In this post I am going to share with you the 4 skin types, some skin concerns, and two of the best ways to determine your skin type so you won’t ever have to ask yourself again “what is my skin type” or “is this product right for my skin type”
One of the most important steps in your skincare routine is finding out your skin type. This doesn’t just save you money because you can buy just the products specific to your skin type but also helps you understand and find the best way you can make your skin look the best it has ever been.
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Skin types
There are four skin types that people can have:
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Normal
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Dry
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Oily
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Combination
Skin concerns
There are a few skin concerns that can appear no matter the skin type. They can appear to any of the four skin types mentioned earlier and if treated properly they can be improved or they can disappear completely:
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Sensitivity
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Redness
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Acne-prone
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Dehydrated
How to determine your skin type
In order to find your skin type, you have to first cleanse your skin with a gentle cleanser. Of course, you can use any type of gentle cleanser but I recommend something like Cerave Hydrating Cleanser or Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser.
It is extremely important for the cleanser to be a gentle one, without actives in it, like acids, AHAs, or BHAs, so that it won’t overly strip your skin of its natural oils and let you with a tight feel, which will probably make your results inconclusive.
After washing your face (with the gentle cleanser of choice), pat dry your face with a clean towel and then wait for about one or two hours without applying anything to your face. You can’t moisturize as this will influence the result (I suggest doing this in the evening because it’s easier to have a bare face for one or more hours).
After at least one hour, you have two options:
How to Find Your Skin Type With A Close Mirror
Take a close mirror and look at your pores and how shiny you are.
- If you can’t notice any shine and your skin feels normal, not tight at all then you have normal skin – you, lucky you, have the best skin type out there
- If you can’t see any shine but you feel your skin tight, stripped, and even maybe flaky and you can see some expression wrinkles when you move your face, that means you have a dry skin
- If you notice your skin is shiny all over the face and you have enlarged pores then most probably you have oily skin(Tip The larger the size of your pores, the most likely it is for you to have oily skin, the smaller the size of your pores the higher chance for you to have dry skin)
- If your forehead and nose are really oily (also called T-zone because it looks like a T 😊 ) but you feel that your cheeks are really tight then you have combination skin
How to Find Your Skin Type With Blotting Paper
You can also find your skin type using blotting paper – gently pat one on your forehead, one on each cheek, and one on the nose and wait for about 5 minutes before taking them off. Hold the paper up to the light to determine how much oil is visible
- If you can barely see any oil in all of them, you have dry skin
- If all of your blotting papers are full of oil, you have oily skin
- If you notice that your blotting papers from the cheeks barely have any oil on them, while the ones from your nose and forehead are full of oil, then you have combination skin
- If you see a moderate amount of oil, not excessively, and maybe just on some of the blotting paper – you probably have normal skin.
I would personally suggest choosing the first option, as it is harder to determine the correct amount of oil in the second option, using blotting paper.
One important thing to take into consideration, your skin type can change with age, with having a baby, changing climates, also can be heavily influenced by the water you wash your face with, as hard water has a say in this. So, make sure to always monitor your skin type and find and changes in its skin type or the skin concerns that it might have.
Remember, in order to have a good skin care routine you will need to know first what type of skin do you have.
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Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.