Dr. Shereene Idriss has reviewed more than 100 sensitive-skin products and approved most of them. She also named more than 10 category winners. Her record on this skin type carries an approval rate of 85%.
What does Dr. Shereene Idriss recommend for sensitive skin?
Throughout her picks, Dr. Idriss comes back to the same core idea: protect and repair the skin's barrier, and don't add anything that could irritate it while you're at it. She praised the Aquaphor Healing Ointment Body Spray for locking in moisture without the heaviness of a traditional ointment, calling it ideal for areas that are sensitive or raw. The Aveeno Calm + Restore Oat Gel Moisturizer is a long-running favourite. She credits its colloidal oatmeal, zinc PCA, and peptide blend with calming redness, soothing eczema flares, and repairing the skin's barrier. Zinc comes up a lot in her approved picks. She also pays attention to timing: she saves the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 for night, because it is too thick and opaque to layer over an active serum during the day.
In her words
"Love it, love it, love it, love it, love it. I would not be scared of it at all. It has some niacinamide in here as well so just make sure that you don't really overdo it with the niacinamide in another step of your skincare routine if you're going to use this on your face."
"The Aveeno Eczema Therapy. This is the best balm for your body. [...] It looks like a [...] doughnuty glaze and this guy is the best. It just gets absorbed pretty fast. [...] Your legs feel so good in the morning and when I use it in the morning before I get dressed, [...] it doesn't kind of leave any residue on your clothes and your skin at the end of the day feels really really nice. [...] When I had babies I basically covered them [...] with all of this on them. [...] Their skin is amazing."
"I also love the Aveeno Eczema Therapy. This was and is a staple in my household, especially when I had babies. It is a thick and rich luscious ointment. It retails for approximately 14 to 15 dollars. It's fragrance free. It also has prebiotic oat concentrates, aloe, and pro vitamin B5."
"The Stratia Liquid Gold B5 is rich in panthenol and [...] vitamin B5, which helps to protect your barrier. It also has zinc, which is a great calming and soothing ingredient, especially if you have any irritations. I love this for your face."
"I absolutely love this one, it is very light and gentle, and it's especially great for people with allergic skin."
"But at 10% it is also going to pull in water and act like a humectant. So it's the perfect blend of hydrating and softening and smoothing your skin in one. This hydrating moisturizer is beautiful. I absolutely love it. It hydrates my skin. It leaves me feeling supple and soft and it does have a fast dry down. I like fragrance, and it is something that I love to use because it makes me feel better. Part of skincare is to [...] feel like you got away, and this product does that for me."
How many products has Dr. Shereene Idriss reviewed for sensitive skin?
Dr. Shereene Idriss has reviewed 106 products for sensitive skin, for an approval rate of 85%. 90 approved, 9 mixed, and 7 skipped.
What has Dr. Shereene Idriss skipped for sensitive skin?
She skipped only a handful of the products she reviewed. One was Sudocrem: she flagged it for containing essential oils that can irritate the very skin they are meant to soothe. Another was the Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair Cream. She found it decent for acne-prone, dry skin, but pointed out that it uses zinc gluconate rather than zinc oxide. For anyone trying to seriously repair an inflamed barrier, she said you could do better.
"There are literally a million oil cleansers on the market [...] and quite frankly I have tried many of them and hated every single one. [...] The reason they have not worked for me for the most part is because they constantly break me out, maybe not in the short term but as I've stuck to them [...] I have noticed that I break out eventually with them."
"Augustinus Bader, I have The Cleansing Cream listed as something I hate. The price is 65 bucks. Are you kidding me for a glass, very heavy gel cream? [...] You do you if you have it, good for you, but you don't have to spend that much money for a cleanser."
"Is it great for removing makeup absolutely not and does it make your eyes a little bit itchy and sensitive absolutely yes so it's not the best but it's good enough"
"Drunk Elephant has just come up with their Bora Barrier Repair Cream, and I saw on social that they were duping this and comparing this to a diaper rash cream, but it is not comparable because it is zinc gluconate in this particular product, not zinc oxide. It is a nice barrier cream with squalane, ceramides, and other ingredients. But it's not exactly what I'm referring to when I talk about face basting because of the zinc, the lack of zinc oxide in it."
What should you take from Dr. Shereene Idriss's picks?
Dr. Idriss is a practical voice on sensitive skin. She does not just give a yes or a no. She explains which ingredient is doing the work and why a small formulation choice can change what a product is actually useful for. Her category winners include Finacea 15% Azelaic Acid Gel, Aquaphor Healing Ointment Body Spray, and First Aid Beauty Hydrating Sunscreen Milk. They point in the same direction: formulas that repair and protect, with nothing added that could get in the way.
Watch Dr. Shereene Idriss say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Vaseline Original Healing JellyNamed a winnerWatch at 4:58
- Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micellar WaterNamed a winnerWatch at 2:46
- Then I Met You Living Cleansing BalmNamed a winnerWatch at 19:25
- Finacea Azelaic Acid Gel 15%Named a winnerWatch at 10:51
- Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Recovery SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 3:41
- Aveeno Calm + Restore Triple Oat SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 11:32
- Paula's Choice Clinical Discoloration Repair SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 9:14
- Aveeno Eczema Therapy Daily Moisturizing CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 3:47
- Eucerin UreaRepair Plus 10% Urea LotionNamed a winnerWatch at 10:16
- ISDIN Eryfotona Actinica Ultralight Emulsion SPF 50Named a winnerWatch at 18:22
- Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 16:11
- Aveeno Eczema Therapy Itch Relief OintmentNamed a winnerWatch at 18:29
- Aveeno Calm + Restore Skin Therapy BalmNamed a winnerWatch at 10:55
- First Aid Beauty Hydrating Sunscreen Milk with Oatmeal SPF 45Named a winnerWatch at 0:10
- Glossier Super Pure Niacinamide + Zinc SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 17:04
- Bioderma Atoderm Intensive Gel-CreamNamed a winnerWatch at 9:34
- Bioderma Sensibio Oil CleanserSkipped itWatch at 1:05
- Augustinus Bader Cleansing CreamSkipped itWatch at 14:43
- Vanicream Free and Clear Hair ShampooSkipped itWatch at 10:53
- Drunk Elephant Bora Barrier Rich Repair CreamSkipped itWatch at 5:43
- Garnier Micellar Cleansing WaterSkipped itWatch at 12:08
- First Aid Beauty KP Bump Eraser Body Scrub with 10% AHASkipped itWatch at 11:23
- SudocremSkipped itWatch at 9:16
- Stratia Liquid Gold Barrier CreamRated itWatch at 12:31
About this expert
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This guide reflects what Dr. Shereene Idriss said across her videos about 106 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.