How do I pick a cleanser for my skin type?
Your guide to knowing what type of skin type you have and what cleanser to choose!
Disclaimer: This is meant for general skincare advice and sharing of knowledge. This is not medical advice.
Welcome back! So the title is a question that I receive on a daily basis and it may sound simple but it actually can be more complex than that. Have you ever found that you have been recommended a skincare product by someone who swears that it works only to find out that it makes your problems worse? I know this happened to me and one way to look at is that people have different skin types. What do I mean by this?
Well, there are actually several skin types that include oily skin, dry skin, and sensitive skin, combination skin, and normal skin. I want to help you figure out which category you fall into and what cleansers work best. So first thing is first, lets dive into the different skin types:
Skin Types:
Normal skin: I start with this one because “normal” is a subjective term for most people. Normal skin essentially means well-balanced. Not too oily, not too dry, and does not show a lot of skin concerns. If you feel like this is where you fit then you are in luck because most people in this category can get away with gentle cleansers and do not notice many problems. (This is a good thing don’t worry)
Combination skin: A lot of people do not like this term because it is hard to really tell if you fall into this category. The way that I think about it is you typically have oily skin through your forehead, nose, and chin area while your cheeks are dry. This can make finding products a little complicated because you do not want to try and get rid of the oil on your skin while also drying your skin out too much.
Sensitive skin: If you fall into this category then you may also have dry or oily skin but your threshold for irritation is lower. Some products that may not irritate others can be irritating to you. As we have talked about in previous posts, keeping things gentle is generally a good thing to keep in mind.
Oily skin: In the world of skincare, this is very common so don’t worry you aren’t alone. I am a fellow oily skin member so I can related. Your natural skin oil, sebum, is increased giving your skin that oily, shiny appearance. Your pores may be enlarged and more prone to blackheads. Again, don’t worry you are not alone.
Dry skin: On the opposite end of the spectrum, dry skin is underproduction of sebum meaning you aren’t producing enough of your body’s natural oils. Typically people with dry skin feel like there skin is tight and sometimes cracks due to the lack of moisture in the skin. This is also extremely common so do not worry you are not alone.
You can see the difference below in oily versus dry skin as I talked about above. I like pictures because they help me understand them better so hope this helps! Lets dive deeper into what cleansers we can use to help each of these types of skin.
What cleanser to choose?
By now I hope you have a good idea of what category you fall into so we can find out what cleansers will work best for your type of skin. There are hundreds of products that will market different things for different types of skin and I want you to ignore that for now. Just as you are my online friends, I want to simply recommend to you what specific products are best for your type of skin! You may notice that there is a lot of overlap with some of these categories and that is okay.
Normal to Dry Skin: I group these together because keeping things gentle and hydrating will always be beneficial. For those with more dry skin, I recommend moisturizing more than normal in order to keep the dryness and irritation to a minimum.
Combination Skin: Again, the main thing to remember is that gentle is better and always keep in mind hydrating cleansers. You cannot go wrong with any of these products.
Any of the gentle cleansers listed above
Sensitive Skin: The general theme is gentle and I think if you know that your skin has a low threshold for irritation then keeping your face hydrated and using gentle products is the best route to go. Vanicream is a great brand because it reduces preservatives and fragrances that can usually lead to irritation.
Vanicream Gentle Cleanser
Oily Skin: The good thing about oily skin (I know you may think it sucks) is that there is a lot of room to work with.
Any of the gentle cleansers in Normal skin category
Acne Skin: I add this category in because those who are more likely to have acne type like lesions such as blackheads, whiteheads, or inflammatory pimples will benefit from other cleansers as well. The trial and error method will come into play because everyone is different. For me personally I use a gentle cleanser in the AM as listed above and then some type of medicated cleanser in the PM. For me, I like using a benzoyl peroxide cleanser which helps fight the bacteria that comes with acne. To read more about this, check out my other post that dives into some of these ingredients, Tackling Acne Part II. My favorite are as follows:
The great thing about this list is that I know they work. I have used these myself and have found that I like them all. I always tell people to look for good brands and ingredients and I am here to help. I have friends ask me all of the time what products to use and what I have found best is that I like to recommend products that I have personally tried. Also, I like to recommend products that are financially inexpensive and I think this list consists of that. I hope you have found some good information from this and can find some good products to use.
If you enjoyed reading then follow me on twitter at The Skincare Provider and check out other posts in this substack. Enjoy and have a great day!