What is My Skin Type ?

Some are quite aware of their skin type; for others it’s a complete mystery, an elusive conundrum of changes that never settles down in one specific direction.  That’s not to say understanding skin type isn’t important, because it is, but not in the way the cosmetics industry approaches it or the way we’ve been indoctrinated to think about it.

What I’m really saying is to forget about skin type as the cosmetics industry defines it.  The rigid categories you find at cosmetics counters and the information about what your skin needs as analyzed by a salesperson are often wrong or at best incomplete.  Most are far from being qualified to determine your skin type and conditions, in fact, they’ll sell you almost anything that shows interest on your part.  Come back in a few months, see if the counter salesperson sells you the same product, or another that is an internal special with higher commissions(overstock).  Ohhhh, they will never tell you this though, but they sure will tell you the latest hype about some fancy new high-tech product.

Skin type strongly influences our decisions about our skin-care routines.

The four most common skin types are :

• Normal (no apparent signs of oily or dry areas)
• Oily (shine appears on skin, no dry areas at all)
• Dry (flaking can appear, no oily areas at all)
• Combination (oily and dry along with normal/sensitive areas)

We can also take into consideration one other skin type which is becoming more and more common nowadays due to many changes including environmental impacts along with genetic influences as well.

• Sensitive (reddening, irritated, sensitive to water, wind or other)

What Influences Skin Type ?

Outside factors can and do influence the way your skin looks and feels.  To effectively evaluate your skin and determine the correct skin-care routine, the following factors need to be considered:
Internal: 

• Hormonal changes (pregnancy, menopause, menstrual cycle, etc.)
• Health problems (rosacea, psoriasis, thyroid disorders, etc.)
• Genetic predisposition of skin type (oily versus dry, prone to breakouts, or sensitive skin)
• Smoking
• Medications you may be taking

External:

• Climate/weather (cold, warm, moist, dry)
• Your skin-care routine (over-moisturizing or exfoliating, using irritating or drying products)
• Sun exposure

These complex integrated circumstances all contribute to what takes place on and under your skin.  Take in mind, this is the 4 most common skin types, sensitive skin is another issue all together having multiple skin types leading to sensitive and even allergic skin types but as stated above the same applies here as well.

Will My Skin Type Change ? 

Another problem with skin typing is the assumption that your skin (and skin type) will be the same forever, or at least until you age.  That, too, is rarely the case. If your skin-care routine focuses on skin type alone, it can become obsolete the moment the season changes, your work life becomes stressful, or your body experiences hormonal or weight fluctuations or other physical changes, and whatever else life may bring.

To complicate things even more, in any given period you may have many skin types!  Over the years, even when using gentle, irritant-free products,  I’ve experienced irritated skin patches at the same time I had oily skin, or acne flare-ups along with dry skin around my eyes.  It is not unusual for women or men to have a little bit of each skin type simultaneously or at different times of the month or week.  An overview of how your skin behaves and changes is necessary to assess what your skin needs.

“There is not a wealth of data on racial and ethnic differences in skin and hair structure, physiology, and function.  What studies do exist involve small patient populations and often have methodological flaws.  Consequently, few definitive conclusions can be made.  The literature does support a racial differential in epidermal melanin [pigment] content and melanosome dispersion in people of color compared with fair-skinned persons….  These differences could at least in part account for the lower incidence of skin cancer in certain people of color compared with fair-skinned persons; a lower incidence and different presentation of photo aging; pigmentation disorders in people with skin of color; and a higher incidence of certain types of alopecia [loss of hair] in Africans and African Americans compared with those of other ancestry.”

The most frustrating aspect of skin type is the fact that it’s often used (by cosmetics salespeople and by the cosmetics industry in its ads) to instill a sense of immediate need.  Once your skin is classified as a type that isn’t normal, or if it stops being normal, then panic can set in.  Cosmetics salespeople aim this ploy at the 30-something crowd, with the pitch sounding something like “You better do what you can do now to make sure your skin doesn’t get worse. ” I’ve listened to or been personally subjected to a salesperson’s scolding about skin-care mistakes that destroy the skin.  What destroys skin is unprotected sun exposure, smoking, and using irritating skin-care products, electro-mechanical treatments.  Not using the right skin-care products (other than a good sunscreen) may cause problems, but it does not damage skin in the long run.

