So you decided to start taking care of your skin, but you don’t know where to start?

So you decided to start taking care of your skin, but you don’t know where to start? The first thing you want to do is work out your skin type so that you buy products suited to you.

Finding Your Skin Type

To find your skin type, wash your face using a gentle cleanser, pat dry, and wait 30 minutes. After 30 minutes check in and see how your skin feels. If your skin feels tight and dry all around, then you have a dry skin type. If it feels oily all over then you have an oily skin type. If it feels dry on the perimeter of your face but oily in your T-zone (forehead, nose, and chin), then you have combination type. If you don’t feel overly dry or oily then you have a normal skin type.

Now that you know your skin type, you can move on to finding products.

Basic Skin Care Products

The two most important skin care products to use in your daily and nightly routines are cleanser and moisturizer. Cleansers will help cleanse the impurities from your face that accumulate throughout the day (or overnight) from makeup, sunscreen, skin oils, and anything else that may have come in contact with your skin.

Moisturizer is super important even if you have oily skin. A moisturizer that is right for your skin type helps to keep your skin hydrated and PH balanced so that it’s not too dry or oily.

It’s also recommended to apply a sunscreen every morning to help prevent sun damage and premature aging.

Once you get comfortable with these products, you can add in other products like toners, serums, exfoliators, face oils, eye creams, and more. The company Paula’s Choice has really great products for all skin types and concerns and can be found at Sephora or on Amazon. The company CeraVe is a favorite for many, is very affordable, and can be found in the aisles of your local drugstore or on Amazon.

Let’s Talk Ingredients

When you’re shopping for your skin care products, there are different ingredients that you want to look out for depending on your skin type.

If you have dry skin you want to look out for ingredients like hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and ceramides. You also want to use richer, thicker moisturizers to help hydrate your skin. The Weleda Skin Food moisturizer is a good option.

If you have oily skin, you want to look for ingredients like salicylic acid and niacinamide, and choose gel-based moisturizers. Moisturizers that are too thick can make cause breakouts, so thinner gel formulas will do much better. The Neutrogena Hydro Boost moisturizer is a great gel formula.

For combination skin types you want to use hydrating products to help with the dry skin in a gel-based moisturizer so that your oily sections don’t break out.

For normal skin types, you should use a gentle cleanser with a good hydrating moisturizer.

It’s also good to note that everyone’s skin will react differently to different products, so be careful when trying new things and start slowly.

Texture Talk

With all this skin talk we want to mention that skin texture (bumps, large pores, pimples, blackheads, whiteheads, pigmentation, redness) is NORMAL! We live in a society where almost all photos we see are edited or photoshopped in some kind of way so the models’ skin is perfectly smooth and blemish free. It can be harmful for young girls and women to compare themselves to faces they see in ads or online.

Remember, no matter what your skin looks like, you are beautiful! If you find that you have serious skin concerns, talk to a dermatologist about what options may be right for you.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue !12345!)