SOOTHES DISCOMFORT
Calmosensine reduces skin's perception of heat, stinging and discomfort by 21% within one hour
CALMS REDNESS
Centipeda (Old Man Weed) clinically shown to reduce redness and irritation
FASTER RELIEF
Tasmanian Pepper Berry calms stinging and redness 10 days faster than placebo
SENSITIVE SKIN TESTED
Every product formulated and tested on people with a history of skin sensitivity, including our founder
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Macadamia Omega-7 Cleansing Oil
Ultra Gentle Australian Clay Exfoliating Cleanser for Inflamed Skin
Purslane and Commelina Gentle Balancing Toner
Wild-Harvested Kakadu Plum Vitamin C Serum
Phyto-A+ Australian Native Tobacco Serum
CALM Tasmanian Mountain Pepper Berry Serum
Wild Rosella Hydrating Moisturiser
Botanical Barrier Balm (SLUG)
Australian Botanicals Nourishing Facial Oils
Centipeda and Snowflower Australian Clay Mask
FOR
10% OFF
The Rescue Routine
Macadamia Omega-7 Cleansing Oil
Wild Rosella Hydrating Moisturiser
CALM Tasmanian Mountain Pepper Berry Serum
Ultra Gentle Australian Clay Exfoliating Cleanser for Inflamed Skin
FOR
15% OFF
The Complete Routine
Macadamia Omega-7 Cleansing Oil
Wild Rosella Hydrating Moisturiser
Botanical Barrier Balm (SLUG)
CALM Tasmanian Mountain Pepper Berry Serum
Purslane and Commelina Gentle Balancing Toner
Ultra Gentle Australian Clay Exfoliating Cleanser for Inflamed Skin
FOR
20% OFF
The Full Ritual
Macadamia Omega-7 Cleansing Oil
Wild Rosella Hydrating Moisturiser
Botanical Barrier Balm (SLUG)
CALM Tasmanian Mountain Pepper Berry Serum
Australian Botanicals Nourishing Facial Oils
Purslane and Commelina Gentle Balancing Toner
Centipeda and Snowflower Australian Clay Mask
Ultra Gentle Australian Clay Exfoliating Cleanser for Inflamed Skin
Your calming ritual
A gentle morning and evening routine designed to support sensitive, reactive skin while helping maintain hydration and barrier comfort.
Sensitive, or sensitised? They are not the same thing
Sensitive skin is something you're born with. The barrier is naturally thinner, holds less water and reacts more readily. It runs in families, and it doesn't go away — it gets managed.
Sensitised skin is something that happened to you. The barrier was working fine until it was worn down — by a routine with too much in it, water that was too hot, an exfoliant used too often, or months of air conditioning and wind.
Most people who describe themselves as sensitive are actually sensitised. That is genuinely good news, because sensitised skin recovers. Usually in four to eight weeks, and usually by removing things rather than adding them.
How to tell: if your skin was fine two years ago and isn't now, it's sensitised. If it has reacted to everything since you were a teenager, it's sensitive. The routine is much the same either way — the difference is whether you're rebuilding or maintaining.
What's actually happening when skin stings
The barrier has been worn down
Think of the outer layer of skin as a brick wall — cells are the bricks, and a mix of ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids is the mortar. When that mortar is stripped out, two things happen at once: water escapes, so skin gets dehydrated and tight, and irritants get in through gaps that should be sealed. That's the stinging.
The things that strip it are ordinary: foaming cleansers used twice a day, hot showers, exfoliating more than skin can keep up with, and stacking three or four actives because each one seemed like a good idea on its own.
Nerve endings become more responsive
Once the barrier is compromised, the nerve endings underneath sit closer to the surface than they should. Things that never registered before — a warm room, a light fragrance, water on your face — start to register as burning or itching. It isn't in your head. The threshold has genuinely moved.
Blood vessels flush and stay flushed
Heat, alcohol, spicy food, exercise, stress and sudden temperature changes all dilate the small blood vessels near the surface. On its own that's harmless and it fades. Repeated often enough over years, the flush stops fully fading and settles into background redness across the cheeks and nose.
Stress makes it worse, measurably
Raised cortisol slows how fast the barrier repairs itself. It's why skin flares during a bad month at work or after a run of poor sleep, and why a routine that held up all year suddenly stops coping. If you've been blaming a product, it may not be the product.
Why calm skin matters beyond comfort
Inflammation is not just uncomfortable, it's productive — in the wrong way. It stimulates pigment, which is why reactive skin so often ends up with uneven tone and marks that linger. It also degrades collagen over time.
