Do you know your skin type? Knowing this question can easily determines which skin care products are best for your skin.
Before you can answer this question, there is a difference between skin type and skin concern. You can have sensitive or even oily skin whilst still experiencing dry or dehydrated. Your skin type is based on how oil/dry your skin is and in which areas.
There are four main skin types that usually defined as very oily, very dry, and combination of dry and oily. Various marketing techniques and jargons always use these terminologies to advertise skin care products for millions of people. Before you open your wallet and make an impulse decision, you can find out your skin by continue reading this article.
Step One: LOOK
Look yourself in the mirror and see how your skin looks. Do you see certain areas where they look shiny? If you can see them, your skin is definitely producing excess of oil. If your skin looks dull and minus the shine, then your skin is prone to dryness. It’s very common to see both these symptoms on your skin in different areas. As for myself, I am one of millions people who experiences dryer cheeks and a shinier forehead, nose and chin (T-Zone).
Step Two: ASK
Before you can dive into step two, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
1. How does my face feel after I’ve washed it? If your skin feels fine without any tightness, then your skin is normal.
2. Why do I always need to apply moisturizer three to four times a day? If your skin feels the need of hydration, then you are experiencing dry skin symptoms
3. How does my face feel throughout the day? Why does my skin feel so greasy at the end of the day? If you answer yes to the second question, then you have oily skin.
Step Three: TOUCH
Once you have answered yourself the questions, you will need to do physical skin test that allows you to examine your skin type.
You will be using all 5 fingers for this experiment. Before you start touching your face, make sure to wash and dry your hands.
- Index Finger: Take your index finger and swipe across the forehead. Ask yourself this question, “What does it feels like?”. If you can feel the oiliness on your index finger, then you should be able to click your fingers together and feel a wet slick. If your skin is experiencing dryness, then you should feel no wetness and the skin should pull/drag underneath your finger. Also, you might also feel roughness and flakiness after the index finger experience. If you feel elevated by little bumps, then your skin might be experiencing the feeling of congestion. This also commonly known as blocked pores. Blocked pores are a sign of dead skin cells that are blocking your pores. By trapping your pores with dirt and oil, you might be trapped with blackheads and/or spots.
- Middle Finger: Pull this down your nose and chin. Again, look for the same description as above.
- Ring Finger: Pull this up the cheek, we’re still checking for the same category.
- Pinkie Finger: Slide this under the eye area and gently checking for that all-important oiliness/dryness.
- Finally, use the side of your thumb on the palm side and lift your cheek up. By looking in the mirror, you easily examine your skin texture to see if you skin is experiencing dehydration.
Step Four: CONCLUDE
- If your skin feels dry as well as dehydration, then your skin is likely experiencing Very Dry.
- If you find that you have one or more areas that are dry as well as the other areas feel normal, or possible even a little oily, then you’re likely to be Combination of Dry and Oil.
- If you have one or more areas that are normal plus the other areas feel too oily, then you are experiencing oily/combination skin.
- Finally if you’re oily all over, then you’re Very Oily.
Remember, you can still have any of these skin types while being dehydrated. Also, dryness normally denotes as lacking of oil, whereas dehydration is lacking of water. It is easy to make your skin to produce excess oil. Unfortunately, it is not easy to keep your skin hydrates if you have dry skin.
Hopefully, this guide will help you determine your skin type as well as skin concern. If you are still not certain about your skin type, you can visit a skin care store or counter at your local mall where you can easily ask trained experts. Remember, finding your skin type is not rocket science. Before buying any new skin care products, make sure to check if your skin can use them.
♔ SGLforMen ♔
