How to know your skin type?

Before embarking on a skincare routine for your face, it is crucial to first diagnose your skin type. Although it may seem obvious, surprisingly, many individuals mistake their skin type. For instance, some may believe they have oily skin, when in fact it is a combination, while others may think they have dry skin, when it is merely dehydrated.

The type of skin must be differentiated from the condition of the skin, one can have damaged, dehydrated, irritated, sensitized, or healthy skin, but it is a condition and not a type of skin. The skin condition is temporary while the skin type is genetically determined. A cosmetic brand has chosen the name Typology to show that the type of skin is very important when selecting its beauty products.

The test to know your skin!

Let’s start with a practical exercise, the handkerchief test.

Start by cleaning and drying your skin

Wait half an hour, do not apply any product in the meantime

Observe your skin and apply a tissue

Your skin is dry if your skin feels tight, and seems dehydrated and after applying the tissue to your skin there are no traces.

Your skin is normal if you don’t feel any tightness and the handkerchief simply shows tiny traces of oils.

Your skin is a combination of your T-zone which corresponds to the forehead, nose, and chin is shiny and the tissue applied shows traces of oils on this level, but the area of ​​the cheeks and temples seems normal with only tiny traces of oils.

Your skin is oily if all the skin on your face is shiny and you feel oily and the tissue you applied has traces of oils.

The different skin types

Skin types are classified according to their production of fatty substances:

Two types of lipids serve to keep our skin in good condition, the intercellular lipids which are found between the corneocytes at the level of the stratum corneum.

Dry skin

Dry skin is skin that no longer fulfills its barrier role because one of the roles of this organ is to limit water loss. For this, the skin must be impermeable, this is unfortunately not the case with dry skin which no longer produces enough oil in the epidermis. The result is a loss of natural hydration and skin dryness.

The appearance of dry skin:

Generally, dry skin has a matte appearance, fine lines from dehydration are frequently present and the skin texture is fine.

The feeling of dry skin: you feel tightness and discomfort.

What not to do when you have dry skin:

Carry out aggressive cleansing

Use poorly adapted moisturizers,

Do not use moisturizing lotions or serums

The make-up you use dries out your skin

Your beauty routine is not adapted to your natural moisture loss

Oily skin

Oily skin fulfills its role “too” well, which saturates the surface of your skin with sebum. This excess can cause some aesthetic inconvenience.

The appearance of oily skin:

Generally, oily skin has dilated pores, imperfections, pimples, and a tendency to acne, the skin is generally thick and the skin shines.

The feeling of oily skin: you feel an unpleasant sensation of oil on the skin.

What not to do when you have oily, acne-prone skin Drying

out your skin with an overly aggressive cleanser

Using overly-rich moisturizers

Having a diet that causes insulin spikes and contains too many bad fats that make thicker sebum.

Have an unsuitable skincare routine.

Normal to combination skin

Normal to combination skin has the characteristics of the two previous skin types in different areas. The T zone produces too much sebum and the rest of the face can be normal or even dry to varying degrees. There is not just one type of normal to combination skin, the different areas can be more or less oily, normal, or dry.

The appearance of normal to combination skin:

In the T zone, imperfections, blackheads, pimples, and dilated pores may be present, this part of the face also has a shiny appearance, on the contrary, the cheeks may be irritated and torn and contrary to the T zone they appear dull.

The feeling of normal to combination skin: Both a greasy feeling in the T zone and a possible tightness in the cheeks.

What not to do when you have normal to combination skin:

Perform an unsuitable cleansing with the wrong product, i.e. a product that is too aggressive

Do not zoning “adapt your cosmetics to the areas of the face

Using too much moisturizer on the T-zone

Using too little moisturizer on the cheeks

Now let’s talk about skin conditions

Sensitive skin:

Sensitive skin is skin that blushes as soon as skincare products are applied, but not only that, hard water can cause a reaction just like the sun.

This type of reactive skin is often due to skin that has become sensitized, by pollution, the sun, tobacco, and above all unsuitable care products. When your skin becomes sensitive, you should limit your skincare routine to the bare minimum and look for soothing ingredients.

What not to do when you have sensitive skin:

Use “organic” essential oils without testing, they are often responsible for allergies.

Buy cosmetic products that contain too many ingredients

Beware of irritating makeup

You don’t use a soothing mask

Mature skin:

With age, the skin becomes mature, the cell regeneration cycle lengthens, it becomes more refined, wrinkles appear, and sagging appears. But not all mature skin is the same, some remain very thick, some very wrinkled, but others have simply become drier, but remain radiant and with very few wrinkles. This is due to genetics or a superb skincare routine over the years, or probably a bit of both. The more life advances, the more dryness appears, your beauty routine must take this into account.

What not to do when you have mature skin:

Your Beauty Routine Does Not Take Your Mature Skin Into Account

You do not use cosmetics that boost collagen