DermoraCalm it first, then add anything at all.
Skin that stings, flushes, and reacts to products it used to tolerate is usually telling you something specific, and it is rarely that you need a gentler brand. Dermora scores reactivity, redness, and barrier resilience together, which is what separates skin that has always been sensitive from skin a routine has made that way.
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What we score for reactivity
Flushing pattern
Where colour rises and how widely it spreads, which differs between reactive skin and rosacea-type flushing.
Stinging response
Products that burn on contact, especially ones you previously used without trouble.
Redness persistence
Whether colour settles within an hour or stays put all day, a useful signal for what is driving it.
Barrier resilience
How much your skin can currently tolerate, scored separately from how red it looks.
Visible vessels
Fine surface capillaries, which point toward a vascular pattern rather than routine-induced irritation.
Texture disruption
Flaking and rough patches that often accompany reactivity and confuse the picture.
Sensitive is a trait; sensitised is a state.
Genuinely sensitive skin is a long-term trait, often with a family history, frequently alongside eczema or rosacea, and it has been reactive since long before you had a routine. Sensitised skin is something you acquired, usually over a few months of too many actives, and it is temporary. They look nearly identical in a mirror and need quite different plans.
The tell is time. If you could use most products fine two years ago and cannot now, you are sensitised, and the fix is subtraction rather than a gentler product line. If your skin has reacted to everything since you were a teenager, you are working with a trait, and the plan is about avoiding your specific triggers and keeping the barrier strong rather than expecting the reactivity to go away.
One product at a time, with weeks in between.
Start from a floor: gentle non-foaming cleanser, a fragrance-free moisturiser with ceramides, and a mineral sunscreen, which many reactive faces tolerate better than chemical filters. Run that alone for two weeks. It is dull, and it is also the only way to know what your skin is like when nothing is provoking it, which is the baseline everything else gets judged against.
Then add one product, patch tested on the jaw for several days first, used twice a week before going nightly. Wait two full weeks before adding anything else. If something stings, it comes out and you go back to the floor. Weekly scoring on Plus makes this far less guesswork, because a redness dip shows up in the data a week after a change rather than being something you try to recall a month later.
Common questions about sensitive skin.
What is the difference between sensitive and sensitised skin?
Sensitive skin is a long-term trait, usually lifelong and often alongside conditions such as eczema or rosacea. Sensitised skin is acquired, typically from over-using actives, and it recovers once the routine is simplified. The useful question is whether you could tolerate products a year or two ago that bother you now.
Is fragrance always the problem?
It is a common trigger and worth removing while you work out what is going on, but it gets blamed for a lot it did not do. Essential oils, high-strength actives, physical scrubs, and simply using too many products at once cause plenty of reactions in fragrance-free routines. Removing one variable at a time is what identifies the real culprit.
Can sensitive skin use retinoids?
Often yes, with a slower on-ramp. That usually means a lower strength, twice a week to start, applied over moisturiser to buffer it, and building up over a couple of months rather than a couple of weeks. Barrier condition matters more than the product: reactive skin that is already compromised should repair first.
When should I see a professional about sensitive skin?
If flushing is persistent, comes with visible vessels or bumps, or is triggered by heat, alcohol, or spicy food, that pattern is worth having assessed for rosacea. Persistent itching, scaling, or a rash also warrant a proper look. Dermora offers cosmetic observations and does not diagnose conditions or replace professional care.
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Analyze my skin freeDermora provides cosmetic skin analysis and general skincare guidance. It does not diagnose, treat, or replace care from a board-certified dermatologist.