First Question of Skin Consultation - “What is your skin type?”
Dear Friends,
Firstly I would like to apologise for skipping a week of blogging but if you follow me on my Facebook and Twitter account , you would have found out that this 2 weeks have been crazy exiting times here in the world of CHIDEM. We are now the official sponsors of two TV Series Medcezir and Kara Para Ask (WOOP!) in Turkey so my time is now split between consulting them on their skin and producing their skin care products to consulting and producing for you, my dearest clients.
Today I thought I take everything back to basics and ask the first question I ask my clients - “What is your skin type?”. Believe it or not this is one of the hardest questions to answer! We have the tendency to believe that we have sensitive or combination skin, or oily skin in the summer and dry in the winter – and yet our skin type is totally reliant on the amount of sebum (natural oil) our body produces.
You need to be able to identify your skin type in order to develop the most appropriate skincare routine. Now lets dig deeper. Here are the 5 types of skin types and conditions. When I formulate for my clients I make sure I go through each condition with them to understand what oils and extracts are needed to boost their own skin type. So for example, dry skins would need more omega 6 and 9 rich oils such as macadamia, avocado, carrot, whereas oily skin types need high omega 3 and 6 rich oils like kiwi, rose hip, walnut etc.. What about if the skin is extremely sensitive too? Then I would add calming oils such as calendula, chamomile, cucumber and so on. So as you can see your skin needs should be specific to you. So read along and see which one/ones is your skin type.
Normal skin - The appearance of normal skin is a healthy look without imperfections or uneven tone. It has a matte finish and a soft, silky feel. Normal skin isn’t the norm – it is rarely seen on anyone other than young children and the few very lucky adults (When I was performing my fiancées skin care analysis I asked him - "what is your skin type?" and he replied saying "Perfect to Normal?" - he can be very humorous but its true - some lucky people do have perfect skin.
Oily skin – The appearance of oily skin is shiny with large open pores, a thicker texture due to increased activity of the sebaceous glands and is prone to spots, blemishes, pimples and blackheads. Oily skin is caused by the over activity of sebaceous glands producing more oil that is necessary to protect your skin. Hooray – oily skin tends to age slower than other skin types due to the levels of natural sebum keeping the skin moisturised. Oily skin can be caused by an excessive or harsh cleansing routine or the wrong type of skincare routine in addition to stress, diet and hormones.
Combination skin – The appearance of this skin type is an oily area across the forehead and down the nose and chin which is known as the ‘T-zone’ due to its T shape.The skin in the T-zone is prone to enlarged pores and pimples and yet outside that area you will notice dry patches, particularly on the cheeks.
Sensitive skin – The appearance of sensitive skin is a thin, fine texture which tends to redden easily. It reacts quickly to even slight changes in temperature. It can be dry and delicate and prone to allergic reactions and will burn in the sun and wind very easily.Sensitive skin is prone to patchy redness, rashes, dry and flaky areas. In addition to the list above, sensitive skin can be caused by lack of hydration to the skin barrier and a reduced natural skin defence mechanism.Common cause is a reaction to beauty products containing certain dyes, fragrances, chemicals and other irritants. Other triggers can be changes in weather, temperature, stress and pollution.
Dry skin - The appearance of dry skin is rather pale and lacking in shine. It is likely to have pinker patches accompanied by flaky, scaly areas with indicate a lack of moisture. It can feel rough and dry to the touch and often feels itchy and tight. As this skin is so delicate, it is the first to show wrinkles around the eyes and mouth area. In addition to the list above, dry skin can be caused by lack of hydration to the skin (possibly through diet as well as skincare routine) or the wrong type of skincare routine.
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I would love to hear from you. What is your skin type? What do you use to take care of your skin? Please let me know in the comment section below.
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Have a great weekend. With all my love.
Cigdem Yilmaz x
Comments
CHIDEM Team
مارس 30 2015
Tabinda it is very important to cleanse and moisturise in the morning and evening, even for oily skin types. This will avoid our skin loosing hydration and hence looking older than it is. If you are older than 25 years old, we recommend you check out our Beauty of Youth collection. With Love. CHIDEM Team
tabinda
ديسمبر 13 2014
hello! my skin is combination skin type,and i dont use anything and started having crow feet at the corners of my eyes and dark circles too
MattilaEl
نوفمبر 08 2014
I truly appreciate this blog post. Fantastic.
Fatma
سبتمبر 02 2014
Hi Cigdem!
When I was very young I thought I had “a normal skin”… only because back then I didn’t know much about skin types. It wasn’t dry, it wasn’t oily so I decided it must have been normal.
Later on, during my time at uni, I started experimenting with a range of skin care products. After a while I just settled with Nivea as my standard, all-in-one moisturiser. A bit later, I started using a range of face wash products. After trying out a few products (without seeing much improvement in the natural condition of my skin) I decided that Garnier Pure 3-in-1 was the one for me. It had zinc and pumice stone in it, so it was doing a good job as a scrub. My skin was feeling “cleaner”, especially around the nose area.
Yet, I would still get blackheads and breakouts for no good reason. I had decided that maybe it was “hormonal” since I didn’t see any other reason for getting spots (after all, I was taking care of my skin).
It wasn’t until I switched to a much gentler face wash that I realised maybe I wasn’t doing it right, after all. I probably had the misconception, like many others, that “cleansing” your face meant rubbing an assortment of grains mixed with some chemicals on your face over and over again until your skin came off.
When I first started using this gentler product, I had my doubts… I mean, come on, it doesn’t even have a single grain of anything in it, it’s like liquid soap. How is it going to clean my face?… But after a while I noticed that I had less and less breakouts. For once, my skin was actually clear and free from spots!
Maybe I should have realised it sooner that the natural and gentle way is the most… natural way! I don’t know why all big cosmetics brands keep packing more chemicals than natural ingredients in their products if it’s possible to produce their products without them. I haven’t yet tried an all-natural product yet (it’s on my list!); but after being nicer to my skin and seeing positive results, I’m beginning to believe this is the way to go.
I do have a question though: I still get redness on and around my nose, as well as the top of my cheeks, and as far as I know I don’t have sensitive skin. That makes my skin tone look quite uneven and it has been the only ‘problem’ I never managed to resolve. Any ideas or recommendations??
… I should probably mention that I seem to have oily skin, after having moved to a never-ending summer zone with constantly high humidity levels…
Thanks :)
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