Almost everyone suffering from acne knows what it’s like to have sensitive skin. You get to know about the sensitivity of your skin after a bad reaction to a cosmetic product, like soap, moisturizer, or makeup.
What is sensitive skin?
Sensitive skin occurs in people due to genetic differences in their normal protective skin barrier or skin irritation that is so severe that it becomes inflamed and red.
Due to skin inflammation, the immune system starts overreacting to an irritant or allergen that the skin has been exposed to.
What are the symptoms of sensitive skin?
Sensitive skin has symptoms like –
- Red, swollen and itchy skin
- Redness in the skin with or without swelling
- Stinging or burning feeling on the skin
- Rashes
- Cracked, blistered, or bleeding skin
- Skin starts feeling dry, hard, and leathery
What are the types of sensitive skin?
Just like there are varying levels of oiliness, dryness, and acne, there are many levels of sensitivity on the skin. For instance, in some people, we can pinpoint a component or an environmental trigger like sweat or hot water for causing sensitivity while for some people generic products like face cleansers and other skincare products can cause redness and inflammation.
There are mainly three types of sensitive skin –
- Naturally sensitive– This skin is related to inflammatory skin diseases such as eczema, rosacea, etc.
- Environmentally sensitive– This is caused by the environment surrounding you. For example, skin that is not hydrated enough can become irritated as soon as it comes in contact with the sun, cigarette smoke, air pollution, etc.
- Thin skin– With age, the skin becomes thinner and becomes more prone to skin irritation and for this, you may need a good face wash.
How to treat sensitive skin?
A face cleanser for sensitive skin is the first step in every skincare regime. A face cleanser is not only helpful in removing dirt, dead skin cells, and other unwanted face debris but also primes your skin for your skincare routine and treats your skin according to its needs.
What Are the Benefits of Using a Face Cleanser?
Using a cleanser that matches your needs and requirements helps in the overall improvement of your skin and its health. Incorporating a face cleanser into your daily life will provide you with the following benefits –
- Removes Impurities and Purifies Face
As mentioned above, after a long day of spending time outside, your skin gets exposed to dirt, oil, sweat, pollutants, bacteria, viruses, and other things.
To remove it, you need to clean your face but water is not enough. A face cleanser removes all this dirt, oil, and makeup residue on your skin before you continue with your skincare. Clean skin can absorb the products that you will use in a better way.
- Boosting Hydration
Regular cleansing of the face along with using a good moisturizer will provide your skin with the appropriate amount of moisture and help it in maintaining its hydration level. Dehydrated skin becomes dull, wrinkly, rough, and looks aged.
Cleansing it with a gentle face wash will help in managing the pH levels along with proper water and product retention. This makes skin soft, elastic, shinier, and healthier.
- Creating a Barrier
By using a face cleanser, you can avoid many skin problems. It creates a barrier against harmful pollutants and protects your skin from any type of damage. Everyone must use a face cleanser at least twice a day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
- Helps in Maintaining Clear Skin
There are tiny glands present on our face skin that produce oil called sebum. This oil protects our skin from the dangers of the outside world and helps in keeping skin moisturized and shiny. A shortage of production of oil by these glands leads to dry skin.
These glands use hair follicles to supply the oil to the skin surface which helps in the prevention of penetration of bacteria and other harmful agents directly into the skin.
Excessive build-up of dirt, oil, or any other thing on the skin can block these glands trapping the sebum, sweat, and dead skin cells. The lack of sebum on the skin surface will allow the bacteria to penetrate below the skin causing inflammation.
- Separates Dead Skin Cells From Skin
Dead skin can create blemishes and patches on your face. Using a gentle face wash daily to wash your face can help a lot in removing these dead skin cells and evening out your skin.
People who have sensitive skin need to select a face wash wisely and use it correctly.
Certain steps must be followed to apply face cleanser for sensitive skin –
- The first and foremost thing that you need to keep in mind if you have sensitive skin is to not use a face cleanser that contains alcohol in it. Alcohol can cause inflammation, redness, swelling, etc on sensitive skin. So, people with sensitive skin must use a gentle and non-abrasive cleanser with almost no alcohol content.
- wet your face with lukewarm water and take a pinch of the face cleanser on your fingertips. Rub the product between your palms. Avoid using washcloths, mesh sponges, or anything other than your fingers that may be harsh on your skin. This will irritate your skin.
- Do not scrub your face because scrubbing can cause irritation and redden your face.
- Rinse the face wash with lukewarm water and dry it with a towel. Do not scratch your face with a towel, instead pat it dry.
- After washing and drying your face, apply a moisturizer. This will hydrate your skin. but be gentle while applying any cream near your eyes as the skin around them is delicate and soft.
- Though washing your face is very important, washing it more than twice a day can cause your skin to become dull. Wash your face twice a day – once in the morning and once at night. Other than this, wash your face only when you sweat heavily.
Wrapping Up
The skincare world is vast and if you have sensitive skin then you need to take steps very carefully. You cannot experiment too much with your skin.
