Diagnosing your skin type

Walk into any department store these days, or open the pages of a magazine, and you are faced with 101 skincare choices - many of them new to the market. Despite the economic climate the beauty business is thriving, unveiling the latest solutions to ageing and skin maintenance. We all want to reap the benefits, but it can be muddling - more so if you are not completely sure about the kind of products that will suit your skin.

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The most important thing to remember when you are looking for topicals that will maximise your skin's potential is to trust yourself. Your skin has its own identity, which reflects its biological age and skin type. And no one knows their complexion - and its daily changes - better than you do, so you are best placed to make educated decisions about treating it.

That's not as easy as pie though, since many of us don't even know if our skin is oily, dry, normal, combination or sensitive. But it's important to get a grip on this basic knowledge, otherwise you won't just waste money but your choices could be detrimental to your skin.

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For example, if your skin is dry and you use a regular soap bar to cleanse it, you may exacerbate the thirst and in doing so precipitate premature ageing, as dry skin tends to age more quickly than oily or normal. Similarly, if you have oily or combination skin be aware of products that may strip your complexion's ability to maintain moisture, because while they may be oily on the surface, both of these skin types still need moisture in the deeper tissues.

The start point for the basic skin types is a measure of the amount of sebum there is in skin. A normal skin type produces just enough sebum to protect the uppermost layers (stratum corneum) and keep skin supple without interfering with the natural cell renewal. Oily skin meanwhile is caused by overproductive sebaceous glands. While in dry skin, sebaceous glands can be underproductive, and the "cement" that holds cells together within skin can fail, enabling dead cells to stick to the surface and encourage moisture loss from within.

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Recognising how important understanding your basic skin type is, Vichy have developed a dermo analyser which their skincare advisors use to diagnose skin type and recommend products. They also feel that a natural balance of three factors - water content (which determines suppleness and comfort), lipid content for nutrition and softness, and sensitivity (which determines skin's resistance and tolerance) - influence our basic skin type.

Establishing the right skincare regime is a combination of choosing the right products for your skin type, your skin's biological age and your skin's current demands. Remember too though that as your skin and environment change, so should your skincare products. So don't get stuck in a rut: keep reassessing your skin and keep your antennae alert for new ways to treat it that are sympathetic to your type.

Source:http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG9260265/449/skin-type-diagnosis.html