What are the ingredients to avoid for sensitive skin?Updated a year ago
Another way to keep sensitive skin happy is to avoid products that are likely to irritate your skin in the first place. Each person’s triggers will be a little different, but generally, these are the ones to watch out for.
- Fragrances and essential oils: The most common irritants in skincare today are fragrances, which include natural essential oils. Some brands even present themselves as fragrance-free while using essential oils in their products, so always scan the ingredient list. Look out for the words fragrance, parfum, and flower/leaf/peel oil, as well as for fragrance compounds at the end of the ingredient list, like linalool, limonene, hexyl cinnamal, or geraniol.
- Long ingredient lists: The longer the ingredient list, the harder it’ll be for you to spot irritants. Products with shorter ingredient lists are a better option since if you do experience any irritation, you’ll have an easier time pinpointing the culprit.
- Dehydrating cleansers: Cleansers that make your skin feel “squeaky” or “tight” are definitely to be avoided, since that squeaky feeling is a sign that your skin is dehydrated. Over time, that can impact your skin barrier and lead to irritation.
- Soaps: Soaps, by definition, are cleansing products made when oils are mixed with lye, which is strongly alkaline. Because of that, all soaps have a very high pH, which can disrupt your skin’s acid mantle and lead to irritation.
- Scrubs and abrasive: Scrubs don’t exfoliate, they scratch! Avoid physical scrubs, watch cloths, and cleansing brushes since their abrasive quality can aggravate your skin.
- High percentages of actives: Active ingredients are ingredients that encourage skin cell renewal through exfoliating or stimulating. They include retinol, vitamin C, alpha hydroxy acids (AHA), salicylic acid, and other similar ingredients. While they’re not off-limits, you want to use products that contain sane quantities of them. Avoid products that advertise 20%-30% AHAs or vitamin C. Usually, 10% or under is ideal.
- Cooling products and menthol: Sometimes, products are advertised as “cooling” which sounds very appealing when your skin is sensitive. However, that cooling effect often comes courtesy of menthol which is also an irritant. Related ingredients to watch out for are menthyl lactate, peppermint oil, or menthone glycerin acetal.
- Your specific triggers: By paying attention to the ingredient lists in the products you use, you might be able to identify specific ingredients that don’t work for your skin. We already touched on the main ones, but for some people, a specific plant extract or preservative can be a major culprit.