Natural Facial Cleansers

Is Natural the Best Choice for Sensitive Skin?

Using a gentle, natural facial cleanser is one way to reduce skin inflammation and breakouts, however I have found that even the gentlest cleansers can cause breakouts!

If you have sensitive skin, it's not as simple as it looks to find a product that is BOTH effective AND also gentle and non-irritating.

Some natural ingredients are easier and less irritating on the skin, but this is not always the case!

Not all natural skin care products will work if you are dealing with any kind of tendency towards hypersensitive skin.

Why? There are three main reasons.

Most natural facial cleansers contain herbs and botanical ingredients
Botanical ingredients can cause allergic reactions. When you have a skin care product that has many different herbs or plant ingredients, any one of these could cause allergies.
Botanical ingredients require preservatives in order to stay fresh in your skin care products. These preservatives are not required to be listed on the label of your skin care products, and they may or may not cause an allergic reaction in your sensitive skin.

What You Need in a Natural Facial Cleanser

The most important thing a natural facial cleanser needs to do is to gently cleanse the skin and remove impurities without irritating or stripping away natural oils that form a protective barrier against environmental toxins.

The problem for those of us with sensitive skin is that many of the ingredients in most facial cleansers can actually cause facial breakouts!

Ingredients in Natural Facial Cleansers

Many popular natural facial cleansers contain ingredients that actually can cause an allergic reaction. These are just a few of the kinds of ingredients added to many facial cleansers.

Methylparaben, Butlyparaben and Propylparaben are preservatives which are added to many facial and personal care products.

We are now discovering that parabens may pose possible health risks to those who are exposed to them regularly, such as endocrine disruption, brain and nervous system toxicity, and skin irritation. They are banned and restricted in the EU,

Cocamide DEA is considered to be a high hazard ingredient by cosmetics researchers. According to the National Library of Medicine it is a known immune system toxicant, which means it poisons your body! It is also considered potentially carcinogenic according to the Environmental Canada Domestic Substance List

Propylene Glycol can produce allergies, skin irritation, irritation of the eyes or lungs, and may contribute toxicity to the immune system.

Diazolidinyl Urea is an anti-microbial preservative which can cause dermatitis and allergic reactions. It is a known skin toxicant according to the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments, and may be derived from animals.

Triethanolamine is a ph balancer added to cosmetics, and also to some ear medications which can cause skin irritation and allergic reactions. It can also produce nitrosamines in the body which can contribute to cancer.

Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate are foaming agents added to shampoos, facial cleansers and even laundry detergents. These can cause skin irritation and allergies in sensitive individuals.

Sodium Laureth sulfate is more problematic that Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, but I personally would recommend you avoid these if you have sensitive skin. Why add more burden to your body?

Fragrance is one of the top five most allergy producing substances, and is also linked to developmental, neurological and brain problems. Use a facial cleanser without fragrance and you've taken the first step to having less skin irritation!

What's In Your Facial Cleanser?

I recommend you always read the labels on your facial cleanser to see exactly what you are putting in your skin.

You can get our free eBook to learn how to quickly evaluate the ingredients in your favorite natural facial cleanser.

Homemade Facial Cleanser

One way to control the ingredients in your skin care products is to make them yourself? This can be fun if you have some extra time. You will need to make small batches as they will spoil quickly, but these are some of the best facial cleanser options for overly sensitive skin or hyper sensitive skin.

Yogurt Cleanser - If you're not allergic to dairy products, this is a gentle, effective and very inexpensive facial cleanser. The yogurt contains natural alpha hydroxy acids which gently exfoliate without causing irritation. For best results use organic, full fat yogurt.
Honey Cleanser - Apply to your face, diluted with some water. Honey is a natural moisturizer which helps your skin attract and retain water. It also contains natural antibacterial and ant inflammatory ingredients which are great for acne and other skin rashes.

There is a type of honey called Manuka Honey which contains a high concentration of natural healing properties, which may provide even MORE benefits for your skin!
Olive Oil Facial Cleanser - This method uses a mixture of olive oil or other natural, cold pressed oil, with castor oil. First, steam your face so your pores are open, then apply the oil mixture and gently remove with a warm facecloth. Leaves your skin moisturized and clean without feeling greasy!
Oatmeal Facial Cleanser - Grind a little oatmeal in a blender or nut grinder, mix with water and apply to your face. You can also leave it on for a few minutes as a gentle, soothing facial mask.

What's the Best Facial Cleanser?

As you can see, if you have sensitive skin, it is best to avoid harsh soaps and products with strong fragrances and perfumes, or chemical irritants.

What then is the best facial cleanser for sensitive skin?

Honestly, I can only give you my own experience here. I have tried many natural facial cleanser products, but I certainly haven't tried them all!

I have had a problem with some natural facial cleansers which are relatively safe but which cause skin breakouts.

At one point my skin was so sensitive I simply used water to cleanse my skin! I've also tried many natural ingredients to cleanse my skin.

I've found that even gentle, natural plant ingredients can cause my skin to break out.

For me, a botanical free hypoallergenic skin cleanser works the best to provide very gentle cleansing without harsh soaps, irritating chemicals or allergy producing plant products.

It has been almost impossible for me to find botanical free products that actually work well.

I finally found one brand that you've probably never heard of, but it works really well for me.

The Cleure facial cleanser leaves my skin moist and soft, is actually a no-fragrance added product, like all of the skin care products I use.

This company does not add perfumes to their products, but the cleanser does have a very mild, non-perfume scent that is slightly sweet.

Most of their other products have no scent that I can detect. Actually their cleanser is the most "scent-intensive" of their skin care products (that I am aware of).

Once I adapted to the mild scent, which is hardly noticeable, I was very pleased with the results. It is very, very light and gentle and leaves your skin very fresh, moist, and clean. I just love it! I also found that it helped to remove some blackheads on my skin, which I was very thankful for.

The other thing I love about the Cleure sensitive skin cleanser is that it is very affordable. It comes in a generous sized bottle which will last you at least a year or more. Also, it is very concentrated so a little of the product goes a long way. You can even use it as a gentle body wash. Most other facial cleansers I've used cost more and give you less!