Do You Know Your Skin Type?
To determine what your skin needs, it is important to understand the difference between skin type and skin concern. Your skin type is the skin you were born with and is influenced by genetics. This is the base level of how your skin behaves and will form the foundation of your skin care routine.
A skin concern, however, is a specific issue or issues that pop up. These can be caused by numerous factors, both internal and external. Consider breakouts that crop up from time to time. While you may live with dry skin (your skin type), you still suffer from the occasional breakout (your skin concern). It’s important to take both skin type and skin concern into considering when building your skin care routine.
Skin Types
There are four core skin types: normal, dry, oily, and combination. Continue reading below to determine which type aligns best with your skin.
Normal Skin
Best defined by what it is NOT, normal skin is neither oily nor dry, and rarely problematic. With a normal complexion, it is easy to just let it be. Why bother with skin care when your skin is fine the way it is?
To keep your skin healthy and youthful, it’s important to maintain your skin’s health and protect from future damage.
3 Tips to Treat Normal Skin
- Treat in the Moment
Adjust your routine according to what your skin needs at each point in time. Feeling dry? Switch from a light-weight moisturiser to something a bit richer like the Coconut Age Corrective Moisturiser. Pimple incoming? Use the Acne Advanced Clarifying Masque as a spot treatment.
- Choose a cleanser you love
For normal skin, you still need to cleanse to maintain your skin’s natural balance. Choosing a cleanser is more about your preference for texture or scent rather than actively treating a specific concern. The most important thing is that you enjoy using it twice a day.
- Use a Toner
Follow your cleansing with a few spritz of a facial mist like the Stone Crop Hydrating Mist to restore the skin’s balance after cleansing, and to keep your face fresh and dewy all day long.
Dry Skin
Does this sound familiar to you? No matter how much moisturiser you layer onto your face, your skin still feels dry and tight. If you’re nodding your head right now, it sounds like you are struggling with dry skin. External factors like weather changes, hormones and environmental stress can aggravate this skin type so it’s important to keep your skin hydrated.
3 Tips to Treat Dry Skin
- Watch the hot water
Although a steaming hot shower in winter can be heavenly, high temperatures can upset dry skin and stripping the skin of essential oils, exacerbating the problem. Lower the temperature to what you would image a heated pool should be. Or, if hot showers are too hard to cut out, limit them to 5 minutes to protect your dry skin.
- Treat
When choosing an oil to treat dry skin, you want to choose a product that is rich in fatty acids and anti-inflammatory ingredients. The Facial Recovery Oil includes calming and nourishing oils to help heal your dry skin. Precious herbs and oils like clary sage oil and sage leaf extract help to soothe and renew the skin.
- Moisturise
As we move into winter, the cold air strips your skin of the moisture needed to stay supple. All that time in front of the heater doesn’t help either! Oil-rich moisturisers will help replenish lost moisture and repair the skin’s lipid barrier. The Coconut Age Corrective Moisturiser contains deeply moisturising coconut oil and shea butter, perfect for helping to restore and retain moisture.
Oily Skin
If you describe your complexion as ‘greasy’ instead of ‘glowing’, you may be struggling with oily skin. To help determine if this is your skin type, try cleansing your face and not applying any other products. Wait for an hour and then take a piece of clean tissue and gently dab your T-zone. If there is residue on the tissue, it sounds like you have oily skin.
3 Tips to Treat Oily Skin
Choose an oil-based cleanser
- It may sound counter-intuitive but oil-based cleansers were made for oily skin. Oil attracts oil, after all! Using an oil-based cleanser will attract your skin’s sebum so you can rinse any excess oil away without stripping your skin. To take it to the next level, you should consider double cleansing. Use an oil-based cleanser like the Stone Crop Cleansing Oil to remove makeup and excess oil and then use a different cleanser like the Citrus Exfoliating Wash for a squeaky clean finish.
- Gently Exfoliate
Exfoliation is an important step to treat oily skin, but don’t go crazy. Choose a gentle exfoliant like the Stone Crop Oxygenating Fizzofoliant to help unclog and minimise pores while removing any build-up on the skin.
- Moisturise (Yes, really!)
It might seem silly to add moisturiser to already slick skin, but it’s not a step to skip. Lack of hydration sends a message to the skin to start producing more sebum to avoid drying out, and thus the cycle continues. Instead, choose a lightweight option like the Clear Skin Probiotic Moisturiser or the Stone Crop Hydrating Gel that will help minimise pores and control oil.
Combination Skin
If you find your T-zone is oily but the skin on your cheeks and jawline is normal or dry, you likely have combination skin. It can feel a bit tricky tackling combination skin; how can your skin be dry in one area and oily in the next?! But with a two-prong approach you can control the excess oil in your T-zone and replenish the moisture in your dry spots.
3 Tips to Treat Combination Skin
- Mix up your cleansers
Combination skin needs different cleansing at different points in the day. Start in the morning with a gentle foaming cleanser like the Mangosteen Daily Resurfacing Cleanser to absorb oil. Then at night switch to a gentle cream-based cleanser to help rehydrate, like the Coconut Milk Cleanser.
- Multi-moisturise and mask
Like with cleansing, using two different moisturisers will help tackle your skin’s multiple needs. For days when you feel oilier, choose an oil-balancing moisturiser to help control shine like the Mangosteen Gel Moisturiser. For days when you feel extra dry, you want to opt for a richer moisturiser like the Stone Crop Whip Moisturiser. For night care, super-charge your skin while you sleep with the Lotus Detoxifying Overnight Treatment.
- Exfoliate to eliminate build up, unclog, and minimise pores
Avoid clogged pores by exfoliating regularly to eliminate the build-up of dead skin cells and minimise pore size. Choose a gentle option like the Strawberry Rhubarb Dermafoliant for a gentle buffering with the added benefit of salicylic acid to remove impurities and reduce pores.
Still not quite sure what your skin type is? Watch the video below for three easy steps to help reveal your skin type.
Keep in mind that throughout life, your skin will change. It’s important to revise your routine regularly to suit your needs at each specific point in time. Still not sure what your skin needs? Book a consult with an Eminence spa professional for skin consultation and treatment. Click here to find your closest Eminence spa.
Have questions? Connect with us on social media or send us an email at admin@eminenceorganics.com.au.