The best new beauty products for sensitive skin
Stressed-out skin? Meet the new luxury skincare products that will help to calm it down
LUXURY SKINCARE DEDICATED TO CALMING SENSITIVE SKIN
Are you feeling a little more sensitive lately? You're not alone. This skin type is the fastest-growing category, and Mintel has revealed research that suggests a whopping 50% of Western women stated this as a concern.
Gretchen Frieling, a board-certified dermatopathologist, told Allure, 'pandemic-related stress showed up on our skin in multiple ways. Maskne, for one, has an inflammatory component, as evidenced by telltale redness, breakouts and irritation. Stress can trigger flare-ups of eczema, rosacea, and psoriasis, hives, cold sores, fever blisters, and other skin rashes.'
Consequently, there's been a surge in ranges that are specifically 'calming' and dedicated to stressed-out skin.
Skincare guru Tata Harper agrees: 'People are over-exfoliating their skin. The pandemic has made it worse because clients can't get to a dermatologist or book a facial treatment – so they're doing things on their own and it's leading to a breakdown of their skin barrier.'
Hence the latest line, Superkind from the farm-to-face beautypreneur, launching in the UK on Tuesday 4 May.
She says: 'Superkind is inspired by conversations I was having with friends, and the modern environment we live in – making the skin more reaction-prone. This collection was formulated specifically for both sensitive and sensitised skin, and reactive types that are either self-imposed because your regime is not right for you, or external environmental aggressors.'
Harper excluded more than 80 common triggers for reactions. Hence, ingredients like soy, wheat, nuts, and gluten are off the menu, as are synthetic dyes, essential oils, alcohols, fragrances, acids, harsh sulfates, exfoliators, and beta-hydroxy acids.
If you're in any doubt about your skin type, reactive skin shows up as redness, dehydration, roughness, discomfort and tightness.
Superkind is powerful but gentle at the same time. The ingredients vary from hi-tech peptides that protect sensitive skin from over-reacting, extracts from resurrection plants to help retain moisture and fortify the skin barrier, while sugar prebiotics help balance the skin's microbiome.
It's a good choice for anyone who doesn't like a strong-smelling skincare range (hello, pregnant women and some males we know) equally if you have specific skin conditions like rosacea and eczema or have overdone the DIY scrubs and peels of late.
Another new line, Hourglass Equilibrium, is infused with a Cell Balancing Complex that helps restore, rebalance and renew the skin barrier. To say it's dreamy to use would be an understatement. The Eye Balm is super-rich, nurtures fine lines and instantly eases dryness, and the Equilibrium Restoring Essence, with its lipid repair, helps protect against pollution and soothe. One hundred per cent of testers said their skin does not feel dry or tight; it feels smoother, more hydrated, and conditioned.
Just landed from California is Heraux Molecular Anti-Inflammaging Serum, formulated by two doctors who met in a stem cell lab. Their orthopaedic research was focused on reducing inflammation and increasing the functionality of stem cells in joints, thereby re-growing cartilage. This mission led them to develop HX-1, a molecule that shields stem cells from stressors that fuel the aging process. Once they realised these same technologies could apply to the skin, Heraux was born.
There's been a slew of gushy reviews – and all we can do is agree: our skin looks clearer, calmer and unified.
It appears that we might not be able to change the world around us, but with these new de-stressors, our skin can at least 'keep calm and carry on'.
