Which best sensitive skin wash, shampoo, soap, cleanser, exfoliator or conditioner should you go for? Which ingredients should you avoid and which ones will be ok? What about top brands?
As you choose on the best different skincare products for this skin type including soaps, shampoos, facce washes, cleansers, toners or even creams, lotions, moisturizer, sunscreens, shaving razors, shaving creams, etc. You need to ensure they meet some basic criteria if they are to protect your skin that might be very sensitive i.e. they should:
Choose cleansers carefully
- Bring back the natural protective barrier, make it stronger or protect this barrier
- Easy any inflammations you might be having as well as soothe your fragile nerve endings
- Ensure it is adequately moisturized as dryness can cause sensitive skins.
- They should not have any allergens, preservatives, fragrances or any other ingredient that might irritate it.
Now to be specific, when choosing the best washes, shampoos, soaps, and tones, you need to ensure these products are able to purify your skin i.e. remove all impurities for it to start afresh.
Ingredients or chemicals to avoid
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It is important to ensure you check for ingredients such as sodium lauryl sulfate that is common in most shampoos, body washes, facial cleansers, and soaps. This powerful emulsifier is likely to irritate your skin.
Furthermore, some soaps and cleansing agents might have bacterial agents that cause drying such as triclosan and tetrasodium EDTA. Using products with these ingredients will only make it dry further.
These are not the only chemicals or ingredients you should check out. Ensure you also check out for the presence of other allergens that can cause reactions, dryness, irritation or redness.
Cleansers – bar soap, soap-free, gels and body washes
If you have a skin that is sensitive, using the ordinary household soaps and cleanser could damage it and cause dryness. Stop using any of the soaps with fragrances, those with alcohol or antibacterial fighting elements. These soaps should be free of some preservatives such as parabens, Quaternium-15, imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Phenoxyethanol, and formaldehyde
All the above ingredients will strip the essential oils on your skin that form a protective layer leaving it more vulnerable.
Go for soaps that have less alkali content as they have been found to cause fewer irritations. It is highly recommended you go for soap-free and non-alkaline cleansers. Generally, the liquid cleansers, as well as some moisturizing bars, are often considered as the best or least irritating. Furthermore, if you can get a preservative-free soap, it will be a good idea.
Best bar soaps to buy
The specific soaps you decide to use are very important if you have a sensitive type of skin. Just like the other skincare products, you need to ensure they are free from any synthetic fragrances, preservative, detergent soaps, color additives, preservatives, or any other artificial additive that might affect it.
Some of the most recommended and best soaps include:
- Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar
- Dove – Bar Soap Purpose Bar Soap
- Dove Bar Soap – Unscented
- Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Body Bar Soap
- Dudu Osun Black Soap
- Nubian Heritage Bar Soap
- Aveeno Moisturizing Bar Soap
- Zest Aqua-Pure
- Pear’s Natural Glycerin Transparent Soap
- Camay
- Basis Bar Soap
- Simple Pure Soap Bar
When choosing a soap, it is advisable to go to bar soaps and not liquid soaps since liquid soaps have a tendency of leaving a thin film that might clog pores or worsen breakouts
Best body washes and shower gels brands
If you prefer body washes or shower gels, you need to ensure they too do not have any of the mentioned ingredients and they are scent free (fragrances), alcohol, dyes, antibacterial agents, shea and cocoa butter (clog pores thus result in acne) or any other ingredient that might irritate it.
If you do not know what they are, shower gels and body washes are simply liquids and gels you can use to wash your whole body. Some of the best body washes you should consider buying include the following:
- AVEENO® Skin Relief Body Wash
- Dove Body Wash with NutriumMoisture
- Dove – Nourishing Body Wash
- Tom’s of Maine Natural Moisturizing Body Wash
- Jason Natural Cosmetics Fragrance-Free Satin Shower Body Wash
- Organic Body Wash & shower gel – Mom, Baby
- Sanex Zero – Shower Gel
- Nivea Sanex Zero- Shower Gel
- Sanex Zero Sensitive type of Skin Shower Gel
- Bath & Shower Gel
These are not the only best body washes for sensitive skin. You will find many others in the market. Try to go for clear and colorless ones if possible.
Best facial cleansers
To specifically cleanse your face, consider using some of the below best facial cleansers for sensitive skin.
- Jason Fragrance-Free Facial Cleanser
- Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes
- Burt’s Bees Sensitive Facial Cleanser
- Olay – Foaming Face Wash
- L’Oreal Go 360 Clean Deep Facial Cleanser
These are not the only best brands, there are many other products in the market which will give you excellent results.
Other cleanser top brands
For cleansing your body, some of the other best cleansers you should consider trying including the following:
- VMV Hypoallergenics Mild-Mannered Cleansing Scrub, $20.
- La Roche-Posay Physiological Micellar Solution.
