Dr Dray has reviewed more sensitive skin products than almost anyone in the space. She has reviewed more than 250 of them, approved most, and skipped only a small share. Her approval rate for this category sits at 74%. That record tells you a lot about what she thinks actually works for reactive, easily-upset skin.
What does Dr Dray recommend for sensitive skin?
She keeps coming back to fragrance-free formulas with a clean, minimal irritant list. Colloidal oatmeal, ceramides, glycerin, ectoin, and beta-glucan turn up again and again in products she rates well. Those ingredients help hold moisture in the skin and keep the barrier intact, which matters most when skin is sensitive. She praised the Remedy Intense Hydration Multi-Depth Moisture Advanced Hydrating Serum for its peptide-rich, low-irritation lineup and called it her favourite from that brand. The Aveeno Calm + Restore Oat Gel Moisturizer is her all-time top drugstore moisturizer pick. She also loves the Eucerin Eczema Relief Body Cream for its colloidal oatmeal and ceramide base. Affordability comes up too: she notices when a formula delivers strong actives at a fair price, and she says so.
Dr Dray's sensitive skin picks, in her words
"I'd classify this as a low irritation potential product, it doesn't have fragrance or anything that tends to cause irritation. I've seen it going anywhere from seventeen to twenty dollars for an ounce, which with the polyglutamic acid and the peptide in it is pretty [...] reasonable. [...] I think this is Remedy's best serum to date, [...] arguably my favorite product from them yet."
"These products in this line from Aveeno, calm and restore, are top dog. I especially love the calm and restore serum."
"Skin Calming Itch Soothing Cream is also really good with colloidal oatmeal. This is great if you have eczema. Very rich. I also like the hydrogel formulation. It's a little bit more lightweight, not as greasy feeling on the skin."
"The oat gel moisturizer is so good. It's very expensive though, or it was for a while. It seems like I don't know if it's kind of come down in price or just everything else has gotten so expensive than the grand landscape of things, it doesn't seem as expensive as it once did to me. I don't know, I need to go back and check before I speak about the price point, but it is on the more expensive side, but it's really good."
"Altruist came out with a facial moisturizer that has shea butter and urea in it, and it's very good, I highly recommend it. [...] It's free of fragrance, and this brand gives a portion of their proceeds to a charity that supports people living with albinism. [...] Everything this brand has made has been top-notch. [...] It's lightweight, and the consistency is not heavy or greasy, though if you have very sensitive skin, the urea might sting a little bit."
"Also Trader Joe's has a great dupe as well and so if you have a Trader Joe's in your area do look there."
How many products has Dr Dray reviewed for sensitive skin?
Dr Dray has reviewed 279 products for sensitive skin, for an approval rate of 72%. 202 approved, 42 mixed, and 35 skipped.
What has Dr Dray skipped for sensitive skin?
The three skips worth knowing about each have a clear reason. She skipped Paula's Choice Calm Rescue and Repair Intensive Moisturizer because a formula change left her skin feeling dry, and she stopped recommending it after that. Paula's Choice Ultra Gentle Cleanser got a skip because too much glycerin made it clump and spread poorly, which means it simply could not clean the face well. She skipped Some By Mi Beta Panthenol Repair Serum over its packaging: the short dropper tunnels into the thick serum and pushes it to the sides of the bottle, so it is very hard to draw any up.
"A long time ago I reviewed the CeraVe micellar water, I hated it, it burned my eyes like none other."
"The rescue and repair intensive moisturizer [...] left my skin feeling dry, plain and simple, it was not good whatsoever, which really disappoints me because I loved their previous moisturizers in this Calm line. [...] I used to recommend that moisturizer, and now [...] I no longer recommend it since they changed it, so that was definitely a fail for me."
"Topical antibiotic ointments that might be used around the eyes are another common culprit, particularly those you buy over the counter that contain neomycin, aka Neosporin, or bacitracin. Stay away from those in general, they are well-known causes of contact dermatitis, and they're not very good antibiotics to be putting on the skin, so stay away from them."
"I didn't particularly care for the texture. I found it a little slippery, a little slimy, and for the price I just did not feel as though it was anything mind-blowing. It's just a very basic, mild, fragrance-free cleanser, but the texture of it was a little unwieldy and I didn't quite enjoy that. But I did finish it."
What should you take from Dr Dray's picks?
Dr Dray's record on sensitive skin is one of the most thorough out there. She approves a lot, but she is specific about why. Her winners tend to be fragrance-free, barrier-focused, and reasonably priced. Her skips are honest and explained. If you have sensitive or reactive skin and want to know which products a practising dermatologist has actually tested on her own face, her named picks and her clearly-reasoned skips are a good place to start.
Watch Dr Dray say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- SkinCeuticals C E FerulicNamed a winnerWatch at 12:46
- Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid BoosterNamed a winnerWatch at 5:57
- Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40Named a winnerWatch at 8:23
- Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micellar WaterNamed a winnerWatch at 3:10
- Aveeno Calm + Restore Oat Gel MoisturizerNamed a winnerWatch at 17:52
- Cetaphil Sheer Mineral Face Liquid Sunscreen SPF 50Named a winnerWatch at 1:41
- Aveeno Skin Relief Oat Body WashNamed a winnerWatch at 1:33
- Eucerin Sensitive Mineral Face Sunscreen SPF 35Named a winnerWatch at 10:39
- Aveeno Shaving GelNamed a winnerWatch at 1:18
- Dove Deep Moisture Body WashNamed a winnerWatch at 2:08
- Blue Lizard Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50Named a winnerWatch at 5:16
- Remedy Intense Hydration Multi-Depth Moisture Advanced Hydrating SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 15:38
- CeraVe Micellar Cleansing WaterSkipped itWatch at 18:30
- Paula's Choice Calm Rescue and Repair Intensive MoisturizerSkipped itWatch at 1:26
- NeosporinSkipped itWatch at 12:45
- Paula's Choice Ultra Gentle CleanserSkipped itWatch at 5:06
- Some By Mi Beta Panthenol Repair SerumSkipped itWatch at 9:22
- Garnier Micellar Cleansing WaterSkipped itWatch at 16:09
- Lumify Redness Reliever Eye DropsSkipped itWatch at 11:06
- The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + Beta GlucanSkipped itWatch at 14:30
- MERIT Uniform Tinted Mineral Sunscreen Broadspectrum SPF 45Skipped itWatch at 2:04
- Geek & Gorgeous Stress Less Serum with 0.5% Beta-Glucan and Metacast-AideSkipped itWatch at 6:43
- Cocokind Rose Water TonerSkipped itWatch at 9:19
- Australian Gold Botanical Mineral SunscreenSkipped itWatch at 7:14
About this expert
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This guide reflects what Dr Dray said across her videos about 279 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.