Best Skincare Routine for Sensitive Skin

Sensitive skin behaves exactly how its name suggests: sensitively. 

With common side effects including redness, burning, itching, and irritation, sensitive skin is the skin type that’s prone to reactions—particularly when it comes to new skincare formulas and ingredients. 

Understanding Sensitive Skin

Sensitive skin is usually caused by genetic differences in the normal protective skin barrier. This leads to irritation, inflammation, and general crankiness when exposed to irritants or allergens. Sometimes that’s heat, air quality, or food. Sometimes it's skincare. 

Important! This differs from sensitised skin, which is a temporary condition caused by damaging your skin barrier with too many heavy duty actives or exfoliants. 

Sensitised skin can be tackled through soothing, repairing ingredients whereas sensitive skin is a skin type that can be managed but never relieved.

Why A Tailored Skincare Routine Matters

Sensitive skin requires a bit more care, attention, and personalisation than other skin types. While there definitely are some common culprits behind flare-ups, these differ face to face. What irritates some sensitive skin might not irritate others. 

That’s why the best skincare routine for sensitive skin is one that’s been tailored to your specific skin and its needs.

A tailored routine helps you find the right products that care for your skin without triggering your sensitivity—keeping your skin hydrated, protected, and balanced, without the risk of redness, burning, and dryness.

Key Ingredients For Sensitive Skin Products

When it comes to skincare for sensitive skin, everyone’s different and reacts differently. These are the key ingredients that are known to play nice with sensitive skin types, but as always—patch test first. 

Ceramides

Irritated skin will very much appreciate an extra helping of moisture. And there’s no better ingredient for mega moisture than ceramides. Ceramides are fatty acids which allow your skin to function properly. They also work to reinforce and strengthen the skin’s barrier, which will help you prevent irritation in the future.

Oatmeal

Naturally rich in lipids, proteins, and vitamins, oatmeal boasts mega moisturising properties as well as write-home-about-level soothing effects. It’s for this reason that oatmeal has been used on the skin for thousands of years, with some of the earliest books of medicine recommending oats as a skin remedy.

Sea Buckthorn Extract

Sea buckthorn is a nutrient-dense botanical loaded with fatty acids and antioxidants, including carotenoids and vitamin E. On skin, these compounds get busy protecting against oxidative stress, supporting the moisture barrier, and helping to settle visible redness and irritation—making sea buckthorn especially useful for sensitive, cranky, stressed-out skin.

Bacillus Ferment

Bacillus ferment is a fermented, bio-based ingredient, derived from a microorganism isolated from thermal springs in Italy. (La dolce vita!) It helps create conditions that support a healthy microbial community on the skin, which contributes to barrier health, inflammation, and skin comfort.

Vitamin E

The OG skin soother. Vitamin E is a calming classic for a reason—famed for its ability to protect and repair at the same time. While moisturising the skin and improving barrier function. On top of that it also aids in preventing free radical damage on the skin.

Alpine Skullcap

A total showoff of the sensitive skincare world, this ingredient is widely known to help calm visible signs of skin stress. Derived from the plant itself, alpine skullcap is an ultra-soothing active that targets the actual pathways in your skin behind sensitivity and reactivity to leave skin stronger and healthier.

Niacinamide

Niacinamide (aka. vitamin B3) does a whole lot for skin, and it does it all really well. (Ahem, that’s why it’s so insanely popular with skin of all types and concerns.) It’s well known for its calming and soothing abilities, which makes it exceptional if you have any redness that you want to calm down. On top of that it can assist with barrier function and help lock moisture firmly in your skin. Nice.

Cica

Cica is a leafy green herb that’s been used in medicine for millennia to treat a range of skin conditions from leprosy to burn wounds. Stacked with antioxidants, amino acids, and soothing compounds, cica is able to calm inflammation, relieve irritation and boost hydration—especially if your skin is seriously sensitive and reactive.

Step-By-Step Best Skincare Routine For Sensitive Skin

The best skincare routine for sensitive skin will focus on soothing ingredients and simple formulas that cater to your skin and its needs. Here’s what we’d recommend at Go-To.

