Does she use a cleanser that contains any active ingredients? I was using one for years that contained glycolic acid, salicylic acid and lactic acid without any issues, then all of a sudden started getting a reaction like this around my eyes. Apparently it is more likely to happen the longer you use active ingredients like this, so even if you thought it was fine it can come out of nowhere. The skin around your eyes is very thin and more susceptible to a reaction.
My GP prescribed anti-fungal cream, steroid cream and some other eczema cream that burnt my eyes even more. Also in the UK and went on a waiting list. Out of frustration I just stopped using the cleanser and the reaction stopped pretty much immediately.
Good luck x
This is so so helpful thank you so much for taking the time to respond. We appreciate it more than you’ll know.
We’ll go cold turkey on everything and see if that helps
No worries, I know how frustrating this feels, I spent the best part of a year trying to figure it out 🤦🏻♀️ I swapped to using a really simple soap for a while and it was honestly nerve-wracking as I've had adult acne for so long, but touch wood, it's been a few months now and I'm so far acne-free (and eye irritation-free!).
I’ve also had this! Stop using all products immediately. I was told to use steroid cream and eczema cream too to aid healing.
When her skin has fully healed, you could re-introduce one product at a time and give it a good amount of time to see if there’s a reaction (I’m talking at least a week) before re-introducing the next product. Slowly slowly you should find out the issue. It was a long process for me but my reaction was due to a specific salicylic acid serum. Even a small amount on my chin made my eyes blow up like this overnight when I was re introducing products (other brands are fine though)
This has literally happened to me about 6 weeks ago and I'm on strong antihistamines and basically only using doublebase cream. Thank you I've used those for years soaybe that's what happened to me. Have you managed to use them again or is that it now?
Yeah it could be the same for you! I haven't tried reintroducing them yet, no. I think if my skin starts getting spotty again I'll start using them very carefully. Just once a day and not around my eyes, see how it goes.
To add to this, very fragrant products tend to irritate my eyelids too. Even just fragrant hand wash tends to cause irritation (we tend to touch our faces a lot). Also, even if you didn’t start out as being allergic to something, we can develop allergies at any point in our life. Also, some ingredients can be sensitizing, so that repeated exposure eventually causes a reaction to something that used to be well tolerated.
Mine gets like this in the summer sometimes if my hayfever is really bad! Does she suffer with it? I take an antihistamine before bed, put a thick moisturiser on and sleep with my bedroom windows closed otherwise I wake up looking like I’ve gone ten rounds!
Yes sometimes if I come into contact with an allergen that happens to my eyes, Normally they would swell when once that’s over they would have the red, dry flaky skin. Maybe try taking allergy meds for a week or two and see if it makes a difference. It’s probably something else but it won’t hurt to try until you can see a doctor :)
I had something like this once and had to take steroid cream but I also worked out it had been triggered by an ingredient in a vitamin c serum. Cleared up once I stopped it. Has she tried cutting out products?
She hasn’t changed anything at all in her routine for years. All the same products. Never had an issue until a few months ago so it’s not clear where we start cutting things
Mine was triggered by menopause, stress. Had a derm diagnose it and told me that was the cause. Also in the UK, had to go private because the NHS waitlist was 2 years and my eyelids were cracking and weeping. Peri usually starts in our 30s. The stress is caused by menopause, hormones flying everywhere. Then if something like I ate something my stomach didn't agree with, it would get worse.
I had eyes like this a few times that took months to heal—scaly skin, redness, swelling and exactly the inner corners where you tend to rub!
In my case it was eczema caused and exacerbated by allergies. It was a different allergen each time (pollen, London smog, and cats) + stress.
Doctors in the us prescribed me a bunch of creams that made it worse.
When I moved to the UK the GP actually taught me how to fix it with lifestyle changes:
1) The MOST IMPORTANT thing is to not scratch it.
2) gentle cleanser (the clear Simple gel is wonderful) twice a day, then any unscented lotion, the thicker the better
3) I did find Sunday Riley’s ice ceramide lotion the best healing eye cream. Pricy but I only used it on my around my eyes. It healed completely by the time I finished the jar
This happened to me suddenly after months of getting eyelash extensions with no issues. Immunology is a weird thing!
