In this post I’ll explain reasons for why your face burns when putting on lotion, specifically talking about the skin on your face (although these also apply to body skin!). It can be frustrating when you buy new skincare products and, almost immediately, they don’t feel right.
So, we’ll talk about how to know whether it’s the wrong moisturizer, a particular ingredient or your skin that’s the issue. Long story short, it can be both!
Keep reading to find out what’s causing that unpleasant burning sensation, and when to stop using a product that burns.
The main reasons skin burns when putting on lotion
First I’ll summarise a few of the main reasons, and then we’ll break down each cause in more detail below.
- Your skin’s protective barrier is weakened, or you have pre-existing skin irritation
- You’re having an allergic reaction
- You’re sensitive to some of the ingredients, such as fatty acids
- You’re applying your moisturiser to damp skin
- Common ingredients that have a bad rap for skin sensitivity
How a poor skin barrier can cause a burning sensation
A damaged skin barrier is probably one of the most common causes your face burns when putting on lotion, especially after putting on moisturiser. Our skin has many layers to it, and when the outermost layer of skin gets degraded it can cause a lot of stinging, redness and dryness.
Common things that weaken the protective layer include:
- Using a lot of exfoliating acids, such as salicylic acid and glycolic acid (both alpha hydroxy acids)
- Cleansing either too much or using a harsh cleanser that strips your skin
- Exfoliating with a physical scrub too often or too aggressively
- Having super hot showers or using hot water to cleanse with
- Using a lot of spot treatments repeatedly
- Using products that contain essential oils and artificial fragrances
Usually for most people it’s a combination of all of them, and you can help to protect your skin’s barrier by using skincare products for a damaged skin barrier.
The key is to use it all year round, even when your barrier is feeling healthy. Many people make the mistake of only using a barrier product when their skin feels unhappy, and by then it’s already too late! I use mine twice a day, every day.
How to heal a damaged skin barrier
Of course, you can also rectify the mistakes above by doing the following:
- Only use exfoliating acids when you need to, a few times a week maximum
- Make sure your cleanser is gentle. Here are my top gentle water based cleanser recommendations
- Don’t use a physical exfoliator like a scrub, because it’s an inefficient and harsh type of exfoliation
- Use tepid water instead of hot water to cleanse
- Only use spot treatments on the spot itself, and use a very thin layer rather than a huge blob (you’ll save money with this tip, too!)
- Cut out products that contain artificial fragrances and essential oils, as these can cause skin sensitivities
Signs you have a damaged skin barrier
If your face burns when putting on lotion and you think you might have a damaged skin barrier, here are some tips to figure that out.
Funnily enough, one of the top signs you have a damaged skin barrier is a stinging sensation from products that never used to make your face burn. For me, this is one of the top telltale signs – the fact that these products never used to cause this for you, but now suddenly sting. This suggests that once you heal your barrier, the products will go back to not stinging.
Another sign is itchy skin – skin can feel dry and tight, yet oily at the same time. This is due to water loss, otherwise known as trans epidermal water loss (TEWL). Basically, the outermost layer of your skin is not keeping moisture in as it should and therefore is overproducing natural oils.
All of this can lead to extra breakouts, especially breakouts in areas you don’t normally break out!
To restore the balance, I recommend quitting retinoids, exfoliants and vitamin C for at least 1-2 weeks. Focus on using a gentle cleanser, moisturiser and SPF. A barrier serum would be helpful here, too.
Can an allergic reaction be the reason your face burns when putting on lotion?
Short answer, absolutely! Allergic reactions range from minor to severe, so even if your face isn’t swelling up massively, an allergic reaction can still be a possible cause. I often get comments on social media, asking me if an new product is stinging their face should they keep using it? Personally it’s an easy ‘no’ for me.
If it were an older product and you’ve used it before without issues, it’s unlikely to suddenly be that product (it’s more likely your skin). However, if it’s a brand new product and your skin seems fine otherwise, it’s probably the skin care products fault.
