Reddit reviews Aquaphor Healing Ointment - Dry Skin Moisturizer - Dry Hands, Heels, Elbows, Lips - 7 Oz. Tube

Aquaphor. Not their lip balm, the regular Aquaphor ointment in a tube. My dermatologist suggested it and it's the only thing that's ever worked!

It doesn't have spf though so unfortunately you'd have to use something else with spf whenever you go outside. Chemical spf is often what causes irritation and dryness though so it's kind of a vicious circle...

If you want something all-natural Mongo Lips is my second favorite.

For dry hands, I recommend Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter by LUSH. It is hands-down (pun intended) the most moisturizing product I've used on my hands. If that's out of your price range, or if you don't like strong lemon scents, Trader Joe's has a nice balm for a fraction of the price. Still a bit lemony, but fades faster.

For body wash, I've been loving Dove's deep moisture line. All my old body washes and soaps became so drying on Accutane, so I had to make a change.

For face, Aquaphor is a godsend, and is required nightly to seal in all my moisturizer and oils. Moisturizer and oils are pretty personal, I just use coconut oil and CeraVe, but I highly recommend having an open mind and being prepared for some different products. My whole routine changed for Accutane, and that's the case for many people!

Also: SUNSCREEN. Sephora will let you try samples of any products, so I'd advise you go get a bunch of sunscreen samples and see which ones you like. Some leave a white cast; some felt a bit burny due to increased sensitivity of skin on Accutane. I eventually settled on CeraVe's SPF 50--it has white cast, but didn't burn or sting.

Overall, your skin will be super sensitive. I recommend shopping at places with solid return policies, and being patient with your skin. Good luck!

It's over $10, but my tube has lasted forever and it works incredibly well when nothing else does: Bite Agave Lip Mask

Aquaphor is cheaper and also works great on those days when my lips are a mess.

Also, for what it's worth... how much water are you drinking? I often find that when my lips are really chapped, I need to up my water intake. But the key though is to pace myself and sip more water throughout the day, because chugging a ton of water in one sitting doesn't help my lips much either.

Oh it's basically just a moisturizer, not medicated, so technically otc I guess? If you're in the US, you should be able to find it at any drugstore! Otherwise, they sell it online as well!

It contains petroleum jelly but also other stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0107QPFBU

(PART 1) I couldn’t fix my painful dehydrated skin until i incorporated urea and lanolin, and regular use of petrolatum into my skin care. But idk how you feel about those... It took me a good year or year and a half to fix my dehydrated skin from overexfoliation.

Also, putting on occlusives right away after you wash and put on humectants is super important. Otherwise it can dry you out more.

So what I do is use a very gentle, non-foaming cleanser (I use LRP Gentle Hydrating) and while my face is still wet, put on all my hydrating toners and serums. Then go into lotions and creams RIGHT AWAY. You can watch Dr. Dray on YouTube who describes why this works.

When my skin was SO full of pain, from extremely dry, tight skin and irritated acne-like cysts everywhere, the only thing that didn’t hurt like a mf was Vanicream. It took me hundreds of dollars and tons of trial and error and babying my skin to get it back to normal. Now I can use AHA, azelaic acid, vitamin c, and even tretinoin and hydroquinone without a problem!!!

It took me hundreds of dollars and tons of trial and error and babying my skin to get it back to normal. Now I can use AHA, vitamin c, and even tretinoin and hydroquinone without a problem!!! 

No one or two products fixed my dehydrated skin. It took a TON of research over the years learning which ingredients were the most healing, moisturizing, how they work, etc.. And an entire routine around hydrating and moisturizing as much as possible. 

And i know everyone raves about the cosrx snail essence, but it didn’t do shit when my skin was that dehydrated. But there IS some evidence of snail healing damaged skin. The point is to put in as much healing and soothing ingredients into your routine as much as possible. 

I always make sure to include ingredients like: panthenol (derivative of vitamin b5), allantoin, urea, hualuronic acid, glycerin, aloe, colloidal oatmeal, ceramides (huge!!!), niacinamide (especially useful for brightening and healing your skin), petroleum (there is NOTHING out there that reduces transepidermal water loss like petroleum can. I tried to be all ~natural is better~ for a while, but realized it wasn't doing anything to help fix my skin), etc.

