Combination skin is the most common skin type, but it’s also one of the most difficult to treat as you have to adopt a two-pronged approach to skin care. The goal: Control excess oil in your T-zone and amp up the moisture in your dry spots.
How To Take Care Of Combination Skin
When you’re looking in the mirror at an oily chin and a dry patch on your cheek, you might be frustrated and left wondering how to deal with multiple skin issues. Combination skin is a difficult skin type to live with, but there are some lifestyle changes that may benefit your skin, which we’ll unpack below. Unsure if you have combination skin? Take a look at the ultimate guide to combination skin here.
Blotting Papers Are Your New Best Friend
Blotting papers are compact, portable and also happen to be effective at getting rid of grease. Use the sheets to target specific areas you want mattified while leaving the dryer areas alone. As the day progresses and your skin gets more oily, a quick pat with blotting paper will absorb the excess oil.
Prepare For The Colder Months
Combination skin, like all skin types, is impacted by the changes during the winter months, particularly as the central heating kicks into gear. The areas of dryness worsen and the rest of your skin can behave differently from day to day. To prepare for the colder months, use a lightweight moisturizer on dry parts of the skin as it won’t clog the oilier areas of skin.
Use A Facial Mask
Using a facial mask is a great way to take care of combination skin. To address varying issues at the same time, you can apply different face masks to multiple areas of your face. Eminence Organic Skin Care’s range of masks uses concentrated amounts of vitamins and nutrients to reveal a radiant, youthful glow.
Treat Different Areas Appropriately
To balance your skin, use different products to treat those issues accordingly. Parched skin might benefit from a thick moisturizer, but you don’t necessarily need to use the same skin care product on an oily area of the forehead. As different parts of your skin have different needs, we have collated a skin care routine below to balance your complexion.
A Step-By-Step Combination Skin Care Routine
Suffering from skin which is simultaneously oily and dry is beyond frustrating. It’s time to balance out your complexion. Here are the skin care steps we recommend taking to keep your combination skin type in check.
1. Cleanse
Unsurprisingly, combination skin often needs a different type of cleansing at different times of the day. “The biggest challenge when choosing products for combination skin is finding ones that are the best of both worlds,” according to Dr. Hooman Khorasani, Dermatologic and Cosmetic Surgeon.
“Start with a mild, gentle cleanser that will not irritate or dry the skin,” explains Dr Khorasani. A gentle foaming cleanser in the morning will absorb oil. At night, you can switch to a cream based cleanser to replenish lost moisture. Most importantly, go gentle! You want to effectively remove dirt, oil and debris without exposing your skin to harsh chemicals that can intensify feelings of dryness and trigger even greater oil production.
Product Pick: Acne Advanced Cleansing Foam and Coconut Milk Cleanser
2. Exfoliate
Clogged pores are a common characteristic of combination skin. Eminence Organics Product Support Team recommends exfoliating regularly to help eliminate buildup on the skin’s surface as well as unclog and minimize pores. But, don’t go overboard. Opt for a non-abrasive exfoliant that will be kind to your complexion.
Product Pick: Stone Crop Oxygenating Fizzofoliant
3. Tone
Toners are built for balance between dry and oily skin, making them the perfect addition to a combination skin care routine. That said, not all toners are created equal: To keep combination skin in balance, seek out toners that include antioxidant-rich ingredients. The best toners will minimize shine and replenish moisture to promote a healthy and balanced complexion.
Product Pick: Mangosteen Revitalizing Mist
4. Mask
A great way to tackle combination skin is by multi-masking. Made for combination skin, this technique involves applying two or more face masks to address multiple skin concerns at once. We recommend that you apply a clay mask to your T-zone to absorb oil, tackle breakouts and refine pores. Then, add a cream mask to the normal-to-dry areas of your face to replenish moisture and soften dry skin.
Product Pick: Acne Advanced Clarifying Masque
5. Treat
When you have combination skin, it can feel as though you’re battling skin concerns from opposite sides of the spectrum. Products that replenish moisture can feel too rich for your oily skin, and those that zap oil can leave you feeling tight and dry. Adding a lactic acid treatment to your combination skin care routine is one way to even the playing field: This AHA gently removes pore-clogging buildup and helps skin retain moisture.
Product Pick: Mangosteen Daily Resurfacing Concentrate
6. Moisturize
With combination skin, oily and dry areas need to be treated differently. Often, the best course of action is to divide and conquer: Apply an oil-balancing moisturizer to your T-zone to control shine and a richer moisturizer on your cheeks for hydration. And if you are set on using one moisturizer for your entire face? Opt for a lightweight lotion that combines mattifying ingredients like salicylic acid with hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid.
Product Picks: Stone Crop Whip Moisturizer for the cheeks or Acne Advanced Clarifying Hydrator all over.
Do you have combination skin? We’d love to hear how you tackle this tricky skin type. Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, and join the conversation on social media.