessOne]

Hey @LannaW ! A few questions and suggestions: 

Do you use a broad spectrum sunscreen (at least SPF 30) and apply it daily to all skin exposed to sunlight, including your nose? UV rays can worsen damaged skin, so be sure to wear sunscreen all year long, regardless of weather or season. 

Have you been frequently blowing or wiping your nose? My nose gets chapped each winter and spring thanks to colds, allergies, and sinus infections. Super annoying to deal with flaky skin on the nose when the rest of my face is fine. Sometimes using a facial oil on my nose in the morning (not just at night) helps smooth out the flakes. I like e.l.f. All The Feels Facial Oil or  The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil 1 oz/ 30 mL  for this. 

When you exfoliate, do you avoid your nose? Dry flaky skin is damaged, and exfoliating it to remove flakes will worsen the damage. If the rest of your skin is fine, you can still exfoliate once a week. Just skip your nose. 

Do you also have a flaky scalp? You could have seborrheic dermatitis, though that often makes skin red and very itchy so this might not apply to you. (I'm not a doctor so I can't diagnose your skin. This skin condition's common, so it sprang to mind.) I have this problem on the sides of my nose and my whole neck. For me, it’s mostly caused by overactive yeast (malassezia, a yeast that normally lives on everyone’s skin). When I notice those skin areas getting flaky and dry, I wash my face with something anti-fungal that targets that yeast: either Nizoral Shampoo (I hate how strongly fragranced it is, but it works) or a pyrithione zinc cleanser like Vanicream Dandruff Shampoo. I do that a few nights a week for a couple weeks to get things under control. 

[LannaW]

Hi @WinglessOne! thanks so much for your reply. 

I do used an SPF 15 in the summer, but not in the winter. Do yoy have a recommendation for a moisturizer with higher SPF that is good for sensitive/break out prone skin? 

I have not been blowing/wiping my nose frequently, this is totally out of the blue! 

I have been exfoliated my nose along with the rest of my face, so I will stop doing that now! 

No flakey skin on my scalp, it is just isolated to my nose, more concentrated on the right side.. beey strange! 

[WinglessOne]

No problem, @LannaW ! Yeah, definitely use sunscreen all year long during daylight hours. The sun doesn't stop beaming UV rays once summer ends, and overcast weather doesn't block 'em all—especially not UVA rays. You should also wear sunscreen if you'll be sitting beside a window with open curtains/blinds, or riding in a car/bus/train/etc. that doesn't have UV-tinted windows. UVB rays are blocked by windows, but not UVA rays. 

The right sunscreen for your skin depends a lot on your personal preferences. Which sunscreen do you use in the summer? 

Many people (including me) love Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40 PA+++ , but some folks don't like how siliconey it feels when first applied. On my mostly-dry combo skin, this sunscreen always settles down to a natural skin finish that doesn't feel greasy. My skin's quite reactive/inflammation-prone and I've yet to have issues using this sunscreen. Your experience could be different, of course. 

La Roche-Posay makes very good sunscreens, but some of them can feel greasy, especially their Anthelios SPF 100 which I love to use in the winter: it's an extra layer of moisturization (in Chicago winter, I always need a separate moisturizer under my sunscreen; in summer, I can get away with skipping moisturizer and relying on a moisturizing sunscreen), plus it makes my skin super glowy in below-freezing weather. 😄 I can't use that sunscreen in summer though: it just feels too heavy on my skin in hot weather. 

A good mineral sunscreen that doesn't feel heavy and greasy on me is Dermstore Daily Mineral Sunscreen Sheer Tint SPF 40. This one's tinted but not heavily; the tint's just meant to mask the white cast zinc oxide leaves on skin. This sunscreen's available only at Dermstore's site. I also love Native Unscented Face Sunscreen SPF 30, though some folks might find it feels a bit heavy on their skin. 

Another option is ordering a Japanese or Korean sunscreen from places like YesStyle, Olive Young, Stylevana, Pink n Blossom (they're based in Canada), Jolse, etc. These sunscreens tend to use newer, more innovative, and apparently more effective UV filters (like newer uvinals and tinosorbs) than the ones allowed in US sunscreens. Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun SPF 50 is one of those Korean sunscreens. The only downside, particularly for Japanese sunscreens, is frequent product reformulation: for some reason, skincare brands in Japan like to reformulate their products seemingly every year or two. One of my favorite sunscreens was the Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50 (the clear version), until Canmake reformulated it to something I can't use on my skin (they added an ingredient my facial skin hates). 

If you want to try a tinted moisturizer type of sunscreen (something with a stronger tint than the Dermstore sunscreen I mentioned, strong enough to work as a sheer to medium coverage skin tint), remember that you'll still need to apply it generously to get adequate protection. There's no such thing as "a little goes a long way" with sunscreen, and you want at least SPF 30. If you have a local Sephora, see if they have Saie Slip Tint Dewy Tinted Moisturizer Five  (can't tag it without a specific shade) in-store so you can swatch different shades in person. Some people love ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 Foundation Dominica ST14  ; I didn't like it at all, but again, it's all about personal preference.