Do you think you have sensitive skin? If you are prone to skin irritation, redness or dryness then you are likely to be correct.
Sensitive skin doesn’t have to be hard to manage, especially once you find the right skincare products that will help to nourish and strengthen your skin for long term results. Using natural skincare filled with gently powerful ingredients will help you to maintain a healthy skin barrier and say goodbye to sensitivities.
If you’d like to learn more about what products and ingredients our skincare experts recommend for sensitive skin, keep reading and discover our skincare routine for sensitive skin!
What Can Cause Sensitive Skin?
There are many things that may cause or result in sensitive skin.
Here are a few of the most common:
- Rosacea: a common skin condition, often categorised early on by flushing, redness or blushing in the face. This condition can often make skin sensitive and in some cases may cause burning or stinging sensations on the face.
- Stress: this can affect your skin in many ways. One of which being that stress can affect the hormone levels in your skin and aggravate any existing sensitivities. It can also affect the effectiveness of your skincare routine, from disrupting your routine through forgetfulness or tiredness to affecting the way your skin reacts to skincare products.
- Allergies: if you believe that your skin is extremely sensitive you could actually be unknowingly allergic to a common ingredient that is used in products in your skincare routine. What you are interpreting as a sensitivity could be an allergic reaction. If you feel you have tried everything and cannot get your skin to react well or if your skin seems to calm when you are not using any products it may be worthwhile to get tested for common allergies to try to understand your skin better and be able to identify and avoid any ingredients that it doesn’t like.
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The weather: skin can feel extra sensitive in some seasons, particularly throughout the colder winter months. The frosty weather conditions can cause sensitive skin to become sore, red and itchy, particularly on your face as this is often continuously exposed to the climate around you.
How To Take Care Of Sensitive Skin In Winter
The key to getting ahead of skin sensitivities in the winter is to switch up your routine to include more hydrating, nourishing ingredients and thicker textures rather than the lightweight formulas some may prefer during the summer months.
Here are some of ingredients that our skincare experts recommend to help your winter skin:
ECTOIN
Ectoin is a multi functional, clinically proven skincare active that can help to protect dry skin and sensitive skin in winter. It is an amino acid derived from a bacteria that was found in a salty lake in Egypt. This amino acid helps to structure the water around the cells of the bacteria and protect it from the harsh environment it lives in.
Ectoin has a multitude of benefits when used on the skin. It forms a protective barrier around skin cells, helping to restore the skin barrier layer and is clinically proven to double skin hydration. It also reduces scaling of the skin’s surface by 72% and skin roughness by 83%. It protects against extreme temperatures which can often cause sensitive skin to flare up in the winter. It also has powerful benefits against skin ageing and is clinically proven to boost skin elasticity and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. You can find it in our Pro+ Ectoin Soothing Cream which is a fragrance free moisturising cream designed for dry and sensitive skin.
CERAMIDES
Ceramides are a type of lipids (fats) that occur naturally in our skin and work to hold the skin cells together in the uppermost layer. They help to create a healthy, firm barrier and help to keep our skin clear, smooth, and rejuvenated. Ceramides also assist in keeping the skin nourished and moisturised, protecting it from moisture loss, possible skin aggressors and allergens.
Although Ceramides occur naturally in our skin, additional Ceramides can also give the skin a helping hand and help to combat the effects of ageing, wrinkles, dry and irritated skin that may be impacted by time, environmental factors, or hormones. Ceramides assist in the strengthening and improvement of the barrier layer or uppermost layer of skin, protecting your skin from external aggressors and irritants at the same time. Our Blue Velvet Ceramide Serum uses Oat Ceramides to soothe, hydrate and bring relief to dry, flaky and sensitive skin.
CHAGA MUSHROOM
Originating from the Nordic Birch Forests of Canada, Chaga Mushrooms are a valued ingredient in traditional medicine and more recently in skincare. They are being harvested regeneratively, making sure that only part of the mushroom is collected, without injuring the tree, leaving most of the mushroom in place for future growth.
When used on the skin, the extract reinforces the skin barrier, decreases the appearance of skin redness and improves the uniformity and tone of the complexion, making it great for soothing sensitive skin. It is another of the natural ingredients found in our Pro+ Ectoin Soothing Cream.
