No BS Beauty has reviewed more than 350 sensitive skin products and approved most of them. She named more than 10 as category winners, and those picks say a lot about what she looks for. Her takes are personal. When she is on her third bottle of something, she says so. When a product irritated her skin, she says that too.
What does No BS Beauty recommend for sensitive skin?
The ingredients that keep showing up in her approving takes are hydrating and calming ones: snail mucin, centella, hyaluronic acid, and peptides. She also takes fragrance seriously, and she is clear about why. For sensitive skin, fragrance is one of the most common triggers, and a gentle-sounding name does not make up for it. The other pattern is repurchase. If she mentions being on her third bottle of something, or says she will grab it the moment she spots it in a discount store, that is not a passing compliment.
No BS Beauty's sensitive skin picks, in her words
"With a 10 being a perfect score this one a 10 I can't really think of any issues with it"
"I gave this a nine. My only point lost was the jar packaging, but otherwise this is a wonderful product."
"You can use it under or over makeup. That's how fine the mist is. I absolutely love it. [...] It seems to be a nice protective spray. It also contains rice extract, meadowfoam seed oil, galactomyces ferment, buffy ferment, and ceramides. No scent to it. Really wonderful product. And I love the fact that I can apply this over or under makeup morning or evening or middle of the night, whatever you feel like. It's great. I can't say enough good things about it."
"This is their barrier restoring gel cream, it's also $54. This one is geared toward oily skin types or acne prone skin types. This one also contains an updated lipid barrier complex and then also contains several peptides, green tea, squalane, folic acid, no fragrance."
"It's not the most exciting ingredient list but it is a barrier-repairing moisturizer with a lot of barrier-repairing ingredients and ceramides and skin-identical ingredients. Sometimes for sensitive skin, simple is better. It provides hydration without leaving skin looking or feeling greasy, and once it soaks in it looks natural, great finish, and works nice under sunscreen. It delivers on the promises of replenishing your skin barrier for dewy plump hydrated healthy-looking skin."
"It's an exfoliant acid toner with a [...] very short ingredient list, gluconolactone, which is a gentle polyhydroxy acid, plus a sea extract for antioxidant benefits and aloe for soothing, no fragrance. It's pretty simple and it'll last you quite some time. [...] If you have super sensitive skin or your skin doesn't react well to other AHAs or BHAs, this one's nice. It's great for sensitive skin and very easy to fit into your routine because of how gentle it is, and it's got nice packaging."
How many products has No BS Beauty reviewed for sensitive skin?
No BS Beauty has reviewed 326 products for sensitive skin, for an approval rate of 75%. 244 approved, 51 mixed, and 31 skipped.
What has No BS Beauty skipped for sensitive skin?
She skipped products that looked gentle on paper but delivered something different on skin. The La Roche-Posay Retinol B3 Serum she found super irritating and full of fragrance, and she was clear that even a strong brand name does not excuse that for sensitive skin. The CeraVe Makeup Removing Cleanser Balm she skipped because it was too thick to spread easily, left a residue after rinsing, and came in a smaller jar than she expected from the brand.
"The Glow Recipe Blueberry Bounce Cleanser was another one I heard a lot about with mold in it and people took photos of it and then emailed them and got another one returned."
"For beneficial ingredients it's got ceramides, vitamin E, acetyl glucosamine, mushroom extract, and chamomile, but a lot of those can be found in the Klairs Midnight Blue Calming Cream for about a quarter of the price, without all the fragrance ingredients. [...] This one was a clear loss for me. I tested it out a couple times and [...] I wasn't impressed with it, I didn't like the fragrance in it."
"Their intelligent retinol is a supercharged one percent vitamin A night serum for $50. It contains fragrance from patchouli oil. [...] It's basically just a retinol squalane serum with a short amount of ingredients, and it's overpriced. You could use The Ordinary's squalane retinol oil, or a lot of other brands' squalane and retinol serums, so you really don't need to spend $50 on it, especially with the fragrance in it. That was a clear pass for me."
"It's got 12% zinc oxide, doesn't have fragrance in, but for me this is super thick, super white, casty, and just didn't like it. Although, I get it, they're in the US, we've got terrible sunscreen filters, they haven't approved a new one in my lifetime, and they haven't approved any new filters. So what do brands do? You really don't have a big choice, so use zinc oxide and hope it's not too terrible. But anyway, I didn't love that, but I'm sure for some people it might work great."
What should you take from No BS Beauty's picks?
Her record across more than 350 products is one of the more practical resources for sensitive skin. She is just as specific about what she skipped as what she loved, and she backs her approvals with real repeat use. The products she named as category winners are a solid place to start. Anyone who reads past the scores into why she passed on something will get just as much from it.
Watch No BS Beauty say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Aestura Atobarrier 365 CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 8:37
- Purito Deep Sea Pure Water CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 10:36
- Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment SPF 30Named a winnerWatch at 1:59
- The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + Hyaluronic AcidNamed a winnerWatch at 8:21
- Vanicream Gentle Facial CleanserNamed a winnerWatch at 3:59
- Purito Wonder Relief Centella Serum UnscentedNamed a winnerWatch at 7:41
- La Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+ Gentle Foaming Cleansing OilNamed a winnerWatch at 19:50
- Klairs Midnight Blue Calming CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 10:09
- Geek & Gorgeous A-Pad Azelaic Acid SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 5:19
- COSRX Snail Mucin Eye CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 7:36
- Peach & Lily PowerCalm Hydrating Gel CleanserNamed a winnerWatch at 2:11
- Alpyn Beauty Super Peptide and Ghostberry MoisturizerNamed a winnerWatch at 4:14
- Topicals Like Butter MoisturizerNamed a winnerWatch at 12:47
- Tatcha Serum StickNamed a winnerWatch at 6:35
- Glow Recipe Blueberry Bounce Gentle CleanserSkipped itWatch at 3:42
- Medik8 Advanced Night Ceramide CreamSkipped itWatch at 7:53
- Medik8 Intelligent Retinol 3TRSkipped itWatch at 9:10
- Vanicream Sunscreen SPF 30Skipped itWatch at 10:13
- CeraVe Micellar Cleansing WaterSkipped itWatch at 3:47
- COSRX Ceramide Skin Barrier Moisturizer (Comfort Ceramide Cream)Skipped itWatch at 5:33
- L'Oreal Bright Reveal Exfoliant PeelSkipped itWatch at 10:05
- Dermalogica Special Cleansing GelSkipped itWatch at 3:42
- Purito Centella Green Level Unscented Sun SPF 50+Skipped itWatch at 4:39
- Dove Deep Moisture Body WashSkipped itWatch at 0:47
About this expert
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This guide reflects what No BS Beauty said across her videos about 326 products for sensitive skin, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products she approved. It is general information, not medical advice.