If you have super Sensitive Skin, easily irritated skins then you know how hard it can be to deal with. It seems like everything in your life can cause a flare-up. If it’s extremely sunny, you burn easily. If it’s ice-cold and snowing, your skin gets dry, flaky, and irritated. You just can’t seem to win.
On top of that, it can seem downright impossible to find a face cream that doesn’t make the situation worse. It’s hard to find a face cream that can both hydrate your skin and soothe redness and flakiness without causing breakouts or vice versa. You might feel like you just have to settle for “close enough.”
But you don’t have to settle. You can get a cream that’s just like butter for sensitive skin. All it takes is a little knowledge and a little looking.
Best Ingredients for Sensitive Skin
First, let’s talk about which ingredients are the best ones for sensitive skin that easily seems to get irritated. There are a few good, calming ingredients that you really want to look for in whatever cream you may end up getting.
Ceramides
Ceramides are long-chain fatty acids that are actually already found in your skin. Over time you lose them, but adding them back to your skincare with a cream can work wonders.
Ceramides work by locking in moisture and forming a protective barrier on your skin. This keeps the good stuff in and the bad stuff out, and ceramides can actually protect your skin from environmental factors that frequently cause irritation. Pollutants and free radicals can do serious damage to your skin, resulting in even more sensitivity.
Aloe
You’ve probably heard of aloe in things like sunburn treatments or after-sun gels. This is because it has soothing, cooling, and calming vitamins. It has natural anti-inflammatory properties that save you from itchy skin.
Aloe is a natural ingredient derived from the aloe plant that contains a cocktail of minerals, antioxidants, and enzymes that work together to chill out even the most sensitive skin.
Chamomile
When you think of chamomile, you probably think of a nice, relaxing tea. The effect it has on the skin is pretty similar.
In addition to some incredible soothing, calming properties, chamomile actually also can gently detoxify and calm redness or swelling. This makes chamomile something you should definitely look for in your skincare.
Squalane
You may have heard about this ingredient in the past year, as it is fairly new to the mainstream skincare scene. Squalane is another lipid naturally produced by our own skin, but like ceramides, unfortunately, our skin decreases the production of it after 30.
Originally derived from ingredients found in shark liver (eek), squalane used in today’s skincare products are extracted from olives or rice bran. Squalane has natural emollient properties, meaning it softens and soothes your sensitive skin. It can be even more helpful to people struggling with specific skin conditions like acne, eczema, or psoriasis.
Shea Butter
If your skin is sensitive due to allergies to chemicals in other skincare products, you’re going to love this. Unlike many other tree nut products, shea butter has not shown any allergic reactions to those with such allergies. Plus, it’s non-comedogenic, so it won’t clog your pores while adding some natural moisture.
What These Things Have in Common?
What all of these ingredients have in common is one thing: they’re all naturally derived from plants and organic material. When you have sensitive skin, it can easily become irritated and inflamed by traditional, cheap skincare ingredients. If you go with a cream that’s mostly made of natural plant-derived ingredients, it’s sure to soothe even the most sensitive skin.
