Can't we all just get along? Today we venture forth with part two of our two-parter on repairing the relationship between you and your sensitive skin and the gym, products, food and environmental factors - pretty much anything that causes your delicate visage to break out into redness, flakiness, scaliness and bumps. And we start with the number one culprit: your very own cosmetics. (*gasp!)

Now calm down. We're not saying that you have to change out your glorious assortment of nice smelling, prettily packaged products. Well... we actually might be saying that. It seems that quelling the forest fire fueled by product application on sensitive skin might be as easy as (please, sit down) changing your product.


Choosing the wrong product can lead to a whole host of the above symptoms while multi-tasking on the damage front, leaving you vulnerable to wrinkles and other signs of aging. (*gasp) Now I love a new product as much as the next gal, so here are your options: either experiment and figure out what ingredients tend to set your facial nerve endings on end, or stick with all-natural products specifically formulated for sensitive skin. Easy right? And if you’ve already slathered on the offending product – spritz on a cooling facial mist with anti-inflammatories for quick relief.

And speaking of inflammation, don’t let stinging and redness be the only clue that your product and your skin aren’t necessarily sympotico. Scaliness, can be another red flag and is generally a sign of one of two things: You are indeed reptilian, or your skin is so inflamed that the cells are actually lifting and peeling their way away from you. Neither of these is good (unless you’re into that sort of thing.)

The probable cause is usually… again… overuse or using the wrong product (possibly one you’re allergic too?) Your doctor can ID the specific allergen (i.e. Fragrance? Preservatives?) and then steer you away from them. Try sticking with “fragrance-free” products and those with fewer ingredients (you know the ones that have fewer allergetic options? Logic is fun!) And if you’re already in the throws of a full-out flaky fiasco, your doctor can prescribe a 2.5% hydrocortisone cream to help. Of course you’ll have to stop using your scrubs, retinoids (no!) and alpha-hydroxyl acids (NO!) for a bit. Calm down! The payoff is a less-flaky façade in about three days.


While redness does often times signal an allergic reaction or irritation, it can also signal a different horse of the exact same offending color: rosacea. (*gasp!) Rosacea effects nearly 16 million Americans and typically steps up it’s game after you hit the age of 30 (Nice. Like we don’t have enough aging-issues to worry about.) Sun exposure and hormonal changes could be to blame… but really, is placing blame really necessary? (Yes.) What is necessary is fighting rosacea where it lives… namely, your face.

A rosacea flush occurs when blood vessels in your gorgeous dermis dilate too quickly, caused by sun, stress, spicy foods (delicious!), alcohol (also delicious!), coffee (again, delicious!) and… exercise (*hiss!) Often times, the aforementioned creams with anti-inflammatories, like green tea, feverfew and caffeine, will help reverse this frustrating flush, but for more serious cases that involve severe, recurring inflammation or red bumps, your doctor can prescribe a topical gel or even an anti-inflammatory pill.

And what of staving off the flare-ups to begin with, well… sadly, those delicious things that we mentioned earlier will have to go. (*sob) Understanding what triggers your rosacea and, more importantly avoiding those things, is key to staving off the retched red-faced baron.

While youth is wasted on the young, we can at least be grateful that those teen-age breakouts are a thing of the past, right? Wrong. According to cosmetics brand Olay, the average age of acne patients is now 27. Twenty-seven. TWENTY-SEVEN! What the hell?! The problem, again, could also be the increased use of anti-aging cosmetics, improper skincare and fluctuating hormone levels that may leave you feeling like your personality is on the same path as Disney’s Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

The top three ingredients in most acne-fighting arsenals are salicylic acid to unclog pores, benzoyl peroxide to kill bacteria and sulfer to relieve redness. So be on the lookout for these in any anti-acne cosmetics (yep, it’s back to your highschool Clearasil folks.) Don’t forget to continue applying your moisturizer too. It seems that, while logic might steer you towards not wanting to put anything on a breakout, neglecting to balance the moisture in your oil glands actually signals those glands to produce more oil, leading to… yep, you guessed it, more pimply pustules.

While not strictly caused by working out (I like to play the blame game… what can I say?), sensitive skin isn’t going to be solved by throwing your workout under the bus, or by weeping copious amounts of estrogen-riddled tears. (Reallly?! Cause that usually works?) No, it’s going to take acceptance and active involvement – and while those two things are tres adult in their concepts – and might mean that you can’t try out every new, shinily-packed product that come your way – just think of the payoff: A terrifically toned north (face) and south (tush) end. Someone notify the U.N.