How to Determine the Skin Type?

It is quite difficult to determine the skin type of a person. However, to provide skin care, it is necessary to find out the right skin type. This is because every skin type has different needs. Also, ways to cleanse or hydrate the skin vary according to its type. So, before going for any kind of skin care treatment, it is crucial to identify the right skin type. This help provide proper care to the skin; thereby, making it look younger and brighter.

So, how to identify skin type? Dr. Harold Lancer sheds light on how a person can correctly identify his/her skin type. He says that if a person wants to identify the skin type, he/she has to check the skin after cleansing. He instructs to wash the face and then, allowing it to dry for an hour. Thereafter, he directs to check the texture of the skin.

This is how he differentiate the texture of skin for varied skin types:

• Dry Skin: Lacks moisture and feels tight and itchy. The skin becomes flaky and rough, which is accompanied by tiny pores. Nearly 1 out of every 32 people in the U.S. have dry skin, which accounts for 3.10% of the total population.
• Oily Skin: The skin becomes shiny after cleansing. Also, when blotted with a tissue paper, oil may appear on the skin surface. Enlarged skin pores with breakouts is also a characteristic of oily skin. According to several studies, about 40-55% of adults, aged 20-40 years, have been diagnosed with persistent, low-grade acne and oily skin.
• Combination Skin: It is the most common skin type, in which the oil and the enlarged pores can appear on the forehead, chin and nose. Other parts of the skin are either normal or dry, and breakouts might occur.
• Normal Skin: The rarest skin type where the texture is generally uniform. There is no excess oil or flakiness and breakouts are rare.
• Sensitive Skin: Often red and accompanied by rashes, the skin stings after washing or using some skin care products. About 62% women reports to have a sensitive, reactive or irritable skin.

Dr. Lancer says that a person can have any one of these skin types or a combination of two types (for e.g. oily and sensitive); depending on the health, hormone levels and various environmental factors that affect the skin.