And not just adding these helped fix my skin, but leaving things out was a HUGE step in finally letting my skin heal. I avoid these like the plague: fragrance, natural (essential oils) or synthetic, alcohol anywhere other than sunscreen, sodium lauryl sulfate (sodium LAURETH sulfate is the gentler one, but I avoid that for my face too anyways. Any surfectants can be aided to be milder by adding cocamidopropyl betaine), all acids until my skin could handle them (interestingly enough, vitamin c serum actually helped my skin hold more water instead of hurting me), and things that I know irritate my skin.

Things that were/are biggest contributors of keeping my skin moist and hydrated, in no particular order:

Thayers Unscented Alcohol-Free Witch Hazel - the first thing that goes on my skin after washing. It's just water, aloe, glycerin and witch hazel. It's so simple but idk why my skin likes it so much, lol. It's HG for me.

Hadalabo Premium Lotion - HG, must have. ALWAYS put occlusives on top, do not wait for it to dry. Hyaluronic acids, urea, algae. This is my one non-negotiable skin care item.

Aveeno Eczema Therapy Cream - Super moisturizing. Colloidal oatmeal, glycerin, panthenol, petrolatum, a ceramide, dimethicone. (Also, people demonize silicones, but they are not bad ingredients. They are actually really helpful in keeping in moisture, providing slip, and smooth feel for skin and hair. And no, they don't prevent other things from reaching the skin.) And Aveeno Eczema Therapy Night Time Balm for something heavier but has same ingredients. You can use both.

And of course, CeraVe Moisturizing Cream - ceramides, cholesterol, must have skin-identical lipids that dehydrated skin lacks, hyaluronic acid, petrolatum, dimethicone. This by itself didn't help a whole lot, but with an army of all the different gentle, soothing things, it helped tremendously.

CeraVe PM- same as the cream, but much lighter and has 4% niacinamide I believe. Niacinamide has been key to helping my dry-ass skin. It does SO many things. I DIY 6% niacinamide and 5% n-acetyl glucosamine to boost the niacinamide even further. But you can find this ingredient in loads of AB things and Olay products. Make sure the Olay stuff is fragrance-free if you get them. I like the Olay Anti-Aging Face Cream a lot. You can use the CeraVe lotion if you for some reason can't tolerate niacinamide, but want something lighter than the cream.

Aquaphor Healing Ointment - SLUG LIFE is a MUST if you have dehydrated skin. You can use Cerave healing ointment too, but it's redundant if you use the cream or lotion. It's not as occlusive as aquaphor. Aquaphor isn't just a more pricier Vaseline as people suggest. It does have white petrolatum that is oh-so helpful, it also has healing ingredients like panthenol and bisobolol, and also lanolin alcohol and glycerin for humectants. I put on a THICK layer of this when I go to bed.

If you wanna go a step further and go super saiyan, and you aren't sensitive to lanolin, you can use Lasinoh Lanolin before or after Aquaphor. I can't stand the smell of lanolin, but this one is medical-grade and doesn't have a smell. Lanolin is SUPER helpful because of it's crazy humectant properties but it also acts as an occlusive.

For just uber Panthenol healing, you can get something that stars Panthenol as the main star ingredient, like DML Forte Cream or Timeless Skin Care Vitamin B5 Serum. I don't use the cream anymore, but I do still use the serum. It looks expensive, but if you get the refill sale, it's about $7/oz (idk what country you live in, but this is the price for me in the U.S.). I HIGHLY recommend their vitamin c, e, ferulic acid serum as well when your skin can handle it. It works out to about $8 an ounce if you get it during refill sale. It stays good for a while in the fridge. I wrap it in foil and transfer it to a 1 oz dropper bottle for using it in my bathroom. It gives glow to your skin like NOTHING ELSE, and boosts your sunscreen (the antioxidants slow the degradation of sunscreen ingredients, giving a huge boost to your sunscreen) and has helped me with water retention. If you can't get it on refill sale, use the HotandFlashy (I also recommend her Youtube channel) code hf5off to get $5 off. It's a forever coupon code.

https://www.amazon.com/Aquaphor-Advanced-Therapy-Ointment-Protectant/dp/B0107QPFBU/

I always get this one.