DETERMINING YOUR SKIN TYPE

Accurately assessing and caring for your skin type is key to having skin that is irresistible to touch and behold. Too many people treat their skin with the wrong products, and consequently, instead of improving its condition, they worsen it. What's more, skin type can change with the seasons, personal environment, health, and lifestyle. Yours may be different today than it was even a few months ago. It's important to know your current skin type in order to care for your skin in the best way.

Your skin probably falls into one of the following skin type categories, though some people may overlap two categories. Whether you lie in one classification or bridge two, it's important to assess your skin honestly and without judgment.

Normal or Balanced Skin

This skin is neither too oily nor too dry. It's usually free of blemishes but may form blackheads. It may get a little oily in the T-zone (the forehead, nose, and chin area) or in the upper-back region 4 to 6 hours after cleansing, depending on humidity and temperature. The pores are normal in size. The entire body may suffer from surface dehydration in very cold weather. Normal skin is a balanced skin functioning as it should and is everyone's desired type.

When you improve your appearance, you also boost your morale. And we all function better and are more comfortable when we know we have presented our best to our critical selves and to the world.

CARE RECOMMENDATIONS

Use a mild soap as a cleanser if you must, but it's best to use a gentle, water-based, nonfoaming cleanser or a lotion-type or creamy cleanser on both your face and body. Finely ground oat, nut, or seed blends and clay blends are simple nourishing cleansers as well. Follow facial cleansing with an application of an herbal hydrosol mist or an herbal vinegar or tea toner to refresh and further cleanse the skin. Lavender, rose, calendula, lady's mantle, German chamomile, and rosemary are great mild herb choices. The moisturizer you choose for both your face and body should be a lightweight yet protective lotion designed to enhance and seal in moisture. An herbal elixir or facial oil is a conditioning, lubricating, and protective option for the face. If your skin is prone to a bit of oiliness, avoid anything too heavy.

SPECIAL INTENSIVE THERAPIES

For the face, use a weekly moisturizing mask or pore-refining, oil-absorbing clay mask. You can decide which treatment will best benefit your skin in any particular week — remember that skin condition fluctuates! These masks can be used on the chest, upper back, and throat as well. Fruit-acid masks made from papaya, apple, pineapple, or raspberry pulp are best used once or twice weekly to gently exfoliate, minimize fine lines, and smooth the skin. A weekly herbal facial steam will help keep pores clean.

Oily Skin

This skin has medium to large pores in the T-zone area and perhaps on the cheeks, shoulders, neck, chest, and back. Overactive sebaceous glands can give oily skin a shiny appearance within an hour after cleansing. This skin oftentimes has clogged pores and may be prone to mild, moderate, or weeping/active acne, which is highly inflamed with open pustules. Makeup seems to disappear or “slide off” oily skin after a few hours. Heat and humidity tend to increase its sebum production, whereas cooler temperatures and lower humidity are a boon for an oily complexion. Surface dehydration may occur in very cold, dry weather. A bonus: because it is well lubricated, oily skin is not prone to fine lines and wrinkles and tends to reveal its true age quite slowly.

CARE RECOMMENDATIONS

For your face and body you can use a gentle bar or liquid soap, such as a castile soap designed for infants or a soap made from goat’s milk, olive oil, or vegetable glycerin, but it’s best to use a water-based gel or lotion-type cleanser specifically formulated for oily skin, a finely ground cleanser (oat, nut, or seed), or a clay-blend cleanser that does not dry out the skin’s surface. Facial skin should be cleansed twice daily. If oily skin becomes dehydrated on the surface, it will tend to produce more oil to compensate, which is not what you want. Your goal is to remove excess oil without stripping the skin of its protective barrier. Learn to equate “squeaky clean” with “dried out.”

Follow facial cleansing with the application of a gentle herbal vinegar or tea toner made with astringent herbs such as yarrow, sage, lemon balm, thyme, lemongrass, rosemary, parsley, or peppermint in order to remove cleanser residue and reestablish a proper pH level. If you also suffer from an oily body, make enough Balance Restorer to use as a finishing rinse before you get out of the shower. An application of commercially prepared aloe vera juice following your bath or shower is always beneficial for oily skin. Feel free to apply your choice an oil-moderating liquid to your face and body as often as necessary throughout the day. This procedure will remove excess sebum but will not dry your skin.

