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updated November 20, 2009

Skin Types

There are various different skin types as we all know, and this causes all sorts of complications. For one thing, we experience trouble, because to be quite honest, the same acne treatment will not work the same way for two individuals with different skin types. But it's honestly hard to know which type you have. After all, there are different ways to classify your skin type.

For example, you could classify your skin type as either sensitive, hardy, or somewhere in between. As far as I'm concerned, no matter which you have, you should never use a treatment like benzoyl peroxide and always use something more like tea tree oil, because even if you don't feel it or see the redness, benzoyl peroxide and other harsh chemicals are still harming and damaging your skin. This being said, hardier skin types are more ready to use treatments such as retinol. Retinol is extremely effective, and it actually thickens your skin. But for individuals with sensitive skin, it can be harder for the simple reason that it does sometimes cause irritation, redness, and otherwise in the whole transformation of things. So sensitive skinned individuals might have a stronger reaction to it.

The second way to classify skin types would be dependent on oils. Maybe you have oily skin, maybe you have dry skin, maybe it's in the middle which is lucky, or maybe you have combination skin. In other words, maybe your skin is oily in some spots and dry in others, this is actually extremely common. But different treatments are meant for different skin types. Likewise, while all skin types need moisturizers, dry skin types might find deeper moisturizers to be more appropriate.

Third, you could classify skin type by pore size. Pore size is extremely important, because quite frankly, different ingredients come in different sizes. For example, if you have extremely small pores, chances are you aren't going to have that many breakouts, because dirts and oils have a hard time trapping themselves inside your pores. But at the same time, when you do have breakouts, chances are they are going to be worse for that very reason, your skin has a harder time kicking them out. On the other hand, larger pores would have the exact opposite problem. But either way, ingredients in general are more likely to clog small pores for the simple reason that they cannot actually get through. So you may want to consider moisturizers like water moisturizers even more so if you have small pores.

Finally, you have to consider your sex. Men are actually more likely to have more severe acne breakouts for the simple reason that with more testosterone, they are more likely to produce greater levels of oil in the skin. If this were the only factor, it would be easy to determine acne treatments. But there are actually acne treatments that specialize in male acne, generally claiming this because they use harsher ingredients.

Either way, it's important to know your skin type for the simple reason that if you know your skin type, you can more appropriately treat said skin type and find the right treatment for you that will not cause further damage or take unnecessary risks.