While beauty products, in one form or the other, have existed since the beginning of humanity, their status as one of the world’s leading industries by sales is quite recent. According to a study commissioned by Goldman Sachs, the global beauty industry – which includes makeup, perfumes, hair care and skin care products – is worth approximately 95 billion dollars. That is a sum that is way beyond human comprehension, and the number of products on the market reflects this.
The market offer is so vast that even the most seasoned skincare veterans might feel overwhelmed and confused about which products are perfect for their particular needs. But skincare is not so hard as it seems as long as you are aware of your own skin type and choose accordingly. Here are the best beauty products you should try based on your skin type.
How To Figure out Your Skin Type
What's Inside
Figuring out which type of skin mother nature offered you is simple, as each one of them has a few obvious characteristics that are hard to miss. Here are a few easy guidelines:
- Dry skin – it is tight, lacks elasticity, flaky, and feels overall uncomfortable.
- Oily skin – characterized by a permanent shine; if you have a hard time maintaining make-up intact, you can safely assume that you have oily skin.
- Combination skin – like the name suggests, it is a combination between dry skin and oily skin. It is tight and lacks elasticity and some places, and oily in the others.
- Normal skin – congratulations, you have won the genetic lottery. Easy to manage, not too greasy, and feels comfortable overall.
Due to these characteristics, people should choose their products according to their skin types. The list of products suitable for oily skin is long, but if you want a rundown of great recommendations, make sure to check Beauty Essential, a beauty review website that publishes competent guides. Now that we have covered all of the skin types and how to identify them, it is time to see which products are suitable for each of them.
Oily Skin
The main reason why some people have oily skin is that the outer layers of their skin produce an excessive amount of sebum. Surprisingly, this comes with a hidden advantage: a lower amount of forehead wrinkles. But more often than not, having oily skin is extremely annoying because make-up tends to dissipate and turn into a chaotic mess just a few hours after applying it. On top of all that, that slipping makeup, in combination with the excess oil, can contribute to severe bouts of acne and clogged pores.
As a result, people with oily skin should focus on water-based products, mattifying powders and, in severe cases, on anti-acne treatments, and avoid strong facial oil and creams, charcoal masks and benzoyl peroxide.
If you have oily skin, you should use serums such as Benton Snail Bee Essence or Hyaluronic Lotion, moisturizers such as Clinique Dramatically Moisturizing Gel or Garnier Skin Active, and Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder, which is a top quality mattifying powder.
Dry Skin
On the other side of the spectrum, unlike oily skin, the dry variety produces an insufficient amount of sebum, which is why it lacks elasticity, has a flaky consistency and feels uncomfortable. Therefore, people with oily skin should focus on ‘’trapping’’ the little oil that the body produces and supply it with moisturizers. The list of products to avoid include marks made out of charcoal and clay, products with high amounts of alcohol and foaming cleansers.
As we have previously stated, dry skins should focus on hydration and moisturizing. Products that do a great job in this respect are cream cleansers such as CeraVe, Glossier Milky Jelly, lactic acids that kill off dead skin cells, moisturizing creams and facial oil rich in nutritional ingredients.
Combination Skin
Combination skin is a tad trickier to handle because it takes the worst things about dry and oily skin and combines them into one, hard to manage mess: it produces insufficient amounts of oil in some places while working overtime in others. On the upside, you can use more than one type of skin-care products.
People with combination skin should absolutely keep off clay masks, strong foaming cleansers, and potent moisturizers. In the case of combination skin, a balanced approach is required – lightweight lotions like Neutrogena Naturals Brightening Daily, gentle moisturizers such as Triple Lipid Restore and Cetaphil Cream, and, last but not least, cleansers like Cellup Gel-to-Water.
Normal Skin
Since normal skin produces an adequate amount of serum, people with this type should focus more on maintenance than problem-solving and damage control. Nonetheless, even if your skin is capable of handling pretty much any type of beauty product, you should avoid strong cleansers and other products that could dry your skin.
For maintenance purposes, normal skins can use retinoids like Shani Darden and RoC Retinol to maintain fine lines and manage wrinkles. To cover dark spots, glycolic acids such as Fab Glycolic Daily Pads and T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial are perfect options. Finally, the best way to compensate for red complexions is by using skin calmers like the PCA Skin Dual Action and the Missha Super Aqua Cell Renew.
Conclusion
Because there are so many options out there, even body care aficionados might feel occasionally overwhelmed and confused about what exactly to choose. Apart from the brand and manufacturer, people should also take into account their skin types before deciding on a particular product. Oily skins should focus on water-based products, dry skins on moisturizers, while combination and normal skins on maintenance and management.