Sensitive Skin Routine
Here is our stripped back, simple sensitive skincare routine curated by our team of experts.
Step One: Choosing The Right Cleanser For Sensitive Skin
Cleansing is the first step in any great skincare routine and allows the skin to be free of daily grime, makeup or pollution, creating the perfect base to allow the most goodness and benefits from the application of further skincare. However if your skin is on the sensitive side, cleansing can often lead to worries about harsh makeup removal or stripping skin of its natural protective oils, which could lead to potentially causing more irritation and dryness. This absolutely does not have to be the case.
Gentle oil or balm formulas filled to the brim with nourishing natural ingredients are going to make the best cleansers for sensitive skin. These will work to care for your skin as they cleanse, and the rich cleansing textures will mean no scrubbing is necessary. You can rest easy with your skincare routine as you massage your product into your skin knowing it’s designed to be kind and gentle, as well as effective.
We can recommend two effective and nourishing organic cleansers that are suitable for sensitive skin, so you can decide which one would suit your routine the best. Our Gentle Cleansing Melt is a luxurious balm that contains nourishing Baobab Oil to soothe and hydrate whilst effectively cleansing skin and melting away makeup at the end of the day. We also use natural sugar extracts to transform this balm into a rich milk when in contact with water, meaning that it easily rinses away so is incredibly delicate on the skin.
Our second cleanser that works quickly and comfortably on sensitive skin is Kalahari Dream Cleansing Oil. This is a velvety oil cleanser that removes make up in a flash whilst nourishing and strengthening skin with regenerative Kalahari Melon Seed Oil. This lightweight pink cleanser transforms from oil to milk when in contact with water to easily rinse away without irritation.
If you are looking to take your cleansing routine to the next level you could even use the two together and treat yourself and your skin to a nourishing double cleanse.
“I love this oil - it's fantastic for removing makeup and smells lovely! It even works well to get rid of even waterproof mascara and eyeliner and is non drying which is great as I have sensitive and dry skin. I follow this up with a second cleanse using the gentle cleansing melt.”
We love this idea from our customer Megan W who has dry skin so will enjoy all of the hydrating and soothing benefits of this duo!
Step Two: Hydration and Barrier Support
After cleansing, you can drench skin with a burst of hydration by spritzing with Evolve Organic Beauty Daily Defence Moisture Mist. This hydrating face mist will help to refresh and prepare your skin for the next steps of your routine. A saviour for dry and sensitive skin, our Daily Defence Moisture Mist contains natural Prebiotics from Chicory Root that help to strengthen and balance the skin barrier alongside Hyaluronic Acid to lock in moisture and rehydrate skin.
You can even take this mist with you on the go to spritz over sensitive skin when you’re on the move. The soothing Prickly Pear extract calms irritation so is great for those with sensitive skin who still love the outdoors or find that skin feels taught and dehydrated during the day.
A facial oil or oil based serum is a fantastic addition to any skincare routine, especially once your skin is clean in order to add more moisture and soothing ingredients back into your now open pores. Applying one onto damp skin after using the Daily Defence Moisture Mist can help to lock in goodness and moisture for even longer, benefiting dry and sensitive skin.
Our Blue Velvet Ceramide Serum contains skin barrier strengthening Oat Ceramides alongside Olive Squalane to naturally soothe, hydrate and boost skin’s glow whilst Camellia Oil and Blue Tansy restore and nourish the skin to bring relief and calm inflammation and redness.
Step Three: The Right Moisturiser For Sensitive Skin
Applying a moisturiser or face cream is perhaps the most common step in any skincare routine. It’s important to feed your skin moisture, and moisturisers are the most effective way - they also supply a great base for skin if you wear makeup. For sensitive skin we recommend our Pro+ Ectoin Soothing Cream, a dermatologically tested organic moisturiser for sensitive skin that is formulated with Chaga Mushroom extract, Ectoin and Camellia Oil to help reduce skin stress, restore and calm skin down whilst reinforcing the skin barrier, protecting it from sensitivity.
Apply this fragrance-free moisturiser gently to a cleansed face and neck or after spritzing a hydrating face mist. It is a soothing moisturiser to use in the morning to refresh your skin but can also work effectively as a night cream in the evening.
