Sensitivity Training

Gentle skin care is the regime du jour. Does that mean less is more? Or creams and serums galore? LAUREN MECHLING investigates.

- LAUREN MECHLING

IT IS A WOMAN’S DUTY TO USE ALL THE MEANS IN HER POWER to beautify and preserve her complexion,” wrote the Irish dancer Lola Montez in her delightful 1858 guidebook, The Arts of Beauty. How closely, but misguidedly, have I followed this advice! From the time I’ve been able to roam the drugstore unsupervised, I have been engaged in a battle for beauty. In my youthful zeal for perfect skin, I leaned upon scrubs and heavy-duty toners, most of which chafed and stung— to my great satisfaction. When acne came for me in college, I armed myself with prescription-grade gels and capsules that blitzed my spots and made my skin flake. A fair price to pay, I reasoned. Recent decades featured laser treatments and powerhouse potions I one-click purchased as I brewed my morning coffee.

But amid the ambient noise about skin sensitivity, I began to wonder: Might it be time to start easing up? Not long ago, an obsession with so-called clean beauty had us all fretting about how our potions might be polluting our insides. Now skin sensitivity—the new gluten intolerance!—has us setting our sights on the surface. A new crop of ultra- gentle, if not ultra-simple, products caters to those prone to itching, stinging, and inflammation—or who, like me, just want something soothing after a lifetime of chasing the burn.