People have varying skin types, and each type needs unique care and treatment. Whether your skin is oily, dry, or a combination of these two, it’s important to know the appropriate skincare routine to avoid skin health problems.
Skin problems can be caused by different factors, including bacterial and fungal infection, harsh skin products, and environmental factors. Even the clothes you wear can also irritate your skin. Being careful with what you use and wear, and developing a healthy and effective skincare regimen, can help you maintain healthy and beautiful skin.
In this post, you’ll learn some helpful combination skin care tips for different skin types.
What Is A Combination Skin
Are you not sure about whether you have dry or oily skin? You might notice oiliness on your nose, chin, and forehead, but have dry cheeks, jawline, and eye skin area. Such a face has a T-zone, in which common oily areas of the face appear shiny and acne-prone. If you observe distinct dry and oily areas in your face, then you have combination skin.
Here are the good-to-know facts about combination skin:
- You know that you have a combination skin type if your T-zone appears shiny after cleansing while your jawline and cheeks do not.
- Mild flaking, whiteheads, and blackheads may result, and pores are more visible in the T-zone as compared to other parts of the face.
- It’s quite challenging to find the best skincare products for combination skin. By choosing the right skincare products, you can develop an effective combination skincare routine.
Skincare Tips For Combination Skin With Various Skin Types
Once you have confirmed that you have combination skin, make sure to plan how you’ll take good care of your skin. Your skin faces a lot of stressors every day, including free radicals, pollution, and stress. That’s why routine skincare using the right products should be carried out.
Check out some helpful combination skincare routine tips below.
- Multiple Masking for Combination Skin
Multiple masking involves using two or more masks on your face to get the best results for your combination skin.
Here are some facial masking recommendations for combination skin:
- Clay or activated charcoal masks can be used in deep cleansing oily facial skin areas. They usually have salicylic acid to treat T-zone blemishes.
- A hydrating mask is used for dry facial skin areas.
- Low-pH Cleansing
It’s important to use a gentle cleanser that has a low pH level, preferably at pH 5.5. With a low-pH cleanser, it will help regulate sebum or oil production and prevent excessive dryness at the same time.
Here are some considerations when choosing a low-pH cleanser:
- If you have rough skin, using a facial cleanser with salicylic and glycolic acids to help remove dry flakes and dead skin cells, and your skin will become smoother.
- A facial cleanser with botanical extracts can soothe dry skin. For example, green tea extract can help control excessive oil production, particularly on your T-zone.
- Targeted Exfoliation
An oily T-zone has a higher risk of developing breakouts, blackheads, and clogged pores. These issues can be addressed through exfoliation. By exfoliating the skin, dead skin cell buildup sloughs off and keeps peeling at bay.
Here are some helpful tips to achieve your skin goals with exfoliation:
- Gentle Exfoliation: Don’t exfoliate too harshly because the pressure will just cause damage to your skin. Using your fingertips is enough to exfoliate the facial skin. If you want deeper exfoliation, consider undergoing microdermabrasion under the care of a licensed professional.
- Enough Frequency: Don’t exfoliate too often. Give your facial skin time to heal and recover, otherwise it will feel tender and excessive dryness caused by intensive exfoliation can also lead to chronic inflammation.
- Use the Best Product: Choose an exfoliant that is alpha-hydroxy acid or AHA-formulated to exfoliate dead skin and clarify pores. Also, an exfoliator with jojoba bead is recommended for dry skin types and perfect for cold, dry months. You’ll also find brands with enzymes and multi-fruit acids, helping your skin glow in the summertime.
- Apply Moisturizer and Sunscreen: Because exfoliation removes the skin’s outermost layer of dead skin cells, it becomes vulnerable to pollution and sun damage. That’s why you should always apply sunscreen and moisturizer after exfoliating your facial skin.
- Use Alcohol-free Toner
When choosing a toner for combination skin, it’s a smart choice to pick an alcohol-free toner. Alcohol tends to dehydrate the skin and causes excessive oil production. It removes oil from the skin, which aggravates skin dryness and oiliness at the same time. Choosing an alcohol-free toner will take care of both dry and oily skin areas.
- Use Lightweight Moisturizer
Applying a lightweight moisturizer helps hydrate dry cheeks without causing excessive sebum production in your T-zone. The best moisturizers for combination skin are lightweight, contain panthenol, hyaluronic acid, or glycerin. These moisture-retaining humectants attract water from the air, keeping dryness away.
- Choose Combination Skin Serum Boost
A combination skin type can be layered with serum-containing AHA such as lactic acid or glycolic acid. It will help minimize pores in the T-zone. Acne-prone skin types with combination skin can choose and use a serum with salicylic acid to handle blemishes and breakouts. Serums with vitamin A or retinol are highly recommended for all skin types.
- Apply Anti-Aging Eye Cream
Dryness around the eye area is usually experienced by people who have combination skin. This skin condition can cause fine lines to appear in the area surrounding the eyes. That’s why you should use an anti-aging eye cream with hydrating ingredients such as seaweed extract, reducing dark circles around the eyes.
Here are some helpful tips when applying eye cream:
- Eye Area: Don’t apply eye cream too close to your lashes or eyelids because it will lead to eye irritation, redness, and possible infection. Don’t rub your skin vigorously. Be gentle because the facial skin, especially the skin under the eyes, is thin and sensitive.
