Many people wonder why more than half the modern population is suffering from sensitive skin – and the answer is quite simple: modern skincare routines.

For the past century, industrial beauty has been pushing the notion that people need to constantly cleanse their skin of its natural oils using chemical-laden, foaming cleansers. This behaviour has disrupted the modern skin’s barrier, interfering with millions of years of evolution and leaving skin exposed and sensitive. Sapienic is disrupting this norm by honouring our evolutionary design and going back to basics.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it until it hits home – the modern skincare routine sucks. It’s not about skincare at all, it’s about selling products that cause more harm than good,” explained Trevor Steyn, founder of Sapienic. “Ideally, we would all go back to splashing our face with water and getting on with our day, but our modern lifestyles keep us away from nature while exposing us to pollution, cosmetics and sunscreen. This means that we actually have to clean our face – but with the right ingredients. Sapienic was created to undo years of damage and get the skin to rebuild its natural barrier and microbiome, to eliminate the modern problem of sensitive skin.”

But, how does Sapienic address skin sensitivity?

1. Sapienic doesn’t use foaming agents First and foremost, Sapienic doesn’t use any foaming agents in its range. The traditional skincare routine says people should wash their faces twice a day with such cleansers, but all they do is wash away the vital natural oils that feed the protective microbiome, leaving the skin vulnerable to pathogens. These are a key trigger for sensitive skin, so foaming agents are the first thing to go!

2. Goodbye to emulsifiers Emulsifiers are additives to beauty treatments which keep the ingredients combined. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) has been the go-to emulsifier since the 1960s – even though it’s known to cause irritation in skin. So, it’s out. Sapienic has abolished emulsifiers because, like foaming agents, they can strip the oil from the skin surface and disrupt the phospholipid membrane around each skin cell. This collapses barrier function in skin, allowing pathogens and toxins to penetrate and activate the skin’s immune system - causing hallmark signs of inflammation.

3. …and hello to probiotics Sapienic doesn’t use harmful synthetics, but that doesn’t mean avoiding ingredients that actually work – exhibit A; probiotics. Having spent years researching strains of Lactobacillus and Bacillus probiotics, Sapienic understands what works to boost the skin microbiome and bring nature’s microbes back to the skin. For Sapienic, three Lactobacillus species are used in Lipids and Prime Lipids facial oils, which reanimate when exposed to water on the skin. Sapienic also uses one Bacillus species, which is spore-forming, so it can stay stable in spore form in a buffered aqueous base; the Sapienic Probiotic Mist. These probiotics build skin’s barrier function while reducing sensitivity and inflammation.

4. Introducing Sapienic Acid Sapienic is the first company to introduce Sapienic Acid into its range! Relying on breakthrough scientific research and evolutionary first principles, Sapienic has harnessed the previously undiscovered benefits of Sapienic Acid, the most abundant fatty acid in human sebum. It is entirely unique to humans - Homo Sapiens (… hence ‘Sapienic’!) – and it’s the hero ingredient of the range. Rather than trying to replace what nature has perfected, Sapienic incorporates it into the products to improve barrier function.

5. Essential oils are definitely not essential Essential oils are often added to skincare products because they’re ‘natural compounds’, have antibacterial properties, and they obviously smell nice. The problem? Essential oils are highly concentrated chemical components containing a plant’s essence or smell, with much higher active ingredient concentrations than we should be using. The result is that they can sometimes irritate skin and cause sensitivity. Just what Sapienic is trying to avoid. While Sapienic might not have the overwhelming aroma of peppermint or citrus, it has a faint vanilla smell from the 0,01% natural vanillin that’s added – and it actually works!

6. Just keep it simple Finally, Sapienic has gone back to basics and focused on rebuilding skin with the core ingredients that are actually needed - and nothing more. The range is modelled on how hunter-gatherer ancestors have cared for their skin over the past 1.9 million years, long before the prevalence of inflammatory diseases. Humans can’t beat nature, but they can mimic, but we can mimic it - that’s why Sapienic is the second-best skincare routine in the world. The future of skin health actually means going backwards. And going back to nature.

Eradicate sensitive skin with Sapienic – visit www.sapienic.co.za