Sensitive Skincare Mistakes You Need to Stop Making | Dermatologist Explains

is your skin feeling super sensitive you might be making one of these [Music] mistakes I'm Dr Sam Ellis I am a board certified dermatologist in Northern California and I'm here to help you understand your skin and find products that work for you so if that sounds good give this video a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe to the channel make sure you stick around for mistake number four it's a mistake I see my patients make all the time and I want to make sure you're not doing it too and I'll also be giving some tips at the end about about what to do if your skin is feeling sensitive and how to make it feel better now sensitive skin can mean a variety of things it can mean your skin has a lot of different allergies or that your skin is more reactive than the average person's or that you just find your skin to be red sting and burn or not be able to tolerate a lot of products that your peers seem to be able to there's also a study that shows that over 70% of people identify as having sensitive skin so if you are one of those people this video is for you now let's get into the mistakes and how to correct them number one is not not doing a patch test before you start using a product regularly in your routine and I want to explain how to correctly perform a patch test because you might hear a dermatologist say or a brand say patch test before use but if you're not doing the patch test correctly you're not going to get the results you need to make a decision about whether or not that product is going to be okay for your skin so when you're sensitive to a product you're either going to have an immediate sensitivity like you apply the product and you feel stinging or burning obviously that product is not for you but more people will have something called a delayed hypers sensitivity this is also how an allergy on the skin shows up and by nature of the definition of delayed hypers sensitivity you're not going to have a reaction to that product the first time it comes in contact with your skin but rather after repeated exposure to that product the first thing you're going to do with a patch test is identify an area of skin that you're going to repeatedly expose to this product for most of my patients I recommend the inside of your arm here that's an area that is hairless it's an area that doesn't get s exposure and it's a really good test spot you want to make sure you're applying it to the exact same spot every day and you want to make sure that you are applying a wide enough Swatch to really get an assessment for products that are leave on products so serums moisturizers sunscreens makeup all of that you're going to apply in a thin layer on your inner arm the same way you would apply it to your face and you're going to wear it throughout the day the same way you would wear that product so you're not going to wash it off immediately if after a week you have no reaction in the area then that product is safe to be applied to your face and over that week you're going to be monitoring that area for signs of sensitivity whether that's stinging with application of the product redness bumpiness any change from your Baseline skin and remember we are looking for not just that immediate sensitivity but that delayed hypers sensitivity so often times that shows up on day four five or six of your patch test now if you go the whole week with no issues then I would feel more comfortable applying that product to your face the only thing different you'll do with wash off products because you should also test those whether that's a cleanser a shampoo or a a conditioner is that you will apply it to your skin for about a minute and then rinse it off the same way you would rinse off a cleanser so that is how you properly patch test in dermatology we call this a repeat open application test or a rot test it's not about applying a little Swatch to your jawline and seeing if you have a reaction an hour later you really need to commit a week to patch testing a product if you're serious about understanding if you're going to be sensitive to it and I'm not saying you need to do this with every single product you're bringing into your routine but if you have really sensitive or allergenic skin and you're finding that it's very hard to tolerate a lot of your products I totally recommend this mistake number two I see when it comes to sensitive skin is not moisturizing regularly moisturizing is not just for people with dry skin the act of moisturization actually helps fortify Your Skin Barrier and make it less sensitive for example we know that kids who grow up with eczema tend to have other allergies as they get older and the thought is because when they are kids and they're dealing with eczema they have all these little microscopic cracks in their skin which allows allergy and irritants from the outside world to get into their system and cause allergies down the line and it's been shown that kids who take care of their eczema and who moisturize regularly to protect their Skin Barrier have fewer allergies as they get older and aside from preventing or limiting skin sensitivity applying moisturizer can also help soothe skin if it's feeling sensitive one issue I come across as a dermatologist is when a patient says yes Dr Ellis I understand that I need to be moisturizing however my skin does not seem to agree with so many different moisturizers whether that's because I get stinging or redness or burning for people who struggle to find a moisturizer that they can tolerate one of my favorite facial moisturizers that I recommend all the time in my clinic is by L Ro POS it's their tarian dermo moisturizer the reason this tends to be tolerated so well is because it does not have a lot of the classic allergens that we find in a lot of skincare and again those ingredients that we see in other skincare are not bad unless you're allergic to them the same way it's okay to eat peanuts unless you're allergic to them when it came to my own skincare line prequel which is designed