Being gentle to your face is one of the most important parts of any skin-care routine. Along with diligent sun protection (which is really about reducing the inflammation in skin caused by the sun), using gentle, nonirritating skin-care products is part of how you can achieve the best daily and long-term skin-care results possible—so you can have the skin you’ve always wanted. (Sources: American Journal of Clinical Dermatology, May 2004, pages 327-337; Dermatologic Therapy, January 2004, pages 16-25; Cosmetics & Toiletries, November 2003, page 63; Global Cosmetics, February 2000, pages 46-49; and Contact Dermatitis, February 1995, pages 83-87.)
We do many things to our skin and buy an assortment of skin-care products that can cause serious irritation. Yet it is far easier than you may think to eliminate these skin-“care” culprits. With that in mind, here is a list of typical skin-care and makeup ingredients and specific cosmetic products and tools to avoid or use cautiously. The skin can react negatively to all of the following products, procedures, and ingredients.
Irritating Skin-Care Steps and Products to Avoid
• Overly abrasive scrubs (including many at-home microdermabrasion scrubs)
• Astringents containing irritating ingredients
• Toners containing irritating ingredients
• Scrub mitts
• Cold or hot water
• Steaming or icing the skin
• Facial masks containing irritating ingredients
• Loofahs
• Bar soaps and bar cleansers (Sources: International Journal of Dermatology, August 2002, pages 494-499; Skin Research and Technology, May 2001, pages 98-104; and Dermatology, March 1997, pages 258-262).
The Most Common Irritating Ingredients to Avoid:
(These are of greater concern when they appear at the beginning of an ingredient list.)
• Alcohol or sd-alcohol followed by a number (Exceptions: Ingredients like cetyl alcohol or stearyl alcohol are standard, benign, waxlike cosmetic thickening agents and are completely nonirritating and safe to use.)
• Camphor
• Citrus juices and oils
• Eucalyptus
• Excessive fragrance
• Menthol
• Menthyl lactate
• Menthoxypropanediol
• Mint
• Peppermint
• Sodium lauryl sulfate
• Arnica
• Bergamot
• Cinnamon
• Clove
• Eugenol
• Grapefruit
• Lavender
• Linalool
• Wintergreen
• Witch hazel
• Ylang-ylang
These ingredients are extremely common; you would be surprised how often they show up in skin-care products for all skin types. Ingredients like camphor, menthol, mint, and alcohol are sometimes recommended because they are considered anti-itch ingredients. The theory works like this: When your skin itches, the nerve endings are sending messages begging you to scratch. If you place these irritating ingredients over the area that itches, the nerve hears the irritation message louder than it hears the itch message and interprets this as a reason to stop itching. That reasoning is fine if minor, sporadic, occasional itching is your problem. If it is not and those ingredients are present in skin-care products meant for everyday use, they introduce a constantly irritating assault to the skin, and cause dryness, rashes, increased oil production, redness, and breakouts. None of those side effects are attractive.
Skin doesn’t have to hurt, tingle, or be stimulated even a little to be clean. (If the skin tingles, it is being irritated, not cleaned.) The major rule for all skin types is, if a product or procedure irritates the skin, don’t use it again.
Exceptions to the rule: When you initially begin to use an AHA or BHA product or Retin-A, Renova, azelaic acid, or Differin, stinging or tingling can occur. You may need to cut back if it is more than a little tingling, or stop altogether if these symptoms persist for more than a few weeks or worsen with repeated use.