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HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Hi Everyone! First time posting here. I just purchased Biossance’s Squalane Phyto Retinol Serum and after one use (overnight), I woke up with a terrible reaction. My face/eyes/mouth were swollen, red and burning. It progressively got worse and now on day 2, my face is still swollen and I’ve now broken out  with whiteheads ALL over the place. It’s burning and painful. This serum is the only change I made in my skincare regimen, and I generally do not have very sensitive skin. This is the first time I have ever experienced a reaction, and I have used retinol before without any issues. 

 

Please help! How do I fix this? What can I do to treat it? Thank you in advance!! I really appreciate your help!!

Anonymous Insider

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

That’s because there isn’t retinol in this serum. The active ingredient is bakuchiol. It’s considered a natural alternative to retinol because it produces similar results. It’s nothing like retinol however.  

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Wow so I’m not the only one. I used the squalene cleansing oil and my lips started to swell, irritate and fill with blisters that wouldn’t heal (which I thought were sores at first). Oddly enough, the rest of my face didn’t react...I stopped using it and my lips healed instantly

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Same here 😞Used it two nights ago, Biossance Squalane phyto-retinol serum + Biossance Omega repair cream + Biossance Rose + Squalane Oil. I've never had such a horrible reaction before, my face got all itchy at night, woke up twice to wash my face but it must have absorbed by then. My face was all red and super itchy the following morning, so swollen my fine lines got all smoothed out, cheek bones gone, looking like my 3 yo niece with chubby cheeks. I used oat + greek yogurt mixture 3x times on the following day, scared to use any cosmetic products at that point. Woke up with puffy eyes on day 2, same story with my face. Now it's day three - I'm having a super dry cast on my face, it's still red, like sunburned, a bit less swollen, super dry. Taking Zyrtek, can't believe I paid $150+ to get my face burnt.. Have had a poor experience with Biossance Eye Cream too now that I think about it, their only product that I'm happy with and keep repurchasing is the lightweight day cream. 

RE: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Same here! I am extremely sensitive, though. I would just use cetaphil or avene’s ‘cetaphil’ it’s free of parabens etc., unlike cetaphil. You can get it online. Or try using only ‘ultrabland’ from Lush, as directed, until your skin calms down. Or basic first aid beauty’s basic face wash with oat in it and a very basic moisturizer, like first aid beauty ultra moisturizer. I’m really liking first aid beauty.

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Yes same here!! I went to a wedding in Florida and I got a severe reaction with red, itchy, swollen skin and fluid filled blisters. Plus, I had a bunch of little whitehead type things in the initial reaction. I have also been using their Omega Repair Cream and Peptide Eye Gel and have had not one but two similar reactions in the past month now. I’m consulting with a physician tomorrow to see what’s up. It’s painful, embarrassing, and definitely not something I want to have to worry about every month. If I get any details on what it could be, I’m happy to share here. Not wanting this to happen to the next person.

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

I used a sample of the Biossance Squalene + Phyto Retinol Serum once last night and woke up with a severe allergic reaction.  My eyes are swollen almost shut and my entire face is red, itchy hot and bumpy.  I was shocked to google this product and see so many people have adverse reactions.  This product should not be on shelves and most definitely does not meet the quality criteria of a product that Sephora is pushing samples from. Very painful experience.

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

I just used my sample from sephora today. My face is red. My neck is swollen red with rashes and hurts to touch. I rinsed off and put calamine lotion and took some Claritin. Hope it doesn't get worse. I've never had a reaction in my life. Can't believe Sephora is handing out these samples either, after so many bad reviews.

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Same here...it’s never happened to me before. I am so disappointed and had to get on prednisone 

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

It burned my face. I am on topical and oral antibiotics. It’s very scary!

Anonymous Insider

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

So weirdly I am reacting to the plain squalane oil! When I use it my skin gets hot, red and itchy. I thought it would be fine for sensitive skin but I guess not

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Yup having terrible reaction on my eyelids only from the oil, didn’t Have this problem with my previous squalene bottles, not sure if the ingredients have changed!! 

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Same here, I’m usually not very sensitive, I applied plain Squalene to face and neck and woke with puffy eyes and red hot patches on my neck. 

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Omg I had red patches on my neck too and look like Eczema , never had these skin issues before

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Hi, had a similar reaction. I was given a small sample of this product at checkout and I tried it once AM/PM and the next day I woke up with a tiny white spots all over my face! I have used other retinol products quite regularly so I surprised by this reaction. 

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

As someone with sensitive skin, I stay away from a majority of active ingredients, retinol included. Nothing good can come out of it. 

Anonymous Insider

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

I'm just now seeing this, because I had the same reaction! I woke up this morning to a red and swollen face. I've never had a reaction like this before to anything. I've popped a Benadryl- tomorrow is Christmas Eve and hoping this doesn't get progressively worse. 

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

I hope it went away quickly for you!!

Anonymous Insider

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Thank you! It was better by the next morning.

Re: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

Same here. I tried all the other products and didn't have a problem. I read the ingredients and I think it could be the yeast extract that is the culprit. some folks (like me ) have yeast sensitivities. If so, stay away from this product!

RE: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

I am having the same reaction right now. I do not have sensitive skin and have used squalane and retinol products before. I put a small amount under my eyes and woke up the next day to swollen, puffy eyes. The next day (today) the skin under my eyes is extremely itchy and I have small white bumps there. I don’t think they’re whiteheads but they weren’t there before and I hardly get any acne. How did this resolve for everyone else? My skin is burning and itchy and it’s driving me nuts!

Re: RE: HELP! Bad reaction to Biossance Squalane + Phyto Retinol Serum

I was having the some crazy reactions to my skin for the last 6 months and didn't connect it with the Biossance sunscreen I was using. I had been using it for over a year and never had a problem.

 

Then I started to notice itching around my eyes and on my eyelids and forehead and jaws. I thought this was my mascara or makeup, so I updated those and threw the old ones out. I thought it might be my masks (because pandemic times) and washed them more frequently. But I continued to have itching. I started to breakout around my eyes, I would get pimples along my lash line.

 

Then I started to notice itching on my neck and my decolletage. I thought maybe it was my skincare, so I changed all of that too. But this continued to the point where my neck started to scale and peel.

 

I finally realized it was the sunscreen when I used it on my arms in a pinch when I was out hiking. I completely broke out in a rash all over my arms and they itched like crazy and even felt like they were burning. I only had calamine lotion on hand and this seemed to help for a bit, but it lasted almost 4 days.

 

I reached out to Biossance about this and they were really great and responsive, took note of the batch number, but could only suggest that I return this to Sephora in exchange for another.  I got a whole new tube, and I had the exact same reaction.  It seems to be worse after spending time in the sun, so I wonder if there's an ingredient that might be photo-unstable or something that I might just be sensitive to. 

 

I'm really sad about this since a good physical sunscreen is so hard to find and this one had minimal white cast and felt cosmetically elegant.

 

Unfortunately, I'm not sure exactly what ingredient might have caused this, but saw that some of the posters here had similar reactions, so I hope this post might help someone.

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