Sensible solutions for sensitive faces

 Often the skin reacts to these with unpleasant sensations such as stinging, itching or skin tightness. Although these reactions are not visible, they can cause significant discomfort, especially when they affect the face. The problem is particularly acute for people with sensitive skin, which is a very common condition. As a result, products for sensitive skin represent an important segment within the cosmetics market. Formulation expertise and ingredient knowledge help manufacturers to develop tailored face care products that meet the ever-growing consumer demand for suitable solutions.

The term “sensitive skin” is commonly used to describe a number of unpleasant sensations of varying intensity and which are transient in nature. People have different sensitive skin types but typically complain about skin tightness, burning, prickling or itchy sensations. These complaints can be accompanied by transient redness or skin dryness. Although these symptoms usually do not involve visible or predictable signs of irritation or immunological reactions, they can cause significant discomfort. Due to the wide variety of possible causes and the subjective nature of the responses associated with sensitive skin, it is extremely difficult to quantify. Therefore there is no exact and universally accepted definition of the condition. In general, sensitive skin can be defined as being a skin type showing a heightened sensitivity to topically applied substances and environmental factors. Other terms proposed for sensitive skin include “subjective irritation”, “non-immunologic adverse skin reactions” and “self-estimated enhanced skin sensitivity”.1 Studies suggest that over 50% of people in the Western world believe they have sensitive skin,2,3 with the figure among women even higher. Environmental influences such as cold, dry air, chemicals or even stress affect the human skin and are just some of the factors that are responsible for complaints associated with sensitive skin. The face is the anatomical location with the highest prevalence of sensitive skin followed by the body. The occurrence of stinging is primarily reported for the face.2,4 Responses to certain environmental factors vary between ethnic groups around the world. For example, certain studies show that Euro-Americans seem to be more susceptible to wind and weather and complain of the development of redness, whereas African-Americans and Asians more often report sensory effects.5 Age may be a factor as subjects over 50 are more likely to claim they have sensitive skin as evidenced by an increased sensory discomfort. They also reported that their skin had become more sensitive over time.3 As a result, consumers are increasingly looking for products with claims such as “soothing”, “mild” or “suitable for sensitive skin”. Manufacturers are trying to meet this demand, and the number of products on the market that make sensitive skin-related claims has grown steadily in the last five years, especially in Europe and North America.6 However, developing solutions for sensitive skin presents considerable challenges, partly because of the difficulty in predicting the sensorial responses, making formulating difficult, and the effectiveness in meeting the specific needs of sensitive skin. Therefore, wide-ranging expertise is needed to develop new products that meet this growing market demand. Not only mild state-of-the art ingredients are important, but also a high degree of know-how in formulation technology for the ideal composition. The latest industry developments and scientific discoveries also need to be closely monitored as these also feed into product development process.

Assessing different aspects of sensitive skin