Do You Know Your Skin Type?
- Azalea Beauty
- Aug 15, 2019
- 4 min read
Everyone has a skin type—understanding yours should be simple, right? Wrong!
Skin type is one of beauty’s biggest enigmas. It’s that vague, wordy identifier that dermatologists and facialists say should dictate everything you do in your skincare routine, from your cleanser and your moisturizer to what types of fancy-schmancy masks work for you. And turns out, most people don’t even know what theirs is. That might be you!
According to Dr. Maryann Mikhail, finding out your particular skin type matters—because every product you should be tailored to the type of skin you have there. Use the wrong product and you may very well end up with the reverse result you were looking to achieve. So before you pick your products, you’ve got to gather some data. To help out, let Dr. Mikhail break down and examine seven different skin types for your diagnostic pleasure.
Read, find out your type, and then consider reassessing your Top Shelf.
Dry Skin
Tightness? Flaking? Hello and welcome to dry skin. It just feels uncomfortable…all of the time. According to Dr. Mikhail, the key to figuring out if you have dry skin has to do with how it feels in the morning. If you wake up with flaking or tautness, and you tend to feel like you need thicker creams to keep your skin feeling normal, you probably belong right here. The upside is that you might break out less or have fewer clogged pores than other skin types. The downside is that you’ll need to bulk up on moisturizer. Specific products or environmental factors can also cause dryness, like alcohol-laden cleansers, artificial fragrance, Even though these outside elements lead to temporary dryness, Dr. Mikhail recommends treating your skin like it’s naturally dry... until it is back to normal.
Oily
If you happen to be the rare human who uses their cell phone to—gasp—talk, then examine the screen after you hang up. Do you see a greasy film? Then congratulations! You have oily skin. Dr. Mikhail says that another way to tell whether you have oily skin is if your skin gets progressively shinier or greasier as the day wears on. “This skin type is prone to clogged pores and breakouts...your makeup might seem to ball up or slide off.” And your pores will look bigger, too, oh joy. Oily skin often doesn’t need a whole lot of moisturizing, but it does need a strong face wash to combat oil production and keep pores clear. The upside? Oily skin tends to age pretty well. Wrinkles are in everyone’s future, but yours may be further down that road.
Combination
Combination skin is the mullet of skincare—it’s two opposing things, and neither are all that great. “Combination people can be greasy in some areas and dry in others, and usually this is worsened by products or the weather,” Your T-zone is usually the oily area, and the circumference of your face and cheeks are usually drier. To make this even more complicated, when your cheeks naturally get drier and you reach for a thicker cream to help them out, your T-zone becomes extra oily and greasy. The reverse happens - when you dial down your moisturizers for a T-zone that’s less slick, the rest of your face gets dehydrated. Pay attention to how your skin feels as the seasons change—it might improve or worsen depending on the conditions.
Sensitive And Reactive
Redness, bumps, scaling, itching, and burning—the hallmarks of sensitive and reactive skin. Dr. Mikhail says it’s usually triggered by contact allergies or an underlying symptom of something else—rosacea. Does your skin break out in response to environmental triggers, like stress, the sun, caffeine, hot beverages, spicy food, or alcohol? You just might have rosacea, says Dr. Mikhail. “Itch is more likely linked to allergy, while burning is linked to rosacea.” If your skin does appear to be reactive, it’s a good idea to talk to your dermatologist. And even if it’s just sensitive, you’ll want to avoid products with fragrance and harsh chemicals as much as you can.
Resilient
Is your skin just “fine, totally fine, thanks for asking?” Step into the “resilient” skin room, which is classically known as “normal skin” because it is “typically neither oily nor dry.” Dr. Mikhail says resilient skin is able to tolerate a wide array of products, from acids to fragrance without reaction or irritation. It also heals quickly in the off chance it does get irritated or inflamed. “Breakouts are rare and come and go quickly, and people can use a wider range of products—even oil based products—without getting clogged pores.” OK, now this skin is just bragging.
Mature
“Mature skin is characterized by increased dryness, sun spots (poikiloderma), fine lines, and laxity,” says Dr. Mikhail. It comes with age, but “it’s often related to sun exposure and smoking, too.” So yes, you can be a young person with “mature” skin. There are three things to look for: 1. Fine lines that appear while your face is resting; 2. Poikiloderma—a word to describe red and brown discoloration—AKA sun spots that don’t go away; and 3. Broken blood vessels, which are a sign of sun damage. If you notice any of these in your skin, talk to your dermatologist.
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