Do You Know Your Skin? (Sensitive)

There are a lot of common misconceptions people have about their skin and skincare products. I am here to help you put those troubled assumptions and problem purchases to rest.⇣⇣⇣⇣

First thing's first: knowing your skin type

People often believe they have sensitive skin just because your face is much more fragile than the rest of your body. However, this does not mean you have sensitive skin! It's very important that you DO NOT use products for sensitive skin UNLESS you do in fact need these products. How do you know? If multiple of these common factors of Sensitive Skin apply to you, keep purchasing your gentle products or maybe make a switch if you use products for regular skin or other skin-types. Common factors in sensitive skin include:

• Frequent or easy-to-come-by rosacea
• Abrasions frequently appearing from exfoliants or product rashes
• Breakouts or rashes from products or environmental interactions
• Reactive skin (stinging, burning, itchiness after use of products)

So what can happen if you use sensitive skin care products on normal, oily, dry, or combination skin?

Unfortunately, different brands and products work differently for everyone; so something that is a holy grail for me, may not work for you and your chemical make-up. Finding things that work for you is very similar to chemistry believe it or not, each individual has a different chemical makeup which is why there are so many skin care products and techniques that actually work. Using sensitive skin products on an individual who doesn't have a need for those products actually tricks their chemical makeup into thinking it IS sensitive. This can lead to frequent rashes and breakouts and the symptoms of sensitive skin but on a larger scale. This can affect makeup application, moisture production, acne, and the bacteria your skin uses to fight off infection (such as pimples).

When creating products for the face, companies already keep in mind that the formulas need to be gentle, because it is a known fact that the face is much more sensitive than the rest of the body; however, solutions for SENSITIVE SKIN go the extra mile for people that resemble the bullet points above. That does not mean people with other skin types wont have poor reactions to certain products, but it is all about finging things that work well with your chemistry rather than tricking your skin into modifying its chemistry.

Other types of skin include:

• Oily
• over production of moisture and oil throughout the day
• sebaceous filaments on the nose and cheeks
• common black heads
• 
• enlarged pores
• Dry
• patchy, flaky skin
• scaly or under production of moisture
• tight feeling (stretched)
• mild eczema
•                      
• Combination
• oily t-zone, but dry spots in other areas of the face
• some redness coupled with sebaceous filaments on nose
• some breakouts and acne
•                      
• Normal
• no excessive production of moisture nor areas of patchiness or excessive dryness
• minimal breakouts and acne
• minimal feeling of tightness or scaliness
• minimal sebaceous filaments and black heads in T-zone
•                             
• Acne-Prone
• hormonal or stress acne
• large portions of redness or white heads and black heads
• easy to break out
• large or painful spots appearing with frequency
•                               

One person can have any one or more of these skin types. For example: I have an oily to combination skin type that is also mildly acne prone. Because of my unique skin type that doesn't fit into any one of these categories, not all products catered to just one of these types of skin will work for me. Like I said before, it is about finding what works with your chemistry makeup! But it is important to identify your skin type to be sure you're not using products that could be doing more harm than good.

Keep a lookout for misconceptions about oily, combination, dry, and acne prone skin!

-XOXO Boobala Rose