How to Choose Facial Skin Care Products

There are countless of over-the-counter facial skin care products from which you can choose. This can be a nightmare if you don’t know what’s good and what’s bad for your skin. What’s good for one person may not be good for your skin type. Therefore, it’s essential that we start from learning the types of skin and how to identify them:

Dry Skin Type – The skin feels dry and itchy and has a dull appearance. Dry skin is caused by inactive oil glands which are responsible for producing sebum to protect the skin and keep it hydrated.

Normal Skin Type – Normal skin is the envy of everyone. It produces just the right amount of oil to keep the skin moist and vibrant. Though it’s blemish-free, people with normal skin should still follow the skin care routine to keep it healthy.

Oily Skin Type – Oily Skin can be easily identified by the presence of excessive oil on the face. During warmer months, it can get as serious as melting makeup and this requires some adjustment to the skin care routine to control the condition.

Sensitive Skin Type - Sensitive skin is easily irritated. Some of the common reactions of sensitive skin are itchiness, stinging, burning, redness and flaking. People with sensitive skins need to look for hypo-allergenic products (We’ll cover this later)

Combination Skin Type – Most people have more than one skin type at any given time. For example, the T-zone area which includes forehead, nose and chin is oily while the areas around the nose and mouth are normal or dry. To care for combination skin, use what’s needed where it’s needed.

Now that we know what skin types there are, it’s time to look at the right products for each skin type. Let’s start with cleansers.

There are tons of facials cleansers on the market, making choosing a cleanser an overwhelming task. Some cleansers claim to do wonders such as reducing brown spots and minimizing wrinkles. In reality, most of the ingredients used in cleansers are the same. The small difference in ingredients can cause a big price difference. So, always determine what you want out of a cleanser and know your budget

Depending on your skin type, you’ll want to get a cleanser with different ingredients.

For dry or sensitive skin, it’s best not to use cleansers with sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate. These ingredients can strip the skin of oil and are extremely irritating. Also pick unscented cleansers.

For oily skin, make sure the cleanser contains alcohol which helps remove excessive oil from the skin. Also look for ingredients such as menthol and peppermint which leave the skin cool and refreshing and salicylic acid which is an acne fighting ingredient.

We are going to look at how to choose other facial skin care products such as moisturizer and toner in the next post.