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If you browsed through our Best of Beauty skin-care winners with a mixed sense of longing and apprehension, unsure of whether or not you can use those peerless products without triggering irritation, you've found yourself in the right place. Seriously, hit "save to bookmarks" right now. This is a safe space for sensitive skin.
You want protection and redness relief and we've identified the products that excel at delivering exactly that—and more. Because as much as you need formulas that cater to reactive complexions, you also crave results that go beyond soothing. Here, you'll find firming, hydrating, and cleansing power that doesn't invoke the wrath of your easily triggered epidermis.
Sensitive skin demands and deserves special treatment. These 2024 Best of Beauty Award winners offer all the overprotective pros without any aggravating cons.
Best of Beauty Awards 2024: Sensitive
Shop your favorite category or keep scrolling for the year's very best face creams, serums, and lip balms for sensitive skin.
- Best Gel Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin
- Best Hydrating Toner for Sensitive Skin
- Best Face and Body Mist for Sensitive Skin
- Best Gel Face Cleanser for Sensitive Skin
- Best Face Serum for Sensitive Skin
- Best Eye Cream for Sensitive Skin
- Best Lip Balm for Sensitive Skin
- Best Face Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin
Why It Won: Aveeno packs heavy-duty soothing into its lightweight Calm + Restore Oat Gel Moisturizer. In addition to anti-inflammatory oat extracts, the refreshing formula's feverfew, glycerin, and panthenol transport skin to a calmer, more hydrated place.
Tester Feedback: "My skin goes through phases where it’s more irritable than usual and this has become what I reach for during those dark times," says contributing editor Marci Robin. "It's instantly comforting, but it doesn’t compromise on deeply moisturizing benefits."
Why It Won: The furthest thing from the astringent toners of the past, Paula's Choice Calm Nourishing Milky Toner follows up your cleansing session with a skin-soothing blend of allantoin, marshmallow root, and panthenol. It also bolsters skin's barrier to help hold onto moisture.
Tester Feedback: "My skin is easily irritated by most toners, which shows up in the form of dry skin and unwanted redness," says associate manager of special projects Talia Gutierrez. "But none of that happens when I use this one, which acts as a calming shield for any products that come next in my routine."
Why It Won: When your face or body is looking and feeling dry—whether that's after cleansing or at any random point in your day—the handy nozzle on the Curél Japanese Skincare Deep Moisture Spray emits a fine mist that offers immediate relief. It doses skin with glycerin and allantoin, re-upping ceramides so skin is protected from dehydration.
Tester Feedback: "I've tried tons of mists and this one truly dispenses product evenly and finely," says commerce editor Sarah Han. "It's the perfect any-time-o'clock refresher."
Why It Won: Skinfix Ceramide + Ectoin Gentle Gel Cleanser may be incredibly thorough at whisking away makeup, sunscreen, and more, but it draws the line at stripping skin. The foaming formula leaves your complexion spotless but never suffering from a loss of moisture.
Tester Feedback: "This nonirritating wash is my go-to," says associate visuals editor Giancarlos Kunhardt. "It's great for double cleansing without stripping my skin."
Why It Won: La Roche-Posay Toleriane Rosaliac AR takes a comprehensive approach to redness. This lightweight moisturizer reduces redness instantly with a subtle green tint and provides long-lasting comfort with a soothing peptide and hydration-holding glycerin.
Tester Feedback: "If you see me IRL and I've worked out in the last two hours, it is extremely visible on my face," says commerce producer Sarah Hoffmann. "Sometimes I like the humble brag of being active, but other times I'd prefer to reel in the redness and get on with my day. This serum has been a godsend for just that. It's shocking how well it neutralizes redness without leaving behind a noticeable green cast and I love how much it soothes my chlorine-burned skin after a swim. A true gym bag essential!"
Why It Won: Beekman 1802 Mushroom Milk Better Aging Eye Cream works hard to lessen the look of lines without aggravating the most delicate skin on your face. Five types of fungi—including lion's mane and reishi—band together to offer major moisture while goat's milk and peptides smooth and soften.
Tester Feedback: "I love the silky texture of this eye cream," says commerce writer Jennifer Hussein. "It dries down super fast and doesn't irritate my sensitive eyes."
Why It Won: Tower 28 SOS LipSoftie Treatment was made for lips that have had enough of lazy, lightweight balms. The combination of lysine, shea butter, and jojoba oil changes skin from chapped and uncomfortable to visibly moisturized and smooth.
Tester Feedback: "If I'm ever found signaling SOS on a deserted island, know that I'm requesting this hydrating balm, not help," says Hunter Lacey, associate director of special projects.
Why It Won: The Inkey List Bio-Active Ceramide Repairing and Plumping Moisturizer operates overtime to service skin's barrier, plump away fine lines, and reinforce firmness. In addition to eliminating dryness, this clever cream also instantly imparts a blurred, soft-focus effect that makes foundation seem extremely optional.
Tester Feedback: "There's nothing I love more than hitting empty on a skin-care product. It's just so satisfying," says associate beauty director Sarah Kinonen. "What's even more satisfying is that I've emptied almost three jars of this Inkey List moisturizer—it's that good. My sensitive skin just drinks up the ceramides."
Written by Marci Robin
How we test and review products for Allure Best of Beauty
Ubiquitous with the beauty market's cream of the crop, Allure's little red Best of Beauty seal is known worldwide as being a trusted indicator of the year’s top products—and we do not take that trust for granted. Each year, we painstakingly test tens of thousands (yes, really) of products across over a dozen categories, including Hair, Skin, Makeup, Nails, Fragrance, Splurges, Steals, Tools, Breakthroughs, and Sensitive. We employ a large group of testers—including editors, top industry professionals, and other experts— to ensure representation for a wide range of ages, genders, skin tones, and hair textures, as well as dermatological sensitivities and conditions.
How we determined Allure's Best of Beauty Sensitive Winners
For our Best of Beauty winners in the Sensitive category, we considered each product's performance across the following categories: product ingredients and efficacy, packaging, fragrance (where relevant), and product experience (including texture and wear). We tested over 7,000 products for 24 weeks on different skin types with various concerns. Every product was determined to have excelled in each category by our editorial team, which is composed of in-house writers and editors as well as contributors—along with special consideration from relevant experts.
To learn more information on our reporting and testing processes, read our complete reviews process and methodology page.
Discover more 2024 Best of Beauty Winners:
- Best of Beauty 2024: Steals Winners
- Best of Beauty 2024: Scent Winners
- Best of Beauty 2024: Base Winners
Watch us test our 2024 Allure Best of Beauty Skin-Care winners:
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