Do you ever use skin care products that feel like they are burning your skin? It may be ironic, but certain sunscreens cause my skin to feel like it’s burning, and when I wear the offending sunscreen in the sun, the burning gets even worse! The use of retinol products can definitely make your skin more sensitive and more susceptible to the burning sensation.
Benzophenones
Many sunscreens contain some form of benzophenones in it, which I believe is the culprit for sunscreens that feel like they are burning. In the old days PABA was the cause of a lot of burning problems, but I haven’t seen any sunscreens containing PABA in years. The EPA has an informative article called sunscreen: the burning facts.
Currently ingredients like Avobenzone, Oxybenzone, Dioxybenzone, and Sulisobenzone can be an issue for people with sensitive skin, and these ingredients are very common in sunscreens. Avobenzone (probably the most common sunscreen ingredient nowadays) makes my face feel like it’s on fire when I wear a lot of it in the sun. If you haven’t had any issues with these ingredients, then by all means keep using them if you are seeing good results from the product.
I use face self-tanners that are basically moisturizers with self-tanner, however they also contain sunscreen ingredients. I really like Neutrogena Build-A-Tan Face and L’Oreal Sublime Glow For Face because they don’t clog my pores, and they work well. But lately they burn so much when I apply them (probably because I recently started a new retinol regimen) that I feel like it’s probably not a good idea to keep using them. I have not seen a single drugstore face sunscreen that doesn’t contain sunscreen with benzophenone ingredients, or pore-cloggers, so it’s quite annoying! I’ll have to check Sephora and the department stores. I also want to research to see if there are any regular body self-tanners that are safe to use on my face, since a lot of them don’t contain sunscreen.
There are other chemical sunscreen ingredients, and while any ingredient can cause problems in some people, the benzophenones are the most common ingredients that cause problems. I have no problems with these zinc oxide-based sunscreens, even though some of them contain some chemical sunscreen ingredients as well.
What skin care ingredients cause your skin to burn? I also get burning from glycolic acid (which is normal), menthol, peppermint, SD alcohol, and alcohol denat. Only the glycolic acid is beneficial for your skin.
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July 5th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
The worst experience I’ve had with a cosmetic burning my skin was Cetaphil’s facial wash for oily skin. It was so strange–I used it for a couple of years, and it progressively burned my skin more and more (I thought that meant it was “working” or something), until one night when my skin felt like it was on fire for HOURS after I washed. I haven’t used the stuff since.
Retin A will definitely burn your skin if it’s sensitive, but that’s easy to fix, just use it less often.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Yikes! I still have some discoloration under my eyes from using acne treatments too close to the eye area. We gotta be careful!
July 8th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I’m glad I’m not a weirdo. I’ve been complaining that I simply can’t wear sunscreen for years. Unfortunately, nearing 25, it is starting to show, but everytime I put ANY sunscreen on my face it either turns super white (from zinc) or burns worse than hell.
I have an unusual problem, my body is literally 7 shades darker than my face. ( I swear I have hypopigmentation on my face.) My friends say its because my body wants to be Latina and my face wants to be caucasion (im mixed). Whatever the case, I was stoked to discover Neutrogena’s Color Boosting sunblock with helioplex http://www.neutrogena.com/ProductsDetails_416.asp?lProductLineID=15 only to find that I’ve never endured worse pain in my life. Its been sitting in my car becase I can’t return it and out of desperation yesterday (a sunny hot Miami midafternoon with no tinting on my windows) I slathered some on… ouchies! I almost crashed. I’m gonna try that blue lizard stuff. Does it go out clear?
July 9th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Someone suggested Aveeno’s Continuous Protection Sunblock as good for acne prone skin. Have you tried that? I am going to Africa soon and am in desperate need of a sunscreen so I was going to try it out.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Hi Jeni, have you checked out the recent cosmeticsdatabase report on sunscreens released last month? I was looking for Shisedo’s rating and was really suprised to see the score it got. What’s your take on the rating? A lot of the top 10 sunscreens they recommend are from brands I’ve never even heard of….here’s a link http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008/findyoursunscreen.php?brand_id=3043&query=search+terms
July 11th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Kristi,
Yeah I was looking at that site last week and looking up sunscreens too. I still am not sure exactly what to make of that site because they hate almost every product on the market (at least that I’ve tried) and most of the ingredients they have an issue with are ingredients that most Dermatologists and scientists don’t find to be a problem. It’s mostly the fragrance that they freak out about with the Shiseido sunscreen. Fragrance (which is in most skin care products) can be a problem for people that are allergic to it, but for most people I personally don’t think it’s a problem.
I know they give UV Natural sunscreen a great rating, which I reviewed recently. And they love one of the Blue Lizard sunscreens I recommend.
I may change my mind one day, and agree with that website, but for now it’s too extreme, since almost every beauty product on the market is problematic, according to the site.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:21 am
Thanks for this post! I am also allergic to some SPF products and sometimes my skin burns. I’ve finally found one by L’Occtaine that you can use on your eyes as well. It’s mineral-based and doesn’t burn my skin. :)
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:48 am
Hi, recently i started using this pimple cream called ” Drying Lotion” from Mario Badescu as i’ve heard great reviews about it but after applying it overnight which is the instructions, in the morning the areas which i’ve used it on turned red and a bit itchy, made my face look horrible! The ingredients in it are Isopropyl Alcohol, Deionized water (Aqua), Calamine, Camphor, Colloidal Sulfur, Salicylic Acid, Glycerin, Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Talc. Which ingredient is the likely cause of the redness?
October 14th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Thanks for the post for making people realize to use only quality products
October 30th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Hello Ladies! I can relate to your “face fires”. I have been dealing with burning skin and weird eruptions on my face for the past 2 years that no one could figure out. Finally got allergy tested to chemicals, and I am allergic to Quaternium-15, which is a formaldehyde releasing agent, that’s the cause of my “burning, blistery” face. It is in TONS of personal hygiene and makeup products, especially Cover Girl. It goes under a bunch of names, like DMDM Hydantoin. You can look it up on http://www. skindeep.com. Also “fragrances” have over 4000 ingedients in them so they don’t list them, it could be hidden in the fragrance. I sympathize with you guys!
April 20th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
can you recomend a good sunscreen for sensetive skin? I havent been able to find one, wallet is crying!
May 28th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
neutrogena sensitive skin titanium dioxide sunscreen. It is a physical block and doesn’t give me a chemical peel when I use it. It is very white so needs to be rubbed in really well. I have run with it on and no burning when I sweat!! I use bare minerals natural sunscreen powder over it and it reduces shine and gives me a little pigment over the whiteness of the physical block! I have super sensitive skin and both of these products are awesome!!! Non-comedogenic too! Do not smell and not greasy so perfect for daily use. Banana boat SPF 50 kids continuous spray sunscreen for when you don’t care about smelling like sunscreen and I need sports or water proof protection!!