What to Avoid When Choosing Body Wash & Soap For Sensitive Skin

Sensitive skin is what the name suggests – sensitive, and vulnerable. So, what to avoid when it comes to choosing body wash & soap for sensitive skin? What will be the solution to this? Here goes the list of ingredients that should and should not be included in the product you will apply on sensitive skin. Let’s dive into the article!

The knowledge of sensitive skin is super familiar to us nowadays. The first section of every post about sensitive skin online will be how to determine that you have sensitive skin. In this article, I assume that you all know if you have sensitive skin or not, so let me go straight to the point: 

Avoid These Ingredients When Choosing The Body Wash/ Soap For Your Sensitive Skin 

To analyze every possible chance that will get your sensitive skin safe, there is a massive amount of thing to talk about. One very important thing that can help you avoid harming your sensitive skin is to avoid these ingredients:

#1. Fragrance

The fragrance is added to hide some unpleasant scents of the chemical ingredients inside. Even natural fragrances can make your skin angry. If the product has a heavy scent, they might use many types of fragrance but they don’t have to disclose in detail (only “fragrance” in general). 

According to FDA requirements, skincare products including body wash & soap need to disclose the ingredients on the label. The fragrance is a mixture of both natural and chemical components and both of them can irritate your skin in many ways.

So, the conclusion is to not buy anything which has “fragrance” on the label. One more thing to note is that you need to differentiate between “fragrance-free” and “unscented”. “Fragrance-free” by the means of not adding scents is good for your skin. However, “unscented” means “an ingredient was added to mask the smell of the product, which might be fragrances.

#2. Parabens

Parabens include methyl parabens, propyl parabens, butyl parabens, and ethylparaben which are so common in body washes. This can cause the body’s hormone disruption because of the ability to mimic estrogen. This can lead to many health concerns such as allergic reaction, an excessive amount of estrogen production leading to breast cancer & more. 

Paraben is the reason why many chemicals are able to enter your body. Those chemicals are not supposed to be there. That’s why I think it’s the best choice that you will find a paraben-free product, especially body soaps or washes for sensitive skin. At least, this can prevent itches, rashes, and irritation on your skin. Furthermore, it will probably reduce the chance of serious health issues in the future.

Read more: Top 8 Ingredients to Look for in Baby Skin Products 

#3. Sulfates

The 2 most common types found to be not good for sensitive skin are SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) and SLES (Sodium Laureth Sulfate). These 2 ingredients are used to create foam in body washes. Normal skin will not have any problems with these 2 ingredients but sensitive skin might find that irritating and is likely to react. 

SLS and SLES can leave rashes and allergic symptoms on your skin. If you see your skin reacting badly with some new products you buy, it may contain SLS and SLES. Make sure that you check the label carefully and leave out all the products containing SLS and SLES.

#4. Formaldehyde

There is a fact that formaldehyde is used to preserve dead animals. And it’s also the fact that formaldehyde is included in soaps and body washes quite often. Not only body washes or soaps, plenty of cosmetic and beauty products also contain it. Unfortunately, it’s a carcinogen and previously linked to asthma, neurotoxicity, and developmental toxicity.

We are not going to dive deeper into the section of future harms, let’s talk about the problem when you apply it to sensitive skin. It’s simple to understand, like paraben, it’s toxic. Yes, that’s the reason. Your body should not absorb that substance in any way. So, remember to watch out for Formaldehyde when choosing body soaps/ washes.

What Is The Solution? 

After all, in short, what is the solution? 

If you have sensitive skin, you will need the solution of moisture supply, deep hydrating power, and ingredients not causing irritation. We made a list of what to look for when buying soaps/ body washes and here are the key factors you should consider:

• Mild Soap: contain fewer harsh chemicals, sulfates, and preservatives that could harm the skin.
• Hydrating Oils in oil-based body washes can hydrate moisture into your skin. Soaps with sunflower, coconut, jojoba, or olive oil are those products you might want to find. 
• Shea Butter, which is often found in body lotions, is deeply hydrating. If your body washes/ soaps contain shea butter, your skin will be able to hold onto moisture.
• Vitamin E, of course, a very popular ingredient in skincare products, is super cool in body wash as well. It helps repair dry skin and makes the itchy feelings go away. Moreover, it can help improve the elasticity of your skin.

Make sure to check the ingredient list on any body wash or soap for ingredients like these and avoid the ingredients listed in the heading above. Check the label carefully and it will be all fine! 

Final Words

In conclusion, all we have to do is to pay attention to the label of the body washes/ soaps product. What you should look for and avoid, both on the label. We’ve created the list above for you to use in advance, and we hope it helps. Thanks for visiting F5 Active and don’t hesitate to comment below if you have any questions.