What Is My Skin Type? Let’s Easily Find Out The Answer To This Tough Question

What is my skin type? I have been struggling with this question myself for years. What products do I need to fit my skin type? It’s not always easy to immediately see what your skin type is because, besides very dry skin and very oily skin, there is more in between as well. In today’s blog post, I’m going to share my tips to help you with determining your skin type.

Different Skin Types

Let’s start off with listing the different skin types first and then I’ll explain a little bit more of each skin type and what it is exactly. The list looks like this: 

• Normal skin
• Dry skin
• Combination skin 
• Oily skin 
• Sensitive skin

Normal Skin 

This means your skin is not too dry and not too oily. It’s perfectly in between. Most of the time, people with normal skin have also an even texture, generally blemish-free, and the skin isn’t shiny or dry at the end of the day. 

Dry Skin 

People with dry skin tend to have a tight feeling, sometimes even flaky. Your skin feels dehydrated most of the time. Also, people with dry skin tend to have less elasticity in their skin and smaller pores.  

Combination Skin 

This is, what the word already says, a combination of different skin types. Most of the time, the T-zone is oily and the rest of the face tends to be drier. 

Oily Skin 

People with oily skin often have a more shiny face with larger pores. They’re also prone to breakouts and acne. The skin produces more than enough oil. 

Sensitive Skin 

People with sensitive skin suffer faster from rashes, red spots, and breakouts. This is because they’re sensitive to the weather, harsh products, or other circumstances. You could experience itching, flaking, or even swelling. 

For example, it’s definitely possible to have a normal skin type as well as a sensitive skin type or a dry and sensitive skin type. This makes it often difficult to really determine the skin type. If you’re really struggling to determine your skin type, please contact a dermatologist. This person can easily help you with the determination of your skin type and help you with finding the best products. 

What Is My Skin Type?

First of all, there are products that could cause a lot of symptoms that you consider as a part of your skin type. These ingredients can cause skin problems, instead of your actual skin type. You want to look closely to the ingredients in your skincare products and make sure to check on these: 

• Alcohol
• Menthol
• Thick Emollients
• Some type of waxes
• Fragrance
• Harsh Scrubbing products
• Harsh/Drying Cleansing products
• Irritants (organic & synthetic)

I would recommend to stop using your current products for a couple of days and see how your skin reacts without them. This is the best way to see your real skin type. 

I’m going to share a list of signs you want to keep in mind when you’re trying to find out which skin type you have. Look for the following to determine your skin type: 

• Normal skin: fine pores, good blood circulation, a velvety, soft and smooth texture, a fresh, rosy color uniform transparency, no blemishes (expect some breakouts every now and then).
• Dry skin: mild scaling or flakiness in patches, a rough and blotchy appearance, a feeling of tightness, possible itchiness.
• Combination skin: an oily T-zone (forehead, chin, and nose), enlarged pores in this area perhaps with some impurities, normal to dry cheeks.
• Oily skin: enlarged, clearly visible pores, a glossy shine, thicker and pale skin (blood vessels may not be visible). Oily skin is prone to blackheads and whiteheads and varying forms of acne.
• Sensitive skin: easily irritated skin, red spots, itching, flaking, rashes and sometimes even swelling of the face. 

I’ve found a couple of tests on the internet which can help you determine your skin type. I would recommend trying the Skin Type Quiz by Renée Rouleau, which you can find here. You can obviously browse the internet as well to find some other skin type tests. 🙂 

How To Treat Your Skin Type

Every skin type needs its own type of treatment. I’m obviously not a dermatologist, but the below list is a general list of how to treat skin types. As I said before, please reach out to a dermatologist if you need help! 

• Normal skin: lightweight products such as lotions and serums are the best for normal skin. Normal skin doesn’t need extra moisture and you want to avoid to extremely dry out the skin with harsh products you don’t need for your skin type. 
• Dry skin: Hydrating, moisturizing products all the way. Use rich creams to moisturize your skin. Watch out with drying or harsh ingredients such as alcohol.  
• Combination skin: this skin type needs different products for different areas. Use mild, gel cleansers, and alcohol-free toners on oily areas and hydrate dry areas with light serums and moisturizers.
• Oily skin: It’s important to cleanse your skin often with gel cleansers and stay away from rich creams. Don’t use products with extra oil in them. 
• Sensitive skin: avoid harsh ingredients at any cost. You might want to try a product first on a small part of your face, before using it all over the face. Also, avoid too warm or too cold water when you’re washing your face, etc. this could irritate the skin. 

You can check out my skincare reviews and skincare saviors to find out products that’ll work for your skin.