What Is Your Skin Type?

No, really. Have you ever thought about your skin type? If you haven't or simply don't know, I am going to help you determine that today, which will in turn help you make an educated decision on what skin care products will work best for your skin!

Also, I'd like to add a little hint before we get started. I'm sure you've seen a few of my videos I've posted recently slowly but surely giving some exciting news to light. I'm still not going to tell you today what I'm planning, BUT...I am in the process of creating new formulas for my skin care products because I recently completed my first herbal holistic skin care course and learned so much! It really enhanced my prior knowledge and only challenged me to want to deliver the best, most effective products to my clients, especially if you love facials! In the future, this will be super important...so without further a due...stay tuned LOL!

Okay, now let's talk about your skin type. I'm going to break it down below for you nice and simple.

There's technically four different skin types, some being a combination of types:

• Dry - you "underproduce" oil which leads to an overproduction of sebum to combat the lack of moisture in your skin.

  • Dry & Dehydrated - because of the lack of moisture balance, your skin might feel rough and flaky, and you might even notice some fine lines popping up.

  • Dry & Sensitized - you'll notice your skin barrier is damaged and may present itself as irritated, red and rough AND it will be very reactive. Reactive skin is called "vascularly reactive" and this means your skin is prone to redness. With this subtype of dry, you may struggle with whiteheads on your cheeks.

• Oily - your skin "overproduces" oil which leads to clogged pores that end up excreting excess oil onto your skin's surface. You may struggle with blackheads due to an overabundance of sebum and dead skin cells in your pores, and your skin may appear shiny and slick accompanied by acne.

  • Oily & Dehydrated - with this subtype, you may notice increased redness and inflammation on your skin's surface.

  • Oily & Sensitized - this represents skin with a severely damaged skin barrier. Don't worry! We can help!

• Combination - you may struggle with an oily T-zone, but other areas like your cheeks, are super dry. You may notice the T-zone area feeling or appearing shiny and slick with blackheads due to the overproduction of oil here, but your dry areas may appear dull or red. To treat combination skin, you need hydrating, water-based products in the morning, and a balanced facial oil in the evening (HSEN's Restore Facial Oil) to promote cell turnover.

  • Combo & Dehydrated - this skin condition lacks moisture in the dry areas.

  • Combo & Sensitized - you may notice redness or dullness in the cheek area and is often accompanied by whiteheads on the cheeks.

• Sensitized - this is the "vascularly reactive" type I previously mentioned. Your skin may be prone to redness, however, this type may be a genetic predisposition.

  
  

All of these different skin types are basically just a lack of balance between the oil and water in your skin! So, I have assumed your skin care needs as my responsibility to help you achieve your skin goals! Ultimately, we want our skin to just be healthy, not over processed or under processed, just healthy and balanced. We also may experience "conditions" of the skin, which are things such as hormonal acne, seborrheic hyperplasia, comedones, and more which are commonly seen due to internal or external factors going on in your body or life that appear on the surface of the skin. Now, I am not a physician, so I do not provide diagnoses nor can I give medical advice. If you have contraindications to products, allergies, or medical conditions that you are unsure of, always consult your physician first.

Below, I am going to break down for you how I will be creating my products to help you achieve a more balanced glow!

Right now, I have categorized my facial products based on your skin type. It's important that you take the time to research and educate yourself, as well, as to what products would suit your skin type best. We have taken the opportunity to provide education with each product to make that step easier for you! What may change in the future are the particular products I incorporate into them to help you help your skin!

How to treat Dry skin types:

• With carrier oils that are not oversaturating, but full of a moderate amount of linoleic acid and oils that reinforce the skin barrier to combat dry, rough, red skin. Some oils that will help accomplish this are argan, rosehip, and jojoba oil. Herbal essential oils or extracts such as sandalwood, rose, and chamomile can help soothe irritation, provide moisture and support your skin barrier's repair process. IF your skin is dehydrated, that means your skin is lacking oil and water, in which our Restore Facial Serum or New Age Facial Serum would be beneficial to add into your routine, as well.

  
  

A skin regimen to follow:

• start with a gentle cream cleanser (HSEN's https://www.herbsspiceandeverythingnice.com/product-page/gentle-lavender-cream-cleanser). You won't want to attempt to exfoliate until your skin barrier is repaired if you have Dry & Dehydrated skin.

• next, apply a water-based skin serum in the morning following cleansing (https://www.herbsspiceandeverythingnice.com/product-page/hyaluronic-acid-serum).

• finally, apply the New Age facial moisturizer (Hydrating Face Moisturizer - for all skin types | HS & EN) to lock in all the moisture for the day. You can follow with a sunscreen of your choice. I specifically use a tinted mineral sunscreen that contains zinc.

• in the evening, you'll end your day with a cream cleanser (use the link above).

• follow with a face oil rich in linoleic acid (https://www.herbsspiceandeverythingnice.com/product-page/new-age-facial-serum) to promote repair of your lipid matrix overnight.

• lastly, you'll lock it all in with HSEN's facial moisturizer to seal your skin barrier for the evening.

How to treat Oily & Combo skin types:

• With water-based products to restore hydration without clogging pores, and light weight, fatty oils that contain lower amounts of linoleic acid, like apricot or camellia oil, that help nourish the skin with supportive lipids without clogging the pores. A good reinforcement oil, like jojoba, is a good addition for both skin types, while its complimentary qualities help balance and restore the barrier. Some herbal essential oils or extracts like yarrow, rosemary, calendula, and chamomile are great additions to combat the inflammatory processes, balance oil production, have anti-microbial properties, and are gentle and soothing for the skin. The goal with these skin types, especially combination skin, is to balance the skin's production of sebum and balance the water-loss that occurs with combination skin.

A skin regimen to follow:

• start your day with a GENTLE exfoliating cleanser, or HSEN's gentle foaming cleanser Clear Complexion Face Wash | HS & EN with yarrow & rosemary. If you have a severely damaged skin barrier, skip the exfoliation step until your barrier is restored. We don't want to make any inflammation worse.

• next, apply a water-based skin serum in the morning following cleansing (https://www.herbsspiceandeverythingnice.com/product-page/hyaluronic-acid-serum).

• finally, apply the New Age facial moisturizer (Hydrating Face Moisturizer - for all skin types | HS & EN) to lock in all the moisture for the day. You can follow with a sunscreen of your choice. I specifically use a tinted mineral sunscreen that contains zinc.

• in the evening, you'll end your day with a cream cleanser (https://www.herbsspiceandeverythingnice.com/product-page/whipped-cream-cleanser-with-chamomile-calendula).

• next, apply a water-based skin serum in the morning following cleansing (https://www.herbsspiceandeverythingnice.com/product-page/hyaluronic-acid-serum).

• you'll also want to apply a lipid-rich face serum to support your lipid-matrix barrier (https://www.herbsspiceandeverythingnice.com/product-page/restore-facial-serum)

• lastly, you'll lock it all in with HSEN's Clear Complexion facial moisturizer to seal your skin barrier for the evening.

You can add in other complimentary products like our Green Tea Facial Scrub and Vitamin C serum or Rose Water toner's to enhance your skin care regimen while you work on repairing your barrier.

I know this was SO much information, but I have to say, I always feel better about choosing skin care products that I know will work for my skin when I understand more about my actual skin type.

I hope this information helps all of you beautiful ladies and I can't wait to continue to share this holistic skin care journey with you!

xoxo,

Dani Michelle