What is an ingrown hair?

An ingrown hair is either a hair that fails to grow out of the hair follicle and stays embedded under the surface of the skin or a hair that when it starts to grow changes direction and begins to grow back in on itself. Although they can happen naturally, usually it is waxing or shaving that causes them. Usually you first notice one because they itch or feel uncomfortable and if left untreated can be painful and become infected. Ingrown hairs can look a little like a small pimple in the later stages. If the inflammation extends beyond the immediate area of the ingrown hair or after you have treated the ingrown hair it still persists you should consider getting it checked by a doctor.

What do I do?

Ingrown hairs can be simply treated by following the instructions below and you will need to arm yourself with a clean washcloth and some warm water, a mild antiseptic, pointy nosed tweezers and a small needle you have sterilised in boiling water.

• Gently apply a washcloth to the ingrown hair until it grows cool down and repeat again – this often helps bring the hair closer to the surface and softens the top of the skin covering the hair.

• Use a small needle to pierce any pimple that has formed over the ingrown hair and gently try to remove the ingrown hair by teasing it out.

• If a head has formed gently squeeze with a tissue until it has all gone and you can see the ingrown hair.

• Don’t try to pull the hair out – it may form again – you are trying to release the hair to grow normally.

• Apply an antiseptic to the area with a cotton wool ball to minimise the chance of infection.

How do I minimise ingrown hairs?

• Wear looser clothing if you suffer from ingrown hairs, tight clothing is a big cause of causing ingrown hairs to form, especially on the legs.

• Exfoliating regularly will help ingrown hairs. Exfoliating gloves are easy and quick to use and can be thrown in the washing machine to keep them clean of bacteria.

• Don’t use harsh exfoliators that can strip the skin of oils and dry it out making ingrown hairs more likely to form.

• Don’t use loofahs as they can’t be washed very easily and can harbour bacteria.

• Use cleansers and moisturisers that are non comodegenic, that is they won’t block the pores and make ingrown hairs more common.

• Cleansing the skin morning and night will keep the hair follicles and pores clear and remove grime and dead skin cells allowing the hair to grow more freely.

• Do not use products with alcohol that dry the skin.

• Use a long lasting hydrating moisturiser that will keep the hair soft all day and help prevent it in growing.

• Many men suffer ingrown hairs from shaving. Try leaving the hair fractionally longer by not using a multi blade razor as the hair is less likely to become ingrown if it is not shaved too closely.

• Don’t pull the skin too tight as this also makes the shave closer than you need.

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Can I use cosmetics with sensitive skin?

Can I use cosmetics with sensitive skin?

The answer is yes you can but it does help if you know by trial and error what may cause an allergic type reaction and therefore you need to avoid. It may take a bit of detective work and patience for you to work this out.

There are some general guidelines that will be useful to all people with sensitive skins.

• Avoid waterproof cosmetics such as mascaras as the need a strong cleanser to remove them which may remove the sebum and leave the skin more exposed to sensitivity.

• If you have eyes that become sensitive when using eye makeup try the more neutral colours like creams, taupes and browns.  Often it is the more highly pigmented colours that will cause sensitive skin to flare.

• Black mascara seems to be less likely to cause an allergic reaction than coloured mascaras.

• Throw away any old makeup past its use by date, especially old mascaras used around the sensitive eye area.

• Approximately, three months for mascara, a year for foundations and powders and two years for eye shadows.

• Wash eye shadow brushes and makeup brushes and sponges regularly.

• Pencil and waxed based eyeliners are less likely to cause a reaction than liquid eyeliners.

• Use sunscreens that have physical blockers like zinc oxide and titanium oxide rather than chemical sunscreens.

• Powder cosmetics usually cause less sensitive skin reactions than liquid ones.

• Use skin care products such as skinsaviour to be gentle on sensitive skin as part of your daily skin routine removing grime and pollutants that could irritate sensitive skin

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Sensitive skin defined

What is sensitive skin?

Sensitive skin is a fairly broad description of many different skin conditions that fall under its banner. People with sensitive skin may have a recognised and diagnosed medical condition such as rosacea, eczema, contact dermatitis, allergies, atopic dermatitis. More commonly though sensitive skin is usually characterised by being very easily irritated, prone to redness, inflammation, lumps and reaction to ingredients in skin care products which are irritants.
Sensitive skin is commonly linked to very dry skin but even oily skin can be sensitive. Sometimes this sensitivity comes about from overzealous use of harsh soaps, alcohol based astringents and exfoliators that are used in an effort to reduce the oil production.

Who gets it?

People of all age groups can have sensitive skin. Often babies may have periodic bouts of eczema but these lessen and are finally grown out of. When we grow older, the skin thins and can be more sensitive to touch and certain fabrics can be irritating to the skin.  There is large percentage of the population that list sensitive skin as one of their skin concerns and care must be taken to choose skin care products that won’t make the condition worse.

• Choose sunscreens with a physical blocker like zinc oxide or titanium oxide – it may be less irritating than normal sunscreens.
• Choose skin care products that have no known irritating ingredients.
• Choose a cleanser that is effective but safe and gentle.
• Choose a moisturiser that has no perfumes, colours or ingredients that are known to cause irritation.
• You might like to try the skinsaviour skin care products
• Wear loose clothes made of natural fibres that will not irritate the face and neck area.
• Try to keep the hands away from the face to avoid getting contact dermatitis from something you have touched.
• See a dermatologist or doctor if your skin is really sensitive and causing you discomfort.
  

