Your guide to embracing your natural skin textures and the best suit products

Following new trends on social media, buying new products or trying recommended creams, may be your way of experimenting and finding the best skincare routine for you. However, if your skin type does not coincide with the product you are using, you can be doing more damage than good. Keep reading to find out the skin type you may have and what products or routines will give you the best results!

The four skin types are normal, dry, oil and combination. These four categories are determined by the levels of water and oils found within your skin, whilst also noting its sensitivity.

Normal Skin- Starting with normal skin, this can be categorised by a good overall balance of moisturiser yet oils on the skin’s surface. Within normal skin we can see some pores, good circulation, a velvety texture, low-no sensitivity and few blemishes, Eucerin.

Dry Skin- This second skin type is caused by a lower level of sebum production than found within normal skin, this means that the skin lacks the ability to hold moisture or water. This actually correlates to 40% of the cases taken to the dermatologist, most seen within women.

Oily Skin- Contradicting with dry skin, oily skin holds an excessive amount of sebum. The sebaceous glands overproduce and result in fat production, Eucerin. Oily skin can be seen to show large pores, a shiny appearance and is often seen in paler skin tones.

Combination Skin- Combining a mixture of over production within the sebaceous glands, but at the same time a lack of sebum in some areas of the skin, combination skin combines features of both oily and dry skin.

Still unsure on what skin type you have….. Try this:

Wash your face with your normal cleanser, wait an hour without applying any products and then dab a soft tissue on your skin, specifically on your T-zone.

Normal skin will show no signs of grease on the tissue.

Dry skin will show your skin peeling and flaking off.

Oily skin will show high levels of grease pay off on the tissue.

Combination skin will show an oily T-zone but flaky skin in other areas, Coelho.

Now we have identified our skin types, let’s look at what routine we can best benefit from:

Normal skin- sunscreen should be applied every day, cleanse and tone morning and night, moisturiser morning and night.

Dry skin- sunscreen should be applied every day, avoid hot water on skin, moisturise morning and night, use a creamy cleanser morning and night, eye cream at night, retinol at night.

Oily skin- sunscreen should be applied every day, choose oil-free and non-comedogenic products, cleansing gel morning and night, apply oil-free moisturiser at night, retinol at night

Combination skin- sunscreen should be applied every day, mild cleansing gel morning and night, medium weight moisturiser, retinol at night,

Our skin types are caused by many different variables, including age, your skincare routine, weather, humidity and sun exposure. So whilst you may evaluate your skin to be of one condition now, it is likely to change in the future. Keep an eye out for any changes, and tweak your skincare routine thereby.

Our experts:

Eucerin, (1) What Is My Skin Type? | Skin Types & Conditions | Eucerin

Coelho, Skin Types: What Type of Skin do I Have (verywellhealth.com)