Sensitive skin isn’t something that just affects women; more than half of guys in the UK believe they have sensitive skin, so it’s a lot more common than you might have thought.
If you have sensitive skin, it shouldn’t stop you from doing anything; you should still be able to spend time in the sun, use skincare products, and shave regularly – you just need to make sure you’re doing everything in the right way for your skin.
What is Sensitive Skin?
Sensitive skin can be lots of different conditions, such as dry skin, eczema, rosacea, flaky or inflamed patches and psoriasis. It can also feel tight, sore and tender, and it may even burn, sting or bleed occasionally.
Guys with sensitive skin can experience irritated skin when they use certain skincare or laundry products, with skin becoming itchy, red and perhaps even breaking out in a rash.
Sensitive skin can be easily aggravated, which is why it’s so important to always use the right products for your skin, and to make sure your everyday habits like your shaving routine are being kind to it.
Can You Treat Sensitive Skin?
Sensitive skin is a lifelong condition – if yours is especially bad and you feel like it’s reacting to everything, you should speak to a dermatologist who’ll be able to advise you on the best products to use, and prescribe them if you need them.
It’s vital to keep sensitive skin nourished by hydrating and moisturising it regularly – you might even want to moisturise before you shave as well as afterwards if your skin is sensitive, as each razor stroke actually strips away a little bit of moisture.
You should also keep sensitive skin protected from the sun, so make sure you’re wearing a sunscreen with a high SPF on your face and any other exposed parts of your body, even in the winter.
The Perfect Routine for Managing Sensitive Skin
Shaving sensitive skin requires a little more care than shaving other skin types – shaving can irritate skin at the best of times if you aren’t doing it properly, so you need to be extra careful with sensitive skin.
Here’s our recommendations for managing sensitive skin during shaving:
Keep Sensitive Skin Clean
Wash your face before shaving to soften your skin and open your pores, and take the time to exfoliate to remove any dead skin cells, oil, dirt or bacteria from your face. Sensitive skin can be more easily irritated by all of these, so we advise exfoliating ahead of every time you shave.
Use the Right Shaving Products
At Gillette, we’re proud to have developed a collection of shaving products especially for sensitive skin: our SkinGuard Sensitive range.
The SkinGuard Sensitive Razor is designed to minimise tug and pull during shaving to be kinder to your skin, and its handle can absorb some of the pressure from your hand, so it’s the razor doing the work, not you.