Knowing Your Skin Type Will Help You Take Better Care of Your Skin

Do you know what skin type you have?

Each skin type has specific needs, so knowing your skin type is the best way to make sure that you are caring for it properly. Your skin type will likely even change over time! So it's important to check in with your skin every now and then to ensure that you know how to take care of it.

In this post, I'm going to help you determine what your skin type is! So let's get started...

Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and it has many important functions. It is crucial to keep your skin healthy so that it can perform those functions for you to keep you healthy as well. Your outer-most layer of skin, the skin barrier, is especially important here.

Each person has their own unique skin, as well as their own unique needs for their skin. This is why it's pretty impossible for any skincare routine to be "one-size-fits-all."

Dry skin often feels tight, and it might be more prone to showing lines and wrinkles. It often becomes itchy or easily irritated. Dry skin is often dull, rough, and maybe even flaky. Pores are almost non-visible in dry skin. Dry skin produces less oil than other skin types.

Try this at home if you think you have dry skin:

Wash your face and then wait for 20 to 30 minutes before you apply any more products or do anything else in your skincare routine. If your skin starts to feel like it's slowly tightening and a little uncomfortable, you likely have dry skin.

Normal skin feels balanced: not too dry, not too oily. Not too tight, not too slick. It's not typically prone to acne breakouts or to dry, flakiness. Normal skin often has a nice, smooth texture, with few or no imperfections. And normal skin is less likely to be sensitive. Pores are typically small or almost non-visible. Normal skin produces an optimal level of oil.

When you have normal skin, there are typically no major skin concerns.

Combination (combo) skin has some areas that are dry and other areas that are oily. With combo skin it is very common to have dry cheeks with an oily T-zone (for those who may not know, your T-zone includes your forehead, nose, & chin). Pores are likely visible, especially in the areas where skin is more oily.

It is not uncommon for combo skin to change with the seasons - those of you with combo skin probably have to change up your skincare routines throughout the year.

Oily skin often appears shiny and feels greasy to the touch. It is typically prone to acne breakouts. Pores are often quite visible or appear to be enlarged. Oily skin produces an excess amount of oil, compared to other skin types.

If you have oily skin you are less likely to notice visible wrinkles!

Sensitive skin always goes along with another skin type. So, you're either going to have dry sensitive skin, normal sensitive skin, combo sensitive skin, or oily sensitive skin. Even though sensitive skin always goes along with another skin type, it is considered its own skin type.

Sensitive skin is often easily irritated. It might feel like it's burning; it might be itchy; it might feel really dry; it might be red or pink. Sometimes the sensitivity isn't visible; sometimes skin just feels sensitive. And degrees of sensitivity can range from mild to extreme. It's best to try to determine what your triggers are if you have sensitive skin, so that you can try to avoid them!

If you've read through these descriptions and still aren't quite sure what skin type you have, that's okay! Here are two more things you can try at home..

1)  In the "dry skin" section of this post, I mentioned washing your face and waiting to see what happens. Try this even if you don't think you have dry skin! After waiting the 20 to 30 minutes after cleansing, if your skin looks and feels greasy and shiny, you probably have oily skin. If it feels tight and uncomfortable, you likely have dry skin. If you feel greasy in some areas and tight in others, it's probably combo skin for you. And if you don't really feel like any of these things apply to you, you probably have normal skin!

2) Get yourself some blotting sheets (you should be able to find these in the skincare section of most general merchandise retailer stores). Take a clean blotting sheet and press it against different areas of your face. Try to do this around mid-day if you can. Then hold the paper up to see how much oil is on the paper. If there is a lot of oil, you likely have oily skin. If there is little to none, you probably have dry skin. And if you see a small amount of oil, you likely have combo or normal skin.

Sometimes it's really easy to determine your skin type. And sometimes, it's really not that obvious. You can always see a dermatologist to help you determine your skin type if you're just not sure.

Remember that knowing what skin type you have is essential in caring for it properly. For example, you won't want to use products made for dry skin on an oily face, or vice versa.

In future posts, I'll talk about the best ways to care for each skin type, so stayed tuned!

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