with sensitive skin in mind I also wanted to have a really good go-to moisturizer for face and body the prequel barrier therapy cream which has things like ceramides to fortify the Skin Barrier and oatmeal to soothe the skin is one of my absolute go-tos when my skin is feeling sensitive that support of My Skin Barrier has helped me do things like tolerate my retinoids better and just calm my skin when it's not feeling so hot number three when it comes to sensitive skin mistakes is switching between skincare products too often when you have sensitive skin less is really best every time you're introducing new products you are introducing potential irritants or allergens to your routine now if you try a product and it immediately causes irritation or stinging or redness of course like let that go out of your routine but you don't want to constantly be cycling through different products if they continue to work for you I feel like we have this issue in skin and skin care where we're always looking for the next best the next best but if you have sensitive skin and you have found your tried and true products it's absolutely absolutely okay to just stick with those and in that same vein that brings me to mistake number four which is a mistake that I not only see my patients make all the time but I think it's a general consumer issue which is starting too many new products at once and I totally get this I'm also guilty of doing this because you go out you say okay I'm going to refresh my skincare routine or I did a little Sephora haul and I'm ready to start everything at once but the issue is that if you have sensitive skin and you subsequently have a reaction you have absolutely no clue as to what caused that issue not only could you have a sensitivity to one of those products but you may have a sensitivity to how those products are interacting with each other and I know I spoke earlier about how to perform a proper patch test but also if you're worried about your products interacting with each other and you've done patch testing of them individually you should also consider patch testing them by layering them to make sure that they all work well together on your skin and because of the possibility of having a delayed hypers sensitivity to one of your products when you are introducing new things into your routine whether that is skin care make makeup or Hair Care literally anything that's going to go on your skin you want to make sure that you are separating those products by a week some people like to do a reverse of this which is start everything at once and then if they have an issue work backwards from there but I feel like you'll save yourself a big headache if you just start by slowly introducing things I know easier said than done but it's my recommendation mistake number five is something we're all probably a little guilty of as well which is using too many products in our routine now again if you don't have skin sensitivity and you're not having issues go ahead and continue continue with whatever you're using but I find that a lot of patients with sensitive skin are either trying lots of products or they're constantly incorporating new products or they have a 10-step skincare routine and they can't figure out what's causing their problems so pair it down something I talk about a lot with my patients who have sensitive skin or who have a lot of skin allergies is finding their core four when it comes to skin care and this core four refers to four products that will always work well with their skin and have never given them issues I'm typically asking patients to find a cleanser a moisturizer a sunscreen and some type of barrier protectant or eclusive ointment that works well with their skin and this is not always an easy task to find these things but the reason why I want people to have their core four is because that is the foundation of their routine and then when they want to introduce something new to their routine they have something to build upon and they can rely on that base sensitive skincare mistake number six is being too aggressive with your skin care and this can really mean a few different things number one is being too aggressive with the types of products that you're using either using too much or too strong of a retinoid or too much or too strong of an exfoliant retinoids and exfoliants are key skincare products when it comes to anti-aging and brightening the skin and making the skin overall look more glowy but more is not always more in this case both of these types of products have the potential to cause a lot of irritation because they expedite skin cell turnover and they help remove layers of Your Skin Barrier now to some degree that can be helpful right we want to remove some of that outer dead skin cell layer to really help our skin glow and to help with things like hyperpigmentation but if we remove too much of that dead skin cell layer we are more prone to irritation and that can be problematic when you're choosing products to be in your skincare routine and how often you are going to use those products it really needs to be intentional we are choosing products to bring into our routine based on what our end goals are and for most people they do not need an exfoliant every single day or really potent retinoid to get to their skin goals so if your skin is red it's stinging or burning when you're putting products on it's always itchy really cut it down on the retinoids and exfoliants you may need to even completely eliminate them from your routine for a little while and then slowly start reincorporating them your skin shouldn't constantly be stressed out irritated flaking red peeling a lot of people think ooh that means my products are working no that means your products are irritating I see people have this problem too with introducing a physical exfoliant too much so it's not just about the chemical peels that can be problematic but also if you're doing a lot of harsh scrubbing or rubbing on your skin that can make it more sensitive and I'm not just talking about physical exfoliation that comes