For anyone with a skin condition or allergy, finding suitable skincare products that don’t cause a flare-up can be a hit and miss affair.

Getting it wrong can not only be inconvenient and uncomfortable, it can also be expensive.

This was a fact that did not go unnoticed by Deborah Mason. After setting up her successful talkhealth websites covering allergies and related health issues, she was increasingly being contacted by site users seeking advice on skincare products that didn’t aggravate their condition.

Like them, she discovered there was nobody focusing on this specialised area and products could be difficult to find.

The answer was to develop a service to give information about and then provide such products for interested customers.

What started as an online shop called Pure and Gentle and offering 50 products a year ago has grown to supplying more than 200.

Clearly there is a demand, and not just in the UK. The company is receiving increasing numbers of orders from around the world, in particular the USA.

Americans are happy to pay the necessary shipping and insurance costs, so effective are the products.

Not only that, items are shipped to UK customers to arrive within 24 to 48 hours, so the online ordering system is proving to be a genuinely viable alternative to high street shopping.

Deborah, who lives in Hook, runs the business with Lisa Clunie. Both have personal experience of allergies and skin sensitivity, which gives them an understanding of the importance of using the correct products.

Deborah explained that this does not mean simply using an organic or natural product as one might expect.

Many people can, in fact, be sensitive to the ingredients in these despite their apparently wholesome composition. Common examples of ingredients causing problems are citrus and coconut oils and lanolin.

Similarly, cancer patients who have undergone chemotherapy or radiotherapy may not be able to use certain ingredients because of potential adverse reactions with medication and a compromised immune system.

However, cancer treatments often have the side-effect of causing excessively dry skin so being able to apply a suitable moisturiser gives patients peace of mind and can help them feel better about themselves — both of which are real plus points in what is a difficult situation.

Conversely, rather than having certain substances absent, other customers might be looking for specific, active ingredients to positively tackle their problem.

“Each product we sell has its list of ingredients on the site so customers can see exactly what’s in everything,” said Deborah.

“The people buying our products go across the spectrum from mild sensitivity to full-blown allergy. Most of them know what does and doesn’t suit them, but we are happy to give advice where we can. This can mean speaking to doctors, or we might go to the manufacturer to get their opinion.

“Any information can then be passed to the customer. We don’t advise on medical matters but we can talk about the products.”

Listening and acting on feedback plays a big part in the personalised service which Pure and Gentle aims to give. Deborah said that if a customer wants a particular type of product, she will try to obtain it.

She is currently looking into the possibility of selling aluminium-free deodorants, as there are concerns that normal ones which contain the metal could be linked to breast cancer.

Although this is not proven, Deborah believes consumers should be given the choice
of an alternative product.

“The high street stores tend to be interested only in the quick turnaround of big-brand names, which are geared to beauty rather than skin problems,” she said.

“Some of our products are well known, but we also have a wide range of very effective ones from small manufacturers which won’t ever be stocked by the big stores.”

However, Deborah added that some of the products are in huge demand.

The most popular range is DermaVeen, which includes hair care, soaps and body lotions for people with very dry skin and conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.

One runaway success is a treatment for hair thinning called Plantur 39 for women and Alpecin for men.

“We can’t get enough of this stuff,” she said. “It goes out as fast as it comes in.

“We even have a regular customer who lives in Portugal. It is an excellent product, though. It doesn’t promote hair growth but it does prevent hair loss so it sells well to men and menopausal women in particular.

“We’re also selling a lot of sensitive skin sunscreens which don’t cause a rash as some of the big brands do.

“We don’t stock anything under sun protection factor 15 and many have Australian standard protection so they are really safe and effective.”

If there is one piece of advice that Deborah is insistent upon, it is always perform a patch test before using a new product.

“This really is essential for anyone with any sensitivity — they shouldn’t take our word for it that it’s safe,” said Deborah.

“They should apply it to a small area and then wait for 24 hours to see if there is any reaction. If they’re trying more than one new product, they should test them individually 24 hours apart.”

Deborah conceded that many of the products do not look as attractive on the bathroom shelf as beautifully packaged major brands, but added that for her customers, effectiveness was more important than appearance.

“We want to give customers reliable information and excellent products that do what they say on the pot.

“The fact that we are growing so rapidly and receiving such positive comments, I think, shows that we are succeeding.”

For more information on caring for sensitive or problem skin, or to order products, visit www.pureandgentleskincare.
com.