This is a question I’m trying to figure out. I never used face wash until recently. That’s because my face wasn’t doing anything weird. But, it started being a little bit weird with some inflammatory bumps. And, I finally figured out that it might be a result of my water here being too hard.

AVEENO Calm + Restore

Anyway, I tried some different face washes. So far, I feel like they’re irritating my skin more! I heard such good things about the AVEENO Calm + Restore™ Gentle Nourishing Oat Cleanser. Sorry to say, though, that I didn’t have a fantastic experience with it. I’m not saying I had a bad experience, either. I’m just saying that I don’t feel like I had a great experience with it.

I feel like it didn’t do too much except, perhaps, exacerbate a bit of preexisting dry skin on the side of my nose.

I’m definitely not saying that the Aveeno caused me harm. My skin by the side of my nose is prone to getting irritated these days anyway…no matter what. But, the Aveeno calls itself calming and restoring. But, it didn’t help me. I don’t think it hurt me, either. I feel like it didn’t move the needle at all either direction.

As a side note: I do very much like the Aveeno moisturizer from the same line. That seems to work quite well at counteracting the red, dry patches.

Cerave Renewing SA Cleanser For Normal Skin

I bought this and only tried it twice. Each time I woke up with an irritated face. Lately I’ve been having a temperamental dry and red patch sometimes alongside my nose and between my eyebrows. Each time when I woke up after using the Cerave the night before, my skin in those areas was VERY irritated. I can’t say for sure it was the Cerave, but it sure seems that way.

Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser

5/15/2023: I’ve used this the past two morning, and so far so good. I’m going to be updating this post as I use it more. I’m nervous to conclude too soon about it.

5/23/2023: I’ve now been using the Vanicream for about the past ten days. I wash my face with it once a day. It’s certainly much less irritating than the Cerave Renewing SA Cleanser. I’m not going to say that the Vanicream hasn’t irritated my face at all. But, not too much…This isn’t a perfect experiment because during the time I also put filters on my bathroom sink and shower. I had a strong suspicion that the unfiltered water was causing my skin irritation also.

So, I changed multiple variables at the same time. I’m not trying to conduct a scientific experiment here, though. I just don’t want my face to get irritated so much! This method with the filters and Vanicream seems to be working. I also use a little bit of Aveeno moisturizer between my eyebrows and along the side of my nose. For whatever reason, those are the parts of my face that get irritated.