Her skin was raw, she had first degree burns, her face was swollen with edema and covered in red patches. Content creator Emma Artwest shared on his Instagram account her mishap with a cosmetic product which allegedly triggered a violent skin reaction in her. “I would like to point out that basically, I have never been allergic to any active ingredient,” the young woman states in the preamble in one of the posts where she tells her story.
A story that began last January when she added a facial cleansing gel to her beauty routine that she had never tried before. A situation that has affected him on a daily basis for several weeks. And which raises the risks associated with the use of a significant number of cosmetic products on the skin.
“I have more than three weeks of care”
“I have used the product twice now. Two uses and that’s the face,” laments Emma Artwest in the first post where she recounts her setbacks, published on January 13. According to the young woman, whose face was then covered with small red patches, the product which would be responsible for her impressive skin reaction would be a cleansing gel, the Ultra Facial Cleanser, from the American cosmetics brand Kiehl’s.
Two days later, on her way to get a refund for the product at the store where she bought it, the young woman described the tingling, itching and patches on her face. The following day, January 16, she explained that her “reaction to Kiehl’s brand gel cleanser is not improving at all. It started Friday, it’s Monday (…) I just left the doctor and it’s not an allergy but a burn (…). I have more than three weeks of care, she continues. I have to use antibiotics, cortisone and Betadine,” laments the young woman, whose face can be seen to be very red and swollen.
At the same time, she is reimbursed for the product by the brand where she purchased it, communicates with customer service who wishes to investigate the possible causes of her skin reaction, and tests must be carried out on the product that she she suspects that this is the source of her problem.
A stripping formulation
For the young woman, one of the components of the cleansing gel is necessarily the cause of her illness. Taking a closer look at the long list of ingredients that make up the cleansing gel in question, in addition to the presence of phenoxyethanol and several parabens – considered potential endocrine disruptors but which are authorized, this cleansing gel contains several surfactants, including sodium laureth sulfate. Components intended to lather the product and ensure deep cleansing of the skin.
Maybe even a little too deep. “It is an authorized component, considered safe by manufacturers in the sector, and very widely used in a number of shower gels and shampoos. It is not known to cause such skin reactions, indicates Dr. Isabelle Rousseaux, dermatologist and member of the National Union of Venereological Dermatologists. On the other hand, whatever your skin type, it is not a good idea to use cleansing gels that are too harsh: this can at worst, like here, cause this type of reaction. Or, very often, lead to a rebound reaction: the skin re-greases very quickly because it is dry and feels that its protective barrier has been damaged, so it secretes more sebum to restore it.”
For combination to oily skin, “we recommend cleansing with water and a rich bar, and a suitable moisturizing cream. And in the case of this young woman, the dermatologist suggests, perhaps this product was not suitable for her skin, which was obviously sensitive and reactive. Especially since the composition doesn’t seem very “clean”. It is better to favor products with shorter formulations, with natural ingredients.”
Determine the cause of the skin reaction
For now, it seems that the tests carried out on the product used by Emma Artwest have not revealed any anomaly. Now, it remains to be determined the cause of his incident. Especially since “skin reactions like she had are not very common,” recalls Dr. Rousseaux. And that the young woman has already had such a reaction in the past, she says on her Instagram account. “The Clinique brand cleansing gel did exactly the same thing to me in 2021. I’m going to do allergy tests because this has happened to me twice.”
In the event of a severe skin reaction, “two hypotheses are possible: either it is a reaction caused by a product that is too irritating for fragile skin. Either it’s an allergy, and to prove it, we do tests, says Dr Albanne Branelec, allergist. We have European standard batteries with around forty substances labeled as the main contact allergens listed. A drop of these allergens is put on the skin and we observe 24 to 48 hours later if this has caused a particular allergic reaction. If the component in question, as I believe is the case with sodium laureth sulfate, is not included in this battery, we perform a repeated application test on a small strip of skin, on the forearm, and we wait to see if an allergic reaction appears or if there is an irritation phenomenon.”
The allergy “will tend to extend beyond the area in contact with the product, and can cause itching, redness, swelling and peeling of the skin, this can be very violent. One of the worst examples is paraphenylenediamine (PPD), a substance present in many hair dyes and which is known to regularly cause very violent allergic reactions, including burning and peeling of the skin, with bubbles. In practice, many surfactants and other foaming agents can cause irritation without it being an allergy. But it can also be a contact allergy, in which case there will very often be warning signs before arriving at a severe reaction.”
“Beware of the Sephora Kids phenomenon”
What worries the two specialists in this case is also “the quantity of products that this young woman tests”, they emphasize together. “If on a daily basis she tests a lot of different cosmetic products that are not necessarily suited to her skin, the accumulation may have increased the sensitivity of her skin to the point of triggering the skin reaction,” says Dr. Rousseaux. We need to pay attention to the Sephora Kids phenomenon.”
These are “often young teenage girls, who watch these influencers and in turn test a lot of cosmetics,” adds Dr. Branelec. This is not trivial, we already see very young girls developing contact allergies in our offices. They are fascinated by this content, but you also have to pay attention to the variety and quantity of products that you apply to your skin: on the networks, I see a lot of beauty influencers putting spreads of creams and other serums. However, the more things you put on your skin when you have allergies and sensitive skin, the greater your risk of developing allergies and skin reactions.”
To limit the risks, “in case of doubt or when you have sensitive skin, it is recommended to test each new product on a small area, recommends the allergist: twice on the skin of the wrist, which is thin, for two days, to observe if we develop a particular reaction.”