I have very sensitive skin, especially around my eyes. And of course every good goth needs loads of eyeshadow and eyeliner and foundation and various other forms of face paint. So, for those of you with sensitive skin, I was wondering what you use/recommend?

I also have very sensitive skin, especially in the winter. I used to simply cake a lot of moisturizer onto it, but then I discovered your skin obsorbs everything you put on it. Not only that, but what you put on it goes directly to the blood stream, without any filters. So, I switched to mostly all-natural products. I find Burt's Bees (though not 100% natural) to be very soothing on the skin, and they have moisturizers for the eyes specifically (However, I'd buy the sample baggies they have at the drug store, as it'll last you for quite some time and the full-sized jars are rather expensive; you also can test the other products they have to offer).

I actually use baby wash to clean my face as it's gentle and non-abrasive. Aveeno makes pretty good, moisturizing products.

If your eyes become very dry from your make-up remover, I have a recipe for an all-natural, soothing make-up remover, if you would like it. I haven't tried it, but I highly doubt there will be any ill-effects from it unless you have specific allergies. It doubles as a moisturizer.

I have the same problem, concentrating around the eyes. This Winter has been my worst ever- even hypoallergenic concealer beneath my eyes caused swelling, and my lids turned bright red and flaky.

I finally had to take a couple weeks off from eye makeup (not pretty) and apply Vaseline Intensive Care lotion twice per day. I also reduced the frequency of my acne treatments, so I'm settling for a few bumps and a shiny "Tzone" in the afternoons until moister air returns.

Just in the past few days I've been able to get away with mineral eyeshadow (from NYC) and a hypoallergenic liquid eyeliner (Physicians' Formula). Also I've been applying mascara to the ends of my lashes, rather than very close to my actual eyelids. Hope this helps.

When I dyed my hair black, I had to start drawing in my eyebrows (and eyelashes), because as any lass with a ruddy hue of hair can tell you, they are nonexistent in their natural state. This means I have A LOT of makeup to remove at the end of the day. I use olive oil. A little bit on a cotton ball takes all the face paint off, hasn't irritated or dried out my skin, and more surprisingly, hasn't made my face any more oily. At least not that I've noticed.

After I use the olive oil, I wash my face, apply moisturizer if needed, and I'm good to go (to bed).

I can only use certain products on my face. Dove or Olay tend to be the best that I have found. They seems to be the most gentle on the skin. Olay even has a new line of acne control facial exfoliant that I have been eyeballing. I hate those "monthly" breakouts!
For my eyeliner/shadow/mascara I use Maybelline's waterproof eyeliner remover. It is oil based so it doesn't dry out the area around your eyes-especially in the winter. I've never tried using olive oil. With my combination skin, I'm not sure it would work for me. It's a really good and relatively inexpensive treatment though!
For my facial/neck moisturizer I use Olay Night Firming Cream. It's pretty cheap and you can find it for about $5 at Dollar General or Family Dollar- some place similar anyways.
For my all over skin care, I have found that St. Ives Apricot Scrub is pretty mild and so are the rest of the products in their line.
I am still searching for a good all over moisturizer. I have tried several different lotions- Vaseline Intensive Care, Beyond Belief Intensive Moisturizer (which is oil based), et all. I haven't found anything that works real well. Winter is terrible because of dry skin! I have narrowed down my options to body creams- that don't contain alcohol. Alcohol dries out your skin very badly and with having sensitive skin as well, I haven't been able to find a body cream that I can use that doesn't contain alcohol yet!

I have this....problem with the skin around my nose and a bit under my eyes being redder than the skin on the rest of my face. It also results in a oily build up of dead skin, which flakes and is rather gross. I'm the only one I know who has this problem and I have no idea what to do about it and am unable to see a doctor. I have used skin bleach on the red areas before and after a few applications, it reduces the redness considerably. I can then easily apply make up to hide any remaining redness. But I would like to find something other than skin bleach to hide or get rid of the redness. While the skin bleach works pretty well, its also kind of greasy and horrible smelling. I've tried many products on the market and while many of them have taken away the oily skin and flaky build up, they have only succeeded in making the redness worse and more noticable, which is how senstive my skin is that any rubbing will do this to it.

Does anybody have any problem like this? Any suggestions or home remedies?

Samhain_Mist, it sounds to me like you may have rosea or a pH imbalance. I have never experienced rosea, though it is said to be most common on the face and is sometimes itchy and dry, and always red. If you do a google search, I'm sure you'll be able to find a more in depth description as well as treatments. As for the case of a pH imbalance, I have a recipe for an all-natural pH restorer. I have not tried it, but if you think it may be just a pH imbalance, I'd be more than happy to give you the recipe. I highly doubt the use of the restorer will leave any negative effects, as it's for sensitive skin. I hope this helps!

