Is your skin more sensitive now?

By Gemma Little

Sensitive Skin may affect any of us, at any time in our life. Today, more people are suffering than ever before.

Considering our lifestyle now, is it surprising? ‘Normal’ life is stressful enough. But with new restrictions and responsibilities. No wonder skin sensitivity is on the rise.

To get to the heart of skin sensitivity, there’s many things to understand:

Why your skin becomes sensitive
How stress and anxiety affect your skin
How your working environment and pollutants have an impact on your skin
How we can create a stronger less sensitive skin

Why your skin becomes sensitive

External skin stress

Your skin barrier is a protective layer designed to keep the good ‘stuff’ in and the ‘bad’ stuff out. When your skin barrier becomes weak, often from an inadequate skin care routine, or using too harsh products. Your skin can start to respond negatively to external stimulation. Heat, cold, wind, touch, or your skincare products.

As well as this, more severe redness can be caused by internal stimulus. Such as drinking alcohol, spicy foods, hormonal changes, stress & anxiety.

Internal skin stress

Skin sensitivity is linked to your brain, and your central nervous system.

When you’re upset, stressed, anxious or tired. Your whole system behaves in a negative way. Making you more sensitive (this includes your skin), and making you behave more emotionally than normal.

The combination of both internal & external stress is a cocktail for more than a gentle skin glow.

Neurotransmitters are released by your brain. Stimulating a response in your skin to release aggressive messengers. These stimulate nerve endings in our skin, causing redness, itching, heat, swelling and pain.

These responses have a negative effect on our collagen & elastin production (the proteins that give your skin its firmness & flexibility). This causes premature skin ageing.

It means sensitive skin ages more quickly, and it gets more sensitive as it ages (you may need to read that a few times!).

Help is on hand

Our Age Defence Sensitive Skin Cream contains a neuro-cosmetic ingredient. It has a positive effect on the discomfort associated with sensitive skin (it works to strengthen your skin from the inside out). While other ingredients repair your skin barrier. Giving you skin strengthening and anti- ageing benefits (this works to strengthen your skin from the outside, in).

For drier sensitive skin you’ll love Sensitive Skin Rich Cream - all the benefits of the Sensitive Skin Cream. In richer in texture.

How your home & working environment impacts your skin

Working from home, home schooling, or just being ‘locked down’ has a huge impact on your skin.

There are several things to consider when assessing what has had a negative impact.

Are you a creature of habit?

Try to keep structure to your day. Getting up 5 days a week and preparing to go to work gives most of us a morning routine. This means following your skincare routine, showering, getting the kids up, breakfast, teeth and out the door to school, work, the gym. Wherever!!

Has the loss of routine reduced how well you’re caring for your skin? A proper skincare routine is a twice daily self-care prescription you need, and your skin can’t do without. How you care for your skin morning & evening will make a huge difference to sensitivity.

Remote & virtual work will also impact your skin

Central heating dehydrates your skin, it dries the atmosphere and saps the moisture from your skin. Computers, laptops, and smart phones all emit blue light. This causes premature cell death, which means we are ageing faster than ever before.

A brisk walk at lunchtime. That’s good for us, right?

It’s very good for you, for lots of reasons - but think of your skin. You’re moving from a lovely warm home to biting temperatures when exercising outside. Whether that's walking, running, or cycling. Your skin is under attack from the elements, causing redness and broken veins.

There’s 2 products I can’t live without

These protect against environmental damage.

The first is Rehydrating Concentrate. It has a unique way of working to rehydrate your skin by 73% in 30 minutes, and continues to drip feed your skin with our moisturising complex for up to 12 hours. It will reduce skin redness by 40% leaving your skin feeling supple, calm, and hydrated.

Daily DNA Defence SPF30 - NOT only for summer. It will defend your skin against all weather conditions come rain, wind, snow, or sunshine. It will give you complete protection against blue light and is great to use as a make-up primer. It’s your final coat of armour against environmental ageing.

These product suggestions will go a long way to easing skin sensitivity. Let’s face it, aggravated skin is one thing you can live without!

With Love

Donna xx

As the cold months roll in it's easy to think SPF can take a backseat in your skincare routine. But Daily DNA Defence SPF30 is much more than just a sunscreen, it’s your final coat of skin armour, it’s weather protection for your skin.

