SENSITIVE SKIN RECOMMENDATIONS for the K10

For my beautiful sensitive skin gals and guys, in this blog post I’d like to recommend you some products for each section of the Korean 10-step routine. A quick recap over what symptoms you may have if you do have sensitive skin:

- You have to be very cautious about what products you use as:

o Your skin turns red, stings, and may even come out in a rash easily.

- Constantly combatting redness.

You're probably familiar with brands like QV, Avene, Cetaphil, La Roche Posay, and other pharmacy brands. The pharmacy brands are normally pretty safe, but they are probably extremely expensive for what they are; the most basic stock standard formulas. This is where Korean skincare comes in. Korean products have to be formulated well and with sensitive skin in mind. This is because there are so many different brands so to standout they have to be formulated with the best ingredients and Koreans have naturally sensitive skin due to the pollution. Whether your skin is oil or dry, the first port of call is finding gentle skin-care products with great ingredients. Definitely do your research before buying but the sensitive brands I recommend below are a step in the right direction.

SIDE NOTE: the best site I have ever found for ingredient decoding; https://incidecoder.com. This site will go through all the ingredients of your searched product and tell you which are good to harmful. Also helps you decipher what each ingredient is. Great tool for sensitive skin people x I will put a side note next to my recommendations of potential irritants.

1. Oil Cleanser

The first step is oil cleanser, and for this I recommend KLAIRS Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil. This oil cleanser has a hypoallergenic formula packed with vegetable oils that gently cleanse, moisturise and protect. Its main ingredients include black sesame oil (antioxidant rich), black currant seed oil which is anti-inflammatory, and hydrating jojoba seed oil. If you’re an oilier sensitive skin type I would probably recommend an oil cleanser to help remove excess sebum. However, if you skin is very sensitive to cleansing or if you don’t wear too much makeup, you could probably skip this step if need be. Side note: Contain fragrance (small percentage).

2. Water-based Cleanser

I actually have a couple of recommendations for this one so you can choose a cleanser based on your other skin needs. First is ACWELL Bubble Free pH Balancing Cleanser. This gel cleanser uses centella, aloe, liquorice, and witch hazel to hydrate, calm, and brighten skin. Bonus ingredient is salicylic acid which helps keep breakouts at bay. This cleanser could be great for the sensitive acne prone readers. I have actually used this one myself, I loved it as a gentle cleanser in winter. Side note: Contains fragrance (small percentage), Alcohol, and Farnesol (fragrance). Second is NEOGEN Real Cica Micellar Cleansing Foam, the perfect cleanser for sensitive dry skin. The star ingredients include cica, a compressed version of green tea and centella which soothes inflammation. Hyaluronic acid is also present, to deeply hydrates skin. Side note: Contains fruit oil which is an essential oil. Last but not least is ACWELL pH Balancing Bubble Free Cleansing Gel (similar but different). The main ingredients are liquorice extract to soothe and brighten, elderflower extract which has with anti-inflammatory properties and eight types of hyaluronic acid; to deeply hydrate skin. So far, no major harsh ingredients. This cleanser would be great for any sensitive skin but doesn’t have salicylic acid for my acne prone readers.

3. Exfoliating

Finally step 3. Exfoliator. Ultimately, I would stick away from exfoliating as it will irritate your skin further and can lead to redness. An alternative could be putting your toner on a cotton pad. Wiping the cotton pad lightly across your face will remove excess impurities like dead skin.

4. Toner

Toner, the fourth step, for which I have two great recommendations. First is the KLAIRS Supple Preparation Unscented Facial Toner. This is a new unscented version of the cult favourite toner. I absolutely love this toner 10/10. It uses ingredients like liquorice, aloe, and centella to calm any irritation and hydrate the skin. It has absolutely no fragrance and other harsh ingredients. The second one is ROUND LAB Mugwort Calming Toner, which aims to calm and strengthen the skin. It stars ingredient is Mugwort extract which is anti-inflammatory and helps heal skin sensitivities and acne. It also contains centella which provides additional soothing benefits. This product is free of any harsh ingredients, like fragrances and parabens. Both are great toners which you could easily switch between. Toner is a must for sensitive skins as it preps the skin for the following steps.

5. Essence

Step 5, essence, for sensitive skin is a bit of a hit or miss. If you wanted to skip this step that’s totally fair. You could combine step 4 and 5, since essence is a more concentrated version of toner. But if you think your skin is at a point where it could handle another product easily then here are my recommendations. For sensitive/acne prone skin; DEWYTREE Cica 100 Essence, containing a single ingredient: centella. Known for its high concentration of antioxidants and vitamins which strengthen and calming irritated skin. For sensitive/dry types: OLIVARRIER Dual Moist Toning Lotion. It contains hyaluronic acid (hydrating), squalene sourced from olives (retains skin moisture), and green tea (soothes and evens skin tone). Lastly, sensitive/normal: GOODAL Houttuynia Cordata Calming Essence, which is a great overall essence. Containing 97.5% concentration of houttuynia cordata extract, which is amazing for healing sensitive/red skin with its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It also helps cool the skin which is a plus.

