Skin Types

It is important to understand that your skin type and your skin condition are two completely different things. Before you can really take care of your skin properly and achieve the results you are after you need to understand and know about the skin type and skin condition you have.

Your skin…

Firstly let’s chat a little bit about skin in general. Your skin is your body’s biggest organ and should be treated with the respect it deserves. It plays a major role in your body and probably does a lot more for you than you actually realise.

The epidermis is the outer layer of the skin so it is basically the skin that you can see and touch. This is the layer that ends up dry, aged, dehydrated etc if we don’t look after our skin properly. The dermis is the middle of the three layers and is where most of the action happens.

Nerve endings, blood vessels, sweat glands, the hair shaft and more are found in this layer. This is also where collagen and elastin are produced. The subcutaneous layer is made up mainly of fatty tissue.
It is what happens in your three layers of skin that plays a major role in determining how your skin looks and feels.

Information regarding your skin's anatomy is really interesting and quite eye opening. However, it is also difficult to condense enough for a quick read. If you would like to know more about how the skin works you can use the link below to access a very informative dermatology website that has all the answers or, of course, you can contact us with any questions you have.
http://dermatology.about.com/cs/skinanatomy/a/anatomy.htm

Skin types & conditions…

Your skin type is inherited and is part of your own personal DNA. This means that you will have the same skin type for your whole life.Your skin's condition is the state of health that your skin is currently in and this can change all the time depending on circumstances like the weather, illness and surgery, allergies, age etc. Lets first look at the different skin types.

Skin types…

There are five skin types and determining which one you have is the first and most important step in a good skin care routine. The five skin types are normal, oily, dry, combination and sensitive. Now let’s look at each of these in more detail;

Normal Skin

Even, soft and smooth texture
Good elasticity
Pimples and blemishes are unusual
Pores are small-medium in size
Colour is fairly even with no red patches or pigmentation
The skin is healthy and glowing

Oily Skin

Skin is shiny and greasy in appearance especially in the ‘T’ zone area (forehead, nose and chin)
Skin is thicker and more course than normal skin
Pores are large and easily visible
Skin is less likely to develop lines and wrinkles
After sleeping, an oily film could be found on the face
Hair is normally oily
Pimples, blemishes and acne are frequently present

Dry Skin

Skin feels tight and sometimes itchy
Skin is thinner than normal skin
Pores are barely visible
Line and wrinkles usually appear earlier
Pimples and blemishes are rare
Hair is also dry
Skin can be flaky and red patches are common

Combination Skin

This skin type is probably the most common and can be both oily and dry at the same time.
The ‘T’ zone area (forehead, nose and chin) and be oily and the cheeks and eye area dry
Pores are small to medium size
Mostly skin will look healthy – apart from the odd dry, flaky cheek or some blemishes in the ‘T’ zone area.

Sensitive Skin

This is one of the skin types that some people still believe should be considered a skin condition instead. As the founder of Bubbles Essential Wellbeing has this skin type herself, we are big supporters of it finally being considered an actual skin type.

Can be sensitive to certain creams and cosmetics – especially highly fragranced ones
Red patches and blotchy skin tone is more common when in the elements like wind, sun and especially heat like after a hot shower. This is also common after pressure is applied to the skin.
Capilleries and blood vessels can be visible on the skin
Skin is usually fine with small pores.

To check your skin type, the most effective way is to wipe your face with a clean soft tissue/cloth after waking in the morning. The general rule is if there is no oil on the cloth you would be either in the normal or dry skin type. If there a very small amount of oil on the cloth from your ‘T’ zone area, you are probably a combination type. If there is a fairly noticeable amount of oil then you would be an oily type. Most sensitive types are aware of their skin type but using this method, there would be very little or no oil and your skin would be flushed or blotchy where you wiped it.

So, they are the five skin types. After reading through this and doing the morning cloth check, you should be able to determine which of the five types you have. If you are still unsure or have any further questions please contact us and we will answer any questions have.

If you would like to do some more reading about skin types please use the following link.

http://www.healthy-skincare.com/problem-skin.html