Our award-winning, broad-spectrum SPF protects your skin from more than just UV rays. It guards against environmental pollutants and blue light
emitted from your screens. Meanwhile, winter’s cold air, winds and rain can damage your skin barrier.

During and after exposure to the elements, Daily DNA Defence protects and repairs your cells DNA.

And more than this, it’s the best make-up primer. Talk about a multi-tasking product! Its lightweight formula sits comfortably under your foundation, ensuring your make-up stays fresh and stays ‘put’ all day.

Keep reading as we deep dive into the benefits of Daily DNA Defence SPF30 and why it’s an essential part of your winter skincare regime.

Broad-spectrum, photostable protection with Daily DNA Defence SPF30

Not all SPF products are created equal, Daily DNA Defence SPF30 offers broad-spectrum protection. This means that it shields your skin from both UVA rays (the ones that age your skin) and UVB rays (the ones that burn your skin). If your moisturiser or foundation contains an SPF it’s worth checking, make sure you’re covered for both UVA and UVB. Many of those products only protect against UVB, leaving your skin vulnerable to the long-term damage caused by UVA rays.

I’m guessing that you follow your daily skincare regime to promote skin health and to keep your skin looking great for your age? Using Daily DNA Defence SPF30 will help you avoid undoing all that effort by providing the UVA protection your skin truly needs.

And here's the bonus: our SPF is photostable, meaning it won’t break down or lose effectiveness in the sun. However, if you're by the pool make sure to reapply every two hours as water, sweat and towel drying can remove it, leaving your skin vulnerable.

Blue light and pollution protection

In today’s world, your skin is up against more than just the sun. Daily DNA Defence SPF30 also shields your skin from two often overlooked threats: blue light and pollution.

Blue light, mainly from our smart devices and pollution in the atmosphere. Blue light and pollution trigger changes in your skin cells, even leading to cell death. Unprotected exposure to these will lead to hyperpigmentation and can damage your skin’s health. Most blue light comes from smart technology, which is used daily by most of us. Pollution is all around; levels are higher in towns and cities all year.

DNA Defence and Repair: protecting your skin at the cellular level

When your skin is exposed to radiation it faces more than just surface damage, your cells DNA is at risk. Daily DNA Defence SPF30 acts like a "virtual parasol," shielding your cells during exposure to harmful rays. But the protection doesn’t stop there. After exposure, your body naturally works to repair DNA damage. Your cells naturally produce an enzyme which kickstarts the repair process of your DNA. Thanks to the powerful repairing ingredients in our formula this process is accelerated up to 100 times, meaning your skin recovers faster, stays healthier and sustains less long term damage.

In summary, wear Daily DNA Defence SPF30 as your final coat of skin armour each day in all seasons and you can rest assured you’re doing your best to protect your skin.

Magical make-up priming

We know that finding the perfect daily SPF texture is a challenge. We’ve been there too. Most SPFs feel like a layer too many, leaving skin feeling greasy, heavy or cause foundation to slide off by midday. This is why we made our product for you. A super light veil, which is suitable for even the most sensitive skin. With no oily or white residue, it’s non-pore blocking and
dries over your moisturiser to become the best make-up primer you’ll ever use, keeping your foundation perfectly in place all day or all night long.

No make-up, no problem

For our men and/or non make-up wearers, our handy pocket size product gives you the same invisible veil and matt skin finish. Skiers, golfers and cyclists will love that it slips easily into a pocket, bag or pouch.

Where else should you be applying your SPF?

Your SPF isn’t just for your face, use all the way down to your décollete and up to your hairline. Not forgetting areas like the tops of your lips, ears, nose and the backs of your hands. These are often overlooked spots that are equally exposed to the sun, whether you’re lounging by the pool or simply driving. The backs of your hands are quick to show signs of ageing, so it’s vital to keep them protected. And if you’re grabbing some winter sun make sure to apply it to the tops of your feet.

How much SPF should you use?

Aim for about the size of a 5 pence piece for each application. However, this should come after Step 2 – Skin Boost and Step 3 – Skin Defence Cream in your skincare routine. If you're planning to sunbathe, apply Daily DNA Defence SPF30 at least 15 minutes before heading outside. Once you're in the sun reapply after 15 minutes for the ultimate protection, then continue every two hours.

And remember, swimming, sweating or towel drying can remove your SPF, so be sure to reapply regularly to keep your skin fully protected.