Combination Skin: What is it & How to care for it?

Combination skin is fairly common, but dealing with it is not an easy task. Taking care of combination is all about finding a way to balance what your skin needs in the dry zones with what it needs in the oily zones. Let’s discover our skincare tips, skincare routine tailored to this skin type and which skincare products work best.

#1 How to tell if you have combination skin?

Before you start taking steps to achieve your skincare goals, it’s essential to know whether you actually have combination skin. Here are a few things that you will notice on your face if you have combination skin…

Skin is typically shiny on the forehead, nose and chin (T-zone) as there are more oil-producing glands in the central facial zone, while appearing dry on the cheeks.
Skin can become oilier in the heat, while winter winds can dry out the skin.
Breakouts and dry patches happen at the same time.

#2 How should you deal with areas of dry or flaky skin?

Exfoliating can be an effective way of sloughing off dead skin cells that lead to flaking. But you need to be extra careful and gentle with your skin. You should stay away from harsh scrubs or strong facial acids and stick to exfoliating once or twice a week only.

#3 How should you treat acne if you have combination skin?

Applying layer after layer of your go-to acne treatment can only make your acne worse. And if you are using benzyl peroxide to treat acne, go for products with lower doses of the ingredient and keep the application to the problem spots. This helps zap zits without drying and irritating the skin.

#4 What to avoid if you have combination skin

If you have combination skin, here are the top 5 things you need to avoid to prevent irritation and acne outbreak.

Don’t over-cleanse as it’ll destroy your skin’s natural protective barrier
Avoid harsh ingredients such as fragrance or alcohol
Do not overuse retinol as it may lead to dryness
Stay away from pore-clogging ingredients, for example:
- isopropyl myristate
- lanolins
- sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS)
- cocoa butter
- coconut oil
- shea butter

#5 How to balance combination skin?

Because your skin is partly dry and party oily, you should consider using gentle skincare products on the drier parts, while using specific lightweight and oil-control products on your oily parts.

For example, it’s suggested to use a gentle cleanser or toner that contains salicylic acid for controlling oil production and unclogging pores. After that, use a lightweight, gel-cream formulated with hyaluronic acid for the oiler parts, while using emollients like cream for the drier parts.

Do’s for combination skin

✔ Cleanse gently. Choose a gel or lotion-like texture to remove dirt, oils, and impurities without driving your dry zones crazy.

✔ Exfoliate once or twice weekly. Pay attention to oily zones and be gentle on the cheek areas.

✔ Use 2 different moisturizers. A moisturizer to hydrate the dry zones, and the other could be a lightweight, gel moisturizer that deals with the greasier zones.

✔ Rejuvenate your combination skin with a facial mask at least once a week. It is even better if you can multi-mask to give different areas of your skin the care it needs.