Skin type plays a big part in how acne affects you and what is needed to treat is. It will also determine what types of products you will use to treat your acne and gennerally care for your skin.
There are some basic questions you can ask yourself to help you get started…
- First, how often do you break out?
- Do you have blackheads?
- What do your pores look like?
- After washing with soap, how does your skin look and feel?
- Do you have facial lines?
By asking yourself these questions, you can determine what types of products will work best for you and how your skin might react to them.
There are three basic skin types, but this does not mean your skin can’t be a combination of them. They are oilly, normal, or dry. You could have any one of these skin types, or a combination of them, such as normal to oily, or normal to dry. There are different products for caring for each.
Let’s break it down. Each skin type is characterized by different things such as texture, oil production, and frequency of breakouts.
People with dry skin do not suffer many breakouts, and rarely ever hav blackheads. This is because oil promotes breakouts by clogging pores and blackheads are caused by oil. If your skin is dry, you are not producing very much oil, therefore, aren’t prone to as many episodes.
Dry skin is also characterized by nearly visible pores, and may feel dry and tight after washing. Most people with dry skin are fair skined, and often develop facial lines earlier in life. This skin type also burns easily.
People with normal skin suffer occcasional breakouts, and can have blackheads that appear mostly in the t-zone (the area on either side of the nose and on the forehead). Pores often appear visible in the t-zone, and the skin may feel tight after washing, but will soon become comfortable with oil in t-zone.
The skin coloring is usually fair to medium, and a few lines may appear early on mostly around the eyes. This skin type when exposed to the sun, usually burns, then tans.
People with oilly skin often suffer frequent breakouts with blackheads. The pores are often enlarged, and after washig the face may be oilly, with the nose and forehead quickly becoming shiny.
The skin coloring is often olive to dark. Facial lines are usually very few to none in occurance, and oilly skin usually stays preserved longer and does not age as quickly as do the other skin types. When exposed to the sun, this skin type rarely burns, but rather tans easily.
After you determine your skin type,you can find products developed especially for it. There are a number of products on the market for dealing with each type, as well as for combination skin. Once you find a regimen of products that work for you, you can begin treating your acne properly.
