Flaky, Dry Skin & Paula's Choice 2% Liquid BHA

[comeoneileen88]

So a little over a week ago, I started using the Paula's Choice 2% Liquid BHA.  I'd been using the FAB Facial Radiance Pads, but wanted to try a BHA instead due to lingering acne blemishes and clogged pores.  While the Paula's Choice 2% Liquid BHA has been doing a great job at cleaning out my pores and made my skin super soft at first, over the past couple days I've noticed a stinging/burning sensation after applying it and my skin has started flaking and feeling very dry and tight.  I'm so disappointed, and while I'm not ready to give up on the product yet, I'm wondering if anyone has advice about how to make it work better with my skin?  Has anyone ever had a reaction like this while using the Paula's Choice 2% Liquid BHA?  Is there anything I can do to reduce the flaky, dry skin?  I've included my a.m. & p.m. skin routine below, my skin is generally normal with some oiliness, and I do get occasional cystic acne blemishes on my chin/jawline. 

a.m.

FAB Daily Cleanser

Paula's Choice 2% Liquid BHA

Philosophy When Hope Is Not Enough Serum

FAB 3-in-1 Eye Cream

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer

Neutrogena Dry Touch Ultra Sheer Sunscreen SPF 45

p.m.

Clinique Take The Day Off Balm

FAB Daily Cleanser

Paula's Choice 2% Liquid BHA

Doctor's Skin Prescription Rejuvenating Retinol Serum

FAB 3-in-1 Eye Cream

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer

Weekly

Clarisonic

Kiehl's Rare Earth Pore Cleansing Mask

[artwaccent]

I started using it about two weeks ago and I was really loving it, until my skin became so so dry that it just hurts when I am not even using my facial muscles. I don't think the product is bad, as mentioned I like it, but I think to use it 1/day on my already dry skin was not a vise choice. If anyone know a moisturizer or a mask that can help my super dry skin ASAP (literally hurts which never ever happened before) please let me know. xoxo

[sashasash]

Try Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin™ Skin Barrier Moisturizer 1.69 oz/ 50 mL 

It always helps me with moisture barrier issues. 

Also Farmacy Honey Halo Ultra-Hydrating Ceramide Moisturizer is great if you're not sensitive to fragrance. 

[artwaccent]

Thank you so much! I will try Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin™ Skin Barrier Moisturizer hope it will help! 

[tg1973]

As others have said, you're using it too often, meaning you are over-exfoliating your skin.  Stop using it, the retinol, and your Clarisonic until it heals.  I know it bites because you want to scrub off the grossness, but you basically gave yourself a chemical burn and you need to let it heal.  The shortest way to do that is to be gentle until it looks completely better.  Then slowly reintroduce the Clarisonic and either the BHA or the retinol (VERY slowly, like once every two or three days) and then slowly reintroduce the other product.  Neither the retinol nor the BHA should burn on your skin, so if it burns when you put it on, wash it off with a gentle cleanser and just moisturize because you went too far.  You're dealing with very strong active ingredients and you need to respect their power to mess you up.  Ceramides and hydration will absolutely help your skin heal faster and keep your skin from pumping out extra oil to compensate for thirst.  I had oily skin forever until I found Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin™ Liquid 5.07 oz/ 150 mL .  It's basically fatty water that goes between your acids and the moisturizer so your skin doesn't have to make as much oil.  It was life-changing for me.

[CaliGirl268]

This 2% BHA liquid dried my skin too even though I was using it only once a day. So i switched to paula’s choice 2% BhA moisturizer which I feel us milder and I dont have to use a moisturizer seperately and This i use on alternate days. The other alternate days I use Vitamin C serum.

[organi]

You are using it too much. U exfoliate a lot. Cut back on the bha to 1x a week

[DiVWA]

I have super sensitive skin and mild rosacea and have had no issues with the 2% liquid BHA, which I use twice a day after cleansing. But I have weeded out a ton of products that have made me break out, so that the BHA has no opportunity to react with anything else. Don't add AHA to your routine, as someone already suggested, because BHA is more appropriate than AHA for sensitive skin. I assume that right now, at least, you have sensitive skin.