- Application: Always check the label for instructions on how best to apply the eye cream brand you’re using. It’s important to apply skin and beauty products in layers to avoid disaster. A rich and heavy eye cream should be applied on top of a moisturizer. If your eye cream is lighter than your favorite serum brand, then it should be under your moisturizer.
- Amount: Don’t apply too much. Just a pea-size amount is okay to cover the skin under your eyes. After applying the cream, allow it some time to settle before you apply foundation or concealer and do your makeup. Apply eye cream not only in the evening but also in the morning to reduce eye bags and wrinkles.
- Usage: Applying eye cream on damp skin is highly recommended because it locks in hydration. Don’t apply eye cream on dry skin. Instead of toweling your face immediately, it’s best to dab an eye cream onto your skin just after using a facial cleanser.
- Preventative Use: Apply eye cream even before you start seeing visible signs of aging. Choose an eye cream with active ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid and caffeine to reduce puffiness around the eyes, dark circles, wrinkles, and fine lines.
- Apply Broad-spectrum Sunscreen
A broad-spectrum sunscreen is also recommended for people with combination-like skin types. When choosing a brand of sunscreen, look at the label and consider picking one with zinc oxide. This ingredient has anti-inflammatory properties, so it’s soothing and photoprotective.
Choose a sunscreen that is SPF 30 or more. Dry patches on the jaw and cheeks can be hydrated using a broad-spectrum sunscreen with moisturizing ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid and aloe vera.
Bonus Skincare Routine Tips For Combination Skin
If you have a combination skin type, you need to always be ready with your emergency skincare essentials. You can’t afford to have an oily face while talking to a client, presenting a sales proposal, or heading a business meeting. Even running simple errands in the supermarket or fetching your kids from school shouldn’t stop you from always looking your best.
You can balance your combination skin all day with the following tips:
- Always keep blotting papers ready in your work drawer or handbag. In this way, you can easily grab one if you need to remove excess oil in your T-zone.
- Keep a face mist in your bag so you can easily mist your face to keep dry areas hydrated.
- For those with dry cheeks, extra moisturizing is required. You can apply facial oil to keep your skin soft and supple without oily residue.
Skincare Tips for Dry Skin
While you probably have combination skin in the face, it’s also important to check the skin condition in other areas of your body. If you have dry skin, you can apply these skincare tips to keep it healthy:
- Don’t take hot baths or showers because that breaks down the skin’s lipid barriers. Use warm water and take short showers to avoid drying your skin.
- Applying oil-based moisturizer helps trap existing moisture in dry skin so make sure to apply it just after washing your face or showering.
- Choose a cream that contains olive oil, jojoba oil, or shea butter.
- Applying a lip balm helps heal dry lip skin.
Skincare Tips For Oily Skin
You should have an oil-free diet if you have oily skin. Eat fruits (e.g. lemon and kiwi), vegetables, and lean protein foods. Aside from watching your diet, you also need to undergo routine skincare to manage oily skin.
If you have greasy or oily skin, you can help control oil production with the following skin care tips:
- Wash your face twice a day if you have an oily skin type, once in the morning and again before bedtime. Avoid washing your face several times a day because it will remove the natural oils in your skin, which can aggravate oiliness.
- Exfoliate your skin to remove dead skin cells but use a product that also helps unclog your pores and leaves your skin clean and smooth. You’ll find face cleanser brands with exfoliating properties that can also help remove whiteheads and blackheads without over-exfoliating the skin.
- Follow up exfoliation with a face mask that gently absorbs excess oil.
- Choose the right cleansing product. Foaming or gel-based cleansers are highly recommended for oily skin. Find an oil-free cleanser. Also, medicated soaps can be used to cleanse oily skin. However, avoid using abrasive cleansing techniques that can strip the natural moisture of the skin. The best skincare product ingredients include tea tree oil, salicylic acid, turmeric, neem, and honey.
General Skincare Tips For All Skin Types
Now, you have an idea of the best skin care tips for your skin according to your skin type. At this point, it’s also important to talk about general skincare tips to achieve the best overall skin health.
- Get enough sleep so that the body’s harmful radicals that cause aging will be countered by immune cells. Good sleep also promotes tissue repair that reflects on glowing and clear skin.
- Benefits of getting regular exercise should never be underestimated because it’s a great way to help your body get rid of harmful toxins through sweating, speeding up your metabolism, and increasing skin blood circulation for healthier and more beautiful skin.
- Watch your diet. Make sure to maintain a balanced intake of everything because too much sugar, fats, or carbs can make your skin too oily or prone to acne breakouts.
- Avoid vices. Smoking and drinking alcohol can dry your skin, along with the medical risks they carry.
- Managing stress helps manage your skin too. Not getting enough rest and enduring too much pressure risks the development of anxiety, depression, and major skin problems like psoriasis and acne as well
Conclusion
People with combination skin types tend to have an oily T-zone and dry patches on other areas of the face. When choosing a facial cleanser, choose one with a low-pH level to control excessive oil production. Alcohol-Free toner helps avoid skin dehydration that usually aggravates oiliness in the T-zone.
Exfoliation can help reduce oiliness and remove dead skin cells. For dry skin areas, you have to apply a soothing, lightweight moisturizer. Anti-aging cream must be applied around the eyes to avoid dryness and the appearance of fine lines and dark circles. Whatever skin type you have, a balanced diet, a good night’ sleep, and regular exercise are also needed in addition to your regular skincare regimen for overall health and wellness.