Make friends with natural ingredients that won’t irritate your skin
Posted on June 3, 2023 Written by: 100% PURE®
When you have sensitive skin, the struggle is real – your skin throws temper tantrums over just about anything. It’s frustrating trying to cope with skin that behaves like a toddler, and confusing as to why your skin was triggered in the first place.
While there are a variety of factors that can cause irritation, there’s an equal amount of solutions to nip the testy behavior of sensitive skin in the bud.
Help is here – and just like Supernanny, we’re going to get to the bottom of what’s causing your woes. We’re shining a spotlight on causes of sensitive skin, sensitized skin, and the best suited natural ingredients and products.
It’s time to gain back control of your skin – and leave harsh, irritating ingredients in the naughty chair.
If you’re a seasoned sensitive skin veteran, you may be answering that question with: what doesn’t cause sensitive skin? That might be a fair assessment, as there are common culprits that can trigger a reaction.
Sensitive skin reacts when nerve endings in the top layer of skin become irritated. This occurs because your skin’s natural barrier is weakened or broken down, due to a trigger or underlying condition.
Common causes of sensitive skin can include:
Skin care products
Your senses may be saying yes to that exfoliating cocoa bean cleanser that takes you to tropical paradise, but your skin could be saying no. Taking that vacay is fine with jojoba or aloe in tote, but avoid skin care products with harsh chemical surfactants, detergents, dyes, and fragrances that can inflame or sensitize your skin.
What’s the difference between sensitized and sensitive skin, you ask? Sensitized skin has been made sensitive by an outside source, as opposed to truly sensitive skin that can be a hereditary disposition.
Environmental factors
Stepping outside can seem like a minefield with sensitive skin. Varying elements such as heat, cold, and wind can aggravate your skin. Before you sign up to live in a bubble, avoid excessive exposure to these elements and wear SPF on a daily basis.
Underlying conditions
A heightened skin sensitivity could be due to conditions such as eczema, contact dermatitis, or psoriasis. If you’re having consistent symptoms or discomfort, you should definitely consult a dermatologist for a proper diagnosis.
As for home remedies and best ingredient practices, we have some tips below to help calm angry skin!
Less is more for those with sensitive skin; look for simple product labels with ingredients you can understand without a secret decoder. Sure, you’ll need to choose your skin care products wisely. But with these few natural ingredients, you’ll be well on your way to calmer, happier skin.
Here are the best ingredients and products for sensitive skin:
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Aloe
For those with increased sensitivity from weather or age-related thinning of skin, aloe is a humectant superstar with a natural balance of minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, and vitamins. Aloe can calm itchy or inflamed skin thanks to its natural hormones that contain anti-inflammatory properties.
If your skin frequently reacts to different cleansers, try a natural creamy cleanser with argan oil and aloe juice. Our Argan Oil Creamy Cleanser is perfect for moisturizing while gently cleansing dry or sensitive skin. For sensitive skin on your body, our Argan Oil can be great for deeply moisturizing, plus you can use it on your scalp and hair!
Rose
Rose is known for its beauty and intoxicating fragrance, but it’s also a formidable opponent against irritation – and therefore, a friend to sensitive skin.
As a truly multitasking ingredient, rose water’s antioxidant-rich content is gentle enough for sensitive skin while still boasting powerful soothing and revitalizing benefits. Rose water has moisture-retaining and anti-inflammatory properties that can help to ease dry, irritated or reddened skin.
If you have sensitive skin and prefer a lightweight moisturizer, our Hydra Drench Cream is a great option. With a base of nutritious chia seed gel, this daily face cream is able to penetrate the lipid barrier to provide extra hydration to sensitive skin.
Calendula
Poor calendula: an undercover skin healer that’s commonly mistaken for a noxious weed. Lucky for you, this flowering beauty carries nutritional and medicinal benefits unlike those other yard imposters.
In skin care, calendula is especially beneficial for sensitive skin thanks to anti-inflammatory properties. This means calendula can help fight redness and irritation common in dermatitis and eczema, and speed up the skin’s natural recovery process.
Our gentle Calendula Flower Cleansing Milk is specially formulated to remove dirt, sunblock, and other unwanted particles from your skin, leaving it silky smooth. Our Calendula face wash combines the moisturizing power of sea buckthorn oil, the hydrating properties of rose hydrosol, and the calming effects of chamomile to provide deep nourishment and softness to even the driest and most sensitive skin types.
Chamomile
The word “chamomile” recalls soothing cups of chamomile tea, often taken to encourage restful sleep. It’s also synonymous with calmness and well-being, making it a no-brainer for an ingredient that can bring some Zen to sensitive skin.
But chamomile has much more to offer – especially to those with sensitive skin! This ancient herb naturally detoxes your skin, fighting environmental pollutants that can frequently exasperate sensitivity. Chamomile also has anti-inflammatory properties that ease redness, itching, and swelling.
If your sensitive skin is in need of an extra sip of hydration, our Deep Hydration Sheet Mask will do just the trick. Featuring calming chamomile and soothing aloe, this mask pairs well with your evening cup of tea.
Oatmeal
Oatmeal is one of the most famous ingredients for sensitive skin – but not the one in your pantry, please. It's colloidal oatmeal we love for skin soothing benefits, and when mixed with water or oil, it’s an instant game changer for sensitive skin!
Rich in proteins and lipids, oatmeal has potent emollient properties, making it a great moisturizer. These lovely oats also contain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that help treat itching associated with sensitive skin. Try a triple dose of calming oatmeal, redness-busting matcha, and defensive antioxidants in our Matcha Oat Milk Nourishing Mask.
Jojoba oil
Supernanny may pronounce it as “jo-jo” ba, or Santa as “ho-ho” ba, but jojoba pronounced [hoh-hoh-buh] is a sensitive skin superstar in its own right. This golden beauty elixir has impressive moisturizing benefits! Jojoba oil absorbs easily because it’s very compatible with the skin, reminiscent of the waxy texture of human sebum.
With these properties, jojoba oil can deeply penetrate the top layer of our skin for maximum nourishment. Since it’s naturally antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, it works well with sensitive skin and can calm other conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Use it for your hair and scalp too!
Raise your hand if you’ve ever run home and immediately put a new skin care product on your face. Did you then wind up with some funky skin reaction, and wished you hadn’t done that with said product? Now put your hands up – no judgment, ours are up too!
No matter your skin type, you should always refrain from slathering anything on before determining if it will play nice with your skin. This is especially true for those with sensitive skin!
When trying out a new product, select a small, discreet patch of skin – like behind your ear or even on the inside of your elbow. After waiting 24 hours, look for signs of redness or irritation. If you see angry skin, say buh-bye to that newbie! If not, welcome it to your new family!.
We understand that shopping for skin care products can be scary if you suffer from sensitive skin – like trying to wrestle a toddler to bed before midnight. That’s why we not only use natural, gentle ingredients, but those proven to work well with skin that can be tricky to calm.
With these ingredients, patch testing, and a little behavior modification, you’ll be on your way to well-behaved skin! For more on what’s great for sensitive skin, be sure to check out our full collection of sensitive skin products!
- Tags: Ingredients, June-2023, Skin Care, skincare
We carefully hand-select products based on strict purity standards, and only recommend products we feel meet this criteria. 100% PURE™ may earn a small commission for products purchased through affiliate links.
The information in this article is for educational use, and not intended to substitute professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should not be used as such.
