5 Sensitive Skin No-no Ingredients

The no-no natural ingredients and products for sensitive skin.

If you struggle with sensitive skin, chances are you’ve tried all kinds of natural products, some which may have worked well, and some which may have not worked so well to say the least. If that’s the case, chances again are that you have been left with some questions that might sound a bit like these.

-“What’s wrong with that essential oil? I thought it was natural, but my skin reacted to it.”

-“This body wash is 99.9% natural according to the bottle. I guess it would probably do the trick..?”

-“I know for a fact that this is a good natural facial cleanser. Why is my skin reacting to it?”

Before I just lay out five ingredients/products that you should look out for, (or not use) I need you to understand a few things. I am not here to bash other people’s products, or tell you that you must never use any of the things I’m going to list. You need to learn to know your own skin, and  do your own research to know what to use and do to help your skin thrive the most it can. I want you to be able to have a balanced view of health, to be able to assess for yourself what is good for you, and what is not. The products I will list are simply for you to be aware of if you are dealing with sensitive skin, because as you already know if you are one of those, that sensitive skin does not tolerate everything, even some completely natural products.

#1. Natural fragrances

If your skin is only mildly sensitized, this one shouldn’t affect you, as long as the product that contains the natural fragrance is mild enough, and not made with harsh actives (more on that later). If you have very sensitive skin though, I would highly recommend avoiding all products with natural fragrances. (Yes, there is a difference between sensitive and sensitized skin.) I’ve dug into the science of how these natural fragrances are made, and it’s actually quite fascinating to say the least. You can read more about that here. The hitch with natural fragrances is that sometimes when a lab is creating a natural fragrance, if they are missing a scent compound or there is not enough of a certain scent compound, they will create a synthetic replacement for that compound, and that is where it can loose it’s “naturalness”, and potentially be harmful for the skin.

#2. Essential oils

“Oh, but essential oils are good for you, aren't they?” Well, yes. Technically they are. The problem we are faced with though (that we’ve already discovered) is that sensitive skin does not tolerate a lot of things, even good products. A few essential oils to look out for are lavender, peppermint, tea tree, and citrus oils. The first three oils listed are all oils that we use in different ones of our products, so I would suggest if you have sensitive skin, when you are selecting our products that you select our sensitive skincare products, which are completely fragrance and essential oil free. I personally have mildly sensitized skin and also struggle with acne, and I find that for my skin the sensitive facial cleanser actually works better than the bacteria buster (which is technically our acne cleanser) in keeping my skin from irritation, and preventing breakouts. (Psst, I’ve also been learning to love using our sensitive soap as a secondary facial cleanser.)

#3. Conventional soaps, body washes, hand washes, etc.

Again, back to my thing about not bashing other brands, I’m not going to, but I want you to be aware of something when you purchase body washes, liquid hand soaps, etc, that you pick up at the grocery store in town - even if they say 99.9% natural. Generally speaking, these will strip your skin of its natural oils which is something you typically cannot afford to loose any of, if you deal with sensitive skin. Whether or not the products that come from the grocery store are "natural enough" for you to use on your skin is up to you, but you should know that most of these products will not be putting moisture back into your skin.

Don’t get me wrong though, purchasing completely natural skincare is not always within the budget, so if you purchase body wash or hand soap from your local grocery store that says it’s 99.9% natural, it’s still an upgrade from a completely synthetic product. And to be fair, even though our family makes these products, and has them right at our fingertips, we still end up with some Superstore body wash, and liquid hand soap floating around the house sometimes.

#4. Strong actives

What are actives? The definition I found says it like this. “Active ingredients are potent scientifically proven ingredients designed to directly treat specific skin concerns like acne, aging, pigmentation, or dehydration. Actives alter the skin to produce a therapeutic affect.”

Here’s a few actives that I would keep my eye out for. Again, you don’t have to avoid them all, just know that they can be a little harsh on sensitive skin, and they often come in synthetic forms in skincare products .

-Retinoids

-Vitamin C

-Hyaluronic Acid

-Salicylic Acid

-Glycolic & Lactic Acids (Note: goat milk contains lactic acid in its natural form, and in the goat milk it creates a very gentle, healthy exfoliation for the skin, so when we talk about lactic acid in goat milk, you can rest assured that your skin will be safe.)

#5. Physical exfoliants

I love a good exfoliating scrub, and I’m sure most women would agree that you can’t quite beat that luxuriously moisturized and clean feeling after the scrub. Unfortunately though for some, certain exfoliants can be too rough for the skin, and cause nasty irritation. Two common exfoliants that cause irritation are walnut shell and ground coffee exfoliants. I'm sure there are many more but I won't bore you with a long list. If you've tried one that was irritating to you other than the two that I mentioned here, let us know in the comments!

It is somewhat unfortunate but this does come back to knowing your own skin again, because I don’t wear your skin, and therefore I cannot lay out an exact blueprint for you of what will and won’t work for your skin. Learning what works and doesn’t work for your skin will require some trial and error on your part.

Our shower scrubs are made with a sugar base, and full of moisturizing, skin-loving oils. They are very gentle scrubs, designed specifically for sensitive skin. My skin is somewhat sensitized, and I love our shower scrub. It leaves my skin soft, smooth, and soooo hydrated. If you know already though that your skin is too sensitive for a sugar scrub, try our soap bars and follow up with a body butter for some gentle exfoliation (from the goat milk in the soap bar - refer to point #4 where we talked about lactic acid if you missed it), and the best ever moisturization from both the soap and the body butter.

To wrap it up, know your skin. Do some trial and error to figure out what works. It might get you the first time, but then you’ll know, and you’ll have better direction when you’re looking for skincare again.

P.S. We’d love for you to try our skincare. It’s specifically designed to treat sensitive skin, and our clients with eczema, dry skin, and even psoriasis are the ones who keep coming back for more. They love it, and we think you’d love it too! Find the menu in the top right-hand corner, click “Shop”, and…. you know what to do from there.