In The AM:

1. Cleanse! Wash away the day with our low-lather, ultra-gentle Mellow Milk.

2. Strengthen! Apply Much Calmer Skin for immediate comfort and lasting resilience.

3. Restore! Replenish your barrier and protect your peace with Supremely Soothing Moisturiser.

4. Protect! For sensitive skin types might enjoy Nifty Fifty Mineral. A mineral sunscreen for physical protection against UVA and UVB rays—without the grease or shine (and with soothing zinc).

In The PM:

1. All faces need a double cleanse. Mellow Milk, thankfully, can pull a double duty. Start with Mellow Milk on dry skin,  massage one to two pumps in thoroughly, then rinse with warm water or remove with a gentle cloth. Follow with Mellow Milk again, this time onto damp skin.

2. Exfoliate (only as your skin needs).  Gentle Exfoliator has been formulated with sensitive skin types in mind. Featuring a considered blend of lactic acid (the most gentle AHA), a slow-releasing poly-hydroxy acid (PHA), and aloe vera extract to remove dead skin cells and boosts skin renewal.

3. Rehydrate and strengthen with Much Calmer Skin

4. Then: Supremely Soothing Moisturiser. To lock everything in.

How to Protect and Soothe Sensitive Skin

If your skin is already easily pissed off, it doesn’t need a cranky barrier making things worse. A strong barrier helps lock in moisture and prevent environmental stressors from worsening any existing sensitivity, redness, stinging, and itchiness

Shopping for sensitive skin products that reinforce your barrier is going to help strengthen, protect, and soothe your skin. 

Incorporate a strengthening serum: Much Calmer Skin not only defends against redness, reactivity, and discomfort on the daily—it helps support sensitive skin longterm. Ingredients like alpine skullcap help calm visible signs of skin stress while helping to targets the actual pathways in your skin behind sensitivity and reactivity to leave skin stronger and healthier.

Opt for a restorative face cream: Formulated with an ultra-gentle blend of oat ceramides, panthenol, and centella, Supremely Soothing Moisturiser replenishes moisture, reinforces skin resilience, and supports healthier skin over time. Leading the formula are oat ceramides, which gets to work reducing the side effects of barrier impairment (see: dryness, flaking and roughness), it also helps restore and strengthen the barrier itself.

How To Choose and Buy Sensitive Skin Products

1. Always Patch Test

Patch testing comes with the territory of sensitive skin. Before you start slathering it all over your face, complete a patch test to make sure it’ll work with that sensitive ol’ skin of yours.

2. Opt For Calming, Gentle Ingredients

Delicate skin calls for delicate ingredients. Incorporating gentle, non-active, soothing ingredients into your routine can help limit irritation and give your skin the calm it needs. (Of course, that Eczema Association of Australasia logo is a huge green flag.)

3. Stick To What Works For That Face Of Yours 

Find a sensitive skin routine that works for your skin and stick to it—rather than trying any or everything TikTok tells you to try. Following trends (and not your face) can often lead to chaos, and a very cranky skin barrier.

FAQs

What is the best skincare routine for sensitive skin?

The best skincare routine for sensitive skin will use gentle ingredients, simple formulas, and most importantly, work with your skin’s needs.

In action, this’ll look a bit like:

1. A simple, soap-free cleanser with calming ingredients. 

2. A restorative serum or face cream to rehydrate and replenish (one or both, depending on your skin's needs.)

3. SPF. Always. 

Can sensitive skin use exfoliators and serums?

Yes! Definitely. But it’s best to patch test first to make sure the serum works with your skin. 

For sensitive skin, we recommend starting with Gentle Exfoliator. Designed with sensitive skin in mind, this ultra-gentle exfoliator sloughs away dead skin build-up without pissing off your skin.

In terms of serum, we’d suggest trying a strengthening serum specifically formulated to support and care for sensitive skin. (Like Much Calmer Skin, our powerhouse serum approved by the Eczema Association of Australasia.)

How often should I use products for sensitive skin?

With all skincare, we recommend following the directions of use. Stay consistent and patient with new products, but stop using if anything is irritating or seriously pissing off your skin.

Where can I shop for sensitive skin products?

Lots of places! But we’re partial to the website you’re currently shopping on. 

You can shop for sensitive skincare products at gotoskincare.com. We also do 30-day returns so if something doesn’t work out, no stress.