Best Skincare Routines for Sensitive Skin
Sensitive skin is something that all of us can suffer from at times, especially when we’re on certain medications or when we’re stressed.
In fact, studies have found that 44.6% of Americans consider themselves to have sensitive or highly sensitive skin.
Is this more or less than you would have expected?
Of course, all of this means an effective sensitive skin care routine is essential information, so let's dive right in with our favourites:
1: Remove Make-Up Gently
When you get home, especially after a late night in a club, it can be tempting to simply jump into bed and deal with your make-up in the morning. The problem with this, though, is that leaving your make-up on for long periods of time will clog your pores and cause pimples, redness and skin irritation.
Nor should you roughly rub your make-up off using a face wipe or harsh soap, especially when your skin is sensitive. This can clog your pores just as badly, if not worse than leaving your make-up on all night!
Instead, you should gently remove your make-up using a sensitive cleanser that will dissolve and remove your make-up without having a harsh effect on your skin.
For your eyes, use a gentle makeup remover that is specifically designed for the eye area - even waterproof mascara should come off quickly and gently - allowing you to leave your skin to breathe and repair naturally while you sleep.
2: Always Cleanse Your Skin Fully
Those of us with sensitive skin often skip steps in our skincare regimen, possibly because we are hesitant of irritating our skin with a new product.
Actually, though, skipping steps in your routine is only going to irritate your skin more. This is because you fail to remove the dead skin cells naturally shed from your skin, which leads to blocked pores and other issues.
Instead, you should keep your face and pores clean by using a sensitive facial cleanser on a daily basis. Natural micellar water is particularly good for sensitive skin, as the bubbles in micellar water will remove impurities from the skin without any friction.
Only ever use warm water to cleanse or wash your skin.
Using hot water on your skin causes a rapid change of temperature that can be harmful to your skin when cleansing.
Once done, pat your skin dry (never rub) with a clean towel to avoid any skin damage or irritation.
3: Reduce Redness with Anti-Inflammatories
Even when we take the utmost diligence in removing our make-up and carefully cleansing, we can still often find that our face is a little red or sore. This is due to the fact that, when your skin is irritated and inflamed, the blood will rush to the surface of your skin in order to fight this inflammation.
If your face is feeling sore or even more sensitive than usual, this could be due to a number of reasons. You may have come in contact with a new chemical ingredient that has irritated your skin or perhaps it's just a little dehydrated. You may simply be stressed or tired. Even drinking alcohol can irritate sensitive skin.
If your skin is blotchy or red, fear not, if you act fast you can calm your skin down before it turns into a rash.
Firstly, take a cool cloth and place it across your skin.
Then, lie back and relax for 15 or so minutes and this should reduce redness. It’s also a good idea to use a natural and gentle serum on your face that has anti-inflammatory properties.
Completely natural and made with no synthetic chemicals at all, our Dragons Blood serum is extremely effective for sensitive skin and has natural anti-inflammatories as well as antioxidants, allowing it to protect, hydrate and improve your skin in the long term.
4: Apply a Sensitive Skin Moisturiser
When it comes to a moisturiser specifically formulated for sensitive skin, you will always need to choose a gentle and natural product that is non-comedogenic (meaning it won’t clog your pores).
Ideally, you should use a lightweight formula that will both lock in moisture and protect your skin from things that irritate sensitive skin.
This can include:
- harsh chemicals
- dust, dead skin cells and other foreign objects
- pollution
- rough weather
- UV rays
Moisturiser should be applied twice a day for the best benefits.
Before applying, warm the cream in your hands until it's similar to the temperature of your skin.
This will stop your skin from getting shocked by the cold when you apply your moisturiser and will allow it to absorb into your skin much easier.
5: Use Only Natural Anti-Aging Products
For people with sensitive skin and other skin issues such as wrinkles or crow's feet, it can be had to find products that fight aging without flaring up the skin. To help you keep your skin happy and fighting the effects of aging, you need a product that is both gentle and all-natural.
For sensitive skin, we recommend our Niacinamide B3 cream. Not only is this cream light and gentle on the skin. It will improve the appearance and brightness of your skin almost immediately and continue to protect it from the effects of aging and other forms of skin wear.
More importantly, you get complete peace of mind that your skin will stay clear of irritation!
The skin around your eyes can be particularly sensitive, so be sure to be careful of using certain serums in this area.
Our Dark Eye All-Natural Serum is ideal for sensitive skin and removes dark circles rapidly, thanks to natural ingredients like vitamin E, aloe vera and rose oil.
These ingredients work together to reduce puffiness, crow's feet and general skin wear and tear.
Other Ways to Keep Your Skin Happy
It’s not just our skincare routine that’s essential for protecting our sensitive skin from getting irritated. Our lifestyle and diet can also contribute to our skin getting inflamed.
For one, if you have particularly sensitive skin, try to avoid touching your face too much. Over the day we constantly touch contaminants, dust and chemicals that stick to our fingertips. If we regularly touch our face, these can get transferred to our skin and cause irritation.
You should also ensure that any make-up brushes or products that you use regularly are clean. These can be breeding grounds for bacteria, causing spots and irritation regardless of your skin type.
Food-wise, you should be eating a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables. These foods are naturally full of minerals and vitamins, which help keep your skin clear. It’s also encouraged to eat fatty fish like salmon, which is high in omega-3.
Overall, the key keeping sensitive skin is to avoid stresses and stick to all-natural products that are aimed at those of us with sensitive skin.
You can’t always avoid your skin getting irritated but, by following the sensitive skincare routine above, you can keep your complexion clear, vibrant and free from irritation for the vast majority of the time.