Is Your Skin Sensitive or Sensitized? Here’s How To Know and How To Deal.

The amount of times I’ve heard people say their skin is sensitive, but it turns out that their skin is actually sensitized. That’s why it’s important to understand the difference between the two, so you can go about treating your skin accordingly.

If you have sensitive skin, it means you are naturally predisposed to being sensitive to products. Your skin barrier is weaker, making it easier for products to penetrate the skin and cause irritation or breakouts. This can be genetic or due to certain medical conditions (e.g., rosacea).

On the other hand, if your skin is sensitized, this means that your skin has been damaged by external agents (e.g., harsh weather conditions, stress), causing inflammation and redness, which then makes you more reactive to products. It’s like a vicious cycle: you start using a product that irritates your skin, causing inflammation and redness; this then makes you more prone to reacting negatively to other products, even if they were fine before.

So how do you know whether your skin is sensitive or sensitized? This can be determined by looking at your family history and seeing if any of

Is Your Skin Sensitive or Sensitized? Here’s How To Know and How To Deal

When your skin is acting out, it’s easy to feel like you’re at the mercy of whatever is going on with your skin. But, as many of us have learned the hard way, it’s not always obvious what’s going on—or how to fix it. Is my skin sensitive or sensitized?

The terms “sensitive skin” and “sensitized skin” are often used interchangeably, but in reality, these two things are quite different. Sure, they can cause very similar symptoms like redness, irritation and tightness—but their causes are wildly different. And knowing this difference will help you get (and keep) your skin healthy.

First things first: What is sensitive skin?

Sensitive skin is a genetic condition that some people are born with. Sensitive-skinned people tend to experience more discomfort when using products with fragrance and other sensitizing ingredients. Physically speaking, this is because their protective barrier is more porous than most—meaning irritants can easily get through and trigger reactions like redness, itching and irritation. People who have this kind of sensitivity can experience a range

If you have sensitive skin, it’s important to use products that are formulated to be gentle on your skin type. Here’s how to know if your skin is sensitive or sensitized and what to do about it.

So, you have sensitive skin, right? Or do you? If your skin is prone to redness, irritation and stinging when using certain products, it can be difficult to distinguish between true sensitive skin and the more common condition of sensitized skin.

Sensitive versus Sensitized Skin

Sensitive skin is a genetic predisposition that often shows up from birth or in early childhood. It’s caused by a thin epidermis (the outermost layer of the skin), which means that there is less protection from irritants. Sensitive skin can also be caused by lower levels of ceramides in the stratum corneum, which are fatty molecules that create a protective barrier for your face. As a result, people with this type of sensitivity often experience redness and stinging when using products with active ingredients like retinol or glycolic acid.

Sensitized skin, on the other hand, is often the result of external factors like environmental aggressors (smog, pollution etc.), over-exfoliating or overuse of

Are you experiencing frequent breakouts, redness, and/or irritation? Is your skin extra sensitive or “overreacting”? If so, you’re in the right place. Today I am going to give you the tools to understand what’s going on and how to deal with it.

This blog is all about the difference between skin sensitivity and sensitized skin, how they can overlap, and what you can do about it. So if you’re feeling confused or frustrated with your skin, keep reading!

I am going to start by talking about skin sensitivity. Let’s dig into that!

As a skincare company, we’re often asked by customers if they have “sensitive skin” and how they should take care of it. As you can imagine, that’s not an easy question to answer without knowing more about your skin.

To help demystify this common skin problem, we’ve teamed up with Dr. Whitney Bowe to break down the difference between a true sensitive skin type and sensitized skin, which is skin that has become irritated or inflamed.

Read on to learn the difference, how to tell if your skin is truly sensitive or sensitized, and how to take care of it.

True Sensitive Skin vs. Sensitized Skin: What’s the Difference?

The first step in treating your skin is determining whether you have a true sensitive skin type or sensitized skin.

True sensitive skin is when your skin reacts negatively to products due to certain triggers (like certain ingredients or environmental factors), and it can be genetic. On the other hand, sensitized skin is any type of irritated or inflamed (or red) condition of the face (dryness, tightness, burning sensation). Sensitized skin can be caused by external factors like pollution and weather conditions or internal factors like stress and diet. In some cases,

As a beauty editor, I’ve found it’s often harder to write about products that are formulated for sensitive skin. The thing is, sensitivity is actually a pretty complex topic. You see, “sensitive” skin can be broken down into two different types: sensitive and sensitized. If you have sensitive skin, you were born with it and it’s just how your skin is from the get-go. When you have this type of skin, it typically means that your skin barrier (more on what that is later) isn’t fully developed. What this means is that your skin barrier doesn’t protect and keep water inside the way it should. So if you have sensitive skin and you use an irritating product (or even one that’s too rich), it can cause redness or inflammation really easily.

If you’re sensitized, this means that something has damaged your outermost layer of skin (called the stratum corneum). If this happens enough times, like if you’re using harsh ingredients or exfoliating too much, you will start to experience irritation more often than before. Now if you’re wondering what exactly can cause damage to the stratum corneum—common culprits are certain acids and actives (like retinol) as well as overusing drying

When I started to work on this article, it was to better understand the difference between sensitive skin and sensitized skin. There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding around these two topics and I have had many clients come to me with products they are using for “sensitive” skin.

After reviewing the ingredients, I realized that there was nothing in any of those products that would help sensitised skin. In fact, most of them had ingredients that could be irritating to anyone with any type of skin.

So, what is the difference between sensitive and sensitized skin?

Sensitive skin is when your skin is naturally reactive to certain things, such as heat or wind or even certain foods. Sensitized skin is when your skin has become reactive due to other factors, such as overuse of products containing synthetic fragrances, or exfoliating too often with products containing irritating ingredients such as glycolic acid or retinol.

The main cause of sensitised skin is the use of products that contain synthetic fragrances. These fragrances can be found in everything from shampoo, deodorant and soap to make-up and even skincare products. They are added because they smell good but also because they make us feel like we are really getting something