Determining your skin type

WHAT'S YOUR TYPE?

How Do I know what skin type I have?

That is rather hard to answer. Usually a questionaire needs to be filled out in order to determine it or seeking out your esthetician so he or she can determine it. I can give you a few guide lines though. Generally speaking, there are 8 questions you can ask yourself or your esthetician can ask, if you/they are unsure of your skin type.

1. How many times a day do you wish you could wash your face?
2. Do you break out on your chest and back?
3. Does your makeup fade or change color throughout the day?
4. Do you tan easily?
5. Do you use face powder? If so how many times a day do you use it?
6. Do you buy products for oily, dry, or combination hair? ( which do you buy )
7. Does your face look shiny when you wake up in the morning?
8. At about what time during the day does your face look shiny after washing it in the morning?

These questions rule out just how oily you are or are not. Your esthetician will/should ask you a few more based upon the answers to these 8. Those questions will help determine your skin type further. This is why it is better to speak to a professional about it. Still, the purpose of sharing this with you here is to help you be able to buy products for your home care needs.

Skin Types

Oily skin: If you wash before bed and wake up shiny. Like wise if you wash in the morning and you have shiny skin by noon (that isn't attributed to working out or strenuous activity), If you find you need to blot your face or reapply facial powders a lot, If you have lots of pimples and black heads, Your face is shiny all over, enlarged pores all over (not just your nose), dull color, chances are very high your an oily skin type.

Note: Teens be aware - Determining your skin type is the hardest for you because there is a lot going on inside of you chemically (hormones). Please be cautious in choosing a skin care regiment. Once the hormones balance you will find that your skin issues will balance out too. It will be then that you will be able to see what skin type you truly possess.

Combination skin: Oily T zone so, forehead, nose, chin. Pimples and black heads in oily area's only. Enlarege pores in T-zone area. Cheek area is normal to dry. Chances are you have a combination skin type.
* There are two classes of combination skin: Combination to oily, and Combination to dry *

Dry Skin: If your skin is itchy, flaky, patchy, no pimples, blackheads/white heads or visible pores, may be rough feeling to the touch. Chances are your skin is of the dry type. To have dry skin means that you are lacking oil. Those with dry skin tend to have prominent expression lines and wrinkle a lot more than say someone with an oily complexion. The signs for dehydrated skin is very similar to dry skin. It is possible to be dry and dehydrated ( lacking water and oil ). There is product out there specifically for this skin type and condition. The bottles will say: Dry/dehydrated.

Normal Skin: Essentially perfect skin. You don't have any issues with anything really, you don't react to products and can wear anything. Your face is always supple and perfectly balanced.



Conclusion

No matter your skin type everyone can benefit from having more hydration (water) in their skin.
Next blog post I am going to get into one of the two major skin concerns that people fuss about. Oily skin types aka...acne! It is a large segment and no doubt there will be many blog posts about it to come, stay posted.

Enjoy, Life, Love, Liberty and always yourself.

Spotlight Special! Skin Conditions - Sensitive/Sensitized Skin

Condition and Sensitive Skin

We are going to take a moment to just look at the special category of the sensitive skin condition. It really does deserve a segment all on it's own. So then, let's continue on with the next bit continuing off of the last segment, we talked a little about the sensitive skin category. My question to you is this: Do you think that sensitive skin is a skin type? Or a skin Condition?

When speaking about sensitive skin, know that there are two distinct differences. There is: Sensitive skin ~ Skin you are born with.
Sensitized skin ~ Compromised skin ie. skin that is effected by external, life style, or medicine.

The Sensitized category is primarily the things I had started to speak about when talking about the 'sensitive skin category' in the last segment. When I say 'Sensitive skin', please know that I am referring to the skin type/condition as a whole. (unless stated other wise) The truth of the matter is whether or not you have sensitive or sensitized skin, the symptoms are pretty much the same. Now you are probably saying to yourself: I think I might have sensitive/sensitized skin. How do I know though?

If you are unsure, there are seven questions that can be asked to determine whether or not you have sensitive/sensitized skin. They are as follows:

1. Have you ever had an unpleasant reaction to a skin care product? If so what happened?
2. Do you burn easily in the sun?
3. is your skin irritated during the winter?
4. do you have any allergies? If so list them
5. Do natural fibers such as wool irritate your skin?
6. is your skin irritated by fragrance in cosmetics or by wearing a fragrance?
7. do you have a tendency to blush easily? Go bright red?

Remember sensitized (compromised) skin, it is NOT permanent. These seven above questions can help you determine if you have sensitive skin and whether you are born with it or not, is sort of irrelevant. Why? because either way you will be using products for sensitive skin and staying away from that in which makes you sensitive! Your heritage plays a huge determining factor as to whether or not you are born with sensitive skin. It is really just better to speak with a skin care professional about it in the long run.

Dehydration can also lead to sensitized skin, but I should think that, that makes a little sense when you think about why and how that would be. Think about a dried up sponge and then scorching it with heat (the sun) or dumping harsh chemicals on it like alcohol. Think of your face as though it were a tomato. When you wash, exfoliate, and dry your face, when you do extractions on yourself...pretend that your face is a tomato. Your face should be treated with care and a certain amount of delicacy.

