Mad About Skin has reviewed more than 140 sensitive-skin products. His record carries an approval rate of 81%. He approved most of them and named more than 10 outright category winners. His reasoning is often just as useful as the verdict itself. There is a lot to take from his work in this category.
What does Mad About Skin recommend for sensitive skin?
His approvals consistently go to products with a clear, specific purpose. Calming actives, breakout treatments, and vitamin C formulas paired with something soothing are where he keeps landing. The Beauty of Joseon Light On Serum: Centella + Vitamin C is one of his named winners. He praised it for pairing a stable vitamin C with centella asiatica in one formula. It also stays fresh for up to 12 months after opening. For azelaic acid, he returns to the same message across multiple reviews. A lower strength used every day beats a stronger formula used rarely. Affordable options like the Q+A Azelaic Acid Balancing Serum earn his approval on that basis.
In his words
"So you have to use really good quality humectants to avoid that. Medicate have done that. [...] One pump will do the whole face and neck. [...] This is great. [...] I've been using it all year, and I would say one of these will last me three months. Genuinely, one of the best cleansers I have ever used, bar none. Especially if you've got dryness prone skin type, and I think that's a good thing to bear in mind as we're coming into the cooler winter months."
"The blend of different hydrating agents in here is unmatched. [...] This is quite honestly the nicest serum when it comes to lightweight yet meaningful hydration, it's a gel [...] that leaves the nicest finish, not sticky, not tacky, [...] and you can even keep it in the fridge for extra cooling. [...] I've fallen in love with it."
"When I'm done at the gym [...] I will generally shower and then do another spritz again because it just keeps all your breakouts in check. [...] If you haven't tried hypochlorous acid, this is the best one, doesn't strip, doesn't dry. [...] This is more affordable, which is why I'm gravitating towards this more. [...] I would encourage everyone to get a toner with a purpose, and hypochlorous acid has a key purpose, particularly in these warmer summer months."
"This is a stabilized vitamin C, so it doesn't oxidize and has a super long shelf life, with centella asiatica, and using vitamin C and centella together gives you four times the additional collagen versus using vitamin C on its own. If you are using vitamin C for its anti-aging, this is the one that you should be using, it's a one and done, really potent. It's somewhere in the region of about £13, it doesn't get more affordable than this."
"This is the Beauty of Joseon Glow Replenishing Rice Milk. It uses enzyme exfoliation to smooth out the skin and minimize the appearance of pores, but in a super gentle way. I absolutely love this. It's amazing, absolutely amazing at smoothing out the skin and refining the pores, super gentle. And it also has ceramides, so it's all around hydrating and exfoliating toner. You can use this daily, it's gentle enough to do that. I absolutely love it."
"It's not always about the strength. I think I'd rather people go for a lower strength and use it twice a day every day than go for a high strength and use it a couple of times a week when they remember. That consistency is the key part. This I love again, calming, soothing, and really really helps to just, I think you get a lot more performance than you would traditionally expect for an 8% because of that quality formulation here, and it's super affordable which I absolutely love."
How many products has Mad About Skin reviewed for sensitive skin?
Mad About Skin has reviewed 148 products for sensitive skin, for an approval rate of 81%. 120 approved, 10 mixed, and 18 skipped.
What has Mad About Skin skipped for sensitive skin?
His most consistent skip is the standalone hyaluronic acid serum. Both the Torriden Dive-In Serum and Vichy Mineral 89 fall into that camp. He skips them because hyaluronic acid already appears in cleansers, serums, sunscreens, and moisturizers. With Vichy Mineral 89 priced at £50, he felt the cost made the redundancy even harder to ignore. The other pattern is a greasy texture that does not deliver. He skipped The INKEY List Polyglutamic Acid Dewy Sunscreen SPF 30 on that basis. He confirmed the judgment by asking a friend with dry skin who tried it and agreed.
