Combination Skin

Dry in some areas? Oily in other areas? You have combination skin! How to balance two different skin types can seem like a mystery, but unlocking this mystery is easier than you might think! With the right info and products, balance can be beautiful!

What is Combination Skin?

Combination skin is simply having oily skin in some areas of your face and dry skin in other areas. Typically, there’s a mix of oily and dry areas on dif­ferent parts of your face, with the t-zone (forehead, nose, and chin) being slight to very oily.

Whether you have oily areas only around the nose and center of the fore­head and dry areas over the cheeks, jaw area, and along the hairline, what you do to lessen those problems is the same.

What Causes Combination Skin?

A variety of factors can contribute to combination skin, but more often than not, it just comes down to the luck of the draw in terms of what you inherited from your parents. However, the types of skincare products you’re using can absolutely make it worse or even cause the problem. Read on to learn what you might unknowingly be doing to contribute to making combination skin more of an issue.

As you might already have suspected, using products that contain harsh or skin-aggravating ingredients will inevitably dry out some areas of your face while stimulating oil production in other parts (especially around the nose) that were already oily.

If you’re using the wrong products, you might actually be causing your combination skin. If you use the right products, you may still have some amount of oily skin, but at least you won’t have dry, rough skin underneath excess oil. Once you start using the right products, your skin can improve almost immediately, with the dry areas softened and smoothed and the oily areas less oily and red— plus minimized pores.

Which Products Work for Combination Skin?

The key thing to keep in mind with combination skin is there’s no one-size-fits solution. It depends on how dry your dry areas are naturally and how oily your oily areas are. It comes down to this: You’ll have to divide and conquer by caring for different parts of your face differently.

The oil-absorbing or matte-finish ingredients that work great on the oily areas will be trouble-makers on the dry areas. This means you will need to apply a more emollient moisturizer over the dry areas, but if you apply that all over your face, the oily areas will become oilier. That’s why keeping things separate is important. And the same for the products that absorb oil; keep them off the dry areas.

For the oily areas, you will need to use the lightest weight but effective formulas possible. Potent, concentrated amounts of beneficial ingredients in products with a gel, thin lotion, or liquid texture will work great over the entire face. You would then only need to use an emollient booster, serum, or moisturizer over the dry areas, including around the eyes. The secret to balancing combination skin is knowing when and where to layer products!

No matter what, none of the products you use should contain any harsh or skin-aggravating ingredients. Every part of your skincare routine needs to be non-irritating. Whenever your put products with sensitizing ingredients (especially fragrance, both synthetic and natural) on your skin, you would be making everything worse. In the case of combination skin, the dry areas will become drier and the oily areas will become oilier. This can lead to what we refer to as extreme combination skin, discussed below.

Dealing with Extreme Combination Skin

Those struggling with extreme combination skin experience an exceptionally oily T-zone, while the sides of the face are typically very dry and may also be flaky.

Not surprisingly, finding the right routine for extreme combination skin can be difficult in terms of finding the right balance of textures. Products for very dry skin will make an oily T-zone worse (possibly triggering breakouts), while formulas that are best for very oily skin won’t help very dry areas!

For extreme combination skin, layering isn’t going to be as helpful. For best results, apply emollient-rich products to the very dry areas, blending away from the oily areas. Add oil-absorbing products where needed, being careful to dab them on precisely where needed rather than massaging them all over, where you risk mixing them with the ingredients needed to improve your very dry areas.

As for cleansers, you can choose gentle formulas labeled for combination skin, and for your daytime moisturizer with sunscreen, go for the lightest possible formula but apply a rich moisturizer or facial oil to the dry areas first.

FACIAL ANALYSIS & SKIN HEALTH USING A1 SMART TECHNOLOGY

Grace Skincare Clinic’s Goal:  to help you completely understand your skin and to address concerns that you feel are most important, so that you can feel confident and beautiful in your own skin. Grace Skincare Process: With every initial Dr’s examination we offer a complimentary and detailed facial analysis, using A1 Smart Facial Analysis, the…

How to Take Care of Combination Skin

Start with a gentle but effective water-soluble cleanser. It can be a lotion-based or gel-textured cleanser, but the goal is for it to effectively remove impurities, debris, and makeup without leaving skin feeling tight or dry, or greasy. If you need a bit of extra cleansing, you can consider a very soft-bristled cleansing brush. The softness is important because anything less will drive your skin crazy from the feeling of aggravation and tightness it causes.

Apply a hydrating, soothing non-irritating toner filled with a healthy amount of skin-replenishing ingredients and antioxidants. A well-formulat­ed toner really can help nourish dry skin and minimize oiliness at the same time—and it won’t make the dry areas drier or the oily areas oilier! Don’t skip this step, we promise you’ll be impressed by the benefits!

Use a gentle, non-abrasive, leave-on BHA exfoliant. This is an optimal choice for gently but effectively exfoliating combination skin. A BHA exfoliant helps the skin shed dead skin normally without abrasion (meaning no scrubs or stiff cleansing brushes), unclogs pores, lessens oily skin, and at the same time gently smooths roughness, dry, flaky skin and revives a healthy glow. For combination skin, a gel or weightless fluid or water-like liquid BHA exfoliant is best.

Protect from sun damage. No skin type is exempt from the need of a broad-spectrum sunscreen rated SPF 30 or greater and applied 365 days a year. This is the one step that reduces the early signs of aging now and into the future. For combination skin, an extremely feather-light formula with a soft matte finish works best all over the face (and don’t forget to apply it to the neck!). You would apply a nourishing serum or booster over the dry areas and then apply the ultra-light sunscreen over that. Perfecto!

Use a nighttime moisturizer with a gel, serum, or even a liquid texture all over your face that contains all the amazing ingredients we hope you know by heart now: Antioxidants, skin-replenishing ingredients, and skin-restoring ingredients. These are imperative to help calm skin, lessen excess oil on the skin’s surface, and im­prove dry areas, including around the eyes. When combined, these ingredients have stunning anti-aging properties for the skin. Apply an emollient serum or oil booster to relieve the dryness and give those areas extra-nourishing enriched hydration while leaving the oily areas with just a layer of lightweight moisture.

Reviewed by Dr. Hun Kim Thao

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Grace Skincare Clinic
An international cosmetic dermatology clinic in Vietnam using FDA and CE-approved medical devices and treatments.

Mayfair Suites, 102ABC Cong Quynh, District 1, Ho Chi Minh city, Viet Nam
Book your appointment: https://www.graceskinclinic.com/book-now
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