Beauty Go-To Girl

In all my years speaking with women and advising them of the best products to use - I’ve found that determining skin type is the one step where most women make their first beauty mistake.

Properly diagnosing your skin type is fundamental in reaching your full beauty potential, as everything you do from there dictates how good (or how bad) your skin looks.

If you do not have a good understanding of your own individual skin type you will inevitably purchase all the wrong skin care and makeup products. By doing so, you can actually create skin problems for yourself ranging from skin sensitivities to breakouts and beyond.

Even if your skin is not reacting badly to your current skin care regime, it doesn’t mean that you’re using the right combination of products or that you’re reaching your skin’s full beauty potential.

Once you know the correct definitions of each skin type you will accurately be able to categorize your own individual skin condition and begin purchasing skin care and make up products that will work best for you.

Believe me, the difference between using the right products and the wrong products for your skin is HUGE!

There are 7 different skin types:

·       Normal
·       Normal to Oily
·       Very Oily
·       Normal to Dry
·       Very Dry
·       Sensitive
·       Acne Prone

IMPORTANT!

The first thing you need to do to accurately define your Skin Type is to set aside some time in your day to wash your face with a mild liquid soap (not bar soap and no astringents or toners). Do not apply any moisturizers or makeup! Wait about an hour or two then, using the information below, assess the condition of your skin.

The reason for this is because certain products can give you a false idea of what your skin condition actually is.

For example, a face wash that is too stripping can make your face feel very tight and dry immediately afterward causing you to wrongly think you have naturally dry skin which then leads you to apply a moisturizer in a formula that is much too heavy for your true skin type.

Although that heavy moisturizer may give immediate relief to your skin, it can leave your skin feeling too greasy or worse, it can cause breakouts because it’s not the proper formula for your true skin type.

At this point, you might start thinking that you have naturally oily skin, or acne prone skin, and so you choose other skin care and makeup products to try and treat a skin type you really don’t have.

You can see where this can become a neverending problem constantly leading you in circles as you try and figure out what’s going on with your skin.

By waiting an hour or two after washing (no matter what products you’re currently using), and not applying any other products, your skin will have time to regulate itself (at least to some degree) back to what your skin condition is naturally.

The Definition of Normal Skin:

Normal Skin is defined as skin that has a some slight oiliness in the T-Zone area (forehead, nose, or chin) and comfortable feeling cheeks.

I would say that the majority of people have Normal Skin, even though they are completely convinced otherwise.

To determine if you have Normal Skin, after following my instructions above to gently cleanse the skin then wait the prescribed amount of time; check to see if your nose, forehead and/or chin area is slightly shiny, or, when you run your finger across those areas, you feel a bit of slickness or oiliness (doesn’t have to be a lot, but at least a somewhat noticeable amount).

Next, assess how your cheeks feel -

Normal Skin cheeks will feel completely comfortable. In other words, they will not feel tight and dry (an hour or two after washing) or appear shiny and slick with oil.

In addition, you may be surprised to learn that Normal Skin can also have occasional breakouts!

Normal Skin breakouts typically come and go over the course of a few days and will only consist of a few blemishes at a time. The blemishes of Normal Skin do not cluster together to form cysts or boils, however.

In Summary - You have Normal Skin if:

Any or all of your T-Zone areas (forehead, nose, chin) are slightly oily/shiny
Your cheeks are comfortable (not tight and dry, not shiny or oily feeling)
You may or may not have occasional breakouts that come and go with blemishes that are few in number

Normal Skin Product Useage:

For the most part, Normal Skin can tolerate a lot of different of products but it can still breakout if it doesn’t agree with certain ingredients such as mineral oil, glycerine, some plant-based oils, alcohols, colorants, or fragrances.

Normal Skin can choose from products in the ‘Normal to Oily’ or ‘Normal to Dry’ categories. However, my preference is for Normal Skin to stick with the ‘Normal to Oily’ category and here’s why….

Normal Skin doesn’t need a lot of additional hydration in the cheeks or T-Zone area. You want to use products that hydrate with more water-based ingredients to help plump up the skin and prep it for makeup. ‘Normal to Oily’ skin care products will offer a nice hydration level without heavy oils.

‘Normal to Dry’ products most definitely contain oils that may not be too much for your comfortable cheeks, but may be too much for your slightly oily T-Zone area.

Sometimes Normal Skin may not feel like a ‘Normal to Oily’ moisturizer is giving your skin enough hydration, especially in the winter months or drier climates. However, this does not mean you should choose a heavier moisturizer, rather, simply apply a 2^nd(or if necessary a 3^rd)coat of your ‘Normal to Oily’ moisturizer ONLY to the areas that do not feel hydrated enough - not all over.

When choosing a foundation, certain oil free makeups contain oil-absorbing ingredients that may make Normal Skin feel a little on the dry side, especially in the cheeks or a T-Zone area that is not particularly oily (such as the forehead).

The hard part is finding a foundation that does not make your slightly oily T-Zone oilier and one that does not dry out your naturally comfortable feeling cheeks.

I would recommend starting with foundations advertised for ‘Normal to Oily’ skin types, knowing that the alternative (’Normal to Dry’ types) would be too oily for Normal Skin’s T-Zone area. Just be mindful that the foundation does not cause a dry feeling on the cheeks - if so, try applying a 2^nd or 3^rd coat of moisturizer under the foundation to see if that helps before trying a ‘Normal to Dry’ foundation.

Best Recommended Products for Normal Skin:

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
Cera-Ve Moisturizing Lotion
Clinique Liquid Facial Soap
Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel With Pump (this is the oil free version)
NEW Superdefense SPF 25 Age Defense Moisturizer - Combination Oily to Oily
Clarins Cleansing Milk w/ Gentian (pronounced Jen-shen) or Gentle Foaming Cleanser
Clarins Line Prevention Multi-Active Day Cream-Gel
Clarins UV Plus SPF 40 Oil-Free Sunscreen
Clarins Truly Matte Foundation
Clinique Perfectly Real Makeup