Thread by @topicals, Hi everyone! It’s Lily here. Since we have so many new [...]

Hi everyone! It’s Lily here.

Since we have so many new members in our Twitter community, I wanted to reintroduce myself before today’s thread on sensitized vs. sensitive skin!

I’m NY state Licensed Esthetician + Acne specialist and I oversee education here at Topicals.

Let’s hop right in! I first want to explain the difference between skin types & skin conditions. There are only 4 actual skin types. But hundreds of skin conditions. The skin types that are recognized now are:

- Oily
- Dry
- Combination
- Normal

Where’s sensitive, you ask?

Sensitive skin is actually not a real skin type! It’s a skin condition. A few other skin conditions that many of you are familiar with are:

- Dehydration
- Acne
- Rosacea
- Eczema
- Post Inflammatory Erythema/Hyperpigmentation
- Scarring
- Sensitized skin!

Now what differentiates skin types from skin conditions? Skin type is determined by your genetics, just as your pore size is genetically predetermined.

But, different factors such as stress and weather changes can also cause your skin type to temporarily or permanently change.

When it comes to skin conditions, they don’t have to be genetically predetermined. Some people are born with conditions like eczema, but many people experience sudden onset skin conditions where they weren’t born with it. This is typically the case with sensitized skin.

Sensitized skin is usually caused by external factors, but a few internal ones can trigger it too. Here are some of both:

- Stress
- Over exfoliation
- Birth control
- Not implementing barrier focused ingredients
- Chemical peels
- Sun burn
- Stripping cleansers
- Heat

How do you determine whether your skin is sensitive or sensitized? The symptoms mirror each other a LOT.

- Products sting upon application (especially in corners of nose)
- Tightness
- Redness
- Painful cysts
- Random texture
- Skin feels warm to touch
- Shininess with no oil

This all may sound familiar, doesn’t it? Yes! Because these are the same symptoms of a compromised moisture barrier. Compromised moisture barriers are the biggest cause of sensitized skin. And also, people with sensitize skin are more prone to compromising their barrier.

So how do you treat sensitive skin? Unfortunately, sensitive skin is typically a chronic condition like acne or eczema. Sensitized skin can definitely be treated with the proper routine and also by eradicating the external factors causing it as much as possible.

How to treat sensitized skin:

- Incorporate humectants such as glycerin, beta glucan, hyaluronic acid, urea, panthenol, or propylene glycol

- Use ingredients that help fortify the skin’s moisture barrier like madecassoside, ceramides, cholesterol, licorice root, or niacinamide

Some external factors you may want to limit:

- Reduce the amount of heat you expose your skin to. This means stop taking 1 hour long showers in burning hot water. Stop washing your face with hot water!
- Wear + reapply SPF daily even indoors because of sun induced sensitizing

So just to recap:

- Sensitized skin and sensitive skin are both skin conditions, but one you’re born with (sensitive) and the other (sensitized) you’re not.
- Incorporate humectants + anti inflammatory ingredients into your daily routine + wear SPF
- Stop over exfoliating

Finally, we’d like to conclude this thread by reminding you all that majority of the ingredients mentioned above will be found in our upcoming launch this summer/fall

feel free to ask us any questions! We’re more than happy to assist.

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