There is a lot of range in the varieties of skin type among us humans and many ways professionals and cosmetic products refer to those types; ie. "dry with an oily T-zone", "oily with dry patches", "normal to dry", "dry to sensitive", mature,  etcetera ...

Even if you can just get a "ball park" idea of your skin type, you will save yourself a lot of frustration, time and money.

How?

• You will make appropriate product choices for your skin's needs.

• You will avoid feeling self conscious about your skin's apparent reactions to inappropriate product choices

• You will avoid that frustrating downward spiral of skin reactions as your skin gets worse, as you attempt to figure out what your skin is reacting to.

• You will save yourself time trying to figure out what the true nature of your skin versus its reaction symptoms, and seeking out product to fix those symptoms.

• You will save money not buying more product than you need or product to fix skin behaviors that wouldn't be there if you cared for your skin with appropriate product and methods in the first place!

It is more than worth your time to figure out your skin type, to the best of your ability (everyone will have  to fine tune that understanding to account for individual differences).

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Effective product choices in combination with a proper skin care  regimen will not only nurture your skin, but bring your skin to its most beautiful, healthy level.

The essential steps of healthy skin care for most of us are cleanse, exfoliate, moisturize and protect our skin.  But each step will have differences based on your own skin type. 

The tools and products we use at each step, make the difference between skin that is in balance and skin that is not....and we know when it is not.

So, how do you as assess your skin type?

First of all it is important to understand that the great variety of unique types of skin among us will limit science from accommodating every type with its own category.

Consequently, not only will your skin type category be a generalized category, the advisement for care and product choices will be fairly general. This does not mean that the general categories will not be helpful in guiding your care measures and product choices.  It means that there will be some of us with skin type variations that will necessitate a little more fine tuning in getting that 'handle' and using common sense.

To add to the difficulty of assessing your own type due to the extensive individual differences among us, is the fact that our skin is dynamic ...

Shifts in the weather, your hormones, your diet and even your skin care routine will change how your skin responds to methods of care and types of products.  Using the wrong product without realizing it quickly can start a cycle of problems that may lead you to believe your skin is of a different nature than it actually is.

Assessing Your Skin Type

Here is a simple common test that will ballpark your skin type:

1.  Wash your face with a gentle cleanser and pat dry.

2.  Wait approximately an hour and then review your face in a well lit place, in front of a mirror. 

3.  You are looking for visual presence of shine and assessing surface oil with  a tissue test.

4. Take clean tissue, press a fresh section of tissue to each of the following facial zones; forehead, nose, chin and cheeks.

The following results generally indicate your skin type as:

Normal - If upon observation in the mirror there are no prominent areas of shine, your skin feels comfortable and there is no residue on the tissue.  

Combination - If upon observation in the mirror there are prominent areas of shine on your forehead, nose, and chin AND the tissue test also reveals residue for those areas but cheeks are normal.

Oily - If upon observation in the mirror your entire face appears shiny and the tissue test reveals residue in all four zones.

Dry - If upon observation in the mirror there are no areas of shine AND further to this, you can see and feel the presence of tight skin, possibly flaky skin AND there is not a trace of residue on the tissue.

Add to these four main types, the additional possible status of Sensitive Skin- If your skin occasionally (or more) reacts to cosmetic product and/or fragrance.  Typically sensitive skin is most often found in association with fair, fragile, and dry skin.

Mature - In your forties you will definitely begin to see a change in the status of your skin type.  Among a number of things, natural cell turnover slows down leaving skin, if un assisted, dull and dry looking plus potentially aggravating other conditions.  There are lots of effective remedies that will help you maintain healthy vibrant skin, you have to do your part and keep tuned in to changes.

Apply Common Sense To Skin Type Categories

  It is quite reasonable to find your skin is between to general types i.e. normal to dry, normal to oily, combination to oily.  With that said, use some common sense when dealing with your skin, taking into consideration the cause of the shifting like change in climate and hormonal fluctuation. 

For example:  If you find your skin type shifts between normal and oily,  this may be due to the monthly hormonal change in your body that may result in greater oil production in your skin.  If you thought this might be the case, you would likely reduce your moisturizer application to spot treatment like eyes and cheeks only, at times where oil production seemed greater.  Also, you may find that you have different moisturizer formulations based on climate conditions, such as richer heavier for dry winter climate and light weight for summer humidity.

Get back on track...

If you realize your skin care regime is out of tune with your skin type and seems to be ineffective at bringing the results you want to see, take your your skin care routine down to the simplest level and reacquaint yourself with your skin's needs.  

Wash your skin with a mild cleanser and use a very mild method of exfoliating (not a scrub and not if your skin seems to be inflamed in any way) like a soft wash cloth.  Add to your regime from here.  If you notice that your skin feels tight shortly after washing your face. Add a light weight simple moisturizer (no fancy ingredients), and ideally one with a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 if its the daytime.

From here you observe over time...add as needed.  Considerations based on the age of your skin, climate influences, hormonal shifts, nutritional habits and so forth, will begin the fine tuning of you skin care routine.

Fine tune your skin care for your skin type by careful observation, reliable sources of knowledge and professional advice.

Whether you read articles, talk to professionals, or learn solely from trial and error, you should build on the fundamentals of your skin care with the goal of feeling confident you are doing your absolute best for your skin. 

Do you have a question for a dermatologist?  Get a free consultation within 72 hours.

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