Are you confused about what type of skin you have? Or how you can determine your skin type? Do you know everyone has a unique type of skin? And it may react differently with the ingredients or skincare products. It is a natural fact that no one has the same skin type and these categories fall in five major types which are normal, oily, dry, combination, and sensitive skin. Everyone wants that they keep their skin healthy, shiny but to keep the skin healthier and maintain its stability, elasticity it is important that you should be aware of your skin type. So don’t worry, it’s time to seek out all your questions and give the appropriate answer to keep your confusion away and make your skin healthier. This content provides you complete guidance about types of skin, with their cause, how you can determine your skin type and what you will do to maintain the health of your skin.
Overview
The skin is considered as the largest body organ and its total body area is 20square feet. Generally, skin is the outer tissues which are soft and covers the vertebrates. Skin is performing many functions and protects the internal organs of the body. Skin not only protects the organs of the body, but helps to regulate the temperature of the body, maintains health, produces vitamin-D (an important factor for giving strength to the bones), and permits touch sensation. The skin makes the integumentary system that provides protection to the body. Human skin is made up of multiple layers of tissues and cells. Skin consists of three main layers which are known as:
- Epidermis- Epidermis is the outer layer of the skin which is made up of epithelial cells. The function of the epidermis is to provide a barrier, protection from the external environment and it is also responsible for skin tone creation.
- Dermis- The dermis is just below the epidermis which is made up of dense, connective tissues. The dermis contains hair follicles, sweat glands, blood vessels, and other important structures.
- Hypodermis- Below the dermis, the hypodermis is present which is known as the deepest layer of the skin and it is made up of fatty acids, and loose connective tissues.
What are the functions of the skin?
Below are the major functions that our skin performs:
- Skin works as a protective organ– The main function of the skin is to protect the organs of the body from external environments such as heat, pressure, cold, etc. Besides this, it also helps to protect against microorganisms, chemicals, radiation, and other harmful substances.
- Skin works as a regulated organ- The skin helps to maintain several aspects regarding regulation such as it may help to regulate the temperature of the body (by the help of sweating, hair follicles). Skin is also responsible for any variation in blood circulation or peripheral circulation. Additionally, it also balances the body PH or fluid balance.
- Skin works as an organ of sensation- As the skin contains a large network of tissues and nerve cells that help to transmit the signal by detecting the changes occurring in internal or external environments. Skin works as a sensory organ because it may have receptors of heat, cold, pain, or touch. Whenever any nerve cells are damaged, it can occur like a loss of sensation. Due to this disability of sensation people are suffering from neuropathy conditions.
What are the different types of skin?
Everyone has a unique type of skin and usually, there are five main types of skin humans have. These are normal skin, oily skin, dry skin, combination skin, and sensitive skin.
1. Normal skin
You are lucky if you have a normal type of skin. The normal skin has a great balance in the production of the skin (it’s not too oily or not too dry). The normal skin usually promotes the good circulation of blood in your body with a balanced PH level. The fine-pore with smooth complexion is the main sign of normal skin.
By just paying little attention to your skin you may keep it healthy. Normal skin usually have:
- Fine-pores
- No blemishes
- No sign of irritation
- Smooth texture or complexion
2. Oily Skin
The oily skin usually has a greasy appearance and it usually breaks out the acne as a result of large amounts of sebum production. Oily skin has:
- Large pores
- Prone to acne breakout
- Sebum production
3. Dry Skin
If your skin has a rough texture it means you have dry skin. The dry skin usually has flaky and tight skin because of dryness and lack of natural moisturizer on your skin. The dry skin has lost its elasticity because of dryness. It may be due to environmental factors, wind, sunlight, unhealthy diet, lack of nutrition, and so on. The dry skin usually has:
- Tightness
- Dryness
- Itching
- Rough skin
- Dual complexion
4. Combination Skin
A combination skin is the mixture of two types of skin which is oily skin or normal/dry skin. People who have combination skin suffer from an oily T-zone area while their cheeks become dry/normal condition. The combination skin has:
- Shine
- Blemishes
5. Sensitive Skin
Sensitive skin usually reacts with external effects and it is due to any stress, ultraviolet rays, exposure of sunlight, and so on. The sensitive skin usually has:
- Dryness
- Skin feels tight with itchy
- Redness appears after taking a warm bath
- Allergy appeared after eating spicy meals
- Feel irritation whenever wear tight clothes
What are the steps to determine your skin type?
