Mum who felt like monster after waking with red rings around her eyes that burned like acid finds ‘godsend’ cure
A mum who woke up with sore red rings around her eyes that burned as if there was “acid” on her face, and left her too embarrassed to go to work as she felt like a “monster”, has now found a “godsend” high street cure.
Dawn Sanderson, a 61-year-old designer bag sales assistant, left her previous job at a beauty outlet as she thought her red skin might be a reaction to a beauty product after it flared up in October 2023.
Going back and forth to the doctors, nothing she was prescribed seemed to work on her face as the sore patches got “worse and worse” until she felt like she could no longer work.
It was not until a work colleague suggested a high street skincare cream in February this year that Dawn finally found something that alleviated the painful problem and, after a week, her skin was back to normal.
Dawn, who lives in Doncaster, South Yorkshire and has two children, Natalie, 33, and Jamie, 31, told PA Real Life: “I felt like an absolute monster, I was so embarrassed of it.
“I had a ring around my eyes from just under my eyebrows to under my eyes.
“I look back at the photos now and I think, how could I have gone out looking like that? It disrupted my life like you wouldn’t believe. I couldn’t go shopping, I couldn’t do anything.”
In October 2023 Dawn was shocked to wake up one morning with sore red rings around her eyes that had appeared out of the blue.
At the time, she worked at a beauty outlet and she thought it could be a product she was having a reaction to.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Dawn visited her doctor five times, trying several different tablet medications and steroid creams, but nothing seemed to alleviate the burning sensation she had on her face.
“It was really, really getting me down. It was really upsetting me and I was in tears over it. I had a horrible burning sensation on my face like I’d had acid on me,” she added.
“I thought I was never going to heal. I was in a right mess.”
She added: “I did try coming into work for a couple of days and everybody was looking. I looked horrendous.
“I couldn’t put any makeup on to cover it and I couldn’t walk up to customers with my eyes looking like that.”
Taking time off work, Dawn said the problem persisted and she found herself too embarrassed to even walk her dog.
“The pain was bad too, it was like a burn and I couldn’t sleep at night because of it. It was like my eyes were frazzled and burned.”
Desperate for a solution, Dawn threw away her entire makeup bag and replaced it with brand new products, but it was not until a colleague noticed Dawn’s skin in February 2024 and recommended she try Balmonds Skin Salvation that her face began to heal.
“I put it on morning and night and within a week my skin was looking how it used to look again.
“It makes my skin feel lovely and I’ve just never looked back, I use it every day now and will continue to do so.”
She said: “She’s like an angel sent from heaven to tell me about that and where I can get it from and I’ve used it every single day since.
“I still can’t believe I went from my skin being horrendous to cleared up within seven days but it’s brilliant.
“It’s honestly been a godsend and I can finally feel like myself again.”