The Skin Nerd: Do you have skin sensitisation?
Skin sensitisation occurs when your skin barrier becomes weakened or compromised by a trigger
Say you’ve always considered your skin to be “normal”, but you suddenly have dehydrated skin with visible redness and itchy sensations. We’d bet our bottom dollar that’s because your skin has become sensitised. Sensitive skin is genetic while sensitised skin can pass as rapidly as it appears. So, no need to panic – your skin hasn’t pledged allegiance to lifelong sensitivity.
Similar to sensitive skin, sensitisation occurs when your skin barrier becomes weakened or compromised by a trigger. By that I mean, the stratum corneum (aka the outermost layer of skin) has become permeable which allows harmful aggressors to enter and precious moisture to escape. The irritants that pass through cause an inflammatory response in the skin, as moisture loss causes dehydration.
A common cause of skin sensitisation? Your skincare: perhaps you’ve over exfoliated, mixed too many punchy active ingredients, or taken a step up in vitamin A too soon. Of course, you’re trying to do your skin a solid but bombarding it with active ingredients can do plenty of harm as you risk the skin barrier getting broken down.
I would say to listen to your skin, be mindful of the triggers that cause irritation and steer clear of them. Of course, some triggers can’t be so easily avoided; like stress, pollution, airborne allergens, or sensitivity to cold or hot temperatures. But, limiting your salicylic acid cleanser to once weekly is a smart move if you’ve noticed that your skin looks a little angry when used more frequently.
Whether your spell of sensitisation manifests as redness, tightness, stinging, flakiness, small bumps, or dehydration – be comforted by the fact that there's light at the end of this tunnel. Any inflammation will pass if you step off the gas with active ingredients and introduce gentle, soothing skincare products.
I would turn to lipids (aka fat molecules) if your skin barrier has become compromised from sensitisation. In essence, lipids fortify the skin barrier to keep nasties out and moisture in. I like to think of lipids as the “superglue” that keeps our skin barrier intact. Ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids are the three lipids that are naturally occurring in the stacked lipid bilayer of the stratum corneum.
Ceramides in particular are incredibly easy to introduce into your regimen – especially in the form of a supplement. All good things don’t last forever and unfortunately, our skin’s production of ceramides depletes as we get older which is why it’s important to bolster our supply. The Advanced Nutrition Programme Skin Moisture Lock (€91,theskinnerd.com) contains a ceramide complex to help skin retain moisture and protect skin from environmental stressors.
While ceramides take care of strengthening the skin barrier, we can think about replenishing lost moisture to ease dehydration and any feelings of tightness. Humectants are the best way to serve your skin an instant hit of hydration as they act like a magnet to attract moisture from the environment into the skin. Humectants are smaller sized molecules that can penetrate much deeper than the ingredients in your typical moisturiser.
The Declare Ocean’s Best Triple Hyaluronic Acid Booster (€65, theskinnerd.com) is a pretty special serum as it contains three molecular sizes of hyaluronic acid: a hero humectant. It also contains algae and seaweed extracts which are known to calm irritation and soothe sensitivity in skin.
In my nerdie opinion, the best way to care for sensitised skin is to strip back your skincare to the bare essentials: a gentle, non-stripping cleanser, hydrating serum, and SPF, alongside skin-replenishing supplements. Your skin will thank you; I promise!
Skin Good Fats is like a comforting hug when skin is sensitive, irritated, or inflamed. It’s brimming with “good fats” in the form of skin-native ceramide NP to fortify the weakened skin barrier, as well as shea butter glycerides to nourish the skin and avena sativa (oat) kernel extract which has antihistamine properties to soothe any itchiness.
It also contains multi-tasking niacinamide which is a potent antioxidant that protects skin from free radical damage, as it supports the increased synthesis of ceramides: our skin’s “superglue”. For added luxury, Skin Good Fats is a buttery, rich balm that feels like silk on the skin.
- Skingredients Skin Good Fats (€45, theskinnerd.com)
