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What Skin Type Do I Have

The initial quality, or type, of your skin is genetically determined – meaning you are born with it.

However, the health and beauty of skin later in life largely depends on what you eat and how you take care of yourself. As the skin is a living organ, it can vary from season to season or even from week to week, depending on general health as well as on external factors.  The skin naturally regenerates every 28 days in younger people, extending to about 45 days as we age. Other factors that can affect the skin tone and texture include the sun, medication and drugs, diet, illness and general lifestyle.

Skin ageing is an inevitable process. Wrinkles usually begin to appear between 30 and 45, become more pronounced and noticeable between 45 and 50 and are formidable from 50 on up.  It can be sped up through lack of care, too much sunlight, or even excess central heating. The process can be slowed down by a good skin care and protection routine.   To maintain great skin health and keep it looking its best, the first step is to determine your skin type.

Skin types have changed in recent years and no longer fall into 4 exact categories, even trying to break skin types down into sub-categories is very difficult.  Most people have at least two or even three different skin types on the face and neck.  This could be due, not only to highly processed foods, full of artificial additives, colorants, saturated fats and preservatives, but also due to lifestyle.

People tend to exercise less often, many of us sit in air-conditioned offices under fluorescent lights and in front of computers, which are both emitting radiation. There appears to be a definite increase in blackheads and debris on the skin of people who sit in front of computers all day, as the radiation appears to change the polarity of the skin, attracting debris to it. Stress is also a part of modern life, having an influence on our skin condition.

Identification of skin types

There are no hard and fast rules with skin types but there are a few facts to bear in mind:

  • Young oily skins are a result of the sebaceous glands becoming active at puberty, when stimulated by the male hormone androgen.
  • Sebaceous gland activity begins to decrease when a person is in their twenties.
  • Any skin type can experience sensitivity.
  • Dehydrated skins can be caused by ill health.  If a client experienced a fever, skin will have lost fluid through sweating.
  • The taking of medication may result in skin changes, dehydration, as may drastic dieting.
  • Dehydration may be caused by an environment with low humidity, i.e. air-conditioning.
  • Changes in appearance of women’s skin during ageing are related to altered production of the hormones oestrogen, progesterone and androgen at menopause.
  • Sensitive skin can apply to all skin types as everyone experiences sensitivities at one time or another; this can be caused by many factors from environment to your own health, so addressing the cause as well as the symptoms is important.

Skin Type Chart

As a guideline – skins can be broken down into the following types:

Acne Skin

  • May or may not be accompanied by oily skin.
  • Symptoms may range from mild acne associated with most oily skin types to more severe large, deep and disfiguring lesions on the face and back.

Oily Skin

  • Visible pores.
  • Visible blackheads.
  • Small breakouts mostly occurring on the nose, cheeks, chin, forehead and back area.
  • A build-up of excess oil that gets worse as the day goes on.
  • (Having an oily skin does not prevent wrinkles  – keeping the sun off the skin is what prevents wrinkles)

Acne / Oily skin may sometimes need a little extra help to balance excess oils. Skins with over-productive sebaceous (oil) glands may be prone to congestions, blackheads and breakouts; often they also have large pores similar to orange peel.
Skincare products need to be especially formulated to assist oily skins to help cleanse, balance, and regulate oil production without stripping the skin’s natural protective barrier while still locking in essential moisture to act as a barrier against the pollution of the environment.

Combination Skin

  • The most classic type of skin.
  • T-zone (nose, forehead and chin) is oily with visible pores and blackheads, while cheeks, jaw, neck and eye areas are dry and flaky. (the reverse may be present too, but rare)

Balanced Skin (normal skin)

  • No visible pores.
  • Little or no dry skin.
  • No excess oil to speak of.
  • No sensitivities or allergies.
  • (Balanced skin does not mean flawless skin)

Normal skin is quite simply a gift of nature. Free of many common skincare issues you don’t need a complicated beauty regime – just one that allows your skin to function at its natural best. Normal skin, neither too oily or too dry with small to medium size pores, is well balanced and relatively care free.

Dry/Mature Skin

  • No visible pores.
  • Skin tends to flake and peel.
  • Dry patches present.
  • Lips may feel parched as the day goes on.
  • Skin tends to feel drier and tighter.
  • Skin may look dull from lack of natural colour.

The great joy of dry and mature skin is a beautiful, clear complexion and blemishes are rare. This delicate and fine skin type needs a little extra care to ensure it always feels smooth, soft and nourished. The challenge is to reduce the dry or tight skin feeling while not overloading the skin with heavy products.

Living Nature New Zealand is proudly 100% natural, setting some of the world's highest natural skincare and cosmetics standards. They have harnessed the power of New Zealand’s unique native botanicals with their incredible range of purifying, healing and nourishing products, available for purchase from our secure online shop.

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What skin type do you have, and do you have a special skincare regime to suit it?

What products have you found suit your skin type?

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