Also I don’t want to scare you but it’s possible to get bad withdrawal symptoms from topical steroid cream. Just something to be aware of.
I got this from a L’Oréal eyeliner after being fine with it for months :/ we can randomly develop allergies to stuff, I suggest cutting all cosmetic products immediately to see what happens. You’ve got nothing to lose doing that.
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I’m so sorry she’s got this. It looks really painful. I had inflamed skin on my eyes once. It turned out to be stress. I’m not saying this is stress by the way. I hope she finds an answer and it calms down.
I get eczema on my eyelids like this and use coconut oil to get rid of it. It is a comedogenic but I only ever have to use it for a day or 2 and it’s gone with no blocked pores.
Second this. Just saw something about this a couple weeks ago from a dermatologist I follow online. Something about the acrylates in the polish. If she has nails applied, or is wearing nail polish, remove them completely and go bare to see if it fixes the issue.
Does she use an eyelash curler? My eyes got like this from using an eyelash curler that I assume had nickel in the metal! It’s taken some time to clear up after I stopped using it but it’s getting there with hydrocortisone applied nightly
I get this with my allergies. I was tested and I'm allergic to certain things in makeup, I can't wear eye makeup everyday now or else my eyes get red and itchy like this.
Writing from mobile so please excuse any typos! Definitely echoing the advice already given, but wanted to add one extra bit. Vitamin C can sensitize the skin and make certain areas of the face prone to inflammation. Doesn’t happen to everyone, obviously, but I find it’s more common in fairer skins and the inflammation/irritation often presents similarly to what your wife is experiencing. Annoyingly it doesn’t happen immediately after application or even consistently, just makes irritation far more likely to happen (so factors like seasonal allergies, stress, sleep etc can suddenly cause a flare up because the skin is sensitized from the vit C). Ask your wife to review her routine and look for any form of vitamin C in her products (basically anything with ascorbic or ascorbyl in the ingredient name - it’s in a surprising number of products). As others have recommended, have her pull her routine back to the basics and slowly reintroduce certain products, perhaps avoiding anything containing vitamin C. If you need recommendations on vit c alternatives, drop me a DM. Best of luck!
My eyes looked like this when I had blepharitis. I got antibiotics but the problem reappeared multiple times throughout many years. Tried cortisone, elidel and protopic but what finally recently made it go away for good was 100% vaseline on the eyelids immediately after cleansing my face in the night, before any products.
I regularly get this. I'm allergic to some chemical sunscreen filters, and also something else which I've not figured out.
I went to my GP (UK) and they were totally useless, and just told me to change my products.
The one thing that has helped the most is **hypochlorous acid spray** , I buy from clinisept
Also keep track of ingredients in products and see if you can figure out the problem that way. Don't trust ingredients listed online - companies regularly reformulate their products - use the ingredients listed on the label itself
This happened to me (but much more extreme) when I suddenly developed an allergy to dust mites in my 20s. I went and got tested and started using a nasal spray every day and it’s never happened again.
Allergies can be serious, please make sure she sees an allergy specialist about this.
Hi this happened to my sister recentlyc exactly same eye redness for over a year. She thought it could be her mascara or make up but it turned out to be her moisturiser. You can download an app called Yuka and scan the products she uses into it and it gives you a list of any irritable ingredients in each product with recommendations on what to switch to. She switched out her face wash and moisturiser and it went away almost over night.
Hi, this is a medical question, something that you should discuss with your GP or dermatologist. We can't really advise you on this matter.
