How to Identify Your Skin Type (and Why it is Important to Do It)

September 14, 2022

Do you know what your skin type is?

When it comes to skin, the first thing you should know is that not all skin is the same, and this has nothing to do with color, which means that there is no miracle product that works for everyone and that the care that works for some, for others they can be a serious error (accelerating aging, the appearance of acne or the production of fat).

The way you take care of your skin has an important effect on its appearance and health (because wrinkles are not as serious as skin cancer), and this is precisely why it is necessary to know which type you have, to understand what it needs, how you should treat it and what products are the ones that are going to work best for you (so you don’t waste money on things that don’t work, or so you don’t make your own problems worse by not doing things right).

What types of skin exist?

According to dermatologists from U.S. Dermatology Partners and Healthline, there are several types of skin that people can have: dry skin, oily skin, combination skin, and normal or balanced skin, with subcategories such as sensitive skin, acne-prone skin, allergy-prone skin, and plus.

Normal skin doesn’t have many problems, it’s not overly oily and it’s not dry, it’s not exactly acne-prone and it’s not very sensitive, but it still needs care to maintain that balance. Sensitive skin is more delicate and fragile, it is the one that is easily irritated because its moisture barrier does not work very well, in addition to the fact that it can react in unexpected ways to certain types of products.

Then there’s combination skin, which can have oily spots and dry spots, and different issues that may require different products, while dry skin is skin that doesn’t produce enough natural oils and doesn’t hold in moisture properly, and Oily skin produces excess oils, which can sometimes be to compensate for dryness.

How to know what your skin type is?

A dermatologist can check your skin and help you know what your type is and how you should take care of it, but you can also do it at home.

According to Healthline, there are several tests you can take to find out what’s going on with your skin, starting with one called test of the day. This test is easy and fast, and consists of observing and asking a series of questions.

The questions are:

Does your skin feel oily and look shiny? So you have oily skin.

Do you have dry patches and a shiny, oily T-zone? So you have combination skin.

Doesn’t it produce a lot of oils, doesn’t it look red or flaky or irritated? So you have normal skin.

Does your skin feel tight or flaky? You probably have dry skin.

Does your skin feel inflamed, look red, or is itchy? Chances are you have more sensitive skin.

Another test is to wash your face with a mild cleanser and then you should avoid applying any type of products, so you can check your skin after 30 minutes. After this, dry skin will feel tight and irritated, oily skin will look shiny, and normal or balanced skin should feel good and not shiny or dry.

Once you know the type, you must make sure that all the products you buy are specifically for that, otherwise you can damage your skin or increase the problems it already has.

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