Depending on the degree of your skin’s oiliness, a moisturizer may not be necessary for your face or body. A light, hydrating herbal hydrosol mist such as lemon balm, rose geranium, rosemary, or rose may be enough to keep your facial skin moist throughout the day. You can apply a light moisturizing lotion to your body as needed. For the face, you can use an herbal elixir or facial oil specially formulated for oily skin to help normalize sebum production.

SPECIAL INTENSIVE THERAPIES

Use a clay mask or gentle exfoliating scrub twice a week to discourage the formation of blackheads, reduce the appearance of enlarged pores, and minimize breakouts. Fruit-acid masks used twice a week will remove dead skin cell buildup, refine the skin’s surface, and minimize pore size. All masks and scrubs that you use on your face can be used on the body as well.

Note: Do not use a granular scrub of any kind on your face or body if you suffer from acne, eczema, psoriasis, poison plant irritation, or any other type of skin inflammation; scrubs can aggravate these conditions.

A weekly herbal facial steam using sage, rosemary, strawberry leaf, yarrow, peppermint, or other astringent herbs will help detoxify your facial skin and increase circulation. As an overnight spot remedy for minor blemishes or more active pimples, combine a drop of clove, tea tree, thyme, or lavender essential oil with a bit of clay and water to form a paste and dab this directly on the spot to disinfect, absorb oil, and kill bacteria.

Dry Skin

This skin lacks natural oil and moisture, the basic requirements for a healthy glow. It may appear flaky or scaly and feel rough, tight, or dry throughout the day. Dry skin has small pores and feels taut almost immediately after cleansing. It develops lines and wrinkles more rapidly than any other skin type and tends to age prematurely. Dry skin loves warm temperatures and humidity, but the winter can be a real challenge. Cold temperatures and winter air rob the skin of moisture, making it prone to irritation, sensitivity, redness, and chapping.

CARE RECOMMENDATIONS

You must avoid soap on your face and body at all costs. It's much too drying! Instead, use a moisturizing lotion-type cleanser, a creamy cleanser, or a finely ground oat, nut, or seed cleanser.

For toning and hydrating, use a classic rosewater and glycerin blend. Additionally, herbal teas such as German chamomile, calendula, fennel, lavender, lemon balm, marshmallow root, and comfrey root make excellent soothing facial toners. These gentle teas also make good after-bath splashes to hydrate dry and possibly sensitive skin. A quick spritz of chamomile, neroli, or lavender herbal hydrosol mist can alleviate thirsty skin any time of the day.

Never forget to moisturize your face and body. Use a rich cream or lotion that provides a barrier against dehydration and keeps moisture in the skin. You can also use an herbal facial elixir or facial oil designed especially for the needs of dry or sensitive skin. In winter, underneath my moisturizer, I use my Repair and Restore Remedy. Sometimes I apply it again, atop my moisturizer if the weather is severely cold and arid or I'm going to be outside for an extended time. When you've lived through a number of arid, cold, moisture-sapping New England winters, you quickly learn to layer moisturizers, much as you layer clothing — the more layers, the more protection from the biting cold.

SPECIAL INTENSIVE THERAPIES

If you like to bathe in the tub, you can cleanse your body with a small drawstring bath bag filled with ground oats. Once wet, the oatmeal covers your skin with moisturizing and soothing oat milk.

A mucilaginous fennel seed, marshmallow root, or comfrey root facial steam once a week helps hydrate the skin and cleanse the pores. Use a moisturizing mask once or twice a week as needed. For gentle facial exfoliation, try a weekly organic yogurt or fruit-acid mask made from apple or raspberry pulp. At least a couple of times per week, using a light touch, exfoliate your entire body (minus your face) with a fine sugar, sea salt, oat, nut, or seed scrub to remove the buildup of dead skin cells. Gentle exfoliation is necessary to promote the absorption of your moisturizer; other­wise, all of the product's moisture will remain on the surface of the skin and you'll wonder why it's not doing its job. The nightly use of an emollient eye cream or thin application of your favorite base oil will condition the delicate tissue in this area, which is prone to premature wrinkling.