Watch our special multimedia clip " TVA C'est ma Vie " interview with Nathalie showing an actual client treatment and comments (French only)

As far as the cosmetics industry is concerned, every person can and should have normal skin.  Yet acquiring normal skin is like trying to scale a peak with a slippery, precarious slope.  Like the rest of our bodies, skin is in a constant state of change.  Your skin is unique and far from being like that of the person beside you, even if both are classed as oily for example.  Our skin is a complex genetic structure, meaning we are as different from one another as the difference between an apple and orange.  Even those with perfect complexions go through phases of having oily, dry, or blemish-prone skin. In reality, no one is likely to have normal skin for very long, no matter what he or she does.  Chasing after normal skin can set you up on an endless skin-care buying spree, running around in circles trying everything and finding nothing that works for very long.  At IntelCosmet, our experience over the years has proved that as your skin is subject to change, so must your skin care routine do the same, it also must adapt.

In any case, identifying skin type is highly subjective.  Many of us have really wonderful skin but refuse to accept it.  The smallest blemish or wrinkle or the slightest amount of dry skin distresses us.  Or some might see a line or two around their eyes and immediately buy the most expensive anti-wrinkle creams they can find in the hope of warding off their worst imagined nightmare.  This is one of those times where being realistic is the most important part of your skin-care routine.  Men, for the most part, seem to take their skin for granted thus in their later years tend to look back at what could have been.  Men are changing though, the times are showing more and more men wanting to take steps towards better skin care.

Identifying your skin type is made even more difficult by the omnipresent combination skin. Almost everyone at some time or another, if not all the time, has combination skin.  The nose, chin, center of the forehead, and the center of the cheek all have more oil glands than other parts of the face.  It is not surprising that those areas tend to be oilier and break out more frequently than other areas.  Problems occur when you buy extra products for combination skin because many ingredients that are appropriate for the T-zone (the area along the center of the forehead and down the nose where most of the oil glands on the face are located) won’t help the cheek or jaw areas.  You may need separate products to deal with the different skin types on your face because you should treat different skin types, even on the same face, differently.

A normal skin cannot in any case to become a sensitive skin

FALSE:  A sensitive skin is a skin which easily tends to pull about and which is very likely to react to the external aggressions.  Moreover, these aggressions like the cold, calcareous water, pollution, air-conditioning, cosmetics unsuited to the type of skin or too aggressive, tiredness or stress can transform a normal skin into sensitive skin. For the face, it is necessary to clean with a cleansing milk for sensitive skin like that of our PhytoPür milk cleanser.  Add a finishing with a floral water misting of your choice. Our pure floral waters will calm and decongest ionize the skin, leaving a deep sense of pure refreshing cleanliness.  For the daytime, a protective day cream is essential. In addition, you can rest assured knowing that none of our products contains neither perfume, dyes, nor artificial conservatives or synthetics, often of which all are to blame for the many skin irritations and illnesses today.

Certain medications can be at the origin of a dry skin.

TRUTH:  Three great types of dry skins were highlighted according to their cause:

• dry skin (physiological) with low water content with a thinning of the skin, frequently found with women in period of menopause because of the reduction in the production of sebum during this period;
• dry skins dry related to aggressions like excessive exposure to UV, a frequent contact with detergents (soaps…) or certain therapeutic (UVA, retinoids, corticoids…);
• dry skin (pathological) (xeroses, ichtyoses, dermatitis atrophic).

A fatty skin ages less quickly than the other types of skin

TRUTH:  The fatty skin tends to be thickened in the center of the face making it difficult for general cosmetic products for skin of this type.  Easily irritable, it has nevertheless an advantage because ageing is slower and the expression wrinkles, around our eyes, mouth, neckline, ear take much more time to show. In the case of the fatty skins, close friends of the acne related attacks, it is advisable to try to bring back them towards normality using an adapted treatment.  To appreciate the effectiveness of a treatment, one uses a sebumeter on very precise zones (forehead, chin and nose ridge) to track the changes during treatment. In the case of a fatty skin, exposures to UV must be carefully monitored, UV’s in this case support the formation of microcysts, also avoid the use of any substance comedogenic and to avoid friction with rough towels.

