The same has happened to me , and it ' s generally about the content of the moisturizer . Anything that has any sort of cream makes my skin horrendously dry within 15 minutes of taking a shower , and it NEEDS to be an ointment like Aquaphor or Vaseline , etc . Have you found that any of the moisturizers you ' ve tried are better than others ? Maybe there ' s some ingredient that irritates your skin but is common enough to be in everything you ' ve tried ? Also , if showering hurts your skin , baths might help instead ! It may hurt when you first get in but it ' s better for your skin absorbing more moisture while you ' re in it . Then putting on tons of ointment as soon as you get out helps keep that moisture in for longer .