Combination Skin

People with combination skin have two or three skin types on their face. Their skin may be oily through the T-zone, where most of the oil glands are, and normal to dry toward the cheeks and sides of the face. In combination skin, the T-zone generally has enlarged pores and visible blackheads and may be prone to minor breakouts or even acne, while the cheeks and sides of the face and neck may feel normal and balanced or dry and tight, with possible surface flakiness.

This skin type is seasonally aggravated. In winter the oily areas tend to normalize, while the dry areas feel parched. When heat and humidity rise, the T-zone increases its sebum production and the dry areas usually normalize.

CARE RECOMMENDATIONS

Combination skin is frequently sensitive. Always treat it with TLC. Use products that regulate and normalize sebum production for the entire face and upper body. Cleanse with a gentle, water-based, nonfoaming or lotion-type cleanser, though the Ever-So-Gentle Soap-Lover’s Face and Body Wash may be used by those of you who prefer a gentle sudsing cleanser. Finely ground oat, nut, seed, milk, or clay blends are also nourishing cleansers. With combination skin, the skin of the body — with the exception of the chest and upper back, which are occasionally oily — is usually normal. If you want to use soap as your body cleanser, try a nonirritating clear vegetable glycerin, olive oil, or goat’s milk type or a mild liquid castile soap designed for infants.

For toning, a mild herbal vinegar infused with German chamomile, lavender, rosemary, fennel, rose, comfrey root, or calendula will help control excess oil and also hydrate dry areas. Any one of these herbs can be made into a tea and applied as a facial toner or used as a body splash immediately after showering or bathing. Rose, lavender, neroli, rosemary, lemon balm, and chamomile hydrosols are great hydrating mists to have on hand during the day to prevent surface dehydration. One of my favorite pore-tightening and skin-softening toner blends for combination skin is a brew made from 2 teaspoons dried yarrow and 1 cup of boiling water. Steep for 15 minutes, strain, and add 1⁄2 teaspoon vegetable glycerin. Stir to combine. Keep refrigerated for 1 week, then toss any unused toner and make a new batch.

For conditioning the face, try an herbal elixir or facial oil. Use one designed for oily skin in the warmer months and one for dry skin in the colder months. If you feel the need for more intense moisturizing, apply a light- to medium-weight lotion to the driest areas only. For the body, a light lotion is all you need unless you live or work in an arid environment.

SPECIAL INTENSIVE THERAPIES

Regular exfoliation of the skin on both the face and oilier parts of the body using a nonabrasive mask removes dead skin buildup to keep pores open. Once or twice a week, use a pore-refining clay, yogurt, oatmeal, or fruit-acid mask to improve this skin’s texture and minimize pore size. You can also enjoy a facial steam once a week using a mildly astringent herb of your choice, such as lemon balm, peppermint, rosemary, thyme, or lemon peel, to improve the tendency of combination skin toward sluggish circulation.

Sensitive Skin

Environmentally reactive is how I like to refer to skin that is sensitive. It tends to overreact to outside forces such as skin care products, sunlight, and changes in temperature and humidity. This skin type easily blushes, sunburns, develops rashes, and becomes irritated. Especially when more mature, it typically displays couperose conditions — that is, it's characterized by dilated or expanded capillaries. A diffused redness, or erythema, is generally concentrated on the nose, cheeks, and chin. If not treated extremely gently, sensitive skin will simply appear "unhappy" or"unsettled."

Crisp, dry winter air can upset sensitive skin, leaving it drier and more prone to irritation. Summer's heat, humidity, and increased exposure to sunlight can also wreak havoc, leading to itchy or blotchy skin, blemishes, and general ruddiness.

CARE RECOMMENDATIONS

Follow all recommendations for dry skin, unless your skin is normal to oily, in which case use a lightweight to medium-weight moisturizer for both your face and body. Cleanse only with an ultra-soft cloth — no terry towels, facial loofah sponges, or facial brushes on this delicate skin! If you choose to exfoliate your body using a body brush for dry brushing, please proceed gently, using a rather soft body brush, and never scrub your skin.

SPECIAL INTENSIVE THERAPIES

Follow the recommendations for dry skin. When choosing any product or ingredient, gentle, nonabrasive, and fragrance-­free are the key words to look for.