I did a search for Rosea and I ended up finding Rosacea, which is I think what you were talking about. After reading about it, I can say this is definitely what I have. It's a shame I can't get any of the treatments for it right now either, due to lack of health insurance. Here's hoping the skin bleach will continue to do it's thing.

Ah, forgive my spelling.

That's a shame you can't get proper treatments - I hope you will be able to do so soon! Perhaps if you do a search for home remedies you'll be able to find something else to try?

Samhain-
There are OTC versions of proactiv(e?) facial wash. The are around about $17-$20 here in Michigan. The one I liked the most I found at Walgreens (if you have one near you), or you can find them at Target, Walmart, et al.
Mostly what you need to do for rosacea is use hydrocortisone cream or ointment. My bro and I both get it a little in our respective T-zones when we eat greasy foods (especially potato chips because it's easier for the sunflower oil to get on my skin when I eat them). It's not real bad and goes away by the morning when I use the ointment. My brother gets it a little worse than I do, and he uses a the generic proactiv. A toner would decrease the redness.
Amazingly enough carrots are actually really good for our skin and eyes. Maybe incorporating some more of those in your diet would help?
Hope some of that helps!

The best trick I've learned is to be very, very aware of what's in your makeup and skin care products. For example, I had horrible acne and redness when I was younger. On top of that, my skin was either horribly oily or painfully dry and red. I tried every acne control product I could find. Finally, I asked my dermatologist and he suggested switching to Retin-A. It worked like a dream. When I turned 25 and lost my parents' health insurance, I went back to over the counter treatments and the oily/dry cycle came back. That's when I noticed Retin-A is an acid based compound, whereas a lot of otcs have benzoyle peroxide as the primary active ingredient. When I switched to salicylic acid products, my skin got a lot better. This means I now use a lot of anti-wrinkle creams (even though I don't have any wrinkles). I've also found that I can't use make up with certain minerals, oil, or alcohol in it because it irritates my skin or my allergies.

I treat my makeup as an investment. Buying really good stuff is usually expensive, but it'll stay put, cover better, and won't wreck your skin, so you won't need to use as much. My trick there was to ask my dermatologist and hairdresser (who's had general cosmetology classes) for recommendations. They gave me a few suggestions each. Then I started with the cheapest stuff. If and when that didn't work, I'd go to the next cheapest thing.

I'm also very aware of how much product I'm using. For daily wear, I only use the makeup I need, which is a little bit of concealer, eyeshadow, and lip gloss. Because I don't wear much makeup, I don't have to use makeup remover and toner on top of my face wash. Which means my skin doesn't get that dry and red, so I don't need to use a ton of makeup.

OK, I'll try your suggestions. I'm a little uncomfortable using the skin bleach because I fear its been tested on animals and I try my best to stay away from that sort of thing. I even considered using aloe on it, just to see if it moisturizes and keeps the redness down and takes away the damn flakes. I don't know which is more annoying, the red skin or the disgusting skin flakes.

If I wore makeup on a regular basis I would use coconut oil its very handy stuff it's also good at removing eyeliner

- Mix six-teaspoon petroleum jelly, two-teaspoon glycerin and two-teaspoon lemon juice. Apply this moisturizing lotion at least twice a week if you have dry and flaky, arms and legs
- Peel and grate a cucumber. Squeeze the juice to this, mix half-a-teaspoon glycerin and half-a-teaspoon rose water. Apply this on sunburns, leave it for some time.
- If you have cracked heels, melt paraffin wax; mix it with little mustard oil and apply on the affected area. Leave it overnight. After 10 or 15 days, your heels will become smooth.
- Massage your body with a mixture of coconut oil and any of your favourite scented oils like lavender or rosemary.
- For rough palms, use a mixture of glycerin and limejuice in equal proportion.
- For cracked heals, massage the foot with coconut oil and keep the foot in warm water for some time. Wipe the water off the feet and apply a mixture of hibiscus flower(10), Henna (1 handful) and juice of half a lemon. when dry wash it off.
-Remove scars on your hands and feet by rubbing them with lemon peel.

Hello everybody.

Before you can develop a good habit of taking care of your skin, regardless of your age, you need to know what skin type you have. Because sensitive skin is unpredictable, it is important to use mild products. Anti-aging products loaded with active ingredients are often too irritating and lead to side effects like redness, hives and swelling.
Please try this tips.