Do you know about your skin type? Are you confused about your skin type? You are thinking about how you can determine your skin type? Because if you want to take care of your skin the main factor is to determine your skin type. As you know skin is considered the largest organ of the body. Determining your skin type helps you to choose the right skin products and to customize your skincare regime. As you think that it is confusing to know about the type of your skin but it’s wondering or simple to determine your skin type. You can easily determine your skin type by just performing a few steps appropriately. These steps are:
Examining the skin
Step-1: Examination of T-zone
The first step to determine the type of skin is that you should dab the face with the help of a tissue and then wash your face. After washing your face, wait for 30-40 minutes then you can pat your T-zone with the help of a tissue. (T-zone is considered as your forehead and nose area because the bridge of the nose makes the base of “T”).
Look at the tissue paper carefully to see how much oil it absorbs or if the oil is removed from your T-zone or not. If the quantity of oil is excess it means you have oil or a combination skin type.
Step-2: Notice the skin feels
- After examining the skin you should notice how the skin of your face feels. If your face feels taut or tight after cleansing your face it means you have dry skin.
- But if you feel your face clean after cleansing it means you have oily skin. After a few hours, your skin becomes greasy again.
- If the T-zone feels clean after cleansing but the cheeks still feel tight it means you have a combination skin.
- If you have sensitive skin, then your face starts irritation or it becomes red after cleansing, the rashes appear on your entire face because of using facial products.
- After washing your face, applying cleanser if you will not show any above signs (such as tightness, itching, redness, rashes, clean but after awhile greasy) it means you have normal skin and you need to pay a little attention for maintaining your skin healthily and shiny.
Step-3: Look in the mirror
If patches appear on your entire face, it means you have a dry skin type. If your face blinks or shines it means you have an oily face. Even if your face has both signs, you may have a combination skin.
Step-4: Evaluate the size of Pores
- In normal skins, pores are easily visible but their size is not large.
- Now to evaluate oily skin, take your step back from the mirror and again look at your entire face, if the pores are still becomes visible you have oily skin.
- In dry skin, pores are not visible easily.
- In the combination skin, you have more than one size of pores on your entire face.
Step-5: Pinch the skin
After pinching any part of your face, wrinkles appear easily just because of applying pressure on it, it means you have a dry skin type or combination skin, while after pinching any part of your face no wrinkles appear and your skin still feels smooth it means you have oily skin.
Step-6: Consult with Dermatologists
After performing all steps, if you are still confused about your skin type, then you should consult a dermatologist for determining the type of skin. Dermatologist helps you to seek out all queries regarding your skin. Might be possible they prescribe some medication or perform any procedure to treat your skin and make your skin healthier.
These are the steps, which solved your query about how you can determine your skin type. By performing all these steps you can easily determine your skin type and then treat it effectively.
What are other methods to determine the skin type?
Query with how you can determine your skin type? Is sorted out by the above steps that you can follow properly, but if you have a shortage of time and you are busy in your daily routine and you may not have enough time to take care of your skin. You are thinking that the above steps are simple but consumes a lot of time so no worries, there is also another method to determine your skin type easily in a short time period. These two alternative methods to determine skin type are:
1. Bare-faced Method
The bare-faced method starts with washing the face with a mild or soft cleanser that helps to clean your skin gently. Now leave it for 20-25 minutes and don’t apply any extra moisturizers on your skin (such as serums). After 30 minutes, you may check your chin, cheeks, nose, and forehead if any shine appears or not. Now, wait for another 30 minutes to check your skin. Either your skin feels dry whenever you smile or make any facial expressions, or you feel tightness after a smile or any facial expression. It means your skin is dry. However, if you feel shine on your nose and forehead it means your skin is normal or combination. And if you notice the shine on your nose, forehead, along with cheeks, it means you have oily skin.
