Allergic Reaction Part Deux: The Accidental NUMBing Cream

This morning my face still feels like a wreck from the allergic reaction. Just using Aquaphor at night was not enough and my skin feels sandpaper even with all the oils.

Having a fair amount of facial skin issues, I found a small (re: sample) tube of Locoid Lotion (hydrocortisone butyrate 0.1%). The lotion is very thin and I apply a small layer to my gross dry allergic reaction skin. But in three seconds, it feels like nothing has changed and I am still getting ready to leave for work and I can't stand the idea that my skin will feel like this all day.

Time to bring in the BIG GUNS. Meaning, my stash of eczema cream. My cousin suffers from an extreme case of eczema, so having random eczema creams around isn't unusual.

However, being a fan of Asian Beauty products, I had purchased a very small pot of Japanese Mentholatum AD Cream. It's very small and I have yet to use it up. It looks like Eucerin on appearance, but has a much lighter consistency and even less of a smell. Good for dry patches and itchy, scaly skin.

So with my face being all windburned feeling, I decide that it's a good idea to try the cream out since it's very mild and I've never had a problem with it before.

Key phrase: before.

Took a q-tip, and started to smear a thin layer across my chin and upper lip. So far it feels nice and soothing. But, ack, of course I am a klutz and got some on my lips and it's tastes terrible!!

But worse than tasting terrible.... it tastes... NUMB?! Wait, what?!? My lip is numb exactly where I accidentally swiped the AD Cream. In wiping it off I realize that my whole face is going numb. It feels like I have been stung by a ghost of a hive and my face does not look red, it does not feel hot, but it simply does not feel.

Somehow, my poor skin has been zapped and I immediately go and wash off whatever it is on my skin.

via Taipei Beauty Blog

My skin is not fully functional until over an hour later. Maybe two, and by three it feels more normal, but it is getting red. Smiling while numb is hard, and it makes me realize how many facial expressions I usually have especially since they are all repressed by this numbing agent.

In Googling "Mentholatum AD Cream," a lovely but out-date beauty blog by the title Taipei Beauty Closet pops up as  second to purchasing the cream via Amazon. The blog has a review with pictures of a the product identical to the one I just washed off my face (as pictured here, all rights got to TPBC, thank you).

She writes that, "[t]he AD Cream [...] contains anti-itch ingredients (crotamiton, lidocaine and diphenhydramine)" which I am thinking are NOT good ideas to mix with hydrocortisone butyrate. Something along the lines of "these drugs don't mix, you dumbass" goes through my head as the list of unknown ingredients mixing and interacting with each other is probably not a good thing.

However, I have never felt numbing the way that I have felt this way. Now, terrified of all ointments I retreat back to something more natural... my Holika Holika Purity 99% Aloe Soothing Gel. The ingredients are quite simple, and it usually does the trick when I have sunburn. However, it is not oily, is a but sticky when it's drying, and overall, sometimes I can't deal with the scent of aloe. It just doesn't smell that great to me.

It is now four hours later and my face looks like I have sunburn. It is not longer numb and does not feel as sandpapery as before, however it is VERY red. The aloe is probably soothing over whatever it is that burned it in the first place. Probably my regrettable decision to layer two creams with such chemical ingredients.

This is bad news bears, guys. My face is inflamed looking, which is bad for people who have to look for me, but at least I feel a bit better. The aloe might not be completely effective, but at least my skin doesn't feel bad. It just looks awful.

So every now and again, I pump a bit of aloe out and blot it on my face. The redness is pretty awful, but I have to say it feels better than when my face was numb and felt like it had been botox'd.

Ah, what a stupid thing to do. I don't know why it seemed like a good idea to me in the first place. Dumb allergic reactions and silly randomly sensitive skin.

DO NOT USE: Old Masks!!

Gah! I feel so dumb for having to write a post on what seems like common sense. But, all warning labels are there before someone was dumb enough to do it, and I, was dumb enough to use outdated face masks.

At first, I didn't think of it as a bad thing. If you've been in Asia as long as I was, you'd had a collect growing too. This was even before I was into skincare and was using overly alkaline face washes and couldn't figure out what was going wrong. I EVEN PUT BAR SOAP ON MY FACE and thought that it was all going to be ok. (How I cringe thinking about that!!)

First I used an Aqua Moisture Nature Republic mask. It didn't have so much of the goo it's usually covered with, so I just shrugged and was like, "great, now it won't drip down my neck!" In retrospect, I don't know why there wasn't so much goo, but I do know that I dried itself up in less than 15 minutes. Never have I had a facial mask that dried itself up! Even when I "accidentally" fell asleep with one on. That was sign number one that I should not use an outdated mask.

Of course, I didn't listen and used a snail goo facial mask. It was a Baviphat snail something or other mask, and it smelled... strong. It was a perfumey kind of smell, so I didn't think anything of it. Totally goopy, but ah! The more the better, right?!

WRONG.

WRONG.

WRONG.

I put it on my face and instantly tensed up. Maybe this smell was too strong, but I can deal. Then in a couple seconds, "hmm this doesn't feel quite nice, let me adjust it." After adjusting the mask several times I realized that it was making my face feel itchy and I ripped the mask straight off and proceeded to wipe off all excess residue (and there was a lot, ugh).

Being Chinese, or maybe just being sad to see a good thing go to waste, I placed the mask on my foot and give my foot a facial treatment. Since I had a duplicate of the same mask from the same era (2012) I ripped that one open and placed it on my other foot. My feet did not have any issues, so I am glad it did not totally go to waste. There are at least three or four other masks that are outdated at least a year and a few of them are my beloved Hello Kitty Masks by "Sexy Look" (haha got to love Taiwanese names!). These poor masks have expired about a year ago, and in a little more than a month they would be almost two years expired. I think my feet are about to get a little more pampering than they're used to... hee hee hee.


BOTTOMLINE (tl;dr)
It took me two tries, but I have learned my lesson: don't use outdated masks. They are old and they are not good for your face anymore. Feel free to try them on other body parts that may have a thicker skin (figuratively and literally).