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How come my face becomes sensitive?

Whenever this happens, there is always a group of people who start to feel uneasy: the tight feeling after washing their face, the stinging feeling after skin care, the redness and swelling after the cold wind blows...even the hair loss of pets at home is unbearable...

The young lady in the editorial department of Dad's Review has dry and red cheeks, acne in her T-zone, and the worst thing is that she has allergic rhinitis. The keywords in the back-end comments are almost occupied by "skin-sensitive aliens"... Especially when Double Eleven is coming soon, everyone starts to want to stock up on skin care products again

In order to help everyone get through this season change safely and shop with peace of mind, we are here to talk to you about "matters about sensitive skin".

1. How to determine whether you have sensitive skin?

We interviewed three women with sensitive skin about recent skin changes, but they seemed confused: Does redness, swelling, dryness and itching on the face mean sensitive skin?

In fact, sensitive skin is an unstable skin condition rather than a skin type.

It can be considered as a skin condition that is intolerant to changes in the external environment and the care products used. It is usually accompanied by subjective feelings such as skin tightness, tingling, short-term burning sensation, and persistent itching; or objective phenomena such as capillary dilation, flushing, erythema, desquamation and dryness; and it is easily affected by external stimuli such as temperature changes, ultraviolet rays, and dust.

You can judge whether you have sensitive skin by the following characteristics:

If your face shows one or more of the conditions in the pictures above, you may have sensitive skin.

However, everyone should also note that sensitive skin is different from allergies. Allergies are essentially a short-term stress response, while sensitive skin is a long-term unstable skin state. The triggering substances of allergies may be fixed and few, while sensitive skin may react to many things.

If your face becomes itchy, red, or has a rash only when you use a certain skin care product or are in a certain environment, you should consider the possibility of an allergy.

At this time, you need to seek medical attention in time, identify the allergens, and avoid complications caused by them.

2. How come my face becomes sensitive?

How can good skin become sensitive? Although there are many factors that cause sensitive skin, they can be roughly divided into two types: external and internal.

01 Internal factors

Including genetic inheritance, endocrine, disease, etc. Sensitive skin is related to genetics, and the incidence rate is higher in young people than in the elderly, and in women than in men.

Endocrine imbalance may lead to weakened skin resistance and enhanced skin immune response, causing skin sensitivity.

At the same time, inflammatory skin diseases, such as acne and seborrheic dermatitis, can also cause sensitive skin.

02 External factors

Including environmental changes and lifestyle. Friends with sensitive skin can think about this: Is your skin often more unstable when the seasons change, there is air pollution, the air is too dry or humid, or the ultraviolet intensity is high?

At the same time, personal lifestyle also affects our skin condition. In addition to proper skin care, it is also important to stay up late less and eat less spicy and greasy foods.

The human skin barrier is composed of three parts: sebum membrane, keratinocytes and intercellular lipids.

These three parts protect our skin like a "brick wall", and the skin barrier of sensitive skin is damaged, that is, the "brick wall" is not strong or damaged. This will lead to accelerated loss of moisture in the skin, and the nutrients in it will also be lost.

This is why sensitive skin is prone to dryness even after applying lotion.

In addition, the fragile skin barrier will enhance the penetration of irritants or allergens, and the deeper skin will be more susceptible to external stimuli, resulting in symptoms such as redness, itching, burning and stinging.

3. For sensitive skin, it is recommended to take care of your skin in this way!

In fact, no matter what type of skin you have, we recommend that you follow the principle of "simple skin care". Everything has its limits, and the end of excessive skin care is still damaged skin barrier, that is, sensitive skin.

So what exactly is "minimalist skincare"? Let's take a look at the literal meaning.

"Essence" means choosing the right products according to your skin's needs. Give your skin what it needs, and don't force it with what it doesn't need. For people with sensitive skin, just moisturize and soothe.

"Simple" should be based on the premise of using products that suit you, and simplifying and using the least products to achieve the best results.

For sensitive skin care, it is enough to choose one of the following: cleansing, moisturizing, soothing and repairing, and sun protection. There is no need to add moisturizing water on top of essence water, or soothing cream on top of repairing cream, layer upon layer.

Another key to "simple" is not to overdo it. Many sensitive skin problems are caused by over-cleansing and over-moisturizing.

Take makeup removal for example. Some girls feel that their face is fake and slippery after using makeup remover oil, so they use facial cleanser for secondary cleaning. In fact, this is no different from washing clothes with laundry detergent and soap...