- Clinique redness solutions cleanser and moisturizer
- Eucerin Redness Relief Soothing Cleanser
- Moisturel Sensitive type of Skin Cleanser
- La Roche-Posay Toleriane Dermo-Cleanser
- Dr. Hauschka Cleansing Cream
- Cetaphil Cleanser
- Free & Clear Liquid Cleanser,
- Aveda All-Sensitive™ Cleanser
- Clean & Clear ® Foaming Facial Cleanser
- SkinMedica Cleanser
Shampoo
When you have a skin that is sensitive, you should choose all your products with care. Many people often go for moisturizers, lotions or creams that are suited for such a skin type but they forget their hair care product. This is why they end up irritating their scalps.
You should, therefore, ensure that all your hair care products including shampoos are suitable. We have already discussed razor and shaving tips in another post.
When choosing the best shampoos for this skin type, avoid some ingredients such as sodium lauryl sulfate, petroleum and propylene glycol and sodium laureth sulfate, as they are likely to affect it that is sensitive. You should also look at any other irritants and allergen in shampoos including preservatives as they too can cause reactions.
Instead, the best shampoos for sensitive skin should be based on lemon, zinc pyrithione, selenium sulfide, tea tree oil, apple cider vinegar, jojoba oil etc to avoid having an itchy and sensitive scalp.
Som of the shampoo brands you should give a try include the following:
- Free & Clear Shampoo
- Cleaure Shampoo
- ABBA Pure Gentle Soothing Shampoo for Sensitive Skin and Scalp
- California Baby Super Sensitive Shampoo and Bodywash No Fragrance
- Herbal Glo Sensitive Hair and Scalp Shampoo
- L’Occitane Anti-dandruff Shampoo for Sensitive Scalp
- Kerastase Dermo-Calm Moisturizing Shampoo
- L’Occitane Aromachologie Anti-Dandruff Shampoo
- Finesse Clean and Simple Hypoallergenic Shampoo
- Wella Biotouch Balanced Sensitive Scalp Shampoo
Even though the above best shampoos work for many people, you still need to test for any reaction before trying them. It is worthwhile noting that when choosing the best brand, you need to consider your hair type too.
Best hair conditioner
To help protect your scalp, get a good hair conditioner. Of course, as a rule, you need to look at ingredients present and ensure they will not irritate it. Some of the best hair conditioners for sensitive skin you should go for include the following:
- Free & Clear Hair Conditioner
- Cleure
- Rhythmic Conditioner
- Giovanni Smooth As Silk Conditioner
If you want a sensitive type skin conditioner, consider going for brands such as Albion Essential and Nivea In-Shower Moisturiser Skin Conditioner.
Best skin toners
To help cleanse your skin and shrink the pores, you need a good toner that suits your sensitive type of a skin. Just like any other care products, ingredients contained should be tolerated. Some of the best sensitive skin conditioners you should go for include:
- CLEAN & CLEAR® ESSENTIALS Deep Cleaning Toner
- Avene Gentle Toner, For Dry and Very Sensitive Skin
- Clean and Clear Essentials Deep Cleaning Toner f
- Rose Gentle Toner
- Aloette
- Soothing Facial Toner by Simple
- Facial Toner
- Organic Soothe Toner for
- Olay Oil Minimizing Toner
Best exfoliators for sensitive skins
Having a sensitive skin does not mean you do not need to exfoliate it. You need to get rid of the old dead skin on your outermost layer on your both face and body. Exfoliation is very important, as it will help make your skin cells younger, reveals fresher and younger cells etc.
If you are looking for the best exfoliators to use, it is generally advisable to for enzyme exfoliator type instead of chemical or scrubs. Enzymes will slowly dissolve away the dead skin without affecting it.
Now, going to the best brands of exfoliators for sensitive skins, some of the most recommended products and brands include the following:
- Jurlique Fruit Enzyme Exfoliator
- Clinique – Sparkle Skin Body Exfoliator
- Alba Botanica Sea Enzyme Facial Scrub
- Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel
- Clean & Clear Morning Burst Facial Scrub
You can also try some homemade exfoliators, which many people have found to work effectively. Some of the natural or homemade exfoliators you should try using include the following:
- Oatmeal-Honey Exfoliator For Face (For Face, Neck, Chest)
- Aloe Vera-Sugar Exfoliator For Face
- Wheat Germ-Honey Exfoliator For Face
- Red Grapes And Aloe Vera Exfoliator For Face
- Yogurt-Honey Exfoliator For Face
Ensure you are gentle when exfoliating to avoid depleting the protective layer on your outermost skin part, stop using any exfoliator that causes irritation, exfoliate at least once in a week and always ensure you moisturize your skin adequately after exfoliation.
Showering tips
When taking a shower, here are some important tips that will ensure minimum reaction:
- When taking a shower, you need to avoid too hot or cold showers. People normally shower with lukewarm water.
- Gently dry your skin by patting it. Avoid the vigorous back and forth movements
- Get a good moisturizer and apply it
We did not go into the trouble of taking you through the steps for caring for your sensitive skin, which include things such as cleansing, exfoliating, hydrating, treating, toning, etc since we have covered a different post