Combination skin needs careful care because it has blend of oily and dry patches. The centre panel, or T-zone, across the forehead and down the nose and chin tends to be oily, and needs to be treated like oily skin. However, the other areas are prone to dryness and flakiness due to lack of moisture, and need to be treated like dry skin. Having said this, some combination skins don’t follow the T-zone patterns and can have patches of dry and oily skin in other arrangements. If you’re unsure of skin’s oily and dry area, press a tissue to your face an hour after washing it. Any greasy patches on the tissue signify oily areas.
SPECIAL CARE FOR YOUR SKIN
Because your skin-type has a combination of dry and oily patches, you need a twin approach to skin-care. Treating your entire complexion like oily skin will leave the dry areas even drier and tighter than before. In the same way, treating it only like dry skin can provoke excess oiliness and even an outbreak of blemishes. This means you need to deal with the different areas of skin individually with products to suit. This isn’t as complicated and difficult as it sounds, and the result will be a softer, smoother and clearer complexion than before!
1 Choose an oil-based eye make-up remover to clear away every trace of eye make-up from the delicate area which is prone to dryness. Use a cotton bud (swab) to remove any stubborn traces. Splash with cool water afterwards to rinse away excess oil.
2 Use a foaming facial wash in the morning to cleanse your skin. This will ensure the oily areas are clean, and that the pores on your nose are kept clear to prevent blackheads and blemishes. Massage a little onto damp skin, concentrating on the oily areas. Leave for a few seconds to dissolve the dirt, and then splash with cool water to remove the cleanser.
3 In the evening, switch to cream cleanser, to ensure the dry areas of skin are kept clean and soothed on a daily basis. This will give you a balance between excess oiliness or excess dryness in your complexion. Massage well into your skin, concentrating on the drier areas, then gently remove with cottonwool (cotton) pads.
4 To freshen your skin, you need to buy two different strengths of toners to deal with the differing areas of skin. Choose a stronger astringent for the oily areas, and a mild skin freshener for the drier ones. This isn’t expensive as you think, because you’ll only need to use a little of each. Sweep over your skin with cottonwool (cotton) pads.
5 Smooth moisturizer onto your entire skin, concentrating on the drier areas. Then blot off any excess from the oily areas with a tissue. This will give all your skin the nourishment it needs.