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How to deal with sensitive skin

Why is sensitive skin difficult?

People who have very sensitive skin can often have a very low tolerance level for certain things in their environments, what they eat and drink and also to ingredients in their skin care products. Usually the skin reacts by becoming inflammation that shows as red, blotchy patches and sometimes lumpy swellings. It is difficult for those with sensitive skin as what will be no problem for one person will not suit someone else. Also to establish what it is that actually bothers you can be a time consuming exercise.

How do we deal with sensitive skin?

The more natural a skin care product is the less the chance of them irritating sensitive skin. Having said that, there are many essential oils that are very irritating to the skin or one of their components is. Conversely not all synthetic ingredients are harmful for your skin and may be a suitable alternative to a natural ingredient that can be an irritant. So the best thing is to choose a skin care product range that has been designed to be non-irritating, to calm and soothe a sensitive skin. skinsaviour has designed its cleansers and moisturisers to be very gentle yet effective on a sensitive skin.

What to look for in skin care products?

• Cleansers with no harsh soaps or detergents.

• Skin care products with low levels of preservatives.

• Moisturisers that provide a long lasting barrier to external pollutants.

• Skin care products formulated to avoid ingredients known to irritate sensitive skin.

• Skin care products that come in dispensers to avoid contaminating your skin care products with bacteria from dipping fingers in.

• Skincare products that come in dispensers that block out the light to also avoid spoilage.

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Sensitive skin and Uticaria

What is Uticaria?

The symptoms of Uticaria are most commonly a rash that is very itchy and consists of a number of raised bumpy weals on the surface of the skin. In an acute attack it can last between several hours and a few weeks, uticaria that last longer than six or so weeks is less likely to be caused by an allergy and is called chronic uticaria.  Acute uticaria is caused by an allergy.

He most likely suspects for acute uticaria include allergies to animals such as dogs, cats and horses and common foods such as eggs and dairy particularly milk in children, peanuts, shellfish and dairy for adults. Sometimes people can be allergic to bee stings, wasp stings and even certain medicines such as antibiotics, in particular penicillin and other medications.

What are the symptoms of uticaria?

The rash that develops is very itchy and usually has lumpy, bumpy skin that develops along with a rash. Sometimes the rash can move around the limb or body and be so severely itchy it interferes with the person’s ability to sleep and their quality of life. Uticaria causes super sensitive skin and commonly red lines develop when the skin is itched called dermatographism. There is a relationship between stress and the uticaria reappearing, mental and emotional stress and when the body is challenged by a physical illness. Sometimes acute attacks occur when there is a viral illness and the body’s immune response is lowered.

What can we do?

• Try to avoid stresses we recognise can cause acute attacks such as alcohol, stress, hot weather, tight itchy clothing and harsh laundry detergents.

• Avoid foods we know or may have a reaction to, additives such as salicylate, sodium benzoate, sulphur dioxide, tartrazine and MSG or Mono Sodium Glutamate among others.

• Examination by a doctor is needed to determine the cause if mild symptoms become worse or persist for weeks.

• A doctor may prescribe some medication or run some blood tests to determine if there is an underlying allergy or an auto immune disease.

• A course of antihistamine tablets may settle the symptoms of acute uticaria but if it doesn’t respond or you have some associated health problems then see a doctor.

• A doctor may prescribe a short course of oral steroids if the symptoms are severe.

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What is sensitive skin?

Sensitive skin is quite common; hypersensitivity however, is fortunately less common. The main difference is that hypersensitive skin can often react to non-irritating formulations due to an underlying skin condition. Professional medical advice is recommended in such cases.  Seek help if your skin does not respond to care for sensitive skins to make sure you do not have an underlying medical condition that may be causing your sensitive skin. In terms of sensitive skin, however, there are a number of things you can do to help ease the discomfort and frustration of having a sensitive skin.

What can we do?

Sensitive skin is very easily irritated so the first thing we want to do is minimise the chances of it being irritated. If there are any allergens we know that trigger allergic reaction and skin conditions such as eczema we should take great care to avoid. Prevention is much better than cure as flare-ups can take a while to subside and always seem to occur just when you don’t want them. Triggers can range from foods we eat, plants, fur and so on. Skin care products that have been especially formulated to minimise irritation by including no irritating ingredients should be used.

Skinsaviour skin care products have been designed to be gentle and effective with no perfumes or colourings or harmful ingredients to irritate sensitive skins.

Here are some suggestions on how we can look after sensitive skins:

• Avoid cleansers that have sulphates, detergents or soap that will all irritate sensitive skin.

• Avoid cleansers with harsh exfoliating particles or ones high in glycolic acids.

• Gently pat the skin dry after cleansing and avoid rubbing which will further irritate the skin.

• Use lukewarm water to avoid irritating the skin with water that is too hot or too cold.

• Seek moisturisers without perfumes, fragrances, colourings, alcohols, petroleum, preservatives, sulphates mineral oils or lanolin or as these can irritate sensitive skin.

• Apply skin creams while the skin is still damp and warm, after gently patting dry, to lock in moisture and preserve the skin’s natural defence barrier.

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