2. Blotting Sheet Method
The blotting sheet method is faster than the bare-faced method and it evaluates the best determination between the oily skin or dry skin. For performing this method, first, you can buy oil blotting sheets which is also known as bibulous paper which is a highly absorbable paper. Wash your face and then wait for half an hour. Now place the blotting paper on your face and hold the blotting sheet to determine what type of skin you have or how much oil is absorbed on this blotting sheet. If the blotting sheet has a little amount of oil it means you have dry skin, while if it picked an excess amount of oil on the forehead or nose it means you have normal or combination skin type. And if the blotting paper picked a large amount of oil from the entire face it means you have oily skin.
The blotting sheet method becomes a good indicator to evaluate the amount of oil.
How can you treat your skin?
So after determining your skin type the main query is how can you treat your skin? Once you know about your skin type, it becomes feasible to treat your skin with products that are suitable for your skin. To treat your skin you should follow these steps to make your skin healthier and shiny:
For Dry skin- Applying Moisturizer
If you have dry skin, and you are using soap instead of any moisturizer, it can create more dryness and cause irritation or itching. You should apply a good moisturizer if you have dry skin and always try to use fragrance-free moisturizer or cream. Take care of the usage of soap. Don’t use too much soap on your dry skin, and make sure that you should use warm water. You can use the soap only for armpits, grains, under the breast, and your toes because most of the time dry skin becomes the cause of dermatitis (inflammation of the skin).
If you experience inflammation of the skin, then you can use hydrocortisone ointment on the inflammatory areas. Applying moisturizers is the best way to treat your skin effectively.
For Oily Skin – Cleanse the skin in the morning and at night
Are you having oily skin? And you don’t know how you can treat your skin? So no matter how oily your skin is, you can apply cleanser on your skin for washing your face. You should apply a soft and gentle cleanser on your skin for at least 20-30 seconds. If you have any problem with your skin, then you can treat this affected area with facial products that contain alpha-hydroxy acid, benzoyl peroxide, and retinoids. You may also apply the products that contain salicylic acid and glycolic acid.
Make sure if you are using any product for the first time, then first you can apply it to a smaller area to evaluate any side effects of using the product. If your skin is not showing any sign or symptoms of irritation, itching, redness, or patches it means you can easily apply this product all over your face.
For oily skin, usually blotting papers are preferred to remove the oil from the face and make your face less shiny. If you want to apply the moisturizer then you should use oil-free moisturizers on your skin because oily skin type does not require any moisturizer. You should always take care of your skin by avoiding multiple products in one time, or drying the skin again and again because it becomes the cause of more oil production on your skin.
For combination skin – Search balanced treatment
If you have a combination type of skin then you can use a fragrance-free cleanser to wash your skin. You should also avoid the harsh chemical soaps on your skin. Balance the diet and eat the foods that consist of essential fatty acids because a balanced diet and intake of fatty acids maintain the moisturizer of your skin and helps for glowing.
For sensitive Skin – Soap-free cleanser
If you have a sensitive skin, you should take care of your skin to protect it from acne, pores, pimples, rashes, and so on. You should use the soap-free cleanser that helps clean your skin instantly. Moisturize your skin to protect it from dryness and also test the product of the skin before applying on your entire part. You should hydrate your skin by drinking plenty of water and prevent your skin from skin diseases.
What are the causes of oily skin?
If you have too much oil or grease on your skin it means the production of sebum is in an excess amount that makes your skin oily. If you are searching about what are the main causes of oil skin? So the main causes of oily skin are:
- Genetics – If anyone has oily skin in your family member it means your skin inherits this gene.
- Hormonal changes – At the age of puberty, there are chances that your hormone may be imbalanced that can cause oily skin, while pregnancy also becomes the cause of oily skin.
- Environment – Your environment or climate is also responsible for the production of oil. If you are living in a hot environment there are chances that you may have oily skin.
- The large size of pores – If you have a large size of pores so it means sebum is produced in excess amount that becomes the cause of oily skin.
What will you do to control oil production?
