If you wish to have flawless, healthy, glowing skin, the first step is to find your skin type. You must have noticed the market flooded with products meant for dry, oily, combination, normal, sensitive skin, and others. When you know your skin type, you can select the right skincare products and get the most benefit out of them. Choosing the wrong products can negatively affect your skin and even aggravate the problem you want to get rid of.
Wondering how to differentiate what skin type you have? This is a guide that can help. Before you know which skin type you have, it’s important to learn about the different skin types. These are:
Dry Skin
People with this skin type notice flaking and feel tightness all day. Major causes include climate, diet, environment, genetics, and hormonal changes. Having this skin type means you must go for heavy creams and moisturisers that help in restoring lost oils and keeping skin hydrated.
Normal Skin
Although normal skin is a balanced combination of dry and oily skin, it still needs to be taken care of to avoid any skin issues. People with normal skin may also experience dryness on the cheeks that may lead to skin irritation and acne. Using a product with an appropriate oil balance would be enough to keep normal skin moisturized and nourished.
Combination Skin
Sometimes you will find you have dry patches in certain areas of your skin and oily patches in others. If you find this to be the case then you have combination skin. Combination skin is when your face is both dry and oily in places. With this skin type the T-zone is usually the area on your face you will find to be oily with dryness occurring around the cheeks.
Oily Skin
Human skin has oil glands that produce some oil naturally to keep skin moisturised and balanced. However, people with oily skin have overactive oil glands, due to which their face feels greasy and emits excessive shine. If you use so many blotting papers every day or if your face is full of oil when you wake up in the morning, then you might be suffering from oily skin.
Since excessive oil keeps the pores clogged, acne and breakouts are quite common for people with this skin type. Common causes of oily skin may be lifestyle, environment, and genetics. If you have this skin type, use a water-based product or a light-weight moisturiser to keep your skin balanced and oil-free.
Methods to Find Your Skin Type
Here are two simple methods of figuring out your skin type.
- Bare Face Method
Use a mild face wash like Simple to wash your face, pat it dry, and leave it without applying any product. Wait for around 1 hour and then start noticing your skin. Do you notice your skin feeling tight and dried out especially when you smile? In that case you probably have dry skin. However, if you see a little shine on your forehead and nose, your skin is normal. If you notice excessive shine on your cheeks, forehead, and nose, you have oily skin.
- Blotting Test Method
The blotting method is a much easier and faster method of identifying your skin type. Take a piece of blotting paper and pat it gently on different parts of your face. Now check the paper to see how much oil it has gathered. If there is no oil, you have dry skin. Is it is too oily? Then you have oily skin. If it is just a bit oily, you have normal skin. If only your nose, cheek, and forehead are oily, others are dry, then you have combination skin.
Remember, every individual is unique and what works for one may not be good for others. It’s important to find your skin type and accordingly give it the nourishment it needs. With the right steps taken, you can get the radiant and healthy complexion you always longed for.
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