Skin Types

We have heard it on TV and have seen the labels scream “for Oily Skin” or for “Normal skin type” but why are creams or lotions so classified? Simply because the characteristics of the cream have been modified to best suit the skin condition .One of the key steps to knowing your skin is to know your skin type. Knowing the skin type will help us develop a skincare regime that best suits our requirement rather than choosing any given alternative. In the pursuit for a healthy skin lets understand our skin better!

Every individual has a unique skin. Skin types can be generally classified into four categories. Every person's skin can be related to any one of these four.

• Normal Skin: This skin type is an ideal kind with a smooth and even texture, usually blemish free and without any greasy patches or flakes. 
• Oily Skin: It has a shiny appearance with large visible pores containing blackheads and whiteheads. The texture is thick, coarse and sallow yellow. 
• Dry Skin: There are two types of dry skin conditions: The oil dry and moisture dry.
• The oil-dry: The oil-dry skin is sensitive and has flaky patches with no visible pores. It tends to age and wrinkles prematurely unless carefully looked after.
• The moisture-dry: The moisture-dry skin has a fine texture. Its appearance is taut and dry with a tendency to chap easily and even at an early age, may show tiny lines around the eyes and mouth.
• Combination Skin: It is a partly dry and partly oily skin. The central part of the face: the forehead, nose, chin and parts of the cheek-look glossy and oily. The other parts appear dry.

A HOME-TEST TO KNOW YOUR SKIN TYPE

For the test, all that is needed is a few strips of tissue paper. Or you may use paper napkins instead.

In the morning, before washing your face, rub the strips gently across your forehead, nose, chin and cheeks by sliding them back and forth. The strips will either gain greasy stains or remain transparent and clean. 

• If the strips used on forehead; nose and chin are greasy, whereas the strips used on the cheeks are clean, you have a combination skin. 
• If all the strips are greasy, including the one used on the cheek, and the stains are large, you have an extremely oily skin.
• If all the strips are clean and transparent it means you have a dry or normal skin.

If the skin is left feeling stretched or too tight, shiny and parched, it is dry .If the skin feels smooth, supple and elastic, it is normal. The strip-test method is an easy method to find out the skin type and also which parts of the face and body are excessively oily or dry.