What is your Skin Type?

For some, it’s pretty obvious whether or not they have dry or oily skin. For others, it’s a little harder to tell. Let’s examine what the different skin types are, and how to tell which one’s yours.

Dry Skin

Signs of dry skin include:

• Small or “invisible” pores
• A feeling of tightness
• Flaky, scaly, or red patches
• A dull or rough complexion
• Visible lines

What can cause dry skin:

• Genetics
• Hormonal changes
• Aging
• Environmental factors (i.e. where you geographically live)

What can make dry skin WORSE:

• Weather conditions (wind, cold, strong sun)
• Long, hot showers
• Indoor heating
• Certain soap or skincare ingredients or formulas
• Chlorine (swimming pools)
• Some medications (check with your doctor!)

How to treat dry skin:

• Use appropriate skincare targeted towards dry skin
• Take shorter, cooler showers
• Use a humidifier to keep rooms from getting too dry

Oily Skin

Signs of oily skin include:

• Large, visible pores
• A shiny complexion
• Blackheads and other blemishes

What can cause oily skin:

• Genetics
• Puberty or other hormonal changes
• Environmental factors (i.e. where you geographically live)
• Stress

What can make oily skin WORSE:

• Weather changes (especially heat)
• High humidity
• Not having a proper skincare routine

How to treat oily skin:

• Wash your face and rehydrate after sweating
• Do not pick at or pop anything on your face — this may scar and lead to more acne
• Use appropriate skincare targeted towards oily skin

Normal Skin

Good news! You probably have normal skin if you do not feel as though you have oily or dry patches. Other signs you have normal skin include:

• Minimal acne or other imperfections
• Little or no sensitivity or allergies 
• Small (but still visible) pores

There isn't any specialized regime required for normal skin types. Just make sure you cleanse, wash, and prep your face with good skincare twice a day!

Combination Skin

Lots of people have combination skin without realizing it. For example, most of your face may be normal, but your forehead alone is dry and flaky. Or, more commonly, your cheeks are normal, but your T-Zone is oily. Signs of combination skin include:

• Slightly larger, more open pores in select areas (indicative of oily skin)
• Tightness around, for example, the mouth and chin (indicative of dry skin)
• Blackheads
• Other symptoms of dry or oily skin, but again, only in a specific region, not the whole face!

Sensitive Skin

Skin can become sensitive for many different reasons, including:

• Genetics
• Ingredient allergies
• Certain medications
• Certain products
• Changing your routine too suddenly

Sensitive skin can look or feel like:

• Burning
• Itching
• Unusual dryness
• Redness

Skin Type Test

Still not sure what your skin type is, even after checking the list? There are two tests you can try:

Blot Test

Take a piece of blotting paper, and lightly pat your skin — we recommend a different sheet for different areas, in case you have combination skin and one area is more oily than the other. Hold the blot paper up to the sun or other bright light. If you see a lot of oil, there you go! You have oily skin. Just some oil (but not too much) is indicative of normal skin, and no perceivable oil may mean dry skin.

Time Test

We don't totally recommend this one since we're all about sticking to a skincare routine, but if you want, give it a try. After washing your face, wait 20 minutes. Sometimes, the answer will be obvious even before 5 minutes! If your skin tightens and dries out, there you have it: dry skin. If you start to feel your face overproducing oil, boom: oily skin! This isn't the best test to determine normal skin types, since prolonging your skincare routine after washing with cleansers can be drying regardless of skin type. 

So there you have it! Have you always known your skin type, or has this been a learning process? Has your skin type changed over time?

Here’s to clear skin,
The Lava Art team