6. Serums

Serums, one of my favourite steps yet. You can really tailor your serums to whatever you need. But just ensure they are sensitive friendly and ingredient safe. I have a few to recommend for this category too. Up first is ACWELL Real Aqua Balancing Ampoule, an ultra-hydrating serum (especially good for my dry sensitive skin readers). This serum has a patented N4 Complex, combining 4 different plants to deliver and lock in water within the skin barrier. It also features liquorice root extract to sooth, Jeju phytomarine extract, which is anti-inflammatory, and amino acids to strengthens the skin barrier which is especially important to improve sensitive skin. No harsh ingredients either. Benton Deep Green Tea Serum is next. It contains 53% green tea extracts to gently hydrate irritated skin with a calming cooling effect. Perfect serum to sooth redness. No alcohols or fragrances in this product either. ENATURE Birch Juice Hydro Essence Skin is my third rec. Containing 78% birch tree sap, chamomile and plantain seed extracts, to treat dry, rough skin and help soothe skin. Side note: Contains fragrance. For my acne prone sensitive skin readers, I recommend COSRX Hydrium Centella Aqua Soothing Ampoule or Centella serum. The former contains 42% calming centella and vitamin B5 which are hydrating and anti-inflammatory. No red flags for ingredients either.

7. Sheet Masks

Gosh sorry for the truck load of information I’m throwing your way. If you're still with me, we are on to Sheet masks. Sensitive skin types have to be aware of cheaply made sheet masks as they are more likely to have harsh ingredients to show the ‘effects’ of the sheet mask in 20 minutes. So, I have two recommendations of sheet masks designed to calm redness. KLAIRS Rich Moist Soothing Tencel Sheet Mask and Midnight Blue Calming Sheet Mask. The former utilises ceramides to help strengthen a weakened skin barrier, and aloe vera and centella extract provide a calming effect. Perfect for dry to normal sensitive types. The latter uses willow bark and centella extracts to sooth, but actually lowers the skin’s temperature with the help of erythritol. The sheet mask itself is made from bamboo charcoal to draw out impurities from pores. So perfect for acne suffers too.

8. Eye Cream

Eye cream, I recommend KLAIRS Fundamental Nourishing Eye Butter. It is a good basic eye cream that contains sunflower seed oil rich in vitamin A and vitamin E to protect the delicate skin and four high-performance peptides to reduce fine lines. Plus, it has antioxidant-rich green tea, anti-inflammatories like cinnamon bark and caffeine to de-puff. It is the eye cream I use currently, and I can say I have no complaints. No harsh ingredients as well.

9. Moisturiser

Ok almost there, step 9. Moisturiser. For all three of my recommendations, there are no parabens, sulphates, alcohol, artificial colours and fragrance, essential oils and mineral oils. Moisturiser is essential for sensitive skin to help hydrate and protect the skin barrier which is so weak for you guys. So, first is ACWELL Real Aqua Balancing Cream. Its key ingredients include the patented N4 Complex (talk about above), houttuynia cordata extract calms and hydrates, and liquorice. It also includes Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids which help rebuild the skin’s barrier. This cream would be good for normal, combination, and dry skin. KLAIRS Midnight Blue Calming Cream is the second recommendation for extremely irritated, stressed skin. Even for oily, acne-prone and sensitive skin types, this cream can also be used to calm acne and redness. The key ingredient is guaiazulene, a powerful skin-calming agent extracted from camomile oil. Bonus ingredients include Centella. Last but not least is KLAIRS Fundamental Water Gel Cream, great for oiler sensitive skin types. It contains 63.7% Jeju green tea to calms and protect the skin barrier, and amino acids and panthenol (vitamin B5) to keep skin hydrated.

10. Sunscreen

Sunscreen is important for sensitive skin type because your skin barrier is already damaged. Thus, adding UV and UVB rays won’t help heal your skin. I recommend ACWELL UV Cut SPF 50+PA++++ Mild Sun Fluid. The latter is also a physical formula, which contains Natural Protector, a patented ingredient that soothes and repairs sun damaged skin, as well as cornflower water and centella to calm inflammation. No harsh ingredients to note. Taking a swerve from Korean skincare, I also recommend the Edible Beauty Basking Beauty Natural Sunscreen SPF50. It uses zinc which is a natural sunscreen which protect against UVA and UVB. Unlike most mineral ones it leaves no white cast (thought it may on deeper skin tones). It also contains camellia seed oil (hydration, Vitamin E (antioxidant), Kakadu Plum extract (vitamin C), and rosehip oil (hydration and Vitamin A). It is a completely clean sunscreen, so your skin won’t react if you’re like me and tend to react to chemical ones. I’m using this product currently and so far, I love it.

And with that I conclude the 10-step sensitive skin recommendations. Do your own research and find products that will benefit your skin more. Clean beauty is also a great place to find skincare products too, since they are made naturally. So, keep your red little faces up my sensitive little friends xx

From author,

Bridie Conroy