Acknowledging your skin type is, probably, the most basic and most crucial step for finding your right skin care regime. Everyone’s skin type is different. Skin type test results may vary depending upon these following three factors: water content, which affects your skin comfort and elasticity, oil content, which decides your skin softness and – sensitivity level. If you don’t know your skin type, first complete this simple skin type quiz.

Now, let’s move on to five most common skin types.

1. Dry skin

I used to be jealous of those who have dry skin, and have this perfectly powdery canvas, but now I understand there’s a lot of cons of having a dry skin, such as irritation and inflammation. You may also experience some additional issues, such as like peeling, cracking and dry patches all over your face. It just makes your entire skin texture uneven and rougher. Dry skin may be caused, or made worse, by genetic factors, age, hormonal changes, indoor heating, UV rays, cold, windy weather etc. Just take a good care of your skin. I highly recommend investing in a really rich moisturizer. You may want to look for ingredients like glycerin, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, plant oils, fatty acids (look at this list of Top 10 Essential Oils For Skin). These are all different types of ingredients that can repair your skin, hydrate it  and ‘quench’ the moisture into it.

2. Normal skin

If you have it, you’re lucky. Normal skin is not too oily, it’s not too dry, you have that perfect radiant complexion, you have very few breakouts or imperfections on your skin. Pretty much, all skin care products are just for you.

3. Oily skin type

Oily skin types, including myself, are more prone to breakouts and blemishes. You have pimples and tend to have a little bit of enlarged pores than any other skin types. It’s annoying because you have to touch up your makeup, throughout the day, a couple of times and you need to take a good care of the oil production. One of the biggest mistakes, that oily skin type users tend to do, is that they use a lot of toners with high percentage of alcohol, or overuse soaps. They want to just get rid of all the moisture and suck out the oil by using those products. It may seem like a good idea at first, because you are getting rid of your oil and moisture, and it may seem like you achieved a little bit more drier skin type. However, in a long run, it’ll trigger more oil, because your skin will ‘notice’ that the pH balance is broken. The balance between the water content and the oil content in your skin is broken, so it’ll produce more oil to compensate that. Basically, you’re just forcing your own skin to produce more oil. Instead, seek for pH balanced cleanser where a moisturizing cleanser. Also, incorporate an alcohol-free or just a skin care product that contains less alcohol and a good hydrating moisturizer that doesn’t contain any pore clogging ingredient. These are often labeled as non-comedogenic (on the label of the skincare product) Also, ask for ingredient called salicylic acid, which is meant to be good for combating oily skin issues.

There’s also a ‘combination’ skin, which is an in-between state of dry and oily skin. For example, if you see that you’re mostly oily only on the T-zone and dry on the rest of your face, that means that you have combination skin.

4. Acne prone skin

This is probably the most stressful and troublesome skin type to have, especially if you have severely acne prone skin. Going through puberty it affects your personality and self-esteem. The essential step is to identify what causes your acne and what type of acne is you have.

Apparently, there are six different types of acnes: whiteheads, blackheads, papules, pustules, nodules and cystic lesions. I’m not going to touch on each because that’s going to be a whole new article topic. Just note that each type of acne has to be treated differently and there are numerous skincare products to help you. Salicylic acid is one of the most commonly used skincare ingredients in the products that is more catered for acne prone skin. Make sure to check out our article about natural remedies for pimples.

5. Sensitive skin type

This is, probably, the trickiest skin to take care of, because there are so many reasons behind what’s causing your irritation. You may experience redness or itchiness, burning sensation. Also, you may experience sudden dryness, in response to some specific skincare ingredient that you are allergic to. Maybe you were exposed to a different environment, which can cause the same problem as well. The key to solve this matter is to know what causes the problem and to stop using it. Avoid problematic environment, avoid abrasive exfoliators. Alcohol based toners can cause a lot of irritation, cleansing devices as well. Artificial scent, or fragrances, in your product can cause the same problem.

Instead of the conclusion, remember one thing…Your skin type is not fixed. Depending on your age, lifestyle, your stress levels… your skin type will change. Take a good care of it, since healthy skin is a sign of your overall wellness.