Touchy Much? These Products Are What Works For My Sensitive Skincare Routine

Sensitive skin is as individual as a fingerprint, but there are some ways to minimize the risk of having a bad reaction to a product. Here, one beauty guru reviews some K-beauty products that work for her sensitive skincare routine.

There are no absolutes when it comes to sensitive skin. Everyone has their own personal irritants, no-nos, and must-avoid ingredients that make up combinations as unique as each snowflake. Some people can't handle alcohol, some can't stand any coconut derivatives, some can handle either of those but can't deal with jojoba oil. You can never really know what your triggers are except through trial and error.

But there are some ways you can minimize risks, and that's by trying a sensitive skincare routine made up of mild products that rank low on the irritation and acne scales. I can't proclaim any product is truly safe for everyone, but I've tested these products out on my own sensitive skin, from double cleansers to face cream, and they've worked great for me.

Innisfree Blueberry Rebalancing 5.5 Cleanser

This cleanser is mild but not boring. It's rather cushy for a low pH cleanser, which usually tend to be pretty thin and don't feel too luxurious. It bubbles up nicely with a foaming net. Bubbling up your cleanser with a net is a great way to wash an irritated face, as the whipped up foam doesn't need a lot of friction to cleanse. This cleanser only has a single ingredient with any ranking for acne or irritation and that's butylene glycol, which is low on the list and only scores a 1 out of 5 for acne. Even my sensitive skin doesn't react to butylene glycol, which says a lot.

Innisfree The Minimum Facial Cleanser

This is another great cleansing option. This cleanser comes in a foaming pump and has no ingredients that come up for acne or irritation. The only thing I dislike about this cleanser is its small size, but that could always be a plus for travel and portability.

Re:cipe Rose Petal Cleansing Oil

Finding an oil cleanser without any acne or irritation triggers is actually quite difficult. Thankfully, we rinse oil cleansers off and follow up with foaming cleansers, which usually take care of anything left over that could potentially trigger us. This Rose Petal Cleansing Oil only has two ingredients that have a mild potential to trigger and that's olive and jojoba oil. If you're fine with those two ingredients, you'll probably be just fine with this cleanser. It's also gorgeous as it has real rose petals floating throughout the bottle.

SanDaWha Liposome Skin Softener

This "softener" is just a toner, and it's full of anti-inflammatory ingredients and emollients. It only has two potential irritants, olive oil and tocopherol (vitamin E, which is actually an antioxidant), and they only score a 2 out of 5 and they're way, way down on the ingredients list, so there really is hardly any in there.

LHJ Vita Propolis Ampoule

If you're allergic to bees, please skip this one! While propolis is not venom, it is bee “spit” or “glue” that they use to build their hive. It's also a great ingredient for sensitive skin if you're not allergic to bee products. It's been used since antiquity for wound cleansing. It helps inhibit bacterial growth and can help in healing.

Swanicoco also has a Vita Propolis Ampoule, which I haven't tried yet, but a quick glance at the ingredients looks like a promising option. Graymelin Propolis 80 Energy Ampoule also contains ginseng and green tea, which I'm a big fan of.

LJH Tea Tree 90 Essence

Another offering from LJH that is excellent for sensitive skin. Tea tree extract is a known fighter of irritation and a powerful anti-inflammatory ingredient. If you're acne-prone as well as sensitive, this is a great choice for you as there are zero acne or irritation triggers in this formula. It also boasts Centella asiatica extract, which in one study "increased cellular proliferation and collagen synthesis at the wound site." That's a fancy way of saying it healed wounds faster than the control group.

Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel

This gel's first ingredient is aloe leaf juice instead of water. I will never forget the day my grandmother broke off a piece of aloe leaf and rubbed the juice on a burn I had just gotten. It was so soothing, and to me as a kid it seemed absolutely magical that it came out of a plant! This product carries that memory on for me. It has zero acne or irritation triggers and between the aloe and the propolis, sensitive skin will feel soothed AF.

Swanicoco Centella Asiatica Salve

Again with Centella asiatica, the little wound healing warrior ingredient. This particular gel has a whipped texture that soothes and cools the skin. It's great for acneic, sensitive, and dry skin types alike. It might be a home run for you if you have all three.

Eclado Respiration Snow Cream

Like your oil cleanser, finding a cream that's low on potentially triggering ingredients is kind of difficult. There are lots of acne triggers in a lot of creams and a lot of the emollients and stabilizers rank fairly high on the irritant scale. One very mild cream I've had the chance to try is the Eclado Snow Cream. It has a really nice whipped texture and is extremely mild. Dimethicone and beeswax are really the only things that stick out as potentials, and they're only a 1-2 out of 5. It's also devoid of any strong perfumes, which is rare for a luxury cream. I imagine those with sensitive noses as well as skin will especially appreciate that.

I really want to drive home the point here that there is no one product that's going to work for everyone. Given how random people's sensitivities are, exploration for yourself is key. Once you isolate ingredients that don't play well with your skin, shopping is a lot easier. In the meantime, why not give some of these wild milds a try?

Do you have sensitive skin like me? Let me know some of your favorite products that work for your sensitive skincare routine!