Skin types explained

Knowing your specific skin type serves as a foundational step in crafting a successful skincare regimen. Healthy skin can be broken down into five primary categories: dry, oily, combination, sensitive and normal. These classifications hinge on factors such as your skin's water retention, its oiliness and how sensitive it is.

The five primary skin types

Dry skin

Dry skin is usually caused by a lack of moisture. Signs of dry skin include flaking, coarse or rough patches and tightness. This type of skin often appears lacklustre and is susceptible to fine lines. It can also feel itchy or as though it’s in constant need of more moisture.

Oily skin

When the skin produces excess sebum, it leads to oily skin. The T-zone (forehead, nose and chin) tends to be the most-affected area and you might notice larger pores, more blemishes and blackheads and a shinier complexion.

Sensitive Skin

If you’re prone to discomfort and irritation, you probably have sensitive skin. Factors such as the weather, irritants in the environment, and the use of new or poor-quality skincare products can trigger sensitive skin, leading to rashes and redness.

Normal skin

Well-balanced, ‘normal’ skin tends to be smooth in texture with an even tone and few spots or blemishes. It strikes a harmonious middle ground; whereby skin is neither excessively oily nor dry in any area. Normal skin feels consistently supple and lacks the extremes of shine associated with oily skin or the flakiness of dry skin.

Combination skin

Knowing your specific skin type serves as a foundational step in crafting a successful skincare regimen. Healthy skin can be broken down into five primary categories: dry, oily, combination, sensitive and normal. These classifications hinge on factors such as your skin's water retention, its oiliness and how sensitive it is.

Identifying your skin type

When you know your own skin type, you’re on a better path to picking the perfect products that will feed it what it needs without causing dryness, irritation or excess oiliness. It’s the foundation to building a bespoke skincare routine that leaves your skin looking and feeling the best it can.

Observe

Take a moment to check in with your skin during the day. Assess whether it feels tight, oily or dry. If it gets shinier as the day progresses, you likely have oily skin. If you notice flaky areas or it feels tight and dehydrated, these are signs of dry skin. If you experience a mix of both – tightness and shine – suggests you may have combination skin. Whereas if your skin feels neither flaky nor shiny, you likely have a balanced or 'normal' skin type. If your skin often reacts to the weather or environmental changes, it might be sensitive, requiring careful consideration of the products you introduce to your skincare routine.

Cleanse

Assess your skin post-cleansing and consider whether it feels even drier and tighter. If so, it's a sign of dry skin. On the flip side, if your skin appears shinier, it may lean towards being oilier. If you notice a blend of these reactions, you might have combination skin, or if your skin doesn't exhibit much change, it's probably because you have normal or balanced skin. If redness, discomfort and rashes frequently follow cleansing, that’s a sign of sensitive skin.

Test

Introduce new products to your skincare routine gradually and observe how your skin reacts. Take note of any changes or reactions, as this will provide valuable insights into the sensitivity of your skin and identify specific triggers. Monitoring these responses allows you to make informed decisions about the suitability of products for your skin type, ensuring a customised and gentle approach to your skincare routine.

Consult

To understand your skin type more thoroughly, speak with a skincare professional. If you’re concerned about how your skin responds to products or different environmental factors, you can also speak to your GP or a healthcare professional.

Challenges in identifying your skin type

While your skin type is natural and can be hereditary, there are a number of factors that can exacerbate or change your skin. This can make it harder to identify your true skin type and, in turn, build a skincare routine that truly responds to its needs.

• Weather Variations: Many people notice that their skin undergoes transformations corresponding to different climates or seasons. Typically, colder weather tends to result in drier skin, while summer often brings about increased oiliness.
• Hormonal changes: Your monthly cycle and other hormonal indicators can influence the behaviour of your skin. This means that, throughout the month, you might find that your skin type varies as your hormones fluctuate. Pregnancy, allergies and other hormonal conditions can also cause changes to your skin type.
• Environmental influences: Exposure to pollution and UV rays can significantly impact your skin. Lifestyle choices, diet and stress levels also contribute to the complexity, making it challenging to pinpoint your true skin type.

What's the best regime for my skin type

Dry skin

The best way to tackle dry skin is with products that offer deep hydration and long-lasting moisture. Cleanse & Polish™ Hot Cloth Cleanser is a rich and nourishing formula that dissolves without leaving skin feeling dry, while Skin Repair™ Rich Cream offers 72 hours of intensive hydration, helping to restore balance to skin when it feels dry or stressed.

Oily skin

If your skin is oily, you should focus on light products that help to control sebum levels. Our Skin Repair™ range includes a Skin Repair™ Gel Cream which helps to mattify the skin without leaving it shiny. We also recommend trying Smooth & Glow™ Exfoliating Tonic which helps to remove impurities and resurface the skin.

Sensitive skin

It can be harder to shop for sensitive skin, but Liz Earle Beauty Co. offers a selection of gentle options that are suitable for sensitive skin. Our Pro-Biotic range offers deeply nourishing formulas that instantly soothe reactive-feeling skin, helping to strengthen the skin’s moisture barrier. Start with our Pro-Biotic Balancing Milk Cleanser, as it effectively cleanses without stripping your skin of its natural goodness. Followed by Pro-Biotic Balancing Day Cream to deeply hydrate, leaving even the most reactive-feeling skin balanced and healthier. For the evening, our Pro-Biotic Balancing Night Cream helps revive stressed-feeling skin while you sleep, so you awaken to radiant-looking and renewed skin.

Normal skin

Even if your skin is well-balanced, it will need love and care to maintain its normal levels. Liz Earle Beauty Co. offers a range of products that can help to boost your normal skin type, like our bestselling Cleanse & Polish™ Hot Cloth Cleanser. It deeply cleanses while boosting hydration for instant, visible radiance – making it a great choice for all skin types. Follow with our Skin Repair™ Light Cream, which is enriched with a blend of moisturising borage oil, avocado oil to smooth and soften, soothing echinacea, and toning hops – creating a lightweight moisturiser that effortlessly hydrates the skin.

Combination skin

If you have combination skin, you should look to incorporate a mix of products that address the oily and dry areas separately. If your combination skin doesn’t get too irritated, many products for ‘normal’ skin can help you find the balance. However, if it is particularly oily or particularly dry, invest in products for both skin types and use them separately in the affected areas. We recommend our silky-feeling Skin Repair™ Light Cream, this lightweight formula is enriched with nourishing botanicals that won’t weigh skin down, while offering up to 72 hours of balanced hydration. For the evening, consider Superskin™ Concentrate. Formulated with 100% plant oils, our intensive overnight concentrate nourishes and smoothes while you sleep, leaving skin feeling supple, restored and balanced.

The key to an impactful beauty routine lies in finding the right products for your unique skin. Explore Liz Earle Beauty’s extensive product range to help you unlock a radiant complexion.