Help! Retinol Over Use!

[Heavenslove]

Hey everyone, 

I’m seeking some help! I’ve recently used Glow Recipe’s retinol eye crème nightly for 3 weeks. Let’s just say I probably applied too much and my lash line is severely dehydrated and covered in lines (it looks super aged as well). The Lines weren’t there before and are also super deep it’s covered in them. Can anyone give me advice on how to heal this? Does this heal?? Please help! My moisture barrier is completely gone. I’d love product reccomendations of what to use to help with the damaged moisture barrier and severely dehydrated skin. Thanks in advance 💕

[WinglessOne]

Hi @Heavenslove ! If you haven't yet, stop using the retinol eye cream until your skin’s healed. Don’t use it even just once a week. Put it away and don’t touch it until your skin’s improved. Healing can take 2-4 weeks. 

Roll your skincare routine—at least around your eyes—back to basics: gentle PM cleaner, a good moisturizer for AM & PM, and AM sunscreen. Be sure to apply sunscreen all the way to your lash lines. (We should all do that regularly, but especially when skin’s extra vulnerable to UV damage.) Do you already use a gentle cleanser and sunscreen? 

Some good moisturizers for damaged skin: 

• A petrolatum-based balm like CeraVe Healing Ointment, Aquaphor Ointment (avoid if you’re skin-sensitive to lanolin), plain ol’ Vaseline, etc. Also consider Avene Cicalflate+ Restorative Cream which contains mineral oil. 
• A dimethicone-based balm or moisturizer like Aveeno Eczema Therapy Balm or Vanicream Moisturizing Ointment (formerly known as Vaniply). 

Whichever moisturizer you choose, apply it to damp (but not soaking wet) skin. You want to seal in hydration, not dryness. 

Don’t use hydrocortisone cream unless your skin’s red with inflammation. Hydrocortisone’s good at reducing that—I occasionally use it on my inflammation-prone skin—but it should be used as a very temporary treatment: just one week or less. Its job is not to repair the moisture barrier or increase hydration; its focus is inflammation. Sounds like your skin’s just extremely dry, so you might not need hydrocortisone. But if you do, my favorite is Aveeno 1% Hydrocortisone Anti-Itch Cream because it also contains soothing oats. 

Do wear UV-protective sunglasses (in addition to sunscreen) as an extra layer of sun protection. The last thing you want right now is UV damage. 

Once your skin’s healed (again, it can take up to 4 weeks), don’t use that retinol daily straight away. Use it just 1-2 days a week for a few weeks. You might even want to apply it over a separate moisturizer (perhaps use your full face moisturizer around your eyes, and then apply the Glow Recipe eye cream over it); this can buffer retinol’s side effects but won’t stop it from working. If your skin tolerates the retinol, you can try increasing usage to 3 days a week for a while. Keep gradually increasing usage until you’re at a comfy-for-you frequency. Note that you don’t have to use retinol daily to get its benefits. You can use it every other day, or even just 3 days a week. 

EDIT: Be careful not to bring retinol all the way up to your lash line. It probably won't damage your eyeballs, but some eye doctors caution that retinol can damage the sebaceous glands that run along your lash lines. I use a retinol product on my undereyes and sometimes I apply a petrolatum-based balm (either Aquaphor or CeraVe ointment) right under my lower lash line, to act as a barrier. I always try to keep retinol away from my lash line. 

And of course, do keep wearing sunscreen after your skin’s healed. 

[Heavenslove]

Thank you for this it has helped tremendously! I have stopped using the product completely. It's been over 2 months and my skin is still trying to heal. I have been cleansing gently AM & PM and applying moisturizer to the areas along with SPF. I have been dodging the sun for weeks now. LOL 

At night I also have been slugging with Vaseline and the Skinfix eczema creme but I have recently stopped as I was afraid of over moisturizing and was trying to give the skin a chance to heal itself (not sure if there's truth to this or if it is more of a myth).

I also have melanin skin perhaps that's is why my skin had such a reaction to the product. I am not totally sure but prior to using this product my skin was fine and now it's caused me to have to repair the very issues I started using it for to prevent. Sigh, I hope it heals soon though. I have read online in some cases it can take months depending on how many layers of skin the retinol has caused to exfoliate away. In my case I believe quite a few as I used nightly for 3 weeks as per the directions. 