Sensitive or Allergic?

There is one more thing that I want to mention before I wrap this portion up. That is the subject of the reactivity of sensitive skin or to anyone who thinks they might be allergic to something. If you put something on your face (because we are strictly speaking about the face here) and it starts to itch/burn/or sting...stop and feel. Wait for a few moments. Are the symptoms getting worse? More intense? Then it is an allergic reaction. I mean if you have hives and blister like bumps...I should also think that is an obvious allergic reaction.

However, if the symptoms seem to die down...it's more than likely a reaction due to dehydration. I know myself, sometimes when I use products that are meant to give you deep hydration it stings a little. It goes away though. Then there are times when I will use something on my eye's and it itches and just get's worse. So remember that should that ever happen to you.

Conclusion 

Next time I am going to talk more about determining the other skin types! Later we will talk about products for the sensitive skin type as well. Don't forget to subscribe and follow my blog so that you can get the updates as we talk further!

Enjoy, Life, Love, Liberty and always yourself.

Skin Conditions

What is a skin condition?

A skin condition is essentially an effect and can be controlled. The conditions I refer to here are things like: Dehydration, pigmentation be it hyper or hypo, vitiligo, rosacea and so forth. There are more serious Conditions/diseases of course. Some can be treated by people such as an esthetician who is more versed in skin care; others need a dermatologist/Doctor and require medication in order to control or fix. If you really wish to look into it, here is a list of a few good ones http://dermatology.about.com/od/skindiseases/u/Conditions.htm

What Causes common skin conditions?

The sun/frequent tanning, harsh weather, poor nutrition, prolonged illness, Stress, menstruation, severe neglect of the skin, Oil glands might be enlarged in say the T-zone area, and medications, are all things that can give you a skin condition. The sensitive category has it's own separate causes.

Those with sensitive skin may have both internal and or external aggravators.
Internal:
- Anything that causes Vasodialation ( blood vessels expand ) such as Caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods.
External:
- Environmental: Cold, wind, pollution
- Heat such as sauna's & hot baths
- Over stimulation from say massages or touching/rubbing at the face
- Harsh products such as: Exfolliants (scrubs), alcohols, AHA's ( Alpha hydroxy acid ), soaps, & fragrances.

Unlike the other three categories, A person with sensitive skin doesn't always mean it's a permanent thing. There have been common characteristics in those with sensitive skin. Those that are of English, Irish decent or anyone with fair skin, red (or blond) hair, freckles, have a tendency to be sensitive.

Conclusion

Next time I am going to talk more about the condition of the sensitive skin type! Don't forget to subscribe and follow my blog so that you can get the updates as we talk further!

Enjoy, Life, Love, Liberty and always yourself.

Skin Types

SKIN TYPES

What are skin types? 

Skin types is something you were born with and cannot be changed. Despite what anyone wants to say, your skin type is something you are born with. Through skin conditions your skin can be altered. Just like the issue concerning pores. Any product that claims to "shrink" your pores is sadly a gimmick. Your pores are also genetic. Those on the nose are usually larger anyways and are therefore more visible. I personally cannot stand it when I hear or read: "Cleans the dirt out of your pores"
Can your pores be "minimized"? Temporarily, yes through things like Microdermabrasion but that is only because of the plumping effect it has on the skin. It's seems more like the pores are swollen and therefore can't be as easily noticed.

For the record, yes our skin certainly does accumulate a certain amount of dirt/pollution upon our faces. Yes, it should be washed at least once a day at minimum. However, the visible pores on your face is not dirt it is SEBUM aka Oil. Little black "plugs" if you will that clog up our pores. Our pores slightly shrink and expand on their own. The only way they truly expand is when you get a massive plug of sebum. Remove it and your pore will go back to it's "normal" size. 9Whatever size that may be) The whole cold water thing, doesn't really work either by the way. It is far too temporary. Once the skin warms up again the pores relax back to their natural state.

Now, back to skin types and how they can be altered through a condition. Eg. You have oily skin but your on medications that thin the skin (accutane). Therefore you no longer have oily skin but stop taking your medications and you WILL go right back to having oily skin. Thusly ... skin you were born with and will always have. Your body does change as you age and so maybe when you get into your thirties and forties one might see a natural decrease in production. This doesn't necessarily mean it will go away altogether though.

What are the Skin Types?

There are three skin types based upon oil production from your sebaceous glands:
Oily, Combination, Dry,
There is another as well but this is based upon how reactive your skin is. It is the Sensitive skin type.
There's also "Normal" skin type but it is very rare as most people do not have perfect skin. Therefore it isn't talked about much.

Next time I am going to about skin conditions. Don't forget to subscribe and follow my blog so that you can get the updates as we talk further!

Enjoy, Life, Love, Liberty and always yourself.

Skin Care- updated 12/6/13

SKIN CARE 101

Now that the science crash course is out of the way, let's get into skin care a bit more. Please note that when I talk about moisture I am referring to hydration ie. the lack of water.

