Skin Care
Assessing Your Skin Type
Skin types are generally based on skin behavior, they are not medical jargon. The most common classifications used for marketing commercial products are normal, oily, dry and combination skin. Other classifications include blemish-prone, sensitive and sun-damaged skin.
Let us first see the factors that influence your skin type. Just about everything you do influences your skin condition, one way or the other. Looking at a mirror or feeling your skin, do not do justice to the process of determining your skin type. Let us proceed to effectively evaluate your skin.
Skin care products used without proper analysis will also affect your skin condition. Too much emollient in moisturizers and creams make your skin oily and strong exfoliates and cleansers give you a dry and sensitive skin. Let us now get into the process of analyzing your skin condition.
Skin analysis takes a little pre conditioning. Never try and analyze your skin right after washing with water or cleansers. Your skin reacts to the cleansers and water. It takes about four to five hours for your skin to recover from the effects of cleansing and become normal. Women should try and do it on day when they have not used any makeup or creams so as to arrive at a more accurate analysis.
Using a piece of facial tissue, press on different random areas of your face. See if the tissue has developed any blotches on it by holding it against the light. If there are any, it implies that you have an oily skin. Now you can see the importance of analyzing the skin on a no-makeup and no-cream day, since the creams or makeup might leave oil on your face resulting in the tissue being blotched and you would have analyzed your skin all wrong.
Conversely if you find that the normal area of your face appears to be dry, is tight to feel and if there are any flakes or patches, you have a dry skin. During this analysis, if you see that some areas are dry and some are oily, you have a combination skin. After we have categorized you skin, it is time now to see if your skin is suffering from any disease.
If you find any reddish areas around your cheeks and nose with bumps and blemishes that cannot be categorized into pimples or if you see any lines of capillaries which pain or burn when you touch them, you are a victim of rosacea. Psoriasis is another skin disorder which is evidenced by patches of irritated, dry, red or white scaly and crusty skin around the hairline, eyes, nose or cheeks. In case you notice any of these symptoms, it is best to consult a dermatologist.
Just a little attention and care can give your skin the youthful glow, which is more effective than going to expensive skin treatment clinics or using repair creams.