If you’re looking for a way to save on your sensitive skin routine, our Soothing Skin Bundle features three full sized recommended products that make caring for sensitive skin easier: Gentle Cleansing Melt, Blue Velvet Ceramide Serum and Pro+ Ectoin Soothing Cream. This sensitive skincare bundle not only gives you a significant saving of 22% compared to buying the three products individually, it also provides an effective routine that works to keep skin soothed, protected and calm all day every day.
Step Four: Sun Protection Without Irritation
Whether it is a beautiful sunny summer’s day, or a frosty winter morning - no matter what time of year it is still a good idea to protect your skin from harmful sun rays by applying a high sun protection factor (SPF) suncream. Even on the coldest of days there’s reason to apply suncream. Frosty or snowy ground can reflect UV rays onto your skin, increasing UV exposure.
Sun exposure can cause a variety of issues, some of which are obvious and others that are more gradual over time. These issues include sunburn, premature ageing and wrinkles, skin dehydration, risk of skin cancer, irritation and causing flare up of other existing skin issues that affect all skin tones. For those with sensitive skin, the sun can increase dryness and sensitivities so it is important to find a gentle high SPF suncream that not only protects your skin from the sun, but nourishes and hydrates your skin rather than irritates it.
Daily use of a broad-spectrum SPF suncream will help protect skin and prevent any short term or long term damage, and finding one with natural ingredients will work the best as sun protection for sensitive skin.
Our Climate Defence Facial Cream SPF 30 is an untinted, reef friendly, non-nano Zinc Oxide based SPF 30 face cream, suitable for all skin types, which provides broad spectrum protection from UVA and UVB protection.
Lingonberry stem cells with the Climate Defence formula help protect the skin from the damaging effects of sun radiation and free radicals whilst improving skin texture. Prickly Pear extract deeply hydrates and soothes the skin from irritation and Hyaluronic acid helps promote a firmer, plumper appearance whilst locking moisture into the skin, making it perfect for those with sensitive skin.
Step Five: Additional Skincare Tips For Sensitive Skin
If you are looking for some extra products to give sensitive skin a boost, here are a few extra soothing product recommendations:
Blue Tansy Beauty Balm
Our Blue Tansy Beauty Balm is an essential for anyone with dry, sensitive skin. This multi purpose balm is formulated with a maceration of soothing Calendula and Chamomile in nourishing Macadamia oil and 100% vegan waxes. It can be used as a hot-cloth cleansing balm, a nourishing face mask, to restore dry skin on elbows and heels, and many more uses.
This magic pot of of blue beauty balm is great to have to hand to apply to any problem areas, with 93.3% of people agreeing that it helped to support the recovery of damaged skin, and 86.7% of people agreeing that their skin felt less dry and flaky and more soothed*. What’s not to love?
*Internal research conducted on a panel of Evolve Organic Beauty customers in 2023.
Intense Hydrating Mask
Our 100% natural Intense Hydrating Mask is here to quench thirsty skin in just 10 minutes, perfect for a super quick hydration fix, with long-lasting results. Formulated with a potent blend of four bioactives including Resurrection Plant Molecule and Pentavitin to restore, soothe, calm, nourish and hydrate your skin. This versatile treatment can be used several times a week as an intensely hydrating face mask; overnight to hydrate skin while you sleep; as an in-flight hydrating treatment to combat the effects of dry air; and even as an intensely moisturising hand and foot mask.
Lip Treat
Finally, finish your routine with our nourishing Lip Treat. This 100% natural vegan lip balm contains organic Cupuacu Butter and oat-based Ceramides to nourish lips and protect them from dryness.
"This is the best lip product I've ever tried. Highly recommend." - Nicole M
When trying to find the best routine for sensitive skin, you might find that less in more. This is particularly true if you might be particularly sensitive to certain ingredients or textures. So take your time and try a stripped back routine to find the products and key ingredients that work best for you, your skin and your lifestyle.
We also recommend patch testing new products before trying them to see if they irritate your skin. You can always get in touch with us on our website if you have any questions about your skin or our products and would love some recommendations or expert tips!
