Skin Irritants

Your skin barrier faces a daily assault course of things that can weaken it, some obvious, some easy to miss. This page covers everyday irritants and allergens, things that cause immediate reactions like redness, breakouts, or sensitivity. For a different kind of concern, ingredients linked to hormone disruption, carcinogenicity, or contamination, see our Ingredients We Avoid page. We avoid both categories, but they're different kinds of risk, so we've kept them separate.

Fragrance

Synthetic fragrance is by far the most common cause of skin reactions, it's one of the leading allergens in cosmetics generally, which is why we use essential oils rather than synthetic fragrance.

However, naturally derived doesn't mean automatically risk-free either, essential oils are brimming with active plant compounds, which are often therapeutic, but which can cause reactions in some people, though considerably less often than synthetic fragrance does.

So, we also offer fragrance-free versions of many of our products, for the small number of people who react to essential oils.

Surfactants and Foaming Agents

Sulphates in general, not only sodium lauryl sulphate, strip natural oils and weaken the skin barrier. Cocamidopropyl betaine is worth knowing too, it's often marketed as a gentle, natural-derived alternative, but it's actually a fairly common contact allergen in its own right.

Strong Active Ingredients

We're cautious about retinoids. They work by deliberately irritating and speeding up the shedding of skin cells, which compromises the barrier for as long as you use them and leaves skin more reactive to everything else on this list. We think the long-term trade-off is questionable, particularly for anyone already managing sensitive or reactive skin.

Strong exfoliating acids carry a similar barrier-compromising effect. Alcohol in high concentrations is drying and disruptive with regular use. Urea can be irritating at the higher levels used in some intensive treatments.

Preservatives

Most conventional skincare, and even many products marketed for problem skin, need an antimicrobial preservative to stop bacteria growing in their watery formulas. These are, by design, harsh on cells, common examples include parabens, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives (like DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, and quaternium-15), methylisothiazolinone (MI), phenoxyethanol, and potassium sorbate. We believe these are often the real cause of irritation in people who think they have "sensitive skin." See our Water-Free Skincare Revolution page for why formulating without water sidesteps the need for any of them.

Common Contact Allergens

• Lanolin – derived from wool, a genuine allergen for a meaningful minority of people despite being natural
• Nickel – a common trace contaminant in shimmery eyeshadows and some mineral pigments
• PPD (p-Phenylenediamine) – found in most permanent hair dye, a well-known strong sensitiser
• FD&C Red 40 and other synthetic dyes – can trigger reactions in sensitive individuals
• Fluoride in toothpaste – documented in dermatology case reports as a trigger for perioral dermatitis, especially in toothpastes that also contain SLS

Sunscreen Filters

Oxybenzone is a well-documented contact allergen, affecting a meaningful share of the population, more in people already sensitive to fragrance. Avobenzone and octinoxate have also been flagged for skin allergy and irritation. We recommend mineral sunscreens (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) instead, see our Free Radicals page for our full approach to sun protection.

Clothing

Some fabrics are surprisingly irritating, wool, especially if it's coarse or heavy can irritate eczema prone skin.  Synthetic Fabrics: Polyester, nylon, acrylic, and spandex/elastane trap heat and moisture, lack breathability, and cause friction that can lead to rashes or chafing in particular.