The first and most important step to caring for your skin is knowing your skin type and how it adapts to certain products and seasons.  

There are three basic skin types – normal, oily, and dry/dehydrated. Also, taking the time to learn your skin’s specific needs will allow you to select the right options that will balance skin resulting in a healthier, more radiant complexion.

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Dr. Sushant Shetty, Head – Medical Operations, Services and Engineering, Kaya Limited tells Opoyi that the best way to identify your skin type is to – “First, cleanse your face with a mild cleanser and gently pat dry. Leave your skin bare for at least 30 minutes and then take a look in the mirror to identify your skin type.”

Here’s what you’ll understand: 

– If your skin feels dry or parched, especially when you smile, then you have dry skin.

 – If your nose and forehead appear shiny but cheeks dry, then you have a combination or normal skin

 – If your nose, forehead, cheeks, and chin appear shiny, then you have oily skin

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Gunjan Jain, National Education Manager – Cheryl’s Cosmeceuticals says, “Your skin might have different needs basis its type. It can most often be bucketed under dry, sensitive, acne-prone, uneven pigmentation, oily, normal, or a combination of two or more concerns. These can be due to various factors with genetics and your hormones and their chemical balance being the deciding factor. Also, your lifestyle habits – sleep cycle, quality and duration of sleep, food and alcoholic beverage consumption patterns, stress levels, hydration levels can deeply affect the skin.”

What products suit different skin types?

DRY SKIN

 – Choose products which are hydrating and don’t strip away moisture from your skin

 – Look for moisturizers with ingredients like hyaluronic acid, glycerine

 – Find gentle exfoliators to get rid of flaky skin and dead skin cells.

 NORMAL/COMBINATION SKIN

 – In this skin type, you may have an oily t-zone but dry cheeks

 – Find a moisturizer that isn’t too heavy but good enough to give your skin the right amount of nourishment

 – Because you have a slightly oily T-zone, you are prone to breakouts, so use a good toner and chemical exfoliant

 – Gel-based moisturizers are good for this skin type

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OILY SKIN

 – This skin type is prone to clogged pores. Hence, use a good cleanser that deeply cleanses and follow up with a toner to soothe the skin.

 – Even this skin type needs moisturizing so go for a light moisturizers that has soothing ingredients like aloe vera

 – Stay away from harsh physical exfoliators and go for very gentle ones instead. Chemical exfoliators would be the best options. 

Hope this article helped you in understanding your skin type better?