Best Foundation: Eczema Prone Skin

Eczema is a chronic inflammatory skin condition caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors and characterised by a weakened skin barrier. As a result, people with eczema will often experience dry or flaky skin, making it a real challenge to achieve that smooth foundation look.

For many, makeup offers a source of comfort, confidence, and creative self-expression, and sensitive skin shouldn’t have to mean you’re excluded from this. That’s why throughout this post we’re going to cover everything you need to know about:

• Why your foundation might be causing irritated skin
• The best nourishing ingredients to look out for in your makeup products
• How to naturally treat facial eczema flare ups

Keep reading to learn more about how to soothe facial eczema today so you can wear foundation in a way that makes you feel your best – inside and out.

Why Does Foundation Irritate Sensitive Skin?

People with eczema often have a damaged skin barrier, which means that it’s harder for the skin to take-in and retain moisture.

During a bout of eczema, you might expereince red, itchy patches across the delicate skin folds of your eyelids, around your mouth, or inside your ears that appear hyperpigmented on darker skin tones. And over time, incessant scratching of these areas may even lead to painful cracked skin.

As you can imagine, when you begin to apply your foundation onto these sensitive areas, there are a number of factors that might be making your eczema symptoms even worse:

• Sulfates – While sulfates are handy for managing very oily skin or acne prone skin, if you have eczema these chemicals will dry your sensitive skin out even more.
• Fragrances – It is estimated that 15% of people with eczema will also have a fragrance and perfume allergy too, meaning that even the natural essential oils in your foundation could irritate your skin.
• Propylene Glycol and Salicylic Acid – While many makeup brands incorporate these substances into their products as a moisturizer, this chemical is in fact highly aggrevating for very sensitive skin.
• Preservatives – Although parabens and formaldehyde will extend the lifetime of your foundation, they can also trigger eczema flare ups, causing itching and dryness.
• Powder formula – Powder foundation is likely to dry out your skin even further and contrinute to a flaky skin surface.

Eczema FAQ: Is Eczema Friendly Foundation A Thing?

Foundation should be available to all people – including people with eczema prone skin.

Having said this, if you’re in the middle of an eczema flare up, while it might be tempting to try and cover eczema with thick foundation, it might be best to lay off the makeup products for a while to give your skin the time it needs to heal. We’ll discuss more about how to soothe your facial eczema flares later in this post.

Sensitive Skin Foundation – Nourishing Ingredients

When you’re shopping for eczema friendly makeup products like foundation, there are a few ‘green flags’ that you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for:

• Foundations containing moisturizing ingredients such as vitamin E, jojoba oil, and shea butter are gentle, non-irritating, and deeply hydrating for your skin.
• Hyaluronic acid is known as a magic ingredient within the skincare realm due to its hydrating properties. That’s because hyaluronic acid can bind up to 1000 times its weight in water, giving sensitive skin types an instant hit of moisture.
• Look for foundations that are 100% fragrance free.
• Avoid powder foundation and opt for mousse formulas or liquid foundation instead, which contain infinately more hydrating ingredients.
• Mineral based foundations are also even more nourishing for dry and tired faces.

If your skin is particularly sensitive, you may also wish to opt for a foundation that offers medium coverage rather than full coverage to allow your skin to breathe, to avoid clogged pores, and excessive sweating.

Let’s Not Forget Sunscreen

If you’re passionate about skincare you’ll know that wearing sunscreen underneath your foundation is essential for optimum skin health.

But did you know that chemical sunscreen often tends to clog pores and cause skin irritations? Instead, try to search for chemical free sun protection, choosing products that contain mineral sunscreen ingredients.

This way you can ensure you’re still getting the vital spf protection your skin cells need underneath your foundation.

The Importance of Patch Testing

Esspecially for those of you with sensitive skin, its always worth running a patch test before you jump in and use a new skincare product.

Simply apply a small amount of your new foundation to an area of skin on your face that is less noticeable, such as underneath your jaw. Patch test daily for a week to check for any irritated skin or adverse affects before you go ahead and throw the product into your makeup bag permenantly.

How to Treat Facial Eczema Naturally

If make up is an artistry, your skin is your canvas. And that’s why it can be tricky to apply foundation onto a dry and flaky skin texture (not to mention painful!)

So how can you treat your facial eczema flare naturally and keep your skin healthy? Well, there are a few starting places we’d reccomend:

Organic Manuka Skin Soothing Cream

This honey-kissed, fragrance free balm has been specially formulated for ezcema prone skin. It is safe to use in even the most delicate areas (such as the folds of the eye-lids) and has been made with deeply hydrating ingredients such as manuka honey oil, olive oil, and beeswax to soothe and restore your cracked skin.

Eczema Face Moisturizer & Cleanser Kit

This five-part kit is the answer for anyone suffering from eczema or dry skin on the ear, eyes, cheeks, nose or elsewhere on the face.

The hydrating formulas of soothing calendula and other botanicals will calm your eczema naturally.

Remedywear (TENCEL+Zinc) 3 Ply Face Mask

To keep yourself safe from air-bourne germs without triggering an eczema flare, we would also reccomend finding a face mask that is made from cooling, moisture wicking TENCEL and embedded with antibacterial and antimicrobial zinc oxide to fight germs and bacterial growth.

Find the Best Foundation for Your Skin Today

Follow these tips and tricks to help you discover non-irritating foundation products that are formulated specifically for your skin tone and skin type, as well as healing your facial eczema at the source.