OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the perception of skin sensitivity in France. METHODS: A representative nationwide sample of the French population aged 15 and over was taken. The individuals were questioned by telephone and selected as per the quotas method. RESULTS: To the question "Do you have sensitive skin", 44.1% of men and 59.4% of women answered "sensitive" or "very sensitive". Women had significantly more sensitive skin than men (p<0.001). The no response rate was less than 1.0%. A total of 27.7% of the population with very sensitive skin, 14.3% with sensitive skin, 7.0% with slightly sensitive skin and 2.1% with non sensitive skin also presented with a dermatological condition. Those with dermatosis more frequently reported sensitive or very sensitive skin (79.0% versus 48.6%, p<0.001). A history of childhood atopic dermatitis or eczema was more frequent in patients with sensitive or very sensitive skin (18.3% versus 9.8%, p<0.001). The interviewees who declared that they had dry or oily skin also significantly more frequently (p<0.001) reported sensitive or very sensitive skin than those with normal skin. Subjects with sensitive or very sensitive skin reddened more easily for no reason (26.9% versus 10.5%, p<0.001), after exposure to the sun (50.2% versus 34.0%, p<0.001) or in response to an emotional stimulus (52.2% versus 40.6%, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study of sensitive skins to be conducted in a representative French population. Thus, slightly less than 25 million French people would appear to have sensitive or very sensitive skin. This is probably a much higher figure than the population spontaneously reporting this condition to a dermatologist. These specialists should therefore systematically ask their patients this question. The non response rate was negligible, which indicates that the term "sensitive skin" is meaningful to the immense majority of people.