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.