with specific scrubby products but also if you're being really harsh with your makeup wipes or how you're rubbing your face dry after you wash it those are all forms of physical exfoliation and they add up oo I'm excited for mistake number seven because this is also an issue that comes up all the time in my clinic and I see it all the time on social media which is thinking that if a product is natur natural that it's not going to cause problems for your skin I feel like certain sources are always saying things like chemicals are bad for your skin or synthetic skin care is problematic but really so many things that are derived from nature whether that's certain fragrances or essential oils can be extremely irritating or allergenic for your skin so if you're using a product that's labeled as natural or 100% organic you can't discount it as causing a potential problem for you for example the oil that comes from poison ivy riol totally natural also totally problematic and I'm also not trying to demonize all natural products but it's just something to be aware of that just because it's natural doesn't mean it's good for you I just have a couple more mistakes left to share and then I'm going to get into how to help your skin if it's feeling sensitive so if you're liking this video so far make sure you give it a thumbs up mistake number eight is showering or bathing in really hot water you've probably heard dermatologists harp on this all the time but we say it over and over again because we see it cause problems for patients over and over again really hot water when you're showering I'm talking the type of water that leaves your entire shower and bathroom area covered in Steam can really do a number on Your Skin Barrier and if you're breaking down your Skin Barrier with just water which is possible to do you're going to be more sensitive and I'm not saying you need to take lukewarm showers like we want that to be an enjoyable experience for you but we do not want scalding hot water on our skin on a regular basis and lastly mistake number nine which comes up every single day in my clinic when my patient is suffering from sensitive skin or an allergy is the mistake of thinking that because you didn't change anything in your routine you can't possibly have a sensitivity or allergy to something you're using if you've used the same shampoo or the same face wash for the last 10 years and suddenly your skin is feeling sensitive you still need to consider those as potentially problematic for you and the reasons for that can be twofold one you can develop an allergy or sensitivity to an ingredient or to a product at any time none of us are born with allergies they are things that form over time due to shifts in our immune system people all the time will say well I was never allergic to it before yes that is always going to be the case aside from this potential issue manufacturers can change how they formulate a product and they don't have to tell you so they might have a new supplier for one of their ingredients or they might have changed a preservative in one of the products and essentially that is the same product you've been using for the last 10 years but it's actually not so it's not always about looking to the new things that you've Incorporated into your skincare routine when your skin is feeling sensitive but also evaluating what's been in your routine because those can also be the culprit okay those are the mistakes say you've made one of them and your skin is now feeling sensitive what can you do number one understand that Your Skin Barrier can generally heal over the course of 2 weeks the first thing you're going to do is remove any products from your routine that have the potential to be irritating and we typically call these types of products actives this will include things like exfoliants that can be chemical or physical it also includes things like retinoids vitamin C even anti-aging peptides basically anything that you've been applying to your skin to get your skin to transform and not just maintain itself counts as an active you heard me earlier speak about that core four so often times I'll just recommend that you cut your routine down to your core four use that for a couple weeks and see how your skin does and during that time you're really focusing on healing your skin you're not putting your skin through any type of stressful situation so you're relying on gentle cleansing and moisturizing and Sun protecting that's it and there are certain ingredients you can look for in your skincare products that are known to help with Skin Barrier function things like ceramides niacinamide panthenol petrolatum glycerin dimethicone these are all things that we incorporate into skin care to help the barrier perform better if you continue to have really sensitive or reactive skin and it's affecting your everyday life that is a really good time to get plugged in with a dermatologist but some clinics also offer professional patch testing where we expose you to many different things that might be in your environment or in your skin care to understand what sensitivities we might not have picked up on yet if you're someone who has sensitive skin and you found some great skincare products that work well for you please share them in the comments I'm always curious to know about them and we can help each other out here if you liked this video don't forget to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel and I'll see you next time

Channel: Dr. Sam Ellis

Views: 13,210

Keywords: dermatologist, dermatology, skincare, skin care, skincare expert, beauty, dr sam ellis, sam ellis, dr Samantha ellis, sensitive skincare, products for sensitive skin, sensitive skin, rosacea skin care, skin rashes, sensitive skin moisturizer, sensitive skin sunscreen, sensitive skin makeup, sensitive skin shower routines, dry skin, irritated skin, red skin, irritated skin barrier, irritated skin face, irritated skin treatment, irritated skin around eyes

Id: keMpJ1YiFxQ

Length: 14min 54sec (894 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 14 2024