When you have sensitive skin, finding beauty products that won’t cause an allergic reaction can be almost impossible.

Even brands which claim to be “pure” and “natural” can contain chemicals, essential oils, or artificial ingredients which may lead to breakouts, a rash or even more severe symptoms.

If you have sensitive skin, experts recommend keeping your beauty regime simple, so that you can quickly identify and then eliminate possible irritants. Yello has also been doing some research and found these five ingredients which you should probably try to avoid.

Sulphates

Sulphates, such as sodium lauryl sulphate and sodium laureth sulphate, are the ingredients that create lather in face wash, shower gel, and toothpaste.

Sulphates can irritate because they strip the skin of its natural oils and leave it feeling tight, dry, and itchy.

Look for products which have ‘sulphate free’ on the label.

Alcohol

Everyone knows that alcohol has a drying effect and strips moisture from the skin, which is why people with sensitive skin, especially those with eczema, should try to avoid it where possible.

However, there are some ‘fatty’ alcohols like cetyl, stearyl, cetearyl, and behenyl which act to stabilise other ingredients in beauty products. These rarely cause irritation and can be tolerated in small amounts by most skin types.

Essential oils

Essential oils may be natural, but they can still cause irritation and other problems, especially for people with sensitive skin.

A few concentrated oils, such as birch, clove, cinnamon, ginger, peppermint and wintergreen are said to be the most likely to cause sensitisation and allergic reactions.

But essential oils are complex (some have over 100 compounds), which is why it’s best to carry out a patch test on a small area to see how your body reacts.

Fragrance

The beauty industry has been criticised for the way it labels ‘fragrance’ as an ingredient because of its catch-all phrasing.

In some products, ‘fragrance’ can be derived from essential oils, while in others ‘fragrance’ could be an artificial product which contains 200 or more different chemical or botanical components.

There isn’t any need for perfume in skincare, so it’s best to choose fragrance-free formulas, that way you can avoid one of the most common problematic ingredients.

Dyes

Dyes are often comprised of several harsh chemicals and can even be made of coal tar and contain lead and arsenic, all of which can wreak havoc on skin.

Synthetic dyes on a product’s ingredients label are usually identifiable by the letters FD&C or D&C preceding a name or number like FD&C RED No. 40.

Check the ingredients list carefully and opt for items without dyes, or with natural dyes from herbs and plants.

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Choosing beauty products when you have sensitive skin is not easy.

But there is good news, because an increasing number of simpler, natural, and organic products with fewer ingredients are now on the market, and a lot of them are produced locally, or elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Check the ingredients list for potentially harmful substances. Remember, if an ingredient is named high up, that means there is more of it in the product. And always carry out a patch test first!

Sources: Wellandgood.com, Theeverygirl.com, Self.com, Get the Gloss and Geneva Naturals.