By Dr. Brouha, Poway Dermatology
If you are looking for a quality product, it’s easy these days to just pop onto a website like Amazon and find the product with the best reviews. However, while that system might work for a computer or TV set, it won’t work for skincare products like moisturizers. The moisturizer you use must be based on your skin type. For example, chemicals in some moisturizers can exacerbate dry skin issues, while oil-based moisturizers are bad for acne-prone skin.
If you don’t know what type of skin you have, here’s how you find out. The first thing you do is wash your face and then wait an hour. During that hour, try not to touch your face, and don’t apply any products. This will allow your skin to return to its natural state. When the hour is up, dab your T-zone (your forehead and nose) with a dry tissue. If there is oil on the tissue and your skin has a shine to it, then you have oily skin. If flakes of dead skin are found on the tissue and if your skin feels tight, you have dry skin. If your skin in neither oily nor flaky, you have normal skin. If your T-zone is oily, but your skin is flaky in other parts, you have combination skin.
Now that you know your skin type, here are the types of moisturizers that are best for each type:
Oily: For oily skin, use a moisturizer that contains alpha hydroxyl acids (AHAs). These include glycolic acid, lactic acid, malic acid and salicylic acid. AHAs reduce the amount of oil on the skin and loosen dead skin cells.
Dry: For dry skin use a water-based humectant moisturizer. Humectant moisturizers attract water to the epidermis (the outermost layer of the skin) from the dermis (the second layer of the skin). They also absorb and retain water from the air.
Combination: For combination skin, use a light, oil-free moisturizer that does not contain AHAs.
Normal: For normal skin, you want to maintain your skin’s moisture balance. Use a light, water-based moisturizer.
If you have any questions about how to determine your skin type or which moisturizing products we recommend for your skin type, we would love to be of assistance. Please give us a call at 858-397-5755 or visit us online at http://PowayDermatology.com.
