what about lattoferrin

The short version: lactoferrin has plausible antifungal and anti-inflammatory mechanisms, but no study in this retrieval tested it for a facial skin infection in humans.

Lactoferrin works by binding iron, which fungi need to grow. A 2000 study showed that human milk inhibits Candida albicans through apo-lactoferrin, and adding iron reversed the effect [1]. That is a clean mechanism: starve the yeast of iron and it stops multiplying. A 2012 review lists lactoferrin among the natural antifungal peptides found on skin and mucosa [3]. A 2019 randomized trial in women with recurrent vaginal candidiasis found that a combination including lactoferrin cut relapse rates to about 30% during maintenance, significantly better than placebo [5]. That is the closest human evidence to your question, but it was for vaginal yeast, not facial skin, and lactoferrin was part of a mix, not tested alone.

The evidence also shows lactoferrin can be degraded by bacterial enzymes. A 1990 study found that Pseudomonas aeruginosa elastase cleaves lactoferrin [2]. If your skin infection involves bacteria as well as fungus, that matters: the pathogen may break down the treatment.

The dog shampoo study [4] is worth noting: a product containing lactoferrin, chlorhexidine, and other ingredients did not outperform plain shampoo for skin itching. That suggests topical lactoferrin may not add much over basic cleansing.

My call: oral or topical lactoferrin is low-risk and mechanistically plausible for a fungal skin infection, but the evidence is too thin to recommend it as a primary treatment. Try it only as an adjunct to something with proven topical antifungal activity, and stop if the skin worsens. Confidence: low.