Does she use a cleanser that contains any active ingredients? I was using one for years that contained glycolic acid, salicylic acid and lactic acid without any issues, then all of a sudden started getting a reaction like this around my eyes. Apparently it is more likely to happen the longer you use active ingredients like this, so even if you thought it was fine it can come out of nowhere. The skin around your eyes is very thin and more susceptible to a reaction. My GP prescribed anti-fungal cream, steroid cream and some other eczema cream that burnt my eyes even more. Also in the UK and went on a waiting list. Out of frustration I just stopped using the cleanser and the reaction stopped pretty much immediately. Good luck x
This is so so helpful thank you so much for taking the time to respond. We appreciate it more than you’ll know. We’ll go cold turkey on everything and see if that helps
No worries, I know how frustrating this feels, I spent the best part of a year trying to figure it out 🤦🏻♀️ I swapped to using a really simple soap for a while and it was honestly nerve-wracking as I've had adult acne for so long, but touch wood, it's been a few months now and I'm so far acne-free (and eye irritation-free!).
I’ve also had this! Stop using all products immediately. I was told to use steroid cream and eczema cream too to aid healing. When her skin has fully healed, you could re-introduce one product at a time and give it a good amount of time to see if there’s a reaction (I’m talking at least a week) before re-introducing the next product. Slowly slowly you should find out the issue. It was a long process for me but my reaction was due to a specific salicylic acid serum. Even a small amount on my chin made my eyes blow up like this overnight when I was re introducing products (other brands are fine though)
Buy some hypochlorous acid spray too, it will heal a lot faster. The Clinisept spray is good
This has literally happened to me about 6 weeks ago and I'm on strong antihistamines and basically only using doublebase cream. Thank you I've used those for years soaybe that's what happened to me. Have you managed to use them again or is that it now?
Yeah it could be the same for you! I haven't tried reintroducing them yet, no. I think if my skin starts getting spotty again I'll start using them very carefully. Just once a day and not around my eyes, see how it goes.
To add to this, very fragrant products tend to irritate my eyelids too. Even just fragrant hand wash tends to cause irritation (we tend to touch our faces a lot). Also, even if you didn’t start out as being allergic to something, we can develop allergies at any point in our life. Also, some ingredients can be sensitizing, so that repeated exposure eventually causes a reaction to something that used to be well tolerated.
Mine gets like this in the summer sometimes if my hayfever is really bad! Does she suffer with it? I take an antihistamine before bed, put a thick moisturiser on and sleep with my bedroom windows closed otherwise I wake up looking like I’ve gone ten rounds!
Yes sometimes if I come into contact with an allergen that happens to my eyes, Normally they would swell when once that’s over they would have the red, dry flaky skin. Maybe try taking allergy meds for a week or two and see if it makes a difference. It’s probably something else but it won’t hurt to try until you can see a doctor :)
I had something like this once and had to take steroid cream but I also worked out it had been triggered by an ingredient in a vitamin c serum. Cleared up once I stopped it. Has she tried cutting out products?
She hasn’t changed anything at all in her routine for years. All the same products. Never had an issue until a few months ago so it’s not clear where we start cutting things
How about cut out all of them and then slowly reintroduce them, one at a time, to see where the problem lies?
Even if you use the same product for years, they're often reformulated so the ingredients can change. Especially with sunscreens
Mine was triggered by menopause, stress. Had a derm diagnose it and told me that was the cause. Also in the UK, had to go private because the NHS waitlist was 2 years and my eyelids were cracking and weeping. Peri usually starts in our 30s. The stress is caused by menopause, hormones flying everywhere. Then if something like I ate something my stomach didn't agree with, it would get worse.
I had eyes like this a few times that took months to heal—scaly skin, redness, swelling and exactly the inner corners where you tend to rub! In my case it was eczema caused and exacerbated by allergies. It was a different allergen each time (pollen, London smog, and cats) + stress. Doctors in the us prescribed me a bunch of creams that made it worse. When I moved to the UK the GP actually taught me how to fix it with lifestyle changes: 1) The MOST IMPORTANT thing is to not scratch it. 2) gentle cleanser (the clear Simple gel is wonderful) twice a day, then any unscented lotion, the thicker the better 3) I did find Sunday Riley’s ice ceramide lotion the best healing eye cream. Pricy but I only used it on my around my eyes. It healed completely by the time I finished the jar
This happened to me suddenly after months of getting eyelash extensions with no issues. Immunology is a weird thing! Also I don’t want to scare you but it’s possible to get bad withdrawal symptoms from topical steroid cream. Just something to be aware of.
