Tag: beauty beauty bloggers

Skin Types & How Determine Your Skin Type

 

Is your skin dry or normal? And what the heck is combination skin? In my how to create a skincare routine post (shameless plug, I know) I spoke about how knowing your skin type really sets the tone for your skincare routine? Why? Your skin type plays a huge part in which products will work best for you (unfortunately your fav Youtuber’s holy grail moisturizer may not work for you, even worse break you out!) so knowing which type you have will not know save you money but time too.

Skin Types

There are five common skin types: dry, normal, oily, combination and sensitive. You can either have one ‘type’ all over your face or combination of 2 e.g. I have normal/combination skin i.e. my T zone gets slightly oily and the rest of my face is normal.

‘Blemish prone’ isn’t a skin type. Any skin type can be blemish/acne prone although for oilier skin type’s blemishes/acne is more common.

Normal skin – feels comfortable with little to no oil. Skin is soft and smooth

Oily skin – overactive sebaceous glands produce a lot of oil, especially in tzone. Large and easily clogged pores.

Dry Skin– low level of oil production. Feels tight with dry patches and flaky.

Combination skin– a mixture of 2 or more skin types.

Sensitive skin– easily irritated by heavy fragrances or allergens.

How to actually determine your skin type?

Tissue test or take a quiz? How about a little DIY experiment? There are lots of ways to figure out your skin type but it’s pretty easy and straight forward. I did a DIY experiment where I just took notes of how my skin was behaving at different points during the day. It matched up with the characteristics of normal & oily skin so I figured out I was normal/combo. I wasn’t extremely oily but I didn’t also have normal skin all over. There are a few resources online that can help (these helped me with my post)

E45- what’s my skin type?

Paula’s Choice Skincare

Ok, so which products do I use?

Once you got your skin type down, you’re ready to start playing around with some products! You can choose as much as you like as long as you cover your basics and tailoring the products to your skin type! In the How to Create a Skincare Routine post, I take you through the different types/categories of skincare products.

But basically, you need………………………………………..

A cleanser (& makeup remover for makeup), moisturizer (1 product for day& night plus SPF separately for day OR 2 products- day moisturizer that has and SPF and night cream)

It’s not that easy LOL, but if you have to strip it down to the bare minimum- these two types of products are what you need.

What about skin concerns?

A skin concern is an issue you want to fix e.g. dark spots from a spot you picked, large pores etc. any of the skin types can have skin concerns or you may be blessed to have perfect skin! It’s so easy to treat your skin concerns with so many products available for almost any skin issue you have! Please don’t waste money buying a dark spot corrector if you don’t have any dark spots but because your fav blogger mentioned it in her favs as leaving her skin soft. My main issues are dark spots so my skincare routine and products are tailored to help heal my skin.

Ingredient savvy?

Should you bother with the ingredient list? Yes! The 1st five ingredients on any product are mostly responsible for the product’s claims. The last few are ‘packing’ ingredients- preservatives/perfumes/colorants etc. It’s worth knowing which ingredients to be looking out for too, especially when searching for a product to treat a skin concern (and in general too). AND more importantly, if you are allergic to any ingredients, in particular, you can easily avoid them.

Garnier has a fabulous new collection called 96% Natural Origins. 96% of the ingredients used in the collection are from a natural source. The collection features 4 ranges which target different skin types. Find out more info on this here

That’s all folks! I really hope you found this useful and got you started on your every own & exciting skincare journey! I have a lot more posts on skincare on my blog make sure you check them out and please shout if you have any questions!

Note- it pays to invest in your skin and skincare routines takes time. Please don’t be discouraged if you don’t see results straight away. It will usually take 3 to 6 months to see solid and lasting improvements. You don’t have to have perfect skin to start a routine but know you will be working towards it and ensuring your skin looks even better as you age.

Follow me on Instagram so I post daily skin care info on there. Instagram- Sarah Fynn

 

I will see you soon!

Oxoxo

Skincare Ingredients: AHA’s & BHA’s

skincare ingredients aha bha

Skincare is one of those things you just have to do, PROPERLY. Your skin is one of your largest organs and also in contact with almost everything the external environment has to offer. Think of all the elements: sun, rain, wind and everything in between. Whilst a large part of skincare is what goes in (eating, drinking, sleep). An important part and slightly easier to control is what goes on the outside (products). Think it’s so much easier to just wash your face than to cut out your fav ice cream huh?

For beginners, refer to my Do I Need a Skincare Routine post, which will give you the basics and introduce you to some of the great products the drugstore has to offer, this isn’t to say you can’t learn a thing or two from this post. If you want to take your skincare a bit further and don’t mind an extra step or 3 in your routine then this post is for you! I will be talking about AHA’s and BHA’s, very popular ingredients and what is can do for your skin

We can’t talk about AHA’s & BHA’s without touching on exfoliation. Just like our hair, our skin sheds loads and loads of skin cells each day. Over time with sun damage (I bet you will start reaching for your SPF now!) and age, the natural ability of the skin to do this slowly decreases. Exfoliation gives the skin a little boost and removes layers of built up dead cells which can lead to clogged pores, texture on the skin and a dull complexion. Traditional way of exfoliation is to use a face scrub however this can be too harsh on the skin..

Enter AHA’s & BHA’s

Alpha & Beta Hydroxy Acids have changed the exfoliation game in that they are chemical exfoliants that are left on the skin compared to the traditional wash off face scrubs. They are also suitable for daily use.  Whilst they work in similar ways, they are slightly different and used for different-ish skin concerns

AHA- e.g. Glycolic or Lactic Acids. Exfoliates the skin’s surface and can improve moisture content. Best recommended for dry to normal skin and sun damaged skin

BHA- e.g. Salicylic Acid. Exfoliates the skin’s surface and pores making it great for blackheads. Has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties and is best recommended for oily skin

NOTE- both acids will increase your skin’s sensitivity to the sun so it is ESSENTIAL you use SPF at least factor 30 even in the winter.

Now that you are equipped with this knowledge, you can re-evaluate your skincare routine and add an acid to it. It will seriously up your game! I will recommend you start off with formulas suitable for sensitive skin or with a lower acid content if you are concerned about how your skin will react. Both AHA & BHA are generally safe to use but if you have any doubts no matter how small speak to a dermatologist.

Products

Acids can come in many forms: creams, lotions, serums, toners etc, find which one you would like to use. For instance, I currently use an acid based toner and serum (and at night) because it is more convenient for me that way. I use it at night as the skin tends to do all the repair work then and there is less potential sun damage.

Recommendations ( these are just ones I have used or ones I have researched and will use shortly, there are literally TONS of products out there to suit every budget, this will get you going in the right direction!)

NIP FAB Glycolic range (I have a review on the NIP FAB PADS)

Pixi Glow Tonic (review)

Pixi Glow Peel Pads

Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel (review)

Paula’s Choice AHA & BHA products

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 5%

And many more!

Here’s my personal collection of some of the AHA&BHA products I use

aha

I hope you found this post useful! I will be doing a lot more of these posts as I carry on with my research and improving my skincare knowledge. These posts help me as much as they help others. Feel free to drop comments of your fav products or how you incorporate acids in your skincare routine. Hopefully, after reading and understanding this post, you won’t be terrified when you hear that people are putting acids on their face LOL. You should have seen the look on my brother’s face when I said at one time I needed to buy an acid based toner LOL

Want more tips and product recommendations? Head over to my Instagram- sarahfynn

Countdown to Christmas is real!