Before we dive in, here is a little "get to know me better" fact...I am a JD (juris doctor) and this is the point where my skincare language come into the picture. I always loved legal topics but I knew that most people`s mind just not wired to understand it straight away. This is my major reason why I try and break all skincare jargons into little chunks which are more digestible and relatable and not that all scientific. This is by all means not because I don`t trust you would understand it but how much easier it is if you just read plain old English (well...not the very old one). Am I right or am I right? Right...
And now to the main part of this blog.
Here is a quick guide to make sure you understand the main differences between the skin types. Of course you might fall in between two types or you even have a combination of them all.
As an example here is my skin type. I am well over 40 which means now I have less elasticity in my skin and this would put me in the mature skin type. I was also always on the drier side of the skin types when I was younger (or maybe just dehydrated now I know...) however, approaching the M phase in my life, I noticed that my skin became oilier. So there you go, I have a combination skin but not just having drier and oilier areas on my face but I also need to care for my mature skin which needs slightly different approach.
The shock was for me to realise that you can have pimples in your 40s. Is this the price to pay because I almost never had any when I was a teenager??!! How wonderful....NOT!
So, when someone is either in between skin types or cannot vouch for one or the other, I always say: start with the lightest types of oils using tiny amount of drops and see how your skin likes it. If it soaks the oil up and still dry and thirsty, most certainly you would need something thicker.
Tip if you never used a face oil but would like to try one: go with the lighter oils, start with the face oil for oily skin and use a few droplets. I use all three types depending on weather and my skin condition. In colder weather, my skin loves the one for mature skin (I do use it still sparingly) but when the weather turns to sticky hot, I switch to the one for oily skin and use it only for night time, definitely not for day time.
Don`t forget, everyone`s skin type is different however, the physical makeup of the skin is what we all have in common.
Little side-track about your skin. I work in programme management and I know that multitasking will not give you the desired results. You will start working on different things but you will not finish your overall task any time earlier but you will have unfinished tasks rather finished tasks and some unfinished ones. However, your skin CAN multitask.
Here are a few examples what your skin can do for you.
Number one is protection. Your skin represents a barrier to the environment. There are many potentially harmful enemies for your skin such as UV radiation or bacteria which can enter the body - unless your skin barrier is healthy and can protect your skin.
Even though your skin is waterproof, it can let certain oils to absorb to penetrate into the cells.
Think about skin regeneration or that the sun`s light can be converted to Vitamin D or even that your skin helps control the body`s temperature.
Such wonderful things to do....all at once.
The reason I told you all of these is because you will see why it is so important that you take care of your skin. The better you take care of your skin, the more glowing, smooth, healthier skin you will have.
I promote using a natural face oil because I believe having at least one hero product which can help your skin to look healthy, glowing, smooth and also can be switched depending on how heavy oil you`d like to use at the time. There are tons of benefits of each oil I use - you can read more about my Ingredients here.
Now back a little bit to your skin type.
I believe oily skin is quite obvious, as your face almost always have some shiny patches.
Sensitive skin almost similar in a way that you know you cannot use just any product, especially scents or specific oils.
Mature skin is more like an age thing unfortunately and even though you are over 40 or 50, you can still have oily skin as well as mature skin....just go back a few paragraphs and read about my current skin state....and I am not very happy about it either.
Combination skin again something which you know as you will likely have oilier and drier areas.
And now we arrive to dry skin. In my opinion this is the tricky one. It is for me at least.
Can you distinguish between a truly dry and a dehydrated skin? It is quite difficult if you don`t know what to look for.
There is a fun experiment - of course it`s not 100% accurate but at least it`s funny.
Pinch the back of your hand and see how quickly it bounces back. If it is quite slow, that would indicate you need to check upon your number of glasses of water you didn`t drink....
Dehydrated skin can lead to premature ageing, skin looks dull, lost elasticity. While dry skin usually lost some of the skin`s oil content and flaky.
A great product to use to lock moisture in, is a face oil. You can read more about "What is a face oil" blog post.
Don`t forget however, that every skin type can be dehydrated. Always use a gentle cleanser and drink plenty of water. However, if your skin is truly dry, drinking more water will not help fixing dryness. You will need to attack this from a different angle.
This guide is really just scratching the surface a little bit and not to determine any further treatment. If you suffer from any skin condition you always need to seek medical advice.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and now you have a better understanding about different skin types, you might even be able to determine which one is yours and maybe...just maybe...I have another face oil fan!
Naturally Yours,
Melitta