How To Know Your Skin Type: Simple And Quick Guide

When you are a newbie in the skincare world, some questions are coming in your mind as what type of skin do I have? or how to know your skin type. Our body’s largest organ is no other than the skin. Like any other organs, it is a complex system, but it also adapts to change in circumstances and seasons very quickly.

This is why learning your skin the needs of your skin specifically is important. For a bright and healthy complexion, you need to devote your time to making the right choice to balance your skin. 

As each of us is a unique individual, so as our skin. However, skin type often falls into three common categories: Dry, Normal/Combination and Oily. You can check how to check the skin type at home by 2 very simple methods below.

The Bare-Faced Method

Firstly, you should use a mild cleanser to have your face cleansed thoroughly and dry your facial skin by gently tapping it. Next, you should leave your skin be, without any treatments, serums or moisturizers. Later, you must check your bare skin after half an hour, focus on your forehead, cheeks, nose, and chin to see if there’s any shine. Then, you leave it for another half an hour and try smiling or making facial expressions to check the extends of parching.

• Oily skin type: you can feel the shine on your forehead, cheeks and nose area
• Normal/combination skin type: you can feel the shine on your forehead and nose area
• Dry skin type: you can feel the tightness of your skin

The Blotting Sheet Method

This is a great method with a faster result. It quickly determines whether you have oily skin type or dry skin type. All you need is a piece of blotting paper patted on your face’s different areas. Check the sheet for the visibility of oil, which you should employ a source of light to see it better.

• Oily skin type: oil on the sheet is remarkably visible
• Normal/combination skin type: oil on the sheet is visible but only on nose and forehead areas
• Dry skin type: oil on the sheet is barely seen or invisible

 Now that you have answered how to know about your skin type, the next question is what to do with your skin type?

Skin Types

Dry Skin

Experiencing flaking noticeably, and throughout the day your skin feels tight are the signs of a dry skin type. A person having dry skin either due to genetics in most case, or environmental factors namely climate, hormonal changes, lifestyle, and diet.

Another important factor of dry skin type is dehydration. If this is the case, you should drink enough water and reduce alcohol and caffeine intake as much as possible. These diuretics can affect your skin tremendously, in terms of appearance and construction.

To balance this type of skin, you should exfoliate and moisturize your skin on a daily basis. Exfoliation should be done with very non-abrasive ingredients and extreme gentleness. It will aid the body’s skin cell turnover while not eliminating the natural oil on your skin.

When choosing your moisturizers, you should pay attention to the ingredients. Hyaluronic acid (sodium hyaluronate), marine actives (like algae glycerin), and glycerin are the best for the dry skin type. These substances do a great job in water attraction and direct delivery of hydration to the skin cells. Squalane, camellia oil, or other emollients also are highly recommended due to its even and effective result in smoothing and hydrating your skin.

Normal or Combination skin

As you may notice, normal or combination skin type has a contrast in the amount of oil on the cheeks and t-area. Therefore, one with this type of skin should be cautious when choosing a moisturizer that has a just-right effect. This means that it should not be too heavy and stress the skin which can result in a breakout. At the same time, it should be substantial enough to well moisturize the t-zone.

A gel-like texture moisturizer is ideal because your skin absorbs it faster and it does not make your skin more prone to breakout. You should start with a little amount then adjust it accordingly.

Oily skin 

There are good news and bad news if you just get “oily skin type” answer for the question of “how to know your skin type”. The good news is that you look younger and your skin is softer without fewer wrinkles thanks to more natural moisture. The bad news is, however, your pores are more likely to be clogged and congested.

To avoid that from happening, you should exfoliate your skin physically and chemically. The former activity aims to enhance the tone balance and your skin texture. The latter skincare action helps promote the turnover of cells and release your pores from build-up sebum.

Oily skin types often have to deal with PIH (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation), or the condition of having dark spots on healed breakout on the skin. Exfoliation fixes this condition by making new cells more visible after wiping the uppermost layers of skin containing dark pigments. If you are having a breakout, anti-bacterial substances in the exfoliator will support healing speed and reduce the possibility of future blemishes.

Our skin’s needs do not remain unchanged but fluctuating as time goes by. It is crucial to pay attention to its needs in order to keep a healthy and balanced great-looking skin. You should consider your skin condition and re-evaluate it regularly. How to know your skin type is important, but so does actions you take when knowing this information. All of this will be worth-while once you feel your smooth, fully hydrated and radiant skin.

>>> You may want to check: Top 5 Best Face Serums For Oily, Dry And Sensitive Skin