It would be necessary to apply cosmetic care according to each zone for a mixed skin.

TRUE&FALSE:  A mixed skin is characterized by qualities and textures of skin which vary in a very significant way according to zones'.  Generally, the skin is thickened on the level of the zone T (face, nose, chin), the pores are dilated and oiliness is localized only in this zone.  In addition, the skin layer is fine or fragile on the level of the cheeks, the cheekbone and the contour of the eyes…  In theory, it would be necessary to apply different cosmetic care according to each one of these zones but that is not easily realizable, it would require a lot of patience and discipline.  One thus tends to treat a mixed skin like a fatty skin.  Actually, a fatty skin should be treated like a sensitive skin. Because the fatty skins are also reactive skins.

Determining your skin type will not lead to answers to other skin care needs that may not be apparent on the skin’s surface.  For example, sun damage is not evident when you are young, but sun protection is imperative for all skin types.  Oily and dry skin that are present at the same time, along with some redness, may be an early sign of rosacea, a condition that cannot be treated with cosmetics and may not be easily diagnosed.  Your skin may be breaking out now, but those blemishes took a few weeks to get to the surface.  Breakouts begin in the pores, and may involve sebum (oil), cellular debris (dead skin cells), dead hair shafts, and/or bacteria.  What you see on the surface of the skin does not always indicate the type of skin-care products you should buy, or even that you need a skin-care product at all.

Skin Type Has Nothing To Do with Your Age

Older skin is different from younger skin; that is indisputable to a point.  Yet it is a mistake to buy common skin-care products based on a nebulous age category.  Treating older or younger skin with mass produced products supposedly aimed at dealing with specific age ranges does not make sense because not everyone with “older” or “younger” skin has the same needs, yet it’s a trap many women (especially older women) fall into.  An older person may have acne, blackheads, eczema, rosacea, sensitive skin, or oily skin, while a younger person may have dry, freckled, or obviously sun-damaged skin.

Common mass products designed for older skin are almost always too emollient and occlusive, and those designed for younger skin are almost always too drying.  The key issue with skin type needs to be the actual condition of your skin, not your age.  This is where our ICSDiag system plays a key role in meeting your unique needs towards designing your personal products.  Using botanicals, almost all our products carry some form of post anti-aging protection.  Of the many hundreds of Essential Oils available, a great portion of these are multi-functional in their virtues, anti-aging, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial and more, not to mention the benefits of their pure aromas on our body, mind and soul.  One of the key benefits of EO complexes is the synergy that is created, EO’s are in fact very intelligent, they seem to know where to go at exactly the place the skin requires, acting with almost surgical precision.  Something that most cosmetics cannot achieve today without the aid of some chemical, animal or human byproduct.  The molecular structure of almost all cosmetics are far to heavy to pass through the levels of the skin to get where they are needed the most.  EO’s on the other hand can pass and arrive at helping far more then the chemical by-product type cosmetics found today.

All, regardless of age, need sun protection and antioxidants, and possibly treatment of skin discolorations (either potential or existing), dry or oily skin, or breakouts.  Wrinkles may tend to separate younger from older skin, but the care you give the skin doesn’t necessarily differ. Not everyone in their 40s and older has the same skin care needs. In a way it’s simple:  You need to pay attention to what is taking place on your skin, and that varies from person to person.

Does Skin Color or Ethnicity Affect Skin Care ?

All skin is subject to a range of problems, regardless of skin color or ethnic background.  Whether it is dry or oily skin, blemishes, scarring, wrinkles, skin discolorations, disorders, or sensitivity, and even risk of sun damage, all men and women share similar struggles.  So, while there are some distinctions between varying ethnic groups when it comes to skin problems and skin-care options, overall these differences are minor in comparison to the number of similarities.

According to an article in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (February 2002, pages 41–62)