What is Your Skin Type?

Hi =] So this will be a beauty-related post since I haven't really done any of them in a while. I'm sure you already know what this is about just from reading the title. Anyway, I decided to do this post because the lovely Tam asked me a question relating to skin care products. She told me that she's been having breakouts and wanted me to recommend her a face wash to reduce the effect, and also suggest a good foundation for her skin. I didn't ask her what type of skin she has but because she was having breakouts, I assumed that she had oily/combination skin.

Honestly, no one really can assume what type of skin someone has. Only you yourself would know. When I was a lot younger, I thought that everyone had the same skin type. Now that I look back I realise how naive I was :S Our skin differs not only by shade but also by type. Not sure what 'skin type' means? Well it's just a way to describe what type of skin you have, such as normal, dry, oily, combination (dry & oily) and sensitive.

It took me a while to realise that I had dry and sensitive skin. I was once allergic to chlorine in a specific pool that I used to have swimming lessons in, and each time I went swimming I would get a really bad red, itchy rash afterwards. The doctor prescribed me with a cream to treat it and it helped. I also stopped swimming there because I realised that that was the cause and I really hated having a blotchy red face. People at school would ask me how I got it and I'd say that it was sunburn... even when there was no sun around. I was ashamed of my sensitive skin, and no one would have understood if I said that it was an allergic reaction to chlorine. You know how young school kids are, they don't care much about your feelings and say whatever they want. Someone asked me whether it was contagious or not. I just gave them a weird look *raises eyebrows*.

I have a dry t-zone (forehead and nose bridge) so I can't comprehend how people can have that area being oily! Growing up, I used to worry about getting really bad acne because I saw that it was common in pubescent teenagers. If only I had understood that my skin type wouldn't be prone to having a bad case of acne. Those with oily skin are prone to having acne because the oil build-up on the face causes break outs and clogged pores. I used the face wash that was suitable for people who have acne and oily skin. Quite frankly, I did not care about what products I was using for my face, and then I'd get allergic reactions. Haha, I was never taught anything about skin types!

I won't go into the jargon of what each skin type is described as and stuff so I'll leave you with this quiz which was in the Dolly Beauty Book. Dolly is an Australian teen girl's magazine and in the previous issue, it came with a free Beauty Book :D That was my main purpose of purchasing this issue!

Just a few scans I've decided to include relating to skin and some which I found to be really interesting:

To me this book is like the replica of those make-up books like the ones from Napoleon Perdis and Bobbi Brown. This is much simpler and includes skin, make-up, hair and body sections :)

Feel free to do this very simple quiz. I'd like to know whether anyone has the same skin type as me (sensitive). Sorry that the scan isn't very clear on the edge =[

Here are some tips on how to 'fix' blemishes on our face, such as dark circles, redness and puffy eyes. I found this really helpful.

Simple steps on how to wash your face =]

Tips on how to face mask, and the types of masks that are suitable for your skin type

Are you allergic to any ingredients, or would you like to know what certain ingredients do to your skin? This really helps!

Oh and yes, the skin myths busted :)

Props to those who do scans for magazines, it's not that easy! Well, for me it wasn't that easy :/ As you can see, I didn't put it very straight in my scanner and there are dark bits on the edges. I knew it wouldn't have been easy, but I really wanted to share with you the information in this beauty book :) I loved how it was free and I'm glad that I got my hands on this.

There were more stuff on skin but I didn't think it was necessary to scan, and they weren't as interesting :P If anyone wants, I could scan the make-up section and hair section since they are also really interesting too =] I'll only scan if requested hehe.

Oh and some of you requested for me to do a review on my current foundation - the Revlon ColorStay Velvet Creme make up. That is on its way!

Unfortunately this beauty book can't be for sale on its own and the issue of Dolly was last month's so it isn't available anymore :( Hmm perhaps I should have made this post earlier... oops.

I'm curious to know, what is your skin type, and how do you maintain it?

Were you ever or are you still like the 'old' me, so clueless about skin care products?