Oily? Combination? Is moody a skin type?
Correctly accessing what your skin type is the first and most important step for establishing a good skincare regime.
Skin types can be overwhelming - especially when your skin has a life of its own (literally!). Just like life, your skin will have up's and down's and change is the only constant. Confused? what we mean is that the type of your skin will change depending on what it is going through
The simplest way to figure out your skin type is how it feels about two hours after you shower or as soon as you wake up.
Dry Skin : If you have dry skin, chances are your skin will feel taut or stretched out. You definitely need to add products with ingredients like ceramides, hyaluronic acid, lecithin and dry oils in your skincare kit.
Oily Skin: Oily skin tends be oily all around and not just in select areas. According to a few textbooks, if you take a butter paper or filter paper and rub it on your cheeks, chin and forehead and it goes from opaque to translucent - you've got oily skin. If you have this skin type make sure you have a good balance of hydration using ingredients like Squalane and Hyaluronic acid, exfoliation with AHA/BHA acids and anti-bacterials like Neem, Sulphur need to be part of your skincare routine.
Combination Skin: Combination skin tends to be between the two - a dominant oily 'T Zone' (forehead, nose and chin) while the rest of the face is dry. Look out for ingredients like AHAs/BHAs, botanical extracts & antioxidants in the skincare products you buy . If you have this skin type you can also try multi-masking once in a while (use an oily skin product for your T zone and a dry skin product for the rest of the face).
It's important to understand that skin types are eventually a guide - we all have moody skin, and skin types do change in response to different seasons, environments (if you're traveling), hormonal cycles, stress and any other lifestyle changes - so its important to choose your products and update your routine based on what your skin is feeling.