Which means calming isn't a separate project from brightening or firming. It's the foundation both of them sit on. Skin that is constantly irritated will not hold an even tone, whatever else you put on it.
- Take products away, don't add them. The instinct when skin reacts is to buy something for it. The faster fix is usually to strip back to a cleanser, one calming serum and a barrier moisturiser, and hold there for a fortnight.
- Ceramides. They are the mortar in the wall. Replacing them is the single most direct way to rebuild a barrier that's been stripped.
- Lukewarm water, never hot. Hot water dissolves the skin's own lipids. A long hot shower undoes a fortnight of careful work.
- Fragrance-free. This includes essential oils, which are natural but are also among the most common sensitisers in skincare.
- Cold, for an acute flare. Cooling constricts dilated vessels and settles the heat. It's immediate relief rather than a fix, but on a bad day that matters.
- One product at a time. Introduce a single new product and give it two weeks before adding another. If you add three at once and skin reacts, you have no idea which one to blame.
- Patience over intensity. A barrier takes roughly four weeks to rebuild. There is no version of this that happens in a weekend.
- Hot water and long hot showers. The most underestimated cause of reactive skin, and the easiest to fix.
- Scrubs with grit or beads. Micro-tears in an already compromised barrier. Enzymes do the same job without the damage.
- High-strength acids and retinol while skin is reactive. Both are good ingredients on a healthy barrier and punishing on a broken one. Rebuild first, reintroduce later.
- Synthetic fragrance and essential oils. If a product smells strongly of anything, that scent is doing nothing for your skin and may be doing something to it.
- Alcohol-heavy toners. The tight, squeaky feeling people read as “clean” is the barrier being stripped.
- Constant switching. Reactive skin needs a boring routine held for weeks. Changing products every fortnight guarantees you never find out what works.
- Chasing the tingle. A product that stings is not working harder. It is telling you to stop.
- Keep the routine short. Four products you use properly beat nine you rotate.
- Sunscreen daily — UV is an inflammatory trigger like any other.
- Protect against wind and cold, which strip the barrier as effectively as hot water.
- Watch the flush triggers you can control: very hot drinks, alcohol, long hot showers.
- Reintroduce actives slowly once skin has settled, one at a time, at low frequency.
- Expect flares during stressful periods and hold your routine steady through them rather than reaching for something new.
Skincare can settle skin that is reactive, dry or flushing. It is not the answer to everything. If your skin is persistently painful, weeping, crusting, spreading, or getting worse despite a gentle routine, that needs a GP or a dermatologist — not another product. Please go and see one.
Founder-led skin guidance
Need a more tailored approach?
Book a complimentary 1:1 consultation with Ann Donnarumma to refine a ritual thoughtfully tailored to your skin, concerns and long-term goals.
Book your consultation
Founder, Founder’s Formula
FAQs
Most likely the barrier has been worn down over time — by a routine with too much in it, water that's too hot, or exfoliating more often than skin can keep up with. Skin that has been sensitised recovers, usually within four to eight weeks, and usually by using fewer products rather than more. Start with the Rescue Routine and hold it for a fortnight before adding anything.
With three products and nothing else. Ultra Gentle Clay Exfoliating Cleanser, CALM Pepper Berry Serum and Wild Rosella Hydrating Moisturiser. No acids, no retinol, no scrubs. Give it two weeks before you introduce a fourth thing.
Ours, yes. Many people with sensitive skin can't tolerate conventional Vitamin C — our founder included. Naturally derived Vitamin C is more bio-compatible and far less irritating than synthetic ascorbic acid, with no stinging and no flushing. Introduce it once skin has settled, and start every second morning.
Phyto-A+ Native Tobacco Serum is the one to look at. It is 4x more potent than retinol at boosting collagen I synthesis, with none of the redness, flaking or peeling, and there's no photosensitivity so it's safe to wear by day. Wait until your barrier has settled before starting it.
Less than you think. Once a week is plenty while skin is reactive, and some weeks the right answer is not at all. If skin feels tight or looks pink afterwards, that's too often.
The Snake Vine Moisturiser is 100% fragrance-free. Across the range we use no synthetic fragrance, no artificial colour, no parabens, no phthalates and no mineral oil. Every product is formulated and tested on people with a history of skin sensitivity, including our founder.
The Centipeda & Snowflower Clay Mask and the Wild Pandanus Enzyme Cleansing Grains are both gentle enough for rosacea-prone skin. If your skin is actively flaring, or you're on prescribed treatment, please check with your doctor before adding anything new.
Comfort usually improves first — Calmosensine reduces skin's perception of heat, stinging and discomfort by 21% within one hour. Visible redness takes longer. Give it four weeks of a consistent, simple routine before you judge it.