Looking after combination skin
Often we confuse combination skin with normal skin or other skin types, which means that we don't give our skin the appropriate care.
Getting to know our skin properly is the first step. We already know that, depending on the composition of the horny mantle, we can have oily or dry skin... But we can also have combination skin. We have already talked about dry and oily skin in a previous post. Today we are going to talk about how to look after combination skin.
Do I really have combination skin?
Normally we can identify combination skin when parts of our face or body behave differently. It is usually very evident in the face, where generally there is a difference at the so-called T-zone (forehead, nose and chin) as it looks oilier. Open pores, shiny skin, oily secretions and it being thicker to touch are characteristics of combination skin, while around the cheeks the skin is usually normal or dry. This imbalance of sebum production poses a challenge for the treatment and care of the skin.
Advice
Combination skin suffers from an imbalance in the production of sebum and combines oily areas with dry areas. Depending on the skin’s natural tendency according to the time of year, we recommend to prioritise the greasy zones over the dry ones. Achieving a moisture balance is fundamental to regulate the excess of sebum.
Cleaning: You need to bear in mind that we should do a daily gentle cleanse, with soaps that prevent irritation and have a calming effect. At night it is fundamental to do a deep cleanse, and in the morning a gentler cleanse. The “T-zone” of greasy skin types should be effectively cleaned, while the dry areas, such as the cheeks and the sides of your face, require a more delicate cleaning.
Hydration: The first advice is to treat the oily areas with astringent products, in other words, products that reduce the sebaceous secretions. But this is not always the best option. Using solely these types of products can cause the appearance of cysts and blackheads or sunspots, if you sunbathe. Additionally, it can also cause the skin to become more dehydrated, which gives it a rough and flaky appearance. Therefore, we treat combination skin differently; we shouldn't apply a moisturiser to the oily zones (forehead, nose and chin) but instead apply exfoliating treatments once a week.
Special considerations
What can I eat? Looking after your diet to give the body the necessary hydration, with a strict control of the intake of saturated fats and sugars, is essential.
Does the weather have an effect on me? The temperature changes will have a big effect on our skin, because we have oily areas next to dry and sensitive areas which have a tendency to be dehydrated and to peel.
Will my skin always be like this? Very often the typology of combination skin changes over large periods of time to become more homogeneous, becoming oilier or dryer. This is a result of the change in weather, hormonal substrate or aging.
Lastly, remember that we shouldn’t generalise the use of a product type, without specifying which area it should be used in, to avoid being too aggressive in dry areas or stimulating the production of lipid stratum corneum in oily areas.
