Dry facial skin anyone? If you have sensitive and very dry skin, it may feel a bit daunting to switch and minimise all of your beauty routine, especially if you were used to using specific products your skin really liked.

1) Don't give up on water-based creams! they are more effective than just using plain oils or butters because if your skin is dehydrated - well, it needs water! Why not try my recipe for a simple handmade cream from scratch? It's super easy, I promise. Watch and download the recipe below:

2) If you have really sensitive skin, avoid using essential oils. If you do want to add them to facial recipes, I would not go above 0.5% of your total recipe.⠀⠀

3) When you are making a product for dry and sensitive skin, look for oils with a high content of oleic acid such as olive, avocado, sweet almond, apricot kernel and sunflower oil. They are very nourishing and can also calm irritations. If they feel too greasy on the skin, you can also pair them with oils high in linoleic acid, such as grapeseed, rice bran, hemp seed or safflower oil. These oils tend to be very nourishing but slightly lighter on the skin.

Photos by Sara Scarpa: we had a really fun photoshooting day last week, and she's done an absolutely wonderful job!

Learning about the properties of ingredients will help you to choose one ready-made product over another. It will also empower you to make and customise products to suit your personal needs. This is something we focus on in our online courses, which are reopening doors very soon in March!

New Youtube Video!

1. Oleic Acid: what is it, and why should we use it?
2. Reusable Make-up Remover Pads: they're better for the planet, but are they better for our delicate and sensitive skin?

Next week's Learn Letter will be the final letter in the “How to Formulate Zero Waste Products for Sensitive Skin” mini-series. I can't believe how quickly this series has flown by! Keep an eye out for the final email on how to formulate shampoo bars for dry and sensitive scalps.

Until then,