I don’t consider myself to have sensitive skin. I try out dozens of skincare products a month, and my skin is pretty forgiving of this incessant chopping and changing. However, there are some ingredients that irritate the hell out of my skin, causing stinging eyes, reddened areas and dehydration. The obvious culprits are cleansers loaded with alcohol, which cause my skin to shrivel. If you see alcohol or “alcohol denat” in the top three ingredients in a list, my advice would be to avoid the product.

In the past couple of weeks I have used three cleansers from “natural” brands. A lot of claims made on packaging mean absolutely nothing, because the terms are not regulated. “Dermatologically tested” is a meaningless phrase, as is “chemical-free”.

There are exceptions, of course, but as a rule the brands that cause me the most bother are “natural “ skincare composed of essential oils. Aurelia cleansing balm makes my eyes water as soon as I open the tub. I expect cleansers to take off my eye make-up, because I don’t want the hassle of using an extra eye make-up remover, and that’s why I love gentle oil, balm and micellar cleansers.

In the past couple of weeks I have been using Dr Weils for Origins Micellar Water, which proclaimed it was for sensitive skin. It is packed with many more ingredients than a traditional micellar. At first it was fine, but on the second use it began to sting. Upon reading the packaging more closely I became aware of the warning: “avoid the eye area”. The same thing happened with a Murad cleansing oil and toner.

There is no point using these cleansers. Basic cleansers that won’t irritate from brands such as Bioderma, Avène, Cetaphil and Simple are the ones to go for if you have sensitive skin.

• amcdermott@irishtimes.com
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