For what it’s worth, I often have this with Cerave products, especially the hydrating cleanser. Furthermore, burning should also be noted as a warning sign – ‘keep using this product at your own risk’. In other words, it might get worse the longer you use it. Either way, nothing good is coming from it.
Other signs of an allergic reaction include:
- Swollen face or features, such as the eyes
- Weeping skin
- Blisters or wounds
- Swollen throat or tongue
If this happens to you, please seek medical care!
Very sensitive skin people, you probably already know this but make sure you patch test! Even the best moisturizers can cause reactions, it doesn’t make it a bad moisturiser, our skin is just so unique to all of it that… sh*t happens quite frankly.
Applying moisturiser to damp skin can also cause burning
This is one of those catch 22 situations because applying moisturiser to damp skin enhances the penetration of the product, therefore often making it even more effective. However, it’s not always a good idea if you have a skin type that is particularly sensitive.
Speeding up the absorption process by applying moisturiser to damp skin can be overkill for sensitive skin, so try applying your moisturiser to dry skin if this happens to you a lot.
You may also find that you get the classic moisturizer burn sensation sometimes and not others. This could be due to a weakened barrier at times, rather than continously sensitive skin.
Even if you don’t use many actives, this could occur due to changing temperature and humidity, for example. I mention this because skin is very multifactorial, meaning it’s often not just one single thing, but a combination of factors.
Slugging with Vaseline and irritated skin
I thought it would also be worth mentioning how slugging can sometimes also cause irritated skin. Slugging is basically where you apply petroleum jelly (also know as petrolatum AKA Vaseline) as the final layer of your skincare routine to lock everything in.
This normally works well, but if done over retinoids like tretinoin or retinol, can actually cause more irritation. This is because Vaseline is an occlusive and essentially will cause enhanced penetration of the active. If your face burns when putting on lotion, consider cutting back on this approach.
This sounds good, but with something as irritating as tretinoin it’s not always desirable. To conclude this, you basically might be causing redness and burning because of slugging, even if it seems counterintuitive.
Common ingredients that may cause burning
Nowadays it’s almost like we’re shamed if we don’t use ingredients like salicylic acid and vitamin C, but I want you to know that you don’t *need* any of these ingredients for good skin. Plus, they’re a major reason your skin burns when putting on lotion.
Everyone’s skin needs different things, and I actually found much better luck when using a retinoid on its own.
Hyaluronic acid
Not only can using too many of these break down the outermost layer of the skin, but they can also cause that familiar burning sensation. A particularly interesting ingredient that can sometimes cause this is hyaluronic acid.
Lately there has been research to suggest that hyaluronic acid can actually be irritating, specifically the low molecular weight kind. All this means is that, because the molecules are ‘smaller’, they can penetrate deeper.
Again, this sounds good but it’s actually not what you want at all times. Especially when coupled with not sealing the HA in, this can be a recipe for redness and irritation.
Vitamin C
A lot of the most common forms of vitamin c are not actually very stable, meaning they can go rancid pretty quickly. On top of this, citamin C is actually somewhat irritating itself.
A lot of dermatologists recommend quitting vitamin C until acne is under control, because otherwise it creates a difficult environment to treat the acne in. Personally I never got along with vitamin C too well, always finding it worked for a little bit before causing little red pimples.
If you’re keen on using an active ingredient but are experiencing burning, I recommend cutting out a lot of them and slowly adding them back in, one by one. This way, it’ll be easier to find the culprit.
If skin burns when putting on lotion, should you stop using the product?
Finally, here are my top tips for how to decide whether the product isn’t right, or it’s your skin:
- If you’ve never used it before and it stings on first try, ditch it
- If you’ve used it many times before and it has previously been fine, keep it but consider working on your skin barrier (that protective top layer of the skin)
- If you’re using acids more than twice a week, be suspicious that your skin barrier might need work
- If you apply the moisturiser to damp skin, consider trying it out on dry skin instead
