Back to Basics: Skin to Skin
Hey everybody!
I’m back with Installment No. 2 of my little “Back to Basics” tag. Knowing your skin type will help you determine the best products and methods to incorporate in your skincare regimen. So let’s jump right into it!
Skin types vary due to a combination of different things. Genetics, weather, aging, medications, diet, the list goes on. But I think these are the three most important factors to focus on because you can control them to a certain extent:
1. Water content, which can affect your skin’s elasticity
2. Lipid content (or more specifically in this case, oil content), which affects your skin’s softness
3. Level of sensitivity, which affects your skin’s tolerance to certain properties
Despite the fact that skin varies from person to person, there are four umbrella skin type categories: normal, combination, dry, and oily.
Normal skin is usually pretty perfect from the looks of it. This kind of skin is not easily scarred or prone to imperfections, has pores that are small or barely visible, and a “glowy” complexion.
Dry skin typically has a dull complexion in comparison to the “glowy” look of normal skin. Dry skin may also have red or rough patches, more visible lines, and is less elastic than other skin types.
Oily skin is characterized primarily by excess oil (obviously lol), to that point that you might look shiny. People with this skin type may have enlarged pores and be prone to blackheads and blemishes.
Combination skin can be any set of the aforementioned characteristics all in one. An example of this is if you are oily in the T-zone (forehead, nose, and chin area), but normal or dry everywhere else. People with this kind of skin may also have enlarged pores and find blackheads and/or whiteheads to be a common problem.
So now that you know the basic characteristics, let’s talk about determining your skin type.
Read other posts in the "Back to Basics" Series:
Back to Basics: Let's Talk Hair Typing
Don’t try to figure it out after you apply your skincare products, or after you spending a lot time in inclement weather, or after you’ve been outside and your skin has been exposed to dirt and toxins and everything else that’s in the air.
The best way to figure out your skin type is to wash your face with a gentle cleanser (either in the morning after you wake up or at night before bed), wait 20-30 minutes, and then check it out. Are you dry all over? Oily all over? Dry in your T-zone but normal everywhere else? I personally discovered my skin type using an overnight method. I washed my face and went to bed with nothing on it. No mask, toner, moisturizer, literally nothing. This gave my skin time to rejuvenate (because we know for a fact that our bodies recharge and our skin regenerates overnight) and an opportunity to be in its 100% natural state so that I could see what was really going on.
To keep this post somewhat short, stay tuned for a separate post on the best kinds of products and base ingredients for different skin types! I'll tell you what ingredients you should look for in a store bought skincare product, and what base ingredients are good for a DIY skincare product if you’d prefer to go that route.
Let me know if you found this useful! Thanks for journeying with me :)
If you liked this post, you might like these too:
Back to Basics: Let's Talk Hair Typing
You might find this T-Zone graphic helpful!