Finishing active breast cancer treatment is a huge milestone, but for your skin, it’s often the start of a different kind of recovery. Radiation and chemotherapy can leave your skin more sensitive, drier, and more reactive for weeks or months after treatment ends.
This October, for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we wanted to offer some tips on how to rebuild a post-treatment skincare routine that’s gentle, restorative, and science backed. It’s a topic that has a personal meaning to us at DERMAFLASH — our founder, Dara Levy, is a breast cancer survivor. In 2024, Dara was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer, and she underwent surgery and daily radiation treatment. “Self-care empowered me to feel in control of an uncontrollable situation and helped me get my glow back — inside and outside,” Dara shared.
For our founder, and for the more than 4 million breast cancer survivors living in the U.S. today, reclaiming your self-care rituals can be an important step to helping you feel like yourself again — and getting back the glow you deserve.
What Happens to Your Skin After Treatment
Chemotherapy and radiation don’t just affect the area being treated — they can change the way your skin looks and feels, often well past your last appointment. Dermatologists who specialize in “oncodermatology” (a growing field focused on skin side effects of cancer treatment) point to a few common patterns in the weeks and months afterward:
- Dryness, flaking, and rough or uneven texture
- Increased sensitivity, redness, and reactivity as inflammation settles
- Heightened sun sensitivity (skin that’s undergone radiation can stay sunburned-looking, tight, or easily irritated for some time after therapy ends, according to the American Academy of Dermatology)
For those who went through chemotherapy, more noticeable peach fuzz is also a common after-effect — chemo medications target fast-growing cells, and that includes the cells in your hair follicles, along with cancer cells. Increased peach fuzz on your cheeks, jaw and upper lip is one of the most common after-effects that we hear about from breast cancer survivors in our community.
Your Post-Treatment Skincare Plan
Because your skin is skill in recovery mode, it’s best to stick to a routine that’s gentle — now is not the time to start experimenting with potent actives.
In the early weeks after treatment ends, it’s best to:
Cleanse with a gentle, fragrance-free formula and make sure you’re using lukewarm (not hot) water. Hot water and harsh scrubbing both worsen dryness and irritation.
Support your skin barrier. Rebuilding a strong and healthy skin barrier will help counteract sensitivity and reduce the look of inflammation. Look for hydrating, barrier-supportive ingredients including ceramides, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and colloidal oatmeal. These are all ingredients that dermatologists commonly recommend for replenishing and calming skin during and after cancer treatment. Skip heavy fragrance or alcohol, which can be drying and irritating.
Protect with broad-spectrum SPF every day. Treated skin is significantly more sun-sensitive, and that sensitivity can persist long-term. Mineral sunscreens with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide tend to be the gentler choice, since they sit on top of the skin rather than being absorbed, and are less likely to trigger irritation than chemical formulas.
Ease back into exfoliation. When it comes to exfoliation, it’s best to proceed with caution — get the OK from your care team first, and when they give you the green light, choose a gentle method. LUXE+ Sonic Dermaplaning is designed for use across all skin types, including sensitive skin — and it has the added benefit of removing peach fuzz in addition to dead skin cells. The gentle sonic vibration eases glide across your skin, and the custom-designed MicroFine Edge has advanced safety features to protect your skin from any nicks or cuts (unlike a razor).
Self-Care Isn’t a Nice-to-Have — It’s Part of Healing
Dara has always said self-care was what kept her grounded through treatment, and the research backs her up. A randomized clinical trial published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology followed more than 300 breast cancer survivors through a six-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program and found measurable improvements in anxiety, fear of recurrence, and fatigue compared with usual care.
An earlier randomized trial in Psycho-Oncology found similar results: survivors who practiced mindfulness-based stress reduction saw lower depression and anxiety and higher energy levels than those who didn’t. Small, consistent rituals — a skincare routine included — can be part of that same sense of regaining control. As Dara puts it, your skincare routine helps you feel “good to glow” again.
Our Commitment This October
This October, we're donating 25% of net sales from all Pop Pink devices sold on dermaflash.com to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, in support of their mission to prevent and cure breast cancer.
This article is intended for general educational purposes and isn’t a substitute for medical advice. Please talk to your oncologist or dermatologist about what’s right for your skin and your recovery.