Thank you again for the advice I am going to look into those moisturizers as well! 

[WinglessOne]

@Heavenslove  Hey, remember to @ the person you're replying to so they'll get a notification. Otherwise they might never see your reply. 🙂 

Sorry your skin's still unhappy! Try skipping the AM cleanser, at least around your eyes, and see if that helps. If you do have to clean around your eyes in the morning, try using a very gentle cleansing balm or a non-foaming cream cleanser instead of a foaming cleanser. The INKEY List Mini Oat Cleansing Balm 1.7 oz/ 50 mL  works well for this, plus it can help soothe irritation thanks to oats. 

Glad to hear you've been using moisturizer, applying sunscreen, and dodging the sun. 👍 PM slugging is also a good idea, as long as you apply Vaseline to damp (but not soaking wet) skin; if you apply it to dry skin, you'll seal in dryness instead of hydration, and that won't help. Don't worry about Vaseline (or any other petrolatum-based balm) not giving skin a chance to heal. Petrolatum is exactly what you want for that: it forms a protective occlusive barrier over damaged skin. It promotes healing by sealing in hydration and acting as a temporary skin barrier, in place of your skin's damaged barrier. Anything you've heard about petrolatum clogging pores or "smothering skin, not letting it breathe" is a myth. Doctors use petrolatum to heal post-surgery scars for good reason. 

As a brown skinned person, I can say retinol and other forms of vitamin A are safe to use regardless of skin tone. I'm not just basing that on anecdotal "it works great for me" evidence: my dermatologist can vouch for that from a medical perspective, as will any derm. Your issue was probably caused by overuse. Vitamin A is not an ingredient anyone should use daily right from the start; it's infamously irritating if not introduced very slowly to skin. There could also be another ingredient in that Glow Recipe cream your skin doesn't like. You could patch test it on a small area, maybe somewhere on your jawline, to see if you also get irritation there. But my money's on overuse. 

Were you trying to address undereye lines? Don't try this until your skin's in better condition, but: for the last 1.5 months, I've been using The Ordinary Argireline Solution 10% Serum for Facial Wrinkles 1 oz/ 30 mL  AM and PM, plus Facetheory Ocuwake Eye Cream at night. (I always top that eye cream with a moisturizer.) I usually use retinol under my eyes, but I've halted that during my test of this argireline + Ocuwake combo. These 2 products have softened my lines, but not erased them—which is fine since I didn't expect the lines to disappear (the only way to get that is to see a derm about in-office/clinic procedures). I'm 50 and have a lot of lines under my eyes, so I always notice when they're less visible. I'm actually more impressed that argireline + Ocuwake has significantly reduced my undereye puffiness; that's more Ocuwake's doing. Anyway, once your skin's better, consider trying The Ordinary Argireline if you want to reduce the appearance of lines. But keep expectations realistic: your lines will still be there. And that's okay! 

Hope your skin heals soon! 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@Heavenslove When I upped my Retin-A Rx, I got very dry.  The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil 1 oz/ 30 mL  really helped.

[Heavenslove]

Okay, thank you I'll give this a try! 

[Jennifertovr]

Application: Please try to use a pea-size amount for your whole face and if this is just for the eyes even less than that and only 3x a week until your skin builds resistance towards the retinol. 

Cause:
Retinol encourages cell division in the deepest layer of cells. Overuse of retinol will overproduce cell division, causing large numbers of ‘immature cells’ to rise to the surface without the proper ‘bonds. ‘ This causes peeling because the lipids and bonds needed to hold them together are absent. This allowed skincare products to penetrate more profound than they, resulting in skin sensitivity, stinging, and redness.

Treatment:
You can use hydrocortisone with a jelly barrier like Aquaphor or Vaseline. Do not use any AHA/BHA or salicylic acid, your skin needs to heal. Get a creamed moisturizer with ceramides, I know it’s gonna BURN as you already know but you still need to hydrate your skin and seal it all in with an oil like vitamin E or JoJoba oil. I’ve been there more times than I can count, hang in there! Wishing you a speedy recovery.😊

[Heavenslove]

Thank you for this! I am currently still trying to heal as the skin is very dry still but I am going to remember these tips for future reference! 💞