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Combination Skin
We know about the dry skin and the normal skin and the oily skin but what happens when you are neither of them and all of them all at once? You might have been feeling confused about that and you shouldn’t because you aren’t the only one who is asking themselves the same question. Luckily enough for us, there is an explanation for our own skin type and that explanation is the combination skin type.
The combination skin type
From its name, it is self-explanatory. The combination skin type is a skin type that is formed by the combination of more than one skin type in an individual. Usually the combination skin type is a combination of dry skin and oily skin.
What this usually looks like is that the area of your face named the T-Zone ( includes the center of your forehead down the bridge of your nose and ends underneath your lower lip) seems to be marginally more oily than the area around your cheeks.
Characteristics of the Combination skin type
The combination skin type shows a mixture of the characteristics of the oily skin and the dry skin. They include :
- Pimples and Blackheads.
The combination skin type would definitely have pimples and blackheads especially in areas of the T-Zone where there is a higher level of sebum secretions.
- Dryness.
You didn’t think you would eventually end up with dry skin but even with the combination skin, part of your skin would be dry at the cheekbones.
- Bigger pore sizes in the T-Zone section
Just like oily skins have as their characteristics, combination skin types would have the same characteristics with the oily skin but only when it comes to the T-Zone section.
- Smaller pores are characteristic of the dark skin type.
in the combination skin, those dry spots on the cheekbones of the face spot smaller sized pore sizes because it is a dry skin.
How to identify a combination skin type.
Identifying a combination skin type is not going to be as easy as pegging the other different skin types because the combination skin type come with a merging of the characteristics of two different skin types. However, here are some of the things to look out for.
- Your T-zone (forehead, down the nose to the chin) is oily, while your cheeks are dry.
- Presence of pimples and blackheads in any area near the T-Zone.
The T-Zone is the oily part of the combination skin type so there would be the presence of pimples and blackheads which are characteristic of the oily skin.
3. Look out for enlarged pores around the nose and lower chin.
This is also another characteristic of the oily skin. The area around the T-Zone would have larger pores.
4. The skin looks dry and flakey
This is because the skin at the cheekbones are the parts of the combination skin type that is dry skin and so they experience the characteristics of the dry skin
How do you know if you have a combination skin type.
The process is very easy to know and can be done in 2 ways.
- You can find out by making use of a paper.
First, take a bath and wash your face. Pat your face dry and leave it to breathe for about 30 mins. Then get a paper and proceed to carry out the paper test. Just press the paper to your face and if you have the combination skin type, you would realize that the paper would come out with signs of oil in a T-Zone shape and the part of the paper in contact with your cheekbone would come out unstained. This means that the cheekbones have dry skin.
- The old pore assessment methods.
This method is true and it can provide you with a good result. In this procedure you would base your results or your findings on your own footwork. Carefully study the pores on your T-Zone and try to compare them with the ones on your cheek bones. You would discover that the pores at your T-Zone are larger and the pores at your cheekbones are less than emerged. That gives you your answers.
Causes of the combination skin type.
The combination skin type is caused by lots of factors and they are:
- Excess secretion of sebum
Over secretion of the sebum by the sebaceous gland is one of the leading causes of the combination skin.
- Genetics
The role of genetics in the type of skin we inherit is undeniably strong and we can hardly run away from what nature has given us.
- Hormonal differences and imbalance
The hormone responsible for the secretion of the sebum is called androgen. Sometimes during a woman’s menstrual cycle, the hormone usually gets imbalanced and causes the skin to become very oily and break out in pimples. It also has the ability to restrict the oil to a single part of the face and leave the other part dry thereby creating the combination skin type.
Treatments for the combination skin type
The combination skin has to be carefully treated because of its difference in skin type and so almost like me as a kid going Joe over. Here are some things to do
- Use a skin cleanser that would not adversely affect one side of your face so that you can have a uniform coloring.
- Exfoliate your skin religiously so that you can remove as many dead cells as have accumulated on your skin.
- Always try to remove the excess oil produced from the sebaceous part of the combination skin.
Conclusion
Many people have this type of skin . The combination skin type can be dry or normal in some areas and oily in other and it needs slightly different treatment in different area.
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