Truth Revealed : Things You Didn't Know About Sensitive Skin Before !!!

A Sensitive Case

Let’s be honest. We, almost everyone have faced skin sensitivity at some point of their life & its okay to admit it. Not all of these people are born ‘sensitive’. So here we’ll address the concern & first answer a few popular questions most people have about it.

·         What do you mean by sensitive skin?

·         Skin sensitivity refers to the situation where skin would react adversely to most of the popular skincare products & also cause massive flare ups when in contact with certain metals. These flare ups refer to anything from mild erythema (redness), itching to full fledged inflammation including massive break outs.

Some people are born with sensitive skin & this prevents them from using most popular skincare products & some are also affected by wearing jewelry crafted from different metals. But these days a group is also emerging who never had sensitive skin but suffer sudden sensitivity & this may or may not subside.

There are also people who are allergic to different metals & thus their skin is only sensitive to these but not usually sensitive to skin products.

I’ve devised my own theory of sensitivity (call it hypothesis) which defines skin sensitivity being autoimmune; meaning a condition where your own immunity cells attack non threatening foreign particles assuming they are harmful invaders for no reason.

·         What are the symptoms of sensitive skin?

        Flare ups can be anything from mild to massive. Some skin products may cause mild redness to itching (this can also happen due to pollution & sun exposure) while others may cause acne.

Even exposure to sun & pollution can cause massive irritation & redness. How these things affect the skin may vary from person to person.

·         I never had sensitive skin but suddenly my skin is reacting to almost anything I apply which includes the same product I’ve used for years. Why is this happening? Can it get back to normal (can sudden skin sensitivity be cured?)?

·         More & more complains like this are heard these days. There are many factors to blame & the main being intense pollution. As our skin is more exposed to pollution, apart from reacting to such external aggressors, immunity is triggered so that it starts reacting to almost anything it comes in touch to which also includes rather harmless stuffs like all those moisturizers & creams that used to suit before.

Then there is the age old enemy, Sun. Due to extreme pollution, the damaged ozone layer does not provide the same amount of protection it used to a decade back & sun is becoming more & more damaging day by day which is why even incidents of oily skin (oily skin being the hardiest among skin types) to turn sensitive are heard.

Next there’s another factor that often goes unnoticed that’s ‘product overloading’. We’re living in an age where everyday some new beauty products are emerging & we’re being guinea pigs of the multimillion dollar business empires. Some of us are so naïve that we wouldn’t sleep at night before giving the latest in beauty industry a try. This may provide you with more options than your parents’ generation had but it certainly puts you on the verge of product overloading.

            You’re trying out as many products as you can (newer & newer products every month) in order to achieve the skin of your dreams but at the end, you’re left with thousands of preservatives & excipients on your skin without even knowing how your skin would react to them. This is madness. Some recommend 10 steps regime; some prefer 3 steps & bla bla bla. But you’re missing out the main point that its not steps that count, its what you feed your skin. Apart from basic hygiene, only a few things are needed to keep your skin in good shape. You’re missing out the science & feeding on what these advertisements are offering, which has nothing better to offer than monetary benefit of their own.

First you’ll need to recognize this & throw all the unnecessary products into your trashcan & select according to the composition & your need. Minimalism is the way to go.

Suppose you’re a 20+ woman, then an antioxidant serum to use at night & a set of good day & night creams, along with a broad spectrum sunscreen & a facewash should suffice. If you’re 30+, you’ll need extra care & ‘extra’ does not mean extra products. Just substituting your 20s products with more specialized ones, that can do the trick. You can simply substitute your regular night cream with one based on retinol, get a stronger sunscreen (preferably non comedogenic), substitute your regular facewash with a glycolic/salicylic acid based wash (if it suits your skin) or just keep it same & include a face oil if you feel like.

Also if your night cream includes a good amount of vitamin C, then you can freely skip the serum part. This is a simple rearrangement. Your skin is not something that you should regularly experiment with.

Also if you find that your skin is reacting to almost everything, keep things minimal & opt for a more ‘greener version’ with less stronger preservatives. You can freely substitute a plain night cream with Moroccan Argan Oil which is free from preservatives & additives.You can also strengthen it by adding a few more essential oils of your choice.

Dry skinned people can easily use golden Jojoba oil directly on their face. You can also make small batches of homemade shea butter/cocoa butter based cream. Green beauty is making a considerable impact these days & such products with lesser additives can be easily found these days. Although these products can make a hole on your purse but its still worth it. Safety should be your no. 1 priority.

This way you can reverse a sudden bout of sensitivity & even keep inherent sensitive skin in good shape. Always use ‘non comedogenic’ products & get help from a dermatologist if things keep worsening rapidly.

Never miss the sunscreen. Like I always say, apply it daily, every 2-3 hours, even indoors.

·         Can I use scrub on sensitive skin?

èYou can but not everything suits everyone. But these days scrubs for sensitive skin are available in the market. You can also go DIY if you like it. You can use pH neutral milder substances to make one.

Rhassoul clay is a good choice for sensitive skin. It won’t irritate or make your skin overly dry like bentonite or multani which rather suit oily skin types well. You can take rhassoul as a base & add crushed rose petals or roughly crushed mint leaves or cucumber juice. Keep it on for 20 minutes or so & then wash off & follow with a moisturizer that suits your skin.

Alternatively crushed strawberry, sandalwood powder can make another great DIY scrub/brightening face pack.

You can also add essential oils in it but please be aware that essential oils are not to be used directly on your skin, no matter what type of skin you have or you may risk burning. Always add a few drops of essential oil to a carrier oil before application.

Also if you have sensitive skin, then everything that suits others may not suit you. I believe rose, lavender, sandalwood (its indeed heavy, so use fewer drops) can be safely used if you mix them well with a carrier oil like Argan oil, Evening Primrose Oil, Safflower Oil, Watermelon Seed Oil, Moringa Oil etc. but patch test is highly recommended before even you try using it.

So this is what all I knew from experience. You can share more information if you want to in the comments section below & I’d highly appreciate it if you do so.

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Love,

Koyel M.