This is a question probably for the ladies....or anyone who has a great grasp with chemistry
So, over the last several months, I've had on-again, off-again allergic reactions on my face. It started in the summer from a foundation that caused my cheeks to become dry, scaly, red, bleeding. My dermatologist ruled it a contact dermatitis and gave me some miracle gel and it went away...but it would come back if I used any type of acne care system (the three steps you buy in store) or any makeup that would "fight acne" So I figured I had some sort of salicylic acid allergy.
Next, I bought a fiber mascara that a few of my friends loved. My eyelid blew up. I instantly stopped using the mascara. Annoying, because that mascara ruled performance wise!
However over the next few months I would notice around my eyes would get dry and burn and my eyelids (mostly the left one) would swell up. It would resemble blepharitis- but after several visits to my eye doctor, she ruled it a contact dermatitis too! It was weird because it was a pretty defined line on my lash line. I would think I found makeup that works and next all of a sudden my eyes would be burning again.
The next stop was an allergist who ordered a patch test of common chemicals in makeup/hygiene/cleaning products. The results were I was allergic to 4 things (good luck pronouncing some of them lol)
Gold
Formaldehyde
isothiazolinone/Methylchloroisothiazolinone
Methylsothiazolinone
Quaternium15
The iso/methyl ingredient was literally in all my products. Shampoo, conditioner, soaps, shaving soap, dish soap, hand soap, makeup remover pads.
Anyways, my biggest issue right now is kind of finding new makeup. I found new bath products and I'm almost a week into using them and my eyelid hasnt done anything weird yet as in blowing up again. However upon really really really close observation you can see that awful line where it would blow up every time it came in contact with an allergen. And by really close I mean no one else can really see it but me in the right light. I've had other people look. I guess I'm just overly self conscious at this point and probably a little punch drunk from mildly obsessing over an eyelid.
Does anyone on this forum suffer from something similar? Have suggestions for a natural makeup? So far I found a promising eyeliner. I'm searching for mascara and a lightweight foundation. All my google searching leads me to some promising results but with one concern of "iron oxide". Is that something I should even worry about? What do you use? Thanks