Do you REALLY have dry skin?

YOU WOULD AGREE THIS DESCRIBES YOUR SKIN TYPE:

Skin Type: Dry. WHY? flaky skin lacking moisture and glow but break outs monthly.

The solution (or so you think): a routine consisting of lots of heavy moisturizers and oils, a number of exfoliants (chemical and physical), and skipping face washing every now and again.

KEEP READING for all our DRY SKIN hacks, tips, experience, etc. to get to the source of the issue at hand…or should we say at face…you get the idea!

THE TRUTH

True 'dry skin’ types have no oil production and no breakouts. If you break out every so often, you definitely produce oil and are probably just drying your skin out with your routine. Here’s the thing, just because you have flakiness on your face doesn’t mean your skin is intrinsically dry. In other words, the outer visible layer of your skin can be deceiving to the average skin lovers eye. Without training, you wouldn’t know that perhaps these signs of dryness are symptomatic of lifestyle and a routine that isn’t tending to your true needs. Maybe your skin type was wrong all along!? Could it be you actually have combination skin? Very likely. Most of us do. People with flakiness also tend to over exfoliate cause even dryer skin. Most of us also have skin types that change through the seasons, but the biggest factor affecting how our skin is behaving on the outside is lifestyle. Some external lifestyle factors (beyond what we put on our skin) are what knock skin off balance. Getting the skin you want is about understanding 3 things really.

1. Know your skin: Read the signs and watch how your skin responds to a things holistically based on your life and routine.

2. Lifestyle: Do and feed your body things that will make it happy. Flakiness is likely caused by a by partying too hard, traveling (on super dry planes), eating poorly, not drinking enough water, air quality, dirty sheets, not getting enough sleep, stressing out, sitting in the sun, etc. etc. Deep down, I think we all know this. Some of these we can change and others we can’t as much.

3. Skin care: You can’t control everything, so use your skin care routine and products as a way to help your skin protect, repair, and maintain its natural glow.

SKIN TYPE DEFINITIONS

See web MD’s definition of each skin type for a reminder of what it actually means to have a certain skin type. Sometimes even WE are surprised by how blurred our own personal definition has gotten. So before you go diagnosing yourself based on what your skin is showing you, make sure you know what it’s trying to say.