Simply put, skin type is the description and interpretation of how and why your skin
looks, feels, and behaves as it does. The four most common and relatively helpful skin-type categories used by the cosmetics
industry are:
1. Normal (no apparent signs of oily or dry areas)
2. Oily (shine appears all over skin, no dry areas at all)
3. Dry (flaking can appear, no oily areas at all, skin feels tight and may
look dull)
4. Combination (oily, typically in the central part of the face, and dry or normal
areas elsewhere)
Often blemish-prone skin is included under the oily or combination skin types, though
it is sometimes listed as a skin type all by itself. Occasionally, sensitive skin may be listed
as an individual skin type. However, I feel strongly that all skin types should be considered
sensitive, and I’ll explain why in just a moment.
As nice and neat as those four (or six) categories may be, and they are an excellent start-
ing point, the truth is that understanding your skin type is more often than not far more
complicated, which is why lots of women find identifying the skin type an elusive, chang-
ing puzzle that never settles down in one specific direction. Yet understanding your skin
type is incredibly important, and just not in the way the cosmetics industry approaches it
or the way we’ve been indoctrinated to think about it. First, skin type is never static. The
variations of what is taking place on your skin can not only change season to season but
month to month and even week to week. Adding to the complexity is the strong possibility
of skin disorders such as rosacea (which affects more than 40% of the Caucasian popula-
tion), eczema, skin discolorations, precancerous conditions, blackheads, sun damage, and
whiteheads. Four or six categories of skin type just can’t cover it.
When it comes to determining your skin type you need to forget what you’ve been taught
by cosmetics salespeople, aestheticians, fashion magazines, and even some dermatologists.
The typical categories of normal, oily, dry, and combination are good basics, but they don’t
address every nuance, and they can change and fluctuate with everything from the weather
to your stress levels.
Why is recognizing all the nuances of your skin type so important? Because different
skin types require different product formulations. Even though many skin types often
need the same active ingredients such as sunscreen agents, antioxidants, cell-communicating
ingredients, and so on, the base they are in (lotion, cream, gel, serum, or liquid) should
match the needs of your skin type. Skin type is the single most important factor influencing
the decisions we make about the kinds of skin-care routines and products we buy. But we
need to be careful about the way we categorize our skin or the very products we thought
would help could actually make matters worse
#lifelessons #the original beauty bible #skin type