We know how important it is to wash our face properly and its role in our skin health. But cleansing sensitive skin can be tricky because we need gentle yet effective products. Today, I’m going to give you a guide on choosing the best cleanser for your sensitive skin and how to establish a good routine.
Cleansing routine
Ideally, everyone should have three cleansers, one for the morning and two for the evening. But, if that seems excessive to you, two should be fine.
I say three cleansers because I think we should have one gentle cream or milk cleanser for the morning that will gently remove the remains of night skincare but won’t strip the skin.
Then, we should have two cleansers for the evening so we can do our double cleansing routine. One cleanser should be an oil or a balm that will melt the makeup and dirt. The other cleanser should be a gel or a foam that will be a bit stronger to remove the first cleanser and all the melted makeup.
To read more about the double cleansing method, click here.
If you only want two products, you can use the second cleanser from the evening routine as your morning cleanse.
Ingredients to look out for
When we think about sensitive skin, we know we need some calming and soothing ingredients to reduce the redness. Face wash is a product that stays on the face for about 30 seconds, but it can still do some good on the skin. When cleansing sensitive skin, focus on choosing nourishing and gentle ingredients that will clean your skin but not strip it.
The best ingredients in a face wash for sensitive skin are:
- Ceramides
- Niacinamide
- Glycerine
- Aloe vera
- Oatmeal
- Hyaluronic acid
- Jojoba oil
- Panthenol
- Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate
- Cocamidopropyl Betaine
- Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate
Nourishing ingredients
This list consists of some of the most used nourishing ingredients in skincare. There are plenty more ingredients with similar properties, and I probably didn’t include some of the bigger ones either. I just wanted to showcase some of them. So you know what to look out for when looking for gentle cleansers. Not every face wash will have all these ingredients. They will probably have only one or two. But you will know that if you see these ingredients in the ingredient list, the product is probably less harsh and can be soothing on your skin.
Ceramides
Ceramides are fat molecules found in the top layer of the skin. They make up about 30%to 40% of our epidermis and are essential for retaining the moisture in the skin and protecting it from harmful germs. Using a cleanser with ceramides can help prevent dehydrating the skin while simultaneously cleansing the skin effectively.
Niacinamide
Niacinamide is a vitamin B3. It has anti-blemish, anti-wrinkle, and skin-calming properties. It can also have moisture-locking properties and can prevent water loss from the skin. In a cleanser, niacinamide can make it soothing and reduce the drying effect cleansers have on the skin. Niacinamide also has sebum-balancing properties making it a fantastic ingredient for those with acne.
I have an in-depth guide to niacinamide here.
Glycerine
Glycerine is a humectant that attracts moisture from the air to the skin. It can penetrate deep into the skin, so it can deeply hydrate the skin. Glycerin is often put in skincare products to protect the skin from harsher ingredients. In cleansers, it can protect from harsh soaps that can be drying to the skin.
Aloe vera
We all know how fantastic aloe vera is for the skin. It has many benefits, from repairing the skin to soothing and hydrating. Similarly, aloe vera in our skincare products can soothe and hydrate. So, if you see aloe vera in the ingredient list of your cleanser, know that it might have a gentle, soothing effect.
Oatmeal
Oatmeal is another ingredient that is well known for having soothing and anti-inflammatory properties. Because of those properties, it can reduce redness and help with acne and dry skin.
Hyaluronic acid
Hyaluronic acid is a star ingredient in every product. Similar to glycerine, hyaluronic acid is also a humectant. It rejuvenates, hydrates and promotes healthy skin. If hyaluronic acid is in your cleanser, the cleanser will be hydrating but still effective at cleansing your skin.
I have an in-depth guide to hyaluronic acid here.
Jojoba oil
Jojoba oil is probably the best oil for cleansing the skin as its chemical composition is the closest to that of the sebum in our skin. That means it can melt our sebum and all the dirt that comes with it. It is also a humectant making it a great ingredient to add to cleansers for some moisturising properties.
Panthenol
Panthenol is a vitamin B5. It has a moisturising, soothing and anti-irritating effect. Panthenol is mostly in creams, but sometimes you can find it in cleansers as well. Panthenol is also a humectant, as it can bind to water. That means that it has fantastic hydrating properties.