"I won't be using the Anua azelaic acid serum and I won't be shopping with Anua at all, because I think there are deeper issues with the brand rather than just this azelaic acid serum. They used a [...] salt form of azelaic acid at a much higher pH than traditional azelaic acid, and [...] they hid that reformulation until a cosmetic formulator called them out on it, which tells me they didn't actually believe it was a superior product."
"But honestly I was just a bit underwhelmed. It's pretty much just a hyaluronic acid serum and it costs £50, which is ridiculously expensive. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this, I just think the price point means that you could honestly be getting the same outcome at a fraction of the cost. I tried the original which was a bit of a fail. This is the Prebiotic one which I think is fractionally better, but still just not worth it."
"I don't know why this is popular. [...] This is just a hyaluronic acid serum. [...] You don't need a lot of hyaluronic acid. It's in everything - it'll be in your cleanser, it'll be in your serums, it'll be in your sunscreens, your moisturizers. You don't need extra hyaluronic acid. You certainly don't need a hyaluronic acid serum like this. It's not super expensive, which is probably why it's super popular. But I just don't think it's needed."
"I tried their sunscreen, it's like SPF 30 which is fine, I mean SPF 30 is fine, but it's just basically greasy. And I got my skin, my friend with a dry skin type to try because I thought maybe it's just not translating well, but she was like, oh this is gross, terrible sunscreen."
What should you take from Mad About Skin's picks?
Mad About Skin's sensitive-skin record is most useful for people who want a routine built around fewer, better-chosen products. He backs actives with a real purpose. He also warns against any step that overlaps with what the rest of a routine already does. For anyone building around his work, value and daily consistency are what he weighs most. His named winners give a clear shortlist to start from.
Watch Mad About Skin say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Tower 28 SOS Daily Rescue Facial SprayNamed a winnerWatch at 8:16
- Medik8 Crystal Retinal 6Named a winnerWatch at 8:31
- The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + Hyaluronic AcidNamed a winnerWatch at 7:13
- The INKEY List Oat Cleansing BalmNamed a winnerWatch at 20:44
- Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Probiotics Barrier EssenceNamed a winnerWatch at 11:53
- The INKEY List Redness Relief Super Solutions 10% Azelaic AcidNamed a winnerWatch at 10:20
- Beauty of Joseon Light On Serum: Centella + Vitamin CNamed a winnerWatch at 8:38
- The Ordinary Rice Lipids + Ectoin Micro EmulsionNamed a winnerWatch at 9:42
- Geek & Gorgeous Stress Less Serum with 0.5% Beta-Glucan and Metacast-AideNamed a winnerWatch at 10:55
- NIOD Modulating Glucosides SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 9:33
- The Ordinary B OilNamed a winnerWatch at 6:30
- Purito Deep Sea Pure Watery Sunscreen SPF50+ PA++++Named a winnerWatch at 3:12
- PSA Skin Reset Cleanser with AAI and Manuka HoneyNamed a winnerWatch at 14:04
- Allies of Skin Molecular Saviour Probiotics Treatment MistNamed a winnerWatch at 10:10
- Medik8 Total Moisture Daily Cleansing GelNamed a winnerWatch at 6:50
- Anua Azelaic Acid 10% Hyaluron Redness Soothing Serum (reformulated)Skipped itWatch at 6:36
- Vichy Mineral 89 Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating SerumSkipped itWatch at 1:49
- Torriden Dive-In Low Molecular Hyaluronic Acid SerumSkipped itWatch at 14:32
- The INKEY List Polyglutamic Acid Dewy Sunscreen SPF 30Skipped itWatch at 14:33
- Cetaphil Healthy Renew Damage Reversal SerumSkipped itWatch at 4:53
- Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Resurface SerumSkipped itWatch at 10:21
- La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 (reformulated)Skipped itWatch at 8:09
- Skin1004 Centella Asiatica SerumSkipped itWatch at 12:21
- Anua PDRN Hyaluronic Acid MistSkipped itWatch at 6:26
About this expert
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This guide reflects what Mad About Skin said across his videos about 148 products for sensitive skin, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products he approved. It is general information, not medical advice.