First thing is first. The skin on your face if different than the skin on the rest of your body! It requires a different sort of care. The majority of the Sebaceous glands (Oil producing glands) can be found on the face, scalp, chest and back. They exist in the Dermis (2nd layer) of the skin. Not surprising the face, chest and back is where people will have the most acne issues. It is why we need to treat the face with different products than we do the rest of our body.

SOAP IS BAD FOR THE FACE M'KAY? (and sometimes the body too)

Most people think: what is the big deal? You wash with soap to scrub off all that dirt and your good. Right? Wrong. Teachers and esthetic students are taught the "S word" is the unmentionable word. A Soaps PH balance (Alkaline Vs Acidic levels) is usually very Alkaline. The human skin is a little more on the Acidic side. When you use the soap you are stripping your skin of all of its natural moisture (water) and disrupt the skins natural PH balance. Most people believe that, that "squeaky clean" feeling is a good thing. It's not. It's a bad thing. That tightness and sometimes itchiness is your skins way of screaming at you for moisture (Hydration). As I mentioned before depriving your skin of that moisture (hydration) will lead to wrinkles in the face. On that note your entire body benefits from a product that promotes hydration.

We will get into dehydration and the products that can help fix that later.

KNOW IT!

Before we go any further it is EXTREMELY important to know the difference between having Dry skin and Dehydrated skin. It will help you tremendously when out there trying to find the right products for you.

Dry skin= lacking oil. Small sebaceous (oil) glands or glands that do not produce enough oil.

Dehydrated skin= Lacking water. You have dried out or stripped the skin of it's water content or is caused by medication, aging.

You also need to do away with the whole 'Black heads is dirt' thing. It's so not true but we will talk about that when we get to the oily skin section.

ABSORPTION VS PENETRATION

There is something else that you do need to know. If you go on google and you attempt to research about skin penetration or absorption, you are going to be there for an awful long time. There is some craziness floating around that says the skin has a 60% absorption rate. (I came across it when trying to find research for myself while in school) If you look at this from a logical standpoint, never mind a scientifical one, if it were true...we ought to be dead by now. There is lots of debate of this topic. Should we be concerned? How much should we be concerned? Are we safe from what's in these products? What is the risk of topical concoction's we place upon our skin? All very valid questions of course.

It would be good then to firstly know the difference between Penetration and Absorption: Penetration stays within the Epidermis essentially.
Absorption means to go beyond the layers of the skin to enter into the blood stream.

When we speak about cosmetics and topical creams and such we are talking about penetration not absorption. Our skin therefore does NOT absorb everything that we touch. Hence why I said that if it were true...we'd surely be dead by now.

Now, if the sum of what we have learned is that the skin is designed to keep mostly things out, then judging by the information I just gave you, it's looking like all those creams and topical products out there are a sham. Right? Well...it's more complicated than that. Our skin is an amazing organ. It has the right acids, bacteria, and functions to keep foreign matter out but it still is possible to give back to our skin.

For example: It is in my opinion that those topical creams that claim to have collagen in them...don't really work as good. Why? Because the molecules are too big to be able to get through the epidermis (outter most layer).

However, if you first do a serious buffing of the epidermis and then applied Vitamin C in the form of a concentrate (Serum/oil concentrate), it helps to stimulate your bodies own natural collagen. The molecules of an oil are smaller and therefore can penetrate further. There's a huge difference there. Stimulating your own body to function is the more natural way to go.

HOW ARE WE TO STAY FOREVER YOUNG?

You want the truth as to what will help to keep you looking your youngest? Look at your life style first. What you eat (spices, hormone injected foods), drink (alcohol and coffee because they are very dehydrating), Are you an outdoors person? (Do you protect against the wind and cold? ), and how healthy you keep your skin (Do you bake in the sun without protection? Do you uses sun care at all? Do you hydrate and exfoliate?). What keeps you young will be partial life style and protection against the environment.

If we are speaking life choices aside and strictly skin care, it is all about exfoliation and hydration ALL the way. They should be viewed like twins. They shouldn't be separated.

YOUR BEST TIPS FOR YOUTHFUL SKIN

Exfoliate that skin remembering to be gentle for daily exfoliation. Use the right exfoliator for your skin type. Exfoliation exposes fresh skin so that way other products can work much better! Get the very most out of your products and your dollars! Why apply creams and expensive serums on dead skin!?

I don't know too many people that don't enjoy alcohol or coffee. I know a lot of people love to ski, bike, hike, swim, all of which help to dehydrate your skin. Help yourself. Re-hydrate your skin. Feel it suck up all that moisture happily. It will show you it's appreciation much like a child does...in due time.

CONCLUSION

I hope I could teach you something useful in my first blog post for you. I know it is a lot of information to take in but this stuff is crucial to the rest of everything else you are about to learn. It will help you to understand what I am talking about as we dive further into skin care.

Next time I am going to talk more about skin types. Don't forget to subscribe and follow my blog so that you can get the updates as we talk further!

Enjoy, Life, Love, Liberty and always yourself.