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Understanding Why Skin Type Can
Be So ComplicatedBy Paula
Begoun |
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What is Skin Type?
Simply put, skin
type is the description and interpretation of how and why your
skin looks, feels, and behaves as it does.
The four
most common (but really useless) skin type categories used by
the cosmetics industry are:
- Normal (no apparent signs of oily or dry areas)
- Oily (shine appears all over skin, no dry areas at all)
- Dry (flaking can appear, no oily areas at all, skin
feels tight)
- Combination (oily, typically in the central part of the
face, and dry or normal areas elsewhere)
(Often
blemish-prone skin is included under oily or combination skin
types, though it is sometimes listed as a skin type all by
itself. Occasionally, sensitive skin may be listed as an
individual skin type but I feel strongly that all skin types
should be considered sensitive, I’ll explain why in just a
moment.)
As nice and neat as those four (or six
categories) may be, and an excellent starting point, the truth
is, understanding your skin type is more often than not far
more complicated than this, which is why lots of women find
identifying theirs an elusive conundrum of changes that never
settles down in one specific direction. Yet, understanding
your skin type is incredibly important, just not in the way
the cosmetics industry approaches it or the way we've been
indoctrinated to think about it. First, skin type is never
static. The variations of what is taking place on your skin
can not only change season to season but month to month and
even week to week. Adding to the complexity is the strong
possibility of skin disorders such as rosacea (which affects
more than 40% of the Caucasian population), eczema, skin
discolorations, precancerous conditions, blackheads, sun
damage, and whiteheads. Four or six categories of skin type
just can't cover it.
When it comes to determining your
skin type you need to forget what you've been taught by
cosmetic salespeople, estheticians, fashion magazines, (and
even some dermatologists). The typical categories of normal,
oily, dry, and combination, are a good basic, but they don’t
address every nuance, and they change and fluctuate with
everything from the weather to your stress levels.
Why
is recognizing all the nuances of your skin type so important?
Because different skin types require different product
formulations. Even though many skin types often need the same
active ingredients such as sunscreen agents, antioxidants,
cell-communicating ingredients, and so on, the base they are
in (lotion, cream, gel, serum, or liquid) should match the
needs of your skin type. Skin type is the single most
important factor influencing the decisions we make about the
kind of skin-care routines and the products we buy. But we
need to be very careful of how we categorize our skin, or the
very products we thought would help could actually make
matters worse.
What Influences Skin
Type?
Almost everything can influence skin type, which
is why it can be so tricky to attribute one skin type to what
you see on your face. Both external and internal elements can
and do impact the way your skin looks and feels. To
effectively evaluate your skin and determine the correct
skin-care routine, the following needs to be
considered:
Internal Influences:
- Hormonal changes (pregnancy, menopause, menstrual cycle,
etc.)
- Health problems/Skin disorders (rosacea, psoriasis,
thyroid disorders, etc.)
- Genetic predisposition of skin type (oily versus dry,
prone to breakouts, sensitive skin)
- Smoking
- Medications you may be taking
- Diet
External Influences:
- Climate/weather (cold, warm, moist, dry)
- Your skin-care routine (over-moisturizing or over-exfoliating,
using irritating or drying products, using the wrong
products for your skin type)
- Unprotected or prolonged sun exposure
These
complex, often overlapping circumstances all contribute to
what takes place on and in your skin which then determines
your skin type.
Will My Skin Type Change?
The
short answer is yes, absolutely! 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 diet fluctuations or other physical
changes, and whatever else life may bring.
To
complicate things even more, in any given period you may have
multiple skin types! It is not unusual for women 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 and then respond by applying the appropriate products to
those problems areas.
Will I Ever Have "Normal" Skin?
It
depends on how you define normal. As far as the cosmetics
industry is concerned, every woman 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. Even women with
seemingly perfect complexions go through phases of having
oily, dry, or blemish-prone skin and then there are all the
issues related to sun damage or merely growing older. In
reality, no one is likely to have normal skin for very long,
no matter what she does. Chasing after normal skin can set you
on an endless skin-care buying spree, running around in
circles trying everything and finding nothing that works for
very long or that makes matters worse.
In any case,
identifying skin type is highly subjective. Many women have
really wonderful skin but refuse to accept it. The smallest
blemish or wrinkle or the slightest amount of dry skin
distresses them. Or some women 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.
Combination Skin
Makes Skin Type Confusing
Identifying your skin type is
made even more difficult by the all-encompassing combination
skin type. Almost everyone at some time or another, if not all
the time, has combination skin. Physiologically, 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, eye, 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.
Aside from the ubiquitous nature of
"combination" skin, another limitation of skin type is that it
cannot address skin care needs that may not be apparent on the
skin's surface. For example, sun damage is not evident when
you are younger, 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 is not
easily diagnosed. What you see on the surface of the skin does
not always indicate the type of skin-care products you should
buy.