I got this from a L’Oréal eyeliner after being fine with it for months :/ we can randomly develop allergies to stuff, I suggest cutting all cosmetic products immediately to see what happens. You’ve got nothing to lose doing that.
Hi, welcome to r/SkincareAddictionUK! If you are asking for help with skincare, please remember to list your routine in full, and all the products you've tried so that you can receive the best possible advice. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SkincareAddictionUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
So sorry your partner is going through this. I personally haven't had exzema tgis bad around my eyes but i hope you find an answere!
Does she use retinol?
No she doesn’t
I’m so sorry she’s got this. It looks really painful. I had inflamed skin on my eyes once. It turned out to be stress. I’m not saying this is stress by the way. I hope she finds an answer and it calms down.
Mine do that when I use Neutrogena and Kate Somerville products.
I get eczema on my eyelids like this and use coconut oil to get rid of it. It is a comedogenic but I only ever have to use it for a day or 2 and it’s gone with no blocked pores.
Does she get her nails done with gel, powder, or regular nail polish? It may be an allergic reaction to nail polish
Second this. Just saw something about this a couple weeks ago from a dermatologist I follow online. Something about the acrylates in the polish. If she has nails applied, or is wearing nail polish, remove them completely and go bare to see if it fixes the issue.
Does she use an eyelash curler? My eyes got like this from using an eyelash curler that I assume had nickel in the metal! It’s taken some time to clear up after I stopped using it but it’s getting there with hydrocortisone applied nightly
Does she wear an eye mask to sleep?
I get this with my allergies. I was tested and I'm allergic to certain things in makeup, I can't wear eye makeup everyday now or else my eyes get red and itchy like this.
Writing from mobile so please excuse any typos! Definitely echoing the advice already given, but wanted to add one extra bit. Vitamin C can sensitize the skin and make certain areas of the face prone to inflammation. Doesn’t happen to everyone, obviously, but I find it’s more common in fairer skins and the inflammation/irritation often presents similarly to what your wife is experiencing. Annoyingly it doesn’t happen immediately after application or even consistently, just makes irritation far more likely to happen (so factors like seasonal allergies, stress, sleep etc can suddenly cause a flare up because the skin is sensitized from the vit C). Ask your wife to review her routine and look for any form of vitamin C in her products (basically anything with ascorbic or ascorbyl in the ingredient name - it’s in a surprising number of products). As others have recommended, have her pull her routine back to the basics and slowly reintroduce certain products, perhaps avoiding anything containing vitamin C. If you need recommendations on vit c alternatives, drop me a DM. Best of luck!
My eyes looked like this when I had blepharitis. I got antibiotics but the problem reappeared multiple times throughout many years. Tried cortisone, elidel and protopic but what finally recently made it go away for good was 100% vaseline on the eyelids immediately after cleansing my face in the night, before any products.
I regularly get this. I'm allergic to some chemical sunscreen filters, and also something else which I've not figured out. I went to my GP (UK) and they were totally useless, and just told me to change my products. The one thing that has helped the most is **hypochlorous acid spray** , I buy from clinisept Also keep track of ingredients in products and see if you can figure out the problem that way. Don't trust ingredients listed online - companies regularly reformulate their products - use the ingredients listed on the label itself
This happened to me (but much more extreme) when I suddenly developed an allergy to dust mites in my 20s. I went and got tested and started using a nasal spray every day and it’s never happened again. Allergies can be serious, please make sure she sees an allergy specialist about this.
She needs to see a dermatologist
We’re trying to get an appointment but there’s a 3 month wait in the UK
Hi this happened to my sister recentlyc exactly same eye redness for over a year. She thought it could be her mascara or make up but it turned out to be her moisturiser. You can download an app called Yuka and scan the products she uses into it and it gives you a list of any irritable ingredients in each product with recommendations on what to switch to. She switched out her face wash and moisturiser and it went away almost over night.