Sensitive Skin and Bra Fit

I have sensitive skin on my face and my eyes puff up to the size of two squidgy golf balls if they get a whiff of a chemical they don't like. Luckily for me there is a lot of hypoallergenic makeup on the market so I can still wear mascara without the risk of leaving the house looking like a panda bear who's been in a fight. If you have sensitive skin on your body then bras can bring you out in an array of blotches, hives and rashes that are painful and upsetting. Unfortunately there aren't an array of hypoallergenic bras on the market, especially in DD+, so you have to find other ways to get an irritation free fit.

It's worth noting that problems caused by sensitive skin are different from skin irritations caused by bad bra fit. If you are wearing an ill-fitting bra then you can get rashes and broken skin as your bra rubs against you and punishes your skin. This article helps you understand how to stop your bra attacking your skin!

You may be sensitive to synthetic materials or metal so having a synthetic-material-bound-wire wrapped around your body poses a big problem. If you can find an all cotton bra they tend to be unwired and most likely a nursing bra. If you don't want to sacrifice the support of a wire then you need a barrier between you and the bra.

Bra liners are usually made of 100% unbleached cotton. They sit between the band of your bra and your skin because the band is where the greatest pressure is exerted by your bra. Bra liners are not the sexiest things you've ever seen in your life but they are indispensable for thousands of women with sensitive skin because they can continue to wear off the rack bras in comfort.

Extremely sensitive skin can't be in contact at all with synthetic materials, elastic and metal and in this case custom made cotton bras or going braless are the only solutions. One of my clients wears a Cake Cotton Candy bra underneath all her bras to prevent breakouts.

One of the biggest enemies of sensitive skin is starch and unfortunately almost all new bras bras are sprayed with starch because it helps the bra keep its shape during transit and display. One wash can leave starch on the bra so it's really important to soak your bra in scent-free detergent and gently massage the bra so that the starch washes off. It's worth doing this a couple of times before wearing the bra for a long time. We love Canadian, rinse-free lingerie wash SOAK because it's so easy to use and their Scentless wash is completely skin friendly.

In a perfect world there would be pure cotton bras made with BPA free plastic wires but until then we need to find ways to get the best support possible without provoking an allergic reaction xx