Some sisters with sensitive skin have dry and flaky skin, so they apply facial masks every day to moisturize. Stop it now! You really can’t apply facial masks every day, as it may cause overhydration and make the skin barrier more damaged (2 to 3 times a week is enough).

In order to prevent everyone from making mistakes while following the path of “streamlined skin care”, we have summarized a complete set of skin care processes and product references.

1. Gentle Cleansing

Sensitive skin cleansers should use amino acid surfactants. Such cleansers are weakly acidic and relatively mild. Typical amino acid surfactants include potassium cocoyl glycinate, sodium cocoyl glutamate, sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, sodium myristoyl glutamate, etc.

2. Moisturize

For sensitive skin, it is recommended to moisturize the skin first to replenish moisture. Commonly used moisturizing ingredients include: sodium hyaluronate, trehalose, panthenol, betaine, amino acids, sodium pyrrolidone carboxylate (sodium PCA), urea, etc.

3. Soothing and repairing

This step is to use functional products to achieve a certain effect. Whether it is sensitive skin or normal skin, it is enough to use one functional product at a time. Do not use soothing, repairing, whitening, anti-wrinkle, and acne treatments at the same time. Our face really can't stand such a toss.

For soothing products, you can focus on ingredients such as bisabolol, allantoin, β-glucan, dipotassium glycyrrhizinate, and Centella asiatica extract.

If you want to repair the skin barrier, choose ingredients containing panthenol, squalane, ceramide, cholesterol, shea butter, etc.

The oils in lotions and creams can form an oil film on the skin surface to help the skin lock in moisture.

4. Sun protection

Sun protection should follow the ABC principles.

A: Avoid, avoid being exposed to the sun;

B: Block, wear sun-protective clothing, use a sun umbrella, and reduce exposure to the sun.

C: Cream, sunscreen. When A and B cannot meet the sun protection needs, sunscreen is needed to supplement them.

People with sensitive skin should try to choose alcohol-free physical sunscreen.

4. The natural enemy of sensitive skin

For sisters with sensitive skin, it is important to consider your skin condition when taking care of your skin and choose the right products according to the ingredients. Do not blindly follow the trend and make impulse purchases just because of the Double Eleven discounts or various recommendations, and buy some "hot" products that are not suitable for you.

These ingredients are not suitable for sensitive skin:

5. Frequently asked questions about sensitive skin

Q1: Can I use makeup if I have sensitive skin?

A1: It is not recommended to put on makeup when your skin is in an unstable condition, as it is prone to redness, swelling, red blood streaks, blackheads and pimples.

When the skin is stable, you can wear light makeup, but it will increase the burden on the skin. Moisturize well before applying makeup, choose a base makeup with good moisturizing or high moisturizing properties, and use a beauty egg to gently apply makeup. When removing makeup, use a mild cleansing oil or cleansing cream, and do not cleanse twice.

Q2: Can I use beauty devices if I have sensitive skin?

A2: Not recommended.

Sensitive skin has a damaged skin barrier and is sensitive to external stimuli. Some beauty devices on the market have a certain thermal effect on the superficial layer of the skin, which may cause skin burns. Therefore, it is not recommended to use.

If your skin condition is relatively stable and you really want to use a beauty instrument, you must buy a regular product from a big brand. This is because big brand products generally have temperature control measures and are relatively safe.

Q3: Can acid-containing products be used on sensitive skin?

A3: Not recommended.

Acid products basically have the function of removing and softening keratin. This type of chemical peeling agent helps to peel off excess old keratin in the skin by changing the acidity of the skin surface. Thus, it promotes the normal metabolism of skin cells and improves the skin condition.
However, sensitive skin has a low tolerance to acid-containing products. If used rashly, skin intolerance is likely to occur. Therefore, before use, make sure that there is no erythema on the skin and no dilation of capillaries.

Severely sensitive skin is always accompanied by obvious erythema, desquamation, etc. It is necessary to repair the skin barrier as soon as possible and it is not advisable to use acid-containing products.

When using acid-containing products for the first time on sensitive skin, it is best to choose mild acids such as mandelic acid, lactobionic acid, and gluconolactone. The concentration should not be too high, so the risk is relatively low.

I have to say that skin sensitivity is really a very distressing thing, but as long as you stick to the correct skin care methods, there will definitely be improvements.

If your skin problems become more serious, you should definitely seek help from a dermatologist.