One other important point, the skin care products
you use can influence your skin type. Judging skin type simply
by looking at your face and feeling your skin won't address
the underlying cause. For example, if you use an emollient
cleanser, and follow it with a drying, alcohol-laden toner,
and then an emollient moisturizer with a serum underneath,
that could very well be causing you to have noticeably
combination skin. Using a moisturizer that is too emollient
for your skin could be causing breakouts. Using skin-care
products that contain irritating ingredients could cause
dryness, irritation, and redness. You may think you have a
particular skin type, but you may be looking at your skin's
reaction to the products you are using.
Everyone Has Sensitive Skin
Most
of us have, to one degree or another sensitive or easily
irritated skin. Regardless of your primary skin type, ethnic
background, or age, minor or major irritating skin conditions
can be present, even those you can't feel. The skin can burn,
chafe, or crack, and you may have patchy areas of dry, flaky
skin related to weather conditions, hormonal changes, the
skin-care products you use, or sun exposure. Skin can also
break out in small bumps that look like a diaper rash. Skin
can itch, swell, blotch, redden, and develop allergic
reactions to cosmetics, animals, dust, or pollen.
If
that isn't enough to make you itch just a little, then think
about the number of cosmetics most women use daily. The
average woman uses at least 12 different skin-care, makeup,
and hair-care products a day, with each one, on average,
containing about twenty different ingredients. That means her
skin is exposed to about 200 different cosmetic ingredients on
any given day. The fact that any of us have skin left is a
testimony to the skin's resiliency and the talent of cosmetics
chemists. Whether we like it or not, most of us will react to
something along the way, perhaps even daily.
Your skin
is the protective armor that keeps the elements and other
invaders from entering the body. We protect most of our
anatomy with clothing, but our faces are left painfully
exposed to everything. It's no wonder the skin on our faces
acts up now and then. Sensitive skin is probably the most
"normal" type of skin around.
Everyone has the
potential to develop sensitive skin, so women of every skin
type should heed the precautions for sensitive skin. What are
the precautions? There is really only one and it goes for all
skin types: Treat your skin as gently as you possibly can.
Whether you think of your face as oily, dry, or mature, you
still need to be gentle with your skin and avoid things that
cause irritation. (For more information about treating skin
gently, see How to
be Gentle to Your Skin.)
The operative word is
gentle. Preventing skin irritation, regardless of your skin
type, is the course of action I always recommend. Of course,
some skin types can and should try to tolerate certain
potentially irritating ingredients because of their
overwhelming potential to help skin look better. A topical
disinfectant (like 2.5% benzoyl peroxide, for instance) is
helpful for someone with blemish-prone skin, while a BHA
solution (a salicylic acid exfoliant) is good for someone with
blackheads and blemish-prone skin. Likewise, an AHA (an alpha
hydroxy acid product used to exfoliate) or Retin-A or Renova
(to improve cell formation) are beneficial for someone with
sun-damaged skin. Hydroquinone is a well-researched ingredient
that can lighten skin discolorations. Aside from these types
of exceptions to the gentleness rule, if something is
irritating it can be detrimental for all skin types. If it is
bad for sensitive skin, it is probably bad for oily skin,
acne-prone skin, combination skin, dry skin, or menopausal
skin. As you integrate this gentleness philosophy into your
skin-care routine, you will slowly solve many of the skin
problems you have been experiencing.
Skin Type Has Nothing to Do with Your
Age
Older skin is different from younger skin; that is
indisputable. Yet it is a mistake to buy skin-care products
based on a nebulous age category. Treating older or younger
skin with 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. Products designed for older
"mature" 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.
In fact,
regardless of age, all skin types, young and old, need sun
protection, lots of antioxidants, ingredients that mimic skin
structure, and cell-communicating ingredients. These types of
ingredients are of the utmost importance for skin care and age
doesn't change or alter that in any way. While wrinkles may
tend to separate younger from older skin, your skin can still
be oily at 60 and you can still struggle with breakouts. Not
everyone in their 40s, 50s, 60s, or 70s 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) "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."
What Do
You Do Now?
Ideally, you should be using products that
don't create or reinforce undesirable skin types. Among the
offending products are bar soaps and bar cleansers (both can
artificially make skin dry and irritated), occlusive
moisturizers that can clog pores and make breakouts worse, or
skin-care products that contain irritating ingredients
(redness, inflammation, and flaking) including astringents and
toners loaded with alcohol and other potentially irritating
ingredients. All of these can wreak havoc on the skin.
Regardless, from this point forward you will be better able to
understand your skin type and know how to treat your skin
appropriately with what is actually helpful for your
skin.
For step by step guidelines to help you ascertain
your skin type, see Determining
Your Skin Type.
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