Reaction to CO Bigelow Shave Cream...Oww

I guess I am allergic to CO Bigelow Shaving Cream. I shaved with it last night and ever since then my face has been on fire! It is bright red and feels like a sunburn.

Has anyone had anything like this before? Any tips to help with the redness and pain? I have Nivea Sensitive Skin Aftershave Balm and it just made it worse.:sick007

 

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. I just looked up the product, and they advertise it as being good for all skin types. A number of ingredients are common across many brands of shaving creams, I'm sure your just reacting to some of the unique ingredients in this one. I see it contains menthol and camphor, to provide a cooling sensation, but I know they can sometimes make my skin feel uncomfortably tingly. I'd recommend putting nothing on your face. But since you compare the feeling to a sunburn, perhaps some aloe based sunburn lotion would be helpful, most are totally hypoallergenic. The only lotions I use on my skin are dead sea products and something called Bio-Oil. The Bio-Oil really made a difference when I got a burn from a deep fryer. But the only thing I would safely recommend would be the aloe sunburn lotion, make sure its hypoallergenic, and try it sparingly on a small area before doing your whole face. Best wishes.

 

Bummer. I wish I could help other than condolences on your face. Don't fret though, lots of knowledgeable soapmakers and a few doctors even. I'm sure someone can offer up some good advice.

 

Perhaps a run to the store for the sunburn treatment with aloe and lidocane in it to kill the pain?

I think perhaps you have razor rash from too much pressure rather than a reaction to COB?

I have had burning sensations from creams, but not COB, and not for days at a time either.

 

Sorry to hear it-I had a reaction like that to a Nivea after shave.

The medication that will help heal this is Hydrocortisone Cream-the over the counter stuff is very gentle and ok to put on your face-go with the weaker one since it's your face-1/2% or .5%-same thing.

Calamine lotion and/or unscented witch hazel can be used with the Hydrocortisone and should be soothing.

Feel better.

 

First of, wash your face if you havent already to get ride of all the offending material. Could Be razor rash or could be the cream. It leaves my face feeling tingly as does its big brother poraso. It could be the eucalyptus oils as well. once its cleared up do a spot check on the inner part of your arm to see if its the cream or razor rash.

 

Thank you all so much for the replies, so nice to get the helpful feedback.

I've been doing the aloe and Aleve, and that has helped the redness and pain.

A couple of people have suggested razor burn... while I'm not 100% that it is an allergic reaction, I'm fairly certain. My razor is the same one I've been using since I started this endeavor (about 1 1/2 months ago) and the blade type is the same as the past couple weeks.

I had used to the CO Bigelow a couple weeks ago and it was fine, but haven't used it again until last night. The only part of my routine that has changed is that I have used Anthony Logistic facial wash and scrub for the past two weeks. Also, I used some Tretinoin Cream (acne medication) at night for the previous three days, something that I haven't done in at least three months or so.

Sorry for long post, but my assumption is the Tretinoin Cream is the culprit?

Again, thanks so much for listening or reading and taking the time to get back to me and help me with this. You are guys are awesome!

 

I would doubt it is the CO, having used it prior and no reaction is a fairly decent indicator. Again, as mentioned by another member, try a small amount on a Q-Tip and put a smear on your inner forearm, and mark it. Do not wash off.

As for the Anthony Logistic, I doubt this would be anything other than a contributing factor. It may be irritating your skin a tiny big.

I would put most of my doubt behind the Tretinoin. It may not be the cream itself, but a reaction between it and at least one ingredient in the CO. If the Anthony Logistic had already irritated your skin just a tiny bit, then that would make this reaction worse.

Again, you can test. Put the Tretinoin on your inner forearm in another spot, mark it. Then come back a few hours later, and put some CO on it like the other spot. I bet you feel the burn again, if you do then wash it off as quickly as you can.

 

Stop everything that is new. There is no real way to tell which new product is the culprit. Once this passes wait a few weeks and if any of the 3 are really important to you dab some on your arm and see what happens-one at a time spread out by a week each.

It is possible to not have a reaction to something your allergic to the first time (or even first few times) you're exposed to it. It can also take up to two days for the reaction to happen.

 

Many acne medications are acutally pretty harsh. You May need to halt everything for a few days and try one thing at a time. The acne medication seems to be the most newly introduced item used more than 1 day in a row. It also would seem to me to be the most likely culprit.

 

I've not had any experience with it, but I know first hand that most Acne Treatments are very harsh on the skin. It can often have some very nasty chemicals in it also - Benzyl Peroxide which seems to be in almost every topical Acne treatment reacts with a huge range of other compounds.

The application of some of the Tretinoin on one section of skin for say 2-3 days, then applying the CO to that area AND a control area (no Tretinoin applied) would prove it was the reaction between two compounds in the two products.