THE BARE-FACED METHOD
Cleanse your face thoroughly with a mild cleanser and gently pat dry. Leave skin bare (and do not apply any additional moisturizers, serums or treatments). After 30 minutes, examine your cheeks, chin, nose and forehead for any shine. After another 30 minutes, evaluate whether your skin feels parched, especially if you smile or make any other facial expressions. If your skin feels tight, your skin is likely dry. If there is noticeable shine on your nose and forehead, your skin is mostly likely normal/combination. If there is shine on your cheeks in addition to your forehead and nose, you most likely have oily skin.

THE BLOTTING SHEET METHOD
This method is much faster and often an excellent differentiator between oily and dry skin types. Gently pat a blotting paper on the different areas of your face. Hold the sheet up to the light to determine how much oil is visible. If the sheet picked up little to no oil, you most likely have dry skin. If the blotting sheet reveals oil from the forehead and nose areas, your skin is normal/combination. Finally, if the blotting paper is saturated with oil, it is extremely likely that you have oily skin.

Do you find it difficult determining which skin type you have? Oily, sensitive, dry, and even combination types are difficult to determine if your skin is inconsistent. We have outlined the seven main skin types below, and how you can recognize which one you have.

Normal skin   Show me the products
People with normal skin usually have an even skin tone, and no particular pigmentation issues. Although this skin type is quite rare, it does exist! Pores are very small, and bumps or blemishes rarely appear unrelated to menstrual cycles.

Dry skin   Show me the products
Skin which is dry all year-round can feel dry and scaly. The cheeks and forehead are the worst areas, since skin can feel tight and irritable even after a gentle cleanse. Red patches are a common occurrence since skin dries up very fast and feels itchy and irritable.

Oily skin   Show me the products
Oily skin usually absorbs moisture really quickly due to larger pores. The t-zone is the worst place for someone suffering from oily skin, since this is where most of the build-up occurs. People suffering from oily skin will need to blot their face numerous times per day, and will most likely be accompanied by an oily scalp.

Combination skin   Show me the products
Combination skin is one of the most common skin types, since it’s both oily and dry on different parts of the face. An oily t-zone is accompanied by dry, or itchy cheeks which break-out after a cleanse.

Sensitive skin  Show me the products
Sensitive skin is easily irritated by moisturizers, serums, makeup, and generally products packed with fragrance. Red patches around the nose, cheeks, and chin are most likely to occur, and it’s important to keep your skincare routine as simple as possible.

Acne-Prone skin  Show me the products
Acne-prone skin are complexions that can be both oily or dry, it is skin that is prone to acne breakouts. That’s because oil can not only be the trigger for the skin to cause acne breakouts. This means that pores tend to clog easily, making it more likely for there to be a buildup of sebum and causing whiteheads, blackheads, blemishes, acne and full blown breakouts.

Mature skin  Show me the products
With age, the skin becomes drier, thinner and more fragile. The elasticity of the skin diminishes which causes fine wrinkles to form and pigmentation spots also appear that were previously non existent. The skin’s overall firmness also becomes noticeably less and aging skin tends to seem dull.