Sensitive Skin Care

Sensitive Skin Care covers gentle cleansers, fragrance-free moisturisers, barrier repair creams, mineral sunscreens and products formulated for reactive skin.

Genuinely Sensitive, or a Damaged Barrier?

This distinction is worth ten minutes of anyone’s time, because the second is very common and completely reversible.

• Genuinely sensitive skin has always been reactive — it flushes easily, stings with many products, and often runs alongside eczema or rosacea.

• A damaged barrier is self-inflicted and recent. Skin that suddenly stings at everything, feels tight, flakes and reacts to products it tolerated last month usually has a barrier damaged by over-cleansing, hot water, over-exfoliating or too many actives at once.

• If it is the second, the treatment is to stop doing things. Two weeks of nothing but a gentle cleanser and a plain moisturiser, no actives, no exfoliants, no scrubs. It recovers, and people are usually surprised how completely.

Building a Routine for Reactive Skin

• A gentle, non-foaming cleanser, twice a day, with lukewarm water.

• A fragrance-free moisturiser with ceramides, morning and night, on damp skin.

• A mineral sunscreen — zinc and titanium are less likely to sting than chemical filters.

• Nothing else, for a fortnight.

• Then one new product at a time, patch tested for 24 hours on the inner forearm, and left for two weeks before adding another.

What to Avoid, and What to Look For

• Avoid: fragrance (including “natural” essential oils, which are among the commonest culprits), alcohol high in the ingredient list, physical scrubs, hot water and long showers.

• Look for: short ingredient lists, ceramides, niacinamide, glycerin, panthenol, colloidal oatmeal, and the words fragrance-free rather than unscented — “unscented” can mean a masking fragrance has been added.

• Patch test everything, without exception.

Genuine Products

Much of this catalogue is imported, and imported shelves are where fakes and repacks appear. Whoever you buy from, these are worth checking:

• The seal. An intact shrink wrap or safety ring is what tells you a product has not been opened.

• The batch number and expiry printed on the pack itself, not on a sticker over it. A sticker covering the original printing is the commonest sign of a repack.

• A price far below everyone else’s is information — sometimes a genuine clearance, often a fake or something close to expiry.

If what arrives does not match its listing, tell us. We would rather take a return than leave a wrong description standing.

Frequently Asked Questions

My skin suddenly reacts to everything. What happened?

Almost always a damaged barrier from over-cleansing, hot water or too many actives. Strip back to a gentle cleanser and moisturiser for two weeks — it recovers.

Are natural products better for sensitive skin?

No. Essential oils and plant extracts are among the most common causes of contact allergy. A short, boring ingredient list is what sensitive skin wants.

Which sunscreen is least likely to sting?

A mineral one with zinc oxide, fragrance-free. Chemical filters sting reactive skin more often, particularly around the eyes.

How do I know the product is genuine?

Check the seal, the batch number and the expiry printed on the pack itself rather than on a sticker over it. Everything we sell is sourced to arrive sealed and within date, and if what you receive does not match the listing we will put it right.

How much shelf life will it have?

We stock to arrive well within date and do not knowingly ship anything close to expiry. If you need a specific minimum for a particular order, ask before placing it and we will check the batch.