More than 60% of women worldwide feel they have sensitive skin (Sources: Skin Research and Technology, November 2006, pages 217-222; and British Journal of Dermatology, August 2001, pages 258-263), and though many physicians feel that this is at best an exaggeration, the truth is these women do have sensitive skin and I would suspect the number is much higher.
Regardless of your primary skin type, ethnic background, or age, minor or major irritating skin conditions can be present, even those you can’t feel. The skin can burn, chafe, or crack, and you may have patchy areas of dry, flaky skin related to weather conditions, hormonal changes, the skin-care products you use, or sun exposure. Skin can also break out in small bumps that look like a diaper rash. Skin can itch, swell, blotch, redden, and develop allergic reactions to cosmetics, animals, dust, or pollen.
If that isn’t enough to make you itch just a little, then think about the number of cosmetics most women use daily. The average woman uses at least 12 different skin-care, makeup, and hair-care products a day, with each one, on average, containing about 20 different ingredients. That means her skin is exposed to about 240 different cosmetic ingredients on any given day. The fact that any of us have skin left is a testimony to the skin’s resiliency, the safety of the majority of cosmetic ingredients, and the talent of cosmetics chemists. Whether we like it or not, most of us will react to something along the way, perhaps even daily.
Your skin is the protective armor that keeps the elements and other invaders from entering the body. We protect most of our anatomy with clothing, but our faces are left painfully exposed to everything. It’s no wonder the skin on our faces acts up now and then. Sensitive skin is probably the most “normal” type of skin around.
Everyone has the potential to have or develop sensitive skin given what it goes through, so women of every skin type should heed the precautions for sensitive skin. What are the precautions? There is really only one and it goes for all skin types: Treat your skin as gently as you possibly can. Whether you think of your face as oily, dry, or mature, you still need to be gentle with your skin and avoid things that cause irritation.