Panic skin: How to save face when you’ve gone over the top on products

Panic skin can happen when you are in a panic, certainly. Intense stress really does show on our faces. This column, however, is not about that sort of panic skin. It isn’t about hormonally-induced or naturally occurring breakouts, or seasonal changes that cause sudden skin reactions. This is a column about what to do when you’ve buggered it all up by using too many active ingredients or using them incorrectly, as I did last week.

I use a retinoid cream prescribed by my doctor when my old friend captain acne, after several long and lonely years at sea, reeled drunkenly back through my front door this year, swearing aggressively. I embarked on a regime of medication and topical products to tackle the acne, and retinol is one of them. Anyone using retinol knows you need to be careful with it.  If you’re not (as I wasn’t this week), you will end up with hot, stinging, raw skin that eventually peels visibly as it heals. Yes, it’s all very attractive.

You can create similar havoc with overuse of exfoliating acids – along with trigger-happy retinoid application, they are commonly responsible for compromising our skin’s natural barrier, which can result in the situation I mentioned above, but also more breakouts and visible redness or darkening, depending on your skin tone.

When you find yourself in this position, stop everything you are doing in terms of skincare. Fling the product that did the damage in a cupboard for at least a week – preferably two. You’re now in recovery mode, which has two stages: comforting and repairing your banjaxed barrier, and (if it bothers you) counteracting the visible signs so that you can get on with your day without anyone telling you your face looks red. Until healing is well under way, makeup is best avoided.

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Dr Jart is a widely loved brand whose famed Cica skincare range is now available to buy through Brown Thomas. I put it to the test when my skin mutinied and was very impressed. Dr Jart Cicapair Tiger Grass Calming Mist (€17 at brownthomas.com) instantly soothes hot, fussy skin while the online rave reviews of Dr Jart Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment (from €15 at brownthomas.com) didn't mislead me. A modern version of the redness-counteracting green creams of old, it magically neutralises redness and evens skin tone while soothing. If you are more generally redness-prone, you can wear it alone or under makeup more regularly.

Under the cream, I applied La Roche Posay Dermallergo Serum (€30 at pharmacies nationwide) to my mist-damp face to instantly soothe, hydrate and settle my skin.

At bedtime, I whacked on a generous layer of Murad Intense Recovery Cream (€86 at murad.co.uk) every night for a week, both seeing and feeling the improvement in my skin each morning. It amply supplied the weighty, cocooning layer my skin needed without any congestion or breaking out. It is a real face-saver and I will turn to it again after (inevitable) bad decisions in future.

Product of the Week 

Bobbi Brown x Needle and Thread Pretty Powerful Collection 2021 in support of Dress for Success Dublin (€57)