Cleansing agents
Similar to my statement about nourishing ingredients, this is only a short list of mild cleansing agents. I’m sure others can be more or less mild, but these are what I found to be the most used surfactants in gentle cleansers. Sometimes they are mixed with a bit harsher surfactants, and sometimes they are not. That’s why you need to look at the ingredient list to understand what you are putting on your face.
Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate
Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate is a mild surfactant with low irritation and high foamability. It is derived from fatty acids in coconut oil, and because it has a mild effect, it is mostly in baby products, but we can find it in products for sensitive skin as well.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
This ingredient is also derived from fatty acids in coconuts. It became famous for being used in ‘no more tears’ shampoos which shows its mild effect. Today, we can find it in many products such as soaps, shampoos, makeup removers, toothpaste and many others.
Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate
Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate is used as a gentle cleanser suitable for sensitive skin. It has vast foaming abilities while still being mild. That makes it a fantastic ingredient for cleansers for sensitive skin.
Sodium Lauroamphoacetate
Sodium Lauroamphoacetate is another surfactant with mild properties. It is also derived from coconut. Mostly, it’s in products for sensitive skin as it has very gentle yet effective cleansing abilities.
Ingredients to Avoid
Once again, the main goal in caring for sensitive skin is to avoid harsh ingredients that can further irritate already sensitive skin.
Those ingredients are:
- Alcohol Denat
- Fragrance/parfum
- Most essential oils
- Sodium Lauryl Sulphate
- Physical exfoliants
- Some acids (salicylic, glycolic, citric)
Alcohol Denat
The most common role alcohol has as a solvent for other ingredients. It allows other ingredients in the product to be mixed. It is also a preservative. Alcohol Denat can be drying and irritating on our skin. It can cause premature ageing of the skin and can also weaken the barrier of the skin.
Fragrance/parfum
Similarly to alcohol, perfumes in skin care can also aggravate the skin, making it red and irritated. They are synthetic, lab-made perfumes added to products to mask the smell of other ingredients or to make them smell nice. Not everyone will react to fragrances, but if you have sensitive skin, it’s best to avoid them.
Essential oils
Essential oils get added to skincare as a natural fragrance. Most people think that because they are natural, they must be good. But you can still react to natural fragrances. Some essential oils, like lavender, have naturally calming properties, but most of them can be irritating. So always look at exactly which essential oils are in the product and keep track of how they react with your skin.
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate is a surfactant. Also, it is a foaming agent used most often in many products meant for washing, such as shampoos, body washes and face washes. It is generally safe, as long as it is not on the skin for a long time, but that isn’t happening as they are usually rinse-off products. But people with sensitive skin should avoid it as it can be irritating.
Physical exfoliants
By physical exfoliants, we mean any beads, fruit pits or husks in exfoliating products such as face scrubs. They are added to remove dead skin cells from the skin’s surface, but those particles cause micro-tears, damaging and irritating it. That includes face brushes and exfoliating gloves as well. There are so many chemical or enzymatic exfoliants on the market that there really isn’t any need for physical ones.
Acids
The purpose of acids in skincare is to exfoliate the skin, and they are to be used instead of those face scrubs and brushes. That being said, there are many different acids, and not everyone is suitable for sensitive skin. Particularly, salicylic, glycolic and citric acids should be avoided, as they can be too harsh for sensitive skin. The best acids for this type of skin would be from the PHAs group.
Conclusion
It would be impossible to list every single ingredient that is or is not suitable for sensitive skin, but I tried to list as many as possible. Not every ingredient listed under safe will agree with your skin and provide benefits. That is okay because every skin is different. Similarly, not every ingredient listed to avoid will irritate your skin either. This list is just a rule of thumb. But it’s on you to understand what you’re using on your skin. And to see how those ingredients and products react with your skin.
I follow this list when buying products for my skin and it works well for me. I use some of the ingredients from the list to avoid them, but I try not to have them in every product. So if I’m using SPF that has alcohol denat in the ingredients and it is the only product with that ingredient, that is fine with me.
Also, if I use some product with one of those ingredients, I’m trying to find a product where that ingredient is listed lower on the list, as that means there is less of it. Similarly, if there is a ‘good’ ingredient such as glycerin, I look for a product with glycerine higher in the ingredient list.
I hope this post makes sense to you and helps you navigate the world of skincare and find products that will suit your skin.
