Eucerin Aquaphor: My Saviour.

Because I've been using my Retin-A to try and help combat the spots I've been getting whilst being off my antibiotics for acne, my skin is peeling.

Now yesterday I decided to use a small facial brush and some facial wash to try and buff all the dead peely skin off, without aggravating it too much.
I've done it before and all you get left with is a little red face, but if you moisturise then everything is fine!

Well, I washed my face and towel dried it. The towel stuck to my forehead which I thought was a bit odd, and when I looked in the mirror I was nearly sick.
The whole upper epidermis had literally come away from my forehead, and all that was left was bright pink, oozy skin. It literally looked like I had been burnt. I touched it and it was wet and sticky. But it didn't hurt (thank god).
So I had a full scale panic. What cream would I put on it? Surely it had to be of a certain quality as to not sting and damage the exposed lower layer of the skin. And what's even worse is that on the 23rd it's my work Christmas party. Would anything be able to help heal it in time?

Then my beloved 'Aquaphor' came to mind. As mentioned in my review of the cream/balm here, it is suitable for the use of chronically dry skin, even that which is cracked. I've used it after intense exfoliation and it is literally the best thing to be invented, no stinging, no aggravation, just deep hydration and moisturisation.
So I got my well-used tube out and started applying it to my skinless forehead (urgh, sounds gross). No stinging, no nothing. It went on like a dream and instantly soothed the whole, completely putting my mind at ease.

I washed my face and re-applied before I went to bed.
When I woke up this morning it still looks pink and feels a little stingy, but you can definitely see it's started to heal.

I really think this balm is wonderful. Honestly, after this horrific experience I can definitely say that this cream will always be at my side in any case of skin-emergencies.

EDIT 28/12/2011.
I found a picture I had taken which may illustrate the skin issues I had (notice the red raw-looking area of skin just above the gap between my eyebrows).

The Eucerin cream with the massive name.

Okay, so the name is 'Intensive 10% w/w Urea Treatment Cream'. A bit of a mouthful, don't you think?

It claims to be 'intensive moisturising for the treatment of dry, itchy, flaky skin conditions including atopic eczema, ichthyosis, hyperkeratosis [and] xeroderma'.
Now luckily I don't have any of these skin conditions, but am suffering from dry flaky skin at the moment (see previous post), so I thought if it's good enough for chronic dermalogical issues such as those, then surely it would work on my skin?

When you put it on, it is an extremely thick, white cream that seems extremely heavy-duty. It sinks in nicely, however, as with the Aquaphor, you do look a little greasy. However, because they are specially designed for chronic dry skin conditions, you expect this really. On the little info leaflet you get within the box, it even describes itself as a 'white shiny cream', so no false promises there! For these reasons, it is best as a night cream, if you wore this out you would literally be a shining beacon.
I do think I put slightly too much on my skin, so this might be why I end up shiney and ultra-greasy! I tend to sleep on my face so apply loads so my skin has chance to soak up some of it before it gets rubbed onto the pillow!

The first time I used it, I was very impressed. I woke up with extremely moisturised and hydrated skin, when the previous day I had my Retin-A face on (peeling, sore, cracking etc).
It seems to really penetrate beneath the skin, whereas most creams just sit on top of my skin and therefore don't work on me.

Another plus point with this cream is that it doesn't smell. Sometimes these medicine-type face creams have a smell that isn't unlike the PVA glue you used to use in little school, which tend to give me a headache. I'm pretty sure they've not added artificial fragrances (otherwise it would smell, right?!) but it doesn't say on the Aquaphor tube.

Overall, I love this cream because it's simple, it does it's job amazingly well and makes my skin very happy.
You can't argue with that can you?

Eucerin Aquaphor.

I admit it, I love Eucerin and have stuck with the same old cream from the brand for months (I will review later!). But the other day I decided to go all out and get something from their range I haven't tried before, Aquaphor.

So, every week I slather myself in Retin-A to help clear my acne, redness and slight scarring. This medication is a very potent skin-drier and is basically a chemical peel, so I end up looking like a nasty peeling, red mess. So perfect timing to try out a product 'clinically proven help support skin's own regeneration process' and a cream for 'very dry of even cracked skin'.

It's a opaque balm, which goes onto skin really smoothly and feels amazingly gentle and soothing to my skin, which is very impressive. It even says it's gentle enough for use on babies.
99% of creams I have bought to calm and hydrate my skin have stung like hell and really not lived up to expectations, however the hydrating and calming properties of Aquaphor exceeded them.
However, it is very thick and is what I'd call a 'heavy-weight cream', and leaves you looking shiney and slightly greasy (like you would look after applying suncream). However, since I have worn it overnight (and will do so in the future) this is not an issue for me.

I put it on last night, and it resolved my flaky skin in eight hours. My skin is still sore and feels tight, but that's to be expected with the use of Retin-A. It excelled where other creams failed!

Another plus point is that it is cheaper than creams I've tried. I thought the more expensive, the better. I was wrong.
The Aquaphor balm is around £8 from Boots, which I thought was a really good price for something that does an amazing job of hydrating my skin.

It has no chemical fragrances, however it doesn't have a nasty smell. In fact, it didn't smell at all! It's also non-comedogenic (essential for my acne-prone skin) and only has 7 ingredients.

Overall, it definitely works and I love it.
I will always re-purchase.