Dry, oily, or sensitive? Here’s how to find your skin type at home

Is your skin extremely dry or oily at times when no skin product suits you in the moment? Then, you must be using the wrong skin serum and moisturiser, which are making things worse for your skin. For the right products, start by knowing your correct skin type. Your skin type mainly depends on factors like hormonal changes, weather changes, skincare products, and how your skin reacts to them. Skin types are mainly categorised into four groups, i.e., oily, dry, sensitive, and combination skin. But if you’re still struggling to understand your skin type, fear not: we have some simple home tests to help you determine your skin type and nurture it accordingly. Blotting paper testUse blotting paper on the face to determine oiliness. Press the blotting paper against different areas of your face. If it quickly absorbs excess oil, revealing a greasy residue, then you have oily skin. If it did not pick up much oil, then it indicates a low sebum level. If the blotting paper absorbed oil from the T-zone but less from the cheeks, you have combination skin. And, lastly, if you note minimal oil with balanced sebum production, then you have normal skin. Carefully touch your skinThe touch test involves feeling different areas of your face to assess texture and moisture levels. If the skin feels slick and greasy, mainly in the T-zone, you have oily skin. If it feels tight, rough, and flaky, then it indicates a lack of moisture. If the T-zone feels oily while the cheeks are normal, then you have combination skin. And, lastly, if your skin negatively reacts to touch, showing signs of redness and irritation, then you have sensitive skin. But if you don’t feel extreme dryness or oiliness, then you have normal skin. Visual inspectionVisual inspection mainly involves closely examining the skin’s overall appearance and texture in different areas of your face in bright light. If you have a shiny T-zone with large pores, then you have oily skin. Check for tightness, rough patches, and flakiness that make your face look dull; you have dry skin. If you see oil in the T-zone with visible pores, contrasted with drier patches on the cheeks, you have combination skin. If you see oil in the T-zone with visible pores, contrasted with drier patches on the cheeks, then you have combination skin. Lastly, if your skin has a consistent texture and colour without shine, you have normal skin. Lastly, if your skin has a consistent texture and colouration without shine, then you have normal skin.