All cats do this to some degree.  If my face is near, Tiger will lick my
forehead with his sandpaper tongue.

                 ---MIKE---

I can't be certain about this, but I seem to remember reading
somewhere that it is obsessive behavior:
Below is what I found when I googled it for you. If you want a link to
the page, just shout & I will forward it to you:

Grooming can be a "displacement behaviour" in cats - that is, when a
cat is confused or frightened it may stop what it is doing and start
grooming vigorously. Owners often notice this when a cat has had an
encounter with a dominant, aggressive neighbourhood cat , or when a
cat has been frightened by loud noises such as fireworks or thunder
claps
Excessive grooming might be present for a variety of reasons :

If the skin is itchy or irritable - eg if the cat has fleas, a skin
allergy or other form of skin disease
If the cat is being dominated by a neighbours cat , or it has been
frightened by something else
If the cat is too hot and is trying to lose body heat
If the cat has foreign material on its coat -it will groom itself
vigorously to remove it
So it looks like there are a number of reasons why. Can you hazard a
guess at which one it might be? If so, I can send you a more detailed
link to read, ok?
S;o)

don't use my name, get your own name, i had that name first
you should... make your name something other than Barry

Hello a.shole

Sounds like Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome. You might google it for
more info. and see if it sounds like your cat's behavior. I had a cat
who had it,but it's been so long ago I don't remember enough about the
specifics to explain it.