How to Identify Your Skin Type

Please attribute to:
Dr. Lillian Khan, Dermatologist & Brand Expert for Pond’s Arabia 

Skin can be divided into five main types which are oily, dry, normal, combination skin and sensitive skin – I also like to include a sixth type called problematic. 
 
The best time to examine your skin to determine your skin type is before washing your face in the morning. Place a tissue paper on top of your face, pat it on and then slowly remove. You can identify your skin type depending on what is left on the tissue. 

Oily Skin: Oily skin is prone to acne, blackheads and whiteheads and people with this type of skin usually complain of shinny and greasy skin, especially in hot and humid weather. If you see big oil spots on the tissue paper across your face (such as forehead, cheeks and nose), this is an indication of oily skin. You may use the Pond’s Clear Balance Oil Control because it effectively absorbs excess oil, dirt and make-up without over drying the skin. The other way to know if you have oily skin is to look your T-zone area: if you have wide pores then you most likely have oily skin. For this area, you should use Pond’s Clear Balance No Blackheads as the scrub helps remove stubborn dirt from deep within the skin.

Dry Skin: This skin type is prone to eczema and becoming considered sensitive skin. It is always flaky and has a rough feeling to it when you touch it or when it’s not moisturized. Completely opposite of oily skin, the tissue paper test for this skin type hardly leaves any oil spots and the T-zone area barely has any pores. 

Normal skin:  If you have normal skin, then you’re lucky! Normal skin has the right amount of oily and dry skin. The tissue test leaves small dots of oil scattered around the faces and the pores are small. This skin type can be tipped over either to oily skin if too much moisturizing is done, or to dry skin if there is an overuse of harsh drying skin care products.  I suggest using Pond’s Clear Balance Smooth Pores if you have this skin type. 

Combination skin: If you have combination skin, the T-zone area is usually oily while dry flaky skin is seen on other areas of the face. The morning paper tissue test for this skin type leaves traces of larger oil spots from the T-zone area and few, small oil spots from other areas of the face. You might also notice wider pores in the T-zone area and smaller pores elsewhere on the face. The Pond’s Clear Balance Clear Solutions contains neem plant extract which you should use to clear up your complexion as it helps remove dirt, oil and make-up 

Sensitive skin: This skin type gets irritated easily when exposed to any harsh chemicals, skin care products with any preservatives, acids, perfumes, or coloring. It usually has slight redness on the cheeks which may increase when applying any non-hypo allergic products. 

Problematic skin:  People with acne, rosacea and other dermatological issues fall under this category. These people need to be evaluated by a skin care specialist and a dermatologist to advise on proper skin care products.