Looking at your list, and my own personal experience, before eliminating the PC 2% liquid BHA, I would try eliminating the Kiehl's moisturizer in AM and PM (replace it with something for sensitive skin specifically) and I would replace the Clinique Take The Day Off Balm with another makeup remover. The reason I say this is the Kiehl's moisturizer has a lot of ingredients in it that can cause sensitivity, such as all the different oils. I don't know what's in the Clinique Take The Day Off Balm offhand, but I had serious irritation (redness, stinging) from using it, even though I had used it successfully for a couple weeks before sensitivity developed.

If replacing the Kiehl's moisturizer and Clinique balm with something else makes your skin calm down (and allows you to continue to use PC 2% BHA), and you're determined to continue to use the Kiehl's or Clinique again, try adding them one at a time and see if you get the stinging again.

[talinder]

As others have stated 2x/day is likely too much for you. I can use it twice a day during the summer, but as it has cooled off the last few weeks I've had to reduce my usage. Last winter was the first time I had to reduce my usage. You just have to listen to your skin.

[TrysBeautyItems]

When are you feeling the burning from the 2%, during the day or at night or both?

With any strong ingredient, ease into usage, even once a day and only a few times a week, so the skin gets adjusted. With prescription retinol (even though yours is OTC) it's used every third day at first. How long have you been using Doctor's?

I wouldn't use the 2% before the retinol, just too harsh.

[comeoneileen88]

Thanks.  I feel the burning both a.m. and p.m.  The stinging actually gets worse in the morning after I put on my SPF which is bizarre because the usage instructions for the 2% BHA specifically say to be sure to wear at least SPF 15 when using it in the daytime. 

I've been using the Doctor's Skin Prescription Retinol Serum for about 6 months, and I've never had any sensitivity to it at all.  With past retinols I've used, like Skin Medica and the Philosophy Retinoid Pads, I would occasionally get some redness/tightness if I rushed into using them too quickly.  I will usually try to leave some time between applying the 2% BHA before the retinol, and I've even skipped the retinol the past few nights to see if they were interacting badly with one another, but the flaking has actually gotten worse since I stopped using the retinol. 

[Anonymous]

Do not skip the retinol as it is helping your skin heal. The SPF will sting on raw skin, but a sunburn will set you back a lot longer on healing so don't skip it!

[comeoneileen88]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'll put the retinol back in asap.  I never, ever skip sunscreen.  I'm like a crazy person with tubes of sunscreen everywhere, my bedroom, my car, my purse, my office lol.  I've just been dealing with the stinging. 

[arielaaaaaaaa]

Twice a day might be too much! The 2% liquid is a holy grail product of mine and i seriously love it! It's amazing how one product can really make a huge difference. 

But it can be pretty harsh. When i first started i used it twice a day, Definitely not a great idea for my skin. I suggest only once using it once a day, i use it at night, and only put it where i need it, Where i suffer from bumps and breakouts, so i put it on a cotton pad and target those area, if i use it on my nose it gets to dry and flakey which is an issue i have with many products. So i would suggest to target the area you need it for. And i know paulas choose says you don't need both an AHA and BHA exfoliant, but i prefer using BHA at night, and the 5% AHA lotion in the morning. It doesn't make my skin dry and i can use it all over. This combo really keeps my skin nice and smooth and helps tremendously with texture issue. 

But i find it interesting it's burning and stinking your skin. It doesn't feel that way on me. Unless i use on broken skin. But i do know some people do feel and burning sensation with BHA's, But if it's significant i would suggest trying the 1% Bha

[comeoneileen88]

Thank you!  I've heard so many people say that this product has saved their skin, so I really hope I'm able to make it work for me.  That's a good idea to just use it on certain spots of my face.  I'll definitely try that out. 

[almostyou]

Maybe just try using it in the am? Twice a day could be a bit much for your skin as could using it in conjunction with the retinol serum. 

[Anonymous]

Agreed, the retin already dries the skin out and stripping it further with BHA is removing your upper skin barrier. The sting is raw skin.

If almostyou's suggestion of once a day is too much, I would say stop for a week for your skin to heal and then retry once a day. You can consider a facial oil before putting on the pm Kiehls while you are attempting this routine to help your new layer of skin. A moisturizing cucumber gel mask every couple days couldn't hurt either.

If you are stinging even with the once a day, discontinue until you can discuss it up with your dermatologist. You may need 1.5 or 1% solution, or even have a day or two apart in applications.

[comeoneileen88]

Thank you for the suggestions!  I actually have some of the PTR Cucumber Mask, so maybe I'll use that to help my skin heal.