Don’t OVER cleanse. A single cleanse in the morning and a double cleanse at night, if you’re wearing makeup and SPF, is plenty.
Opt for gentle cleansers rather than overly foaming textures. Cream cleansers are great for sensitive skin.
Don’t over-exfoliate and stop exfoliation temporarily if your skin is inflamed.
Outside of using a face cloth, try and avoid manual exfoliation. Opt for gentle chemical exfoliants such as PHAs (polyhydroxy acids).
Add new products to your routine, slowly. Especially when it comes to retinoids and exfoliating acids.
Avoid excess sun exposure and wear SPF daily, all year round. Mineral-based sunscreens using zinc or titanium dioxide are better tolerated by sensitive skin.
Keep it hydrated with serums, mists and moisturisers. Brilliant hydrating ingredients include hyaluronic acid (always apply on damp skin with a moisturiser on top), urea, glycerin and squalane.
If your skin is feeling particularly sore, use cleansers that can easily be washed away with water rather than a flannel which may cause further irritation due to friction.
Incorporate hyaluronic acid. Apply to damp skin and always make sure to use a moisturiser on top.
Avoid long, hot showers and use lukewarm water to cleanse your skin at the sink.
Avoid harsh soaps and astringent toners.
Strengthen your skin’s barrier with gentle ingredients such as ceramides, centella asiatica, cholesterol, beta-glucan and sodium PCA.
If your skin is very sore, use an occlusive balm on affected areas, over the top of your moisturiser. This is also a great way to reduce friction from mask-wearing.
Opt for fragrance-free and essential oil-free products wherever possible. Unless your skin can tolerate them. There will always be exceptions to this rule as products can be formulated to be gentler on the skin.
Avoid products with a high concentration of simple alcohols (in the first 7 ingredients of the INCI list). For ease, these will be listed as: alcohol denat/denatured alcohol and isopropyl alcohol. The caveat being chemical exfoliants, as alcohol is often used to stabilise the formula.
While there are a variety of skincare myths that often circulate, retinoids draw particular attention. With this in mind, we asked board-certified dermatologist, Ranella Hirsch, to bust the most common myths around the gold-standard ingredient.
Heather Wish, Skincare Education Specialist at Paula’s Choice
Find out all you need to know about this all-star ingredient with Heather Wish, Skincare Education Specialist at Paula’s Choice.
What is azelaic acid?
Azelaic acid is a skin-friendly dicarboxylic acid* with unique properties that deliver:
Mild exfoliating action that helps unclog pores and refine skin’s surface
Skin tone-evening properties that visibly fade post-acne marks and other discolourations
Have you been using a retinoid for a while now and are ready to dial it up a notch? Here’s what you need to know.
What are retinoids?
The gold standard in skincare, retinoids (an umbrella term used for the various forms found in topical skincare), such as retinal, are derivatives of vitamin A – a key nutrient needed in order for our skin cells to function properly. They work by increasing skin cell renewal (the rate at which new skin reaches the top layer) and helping to stimulate key processes such as collagen and elastin production, altogether leaving the skin with a smooth, radiant and even appearance.
Find out all about the journey of the long-awaited Skin Rocks Skincare in our interview with Founder, Caroline Hirons.
When did you first decide you wanted to launch a skincare line?
I have a note in my phone from 23rd April 2013, so nearly 10 years ago, where I listed out what I would launch under a different name. These were my early thoughts of it, as I’ve always looked at overhyped claims and thought ‘if I had the opportunity, I would do it better than this’. Now, there is so much goodness in the industry that the thought has switched from ‘I will do better than this’ to ‘I want to do our best work’.
While there are a variety of skincare myths that often circulate, retinoids draw particular attention. With this in mind, we asked board-certified dermatologist, Ranella Hirsch, to bust the most common myths around the gold-standard ingredient.
Heather Wish, Skincare Education Specialist at Paula’s Choice
Find out all you need to know about this all-star ingredient with Heather Wish, Skincare Education Specialist at Paula’s Choice.
What is azelaic acid?
Azelaic acid is a skin-friendly dicarboxylic acid* with unique properties that deliver:
Mild exfoliating action that helps unclog pores and refine skin’s surface
Skin tone-evening properties that visibly fade post-acne marks and other discolourations
Have you been using a retinoid for a while now and are ready to dial it up a notch? Here’s what you need to know.
What are retinoids?
The gold standard in skincare, retinoids (an umbrella term used for the various forms found in topical skincare), such as retinal, are derivatives of vitamin A – a key nutrient needed in order for our skin cells to function properly. They work by increasing skin cell renewal (the rate at which new skin reaches the top layer) and helping to stimulate key processes such as collagen and elastin production, altogether leaving the skin with a smooth, radiant and even appearance.
While there are a variety of skincare myths that often circulate, retinoids draw particular attention. With this in mind, we asked board-certified dermatologist, Ranella Hirsch, to bust the most common myths around the gold-standard ingredient.
Heather Wish, Skincare Education Specialist at Paula’s Choice
Find out all you need to know about this all-star ingredient with Heather Wish, Skincare Education Specialist at Paula’s Choice.
What is azelaic acid?
Azelaic acid is a skin-friendly dicarboxylic acid* with unique properties that deliver:
Mild exfoliating action that helps unclog pores and refine skin’s surface
Skin tone-evening properties that visibly fade post-acne marks and other discolourations