If you have oily skin and you want to control the production of sebum on your face so you should follow these simple tips:
- Should Be hydrated – For controlling the production of oil on your skin you should drink plenty of water because it helps to lessen oil production on the skin.
- Use moisturizers – You should use moisturizers regularly to control the excess sebum production.
- Clean your skin – You should wash your face twice a day to reduce the size of pores and remove dirt on your skin. If you clean your face twice a day then excess oil is easily removed from your skin.
What are the causes of dry skin?
If you feel tightness and itching on your skin it means you have a dry skin type. Are you searching about what are the causes of dry skin? The main causes of dry skin are:
- Genetics factor – Same as oily skin, if your family members have dry skin then there are chances that you may inherit this factor from your parents.
- Climatic Condition – Seasons play an important role in your skin type. If you’re living in a dry climatic condition so your skin becomes dry especially in winter because in winter there is a shortage of humidity which may lead to dry skin.
- Long Bath – Yes it’s true if you are taking long showers then your natural oil production decreases which may cause dry skin.
- Age factor – Age is also the main factor that is responsible for dry skin because as you are getting old the production of sebum decreases naturally.
What will you do to get rid of dry skin?
Follow these tips to get rid of dry skin:
- You should moisturize your skin with a good quality moisturizer
- Drink plenty of water
- You can also use humidifiers for getting natural moisturizers
- Protect your skin from ultraviolet rays
- Avoid long showers
What are the important tips for combination skin?
- There is the possibility that harsh soaps or cleansers open your pores. You should use a soft and gentle cleanser. It is better that you should ask your doctor what type of cleanser you may use.
- Sunblock is an important skin product to protect your skin from direct exposure and it also prevents dual complexion.
- You should exfoliate your skin at least once a day to prevent excess sebum production.
- Don’t do harsh scrubbing on your skin as it can damage your skin.
- You should use two types of skincare products on your skin. Don’t use the same product on your T-zone area and the entire face, because dry skin products harsh the oily skin.
How can you take care of sensitive skin?
- If you have a sensitive skin type that it is necessary that you should avoid all the skin products that become a reason for allergies. You should perform a patch skin test before applying on the entire skin. If you see that this product causes an allergy then don’t use the product anymore.
- Don’t apply multiple products on your skin.
- Protect your skin from sun rays.
- Most importantly, don’t believe any hypoallergenic label because most of the time products are claiming to be hypoallergenic but actually, they are not.
How can you take care of Normal skin type?
People who have normal skin think that the question “how you can treat your skin?” is a useless question for them but it’s not because the people with normal skin also need to paying attention on it to keep their skin healthier and shiny. Taking care of normal skin is not a big deal because fortunately, you may have a balanced level of sebum production which promotes the circulation of blood. Normal skin type does not need any skincare products or medication and it only needs attention to maintain your skin healthier and shiny.
- Hydrate Your Skin – If you have normal skin type but don’t drink plenty of water so there is a chance that your skin becomes dry. If you want to maintain the health and shine of your skin then drink at least 7-8 glasses of water per day that helps you to control the production of sebum.
- Use Moisturizer – Moisturizers are considered an important skincare products for your skin. No matter what your skin type is, moisturizers help you moist your skin and also lessen the excess sebum production.
- Protect from Ultraviolet rays – Sun rays or UV rays become the cause of skin damage. You should wear sunscreen before going outside. Direct exposure to harmful rays becomes the main cause of wrinkles and dull complexion.
- Wash Face before going to Bed – Washing your face with a good quality of cleanser helps to protect your skin from many skin diseases. You should wash your face before going to sleep because germs or dirt open your pores.
Before you leave!
Skin is the most important part of the human body and it may be considered as the largest organ of the body. Generally, there are five types of skin such as oily skin, dry skin, normal skin, combination skin, and sensitive skin. Most of the people are confused about their skin type. What type of skin do they have? But hopefully, there are two main methods by which you can easily determine what type of skin you have that are – bare-faced method and the blotting sheet method. These two methods are very useful for determining skin type. Even if you have any confusion regarding your skin type then you should be consult a dermatologist for complete guidance. Remember if you have sensitive skin then don’t use any skin products without the prescription of your doctor because it can damage your skin.
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