What is Sensitive Skin?

Sensitive skin is a common skin issue. Signs come from the breakdown of your skin barrier. Some indications of sensitive skin include: redness, peeling, rough spots, or swelling. Sensitive skin can be reactive to allergens, detergents, preservatives, chemical irritants, sun, stress, products, heating, air conditioning, or hormone fluctuations. Therefore, the skin can feel itchy, burning, tingling, or stinging. This condition can be treated and can also come and go.

Signs

Sensitive skin can mean different things for different people. Many find themselves with this skin condition at different times and symptoms can vary from person to person.

• Redness
• Dryness
• Peeling
• Rough Spots
• Swelling or puffy

Formulating Cosmetics for Sensitive Skin

Ingredients are key. When formulating products for reactive-prone skin, it is important to keep the ingredients limited. Fragrance, including essential oils can upset the most sensitive skin and may want to be left out of the formulation. Cleansers should be mild and careful to not strip the skin of it’s natural oils to leave it feeling tight or dry. Preservatives should be chosen carefully.

Create pH skin friendly products. The ideal pH for this skin is 5.0 – 5.5. This is the natural pH of the skin. Bar soap can have a high pH of 9.5 and can be harsh. Therefore, pH is a factor when it comes to protecting the skin barrier.

Add lipids/oils! Choose a higher concentration of plant oils, as this will help to restore the skin barrier. These lipids will help protect the skin from losing more trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL). This moisture retention and barrier protection will produce less skin irritations.

Learn how to restore your skin barrier in our post here.

Use the right surfactants. Some surfactants will be more mild and less harsh. These surfactants usually produce less foam. You may select a cream formula for a cleanser. Check for balanced emulsions.

Learn More

These are some of the formulas taught in our Diploma Pro Natural Skin Care Formulation Course that can be beneficial for sensitive skin and and restoring the skin barrier.

Pro Skin Course Formulas: Calm Skin Moisturizer, Beautifying Oil Serum, Simple Cream Cleanser, Glowing Skin Balm, Coconut Cream Body Wash, Organic Beauty Balm, and more!