Mature Skin

Skin can generally be considered mature when it loses tone and exhibits a crepe-like texture — that is, it's saggy and loose, with many fine lines and at least a few shallow or even deep wrinkles. People over the age of 50 will eventually develop mature skin as part of the natural aging process, but I've seen prematurely aged skin on individuals as young as their late 30s, and for the lucky few these signs don't reveal themselves until the early 60s. Good genes, plenty of natural oil in the skin, a healthy lifestyle, sound nutrition, and consistent proper skin care all determine when and to what extent mature skin appears.

Mature skin tends to be dry but can be normal or slightly oily in the T-zone, especially if the skin was oily earlier on. If you are over 50 and have oily skin, however, consider it a boon — you'll wrinkle slower and later than your friends. Mature skin is generally more comfortable in warmer climates with higher humidity. In cooler, more arid surroundings, mature skin ages faster and tends to suffer from additional dryness. Such skin may also have hyperpigmentation (age spots, freckles, or liver spots), depending on an individual's history of sun exposure, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

CARE RECOMMENDATIONS

Moisture retention is key to preventing the rapid increase in fine lines and wrinkle depth, so it's important not to use drying soap, especially on the face. Remember that the collagen and elastin matrix within the dermis layer depends on constant hydration to maintain plumpness. For facial cleansing, use a gentle lotion- or cream-type cleanser once or twice a day if you have dry skin or a lighter lotion-type cleanser if your skin is normal to oily. Finely ground oats, almonds, and fat-rich sunflower seeds make super-moisturizing cleansers for the face and body. You could also use a clear vegetable glycerin, goat's milk, olive oil, or superfatted soap on the body only, unless you have normal to dry skin.

My favorite toners for mature skin are a classic rosewater and glycerin blend and a lavender, chamomile, rose geranium, neroli, or rose tea or hydrosol mist. Try using a soothing and hydrating tea made with fennel seed, marshmallow root, or comfrey root as a body splash on occasion, especially when your skin is very dry.

Depending on the degree of dryness and the season, use an easily absorbed nutrient-rich lotion or cream for moisturizing both your face and body. An herbal elixir or facial oil containing carrot seed essential oil and rose hip seed base oil — key ingredients in Repair and Restore Remedy and valued for their highly regenerative and vitalizing properties — can be used as your only facial conditioning lubricant or as a first layer followed by lotion or cream if your skin is extra-thirsty. Avoid rose hip seed oil if your skin is oily; it can lead to breakouts.

SPECIAL INTENSIVE THERAPIES

To minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, fade age spots, and help maintain a smooth, refined appearance, twice weekly use a fruit-acid facial mask made from papaya, raspberry, strawberry, or pineapple purée (unless you have sensitive skin). A honey mask or moisturizing facial mask deeply hydrates mature skin tissue and can be used daily. Enjoy a fennel seed, lavender, or calendula facial steam once a week to hydrate, cleanse impurities from the pores, and increase circulation.

Use a rich body oil following each shower or bath to seal in moisture and keep your skin supple, and apply eye cream as part of your daily skin care ritual. Because skin naturally thins and produces less oil as you age, by the time you reach your 50s, the already paper-thin skin surrounding your eyes has become even more translucent, drier, and wrinkle-prone. For youthful-looking eyes, don't squint but do invest in a snazzy pair of quality sunglasses!

Environmentally Damaged Skin

This skin type features premature lines, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation (freckles and age spots), ruddiness, rough texture, and uneven skin coloration, and it may begin to rear its ugly head somewhere around age 35. Much to the shock of those who have it, environmentally damaged skin often takes on the characteristics of mature skin. This skin type is reflective of the individual’s lifestyle. People who tend to have environmentally damaged skin include smokers, heavy coffee and soda drinkers, people who consume large amounts of alcohol, routine recreational drug users, ocean-sport enthusiasts, sun worshippers, mountain climbers, tennis players, long-distance walkers or runners, or anybody who spends a lot of time in extreme outdoor climates. These people generally have skin that has been repeatedly severely dehydrated and weather beaten, and it may be impossible to return their skin to its former healthy, radiant suppleness because the collagen and elastin have lost their elasticity and flexibility.

Naturally fair, thin, dry skin is prone to environmental damage and can become painful, papery, parched skin that bleeds and tears easily as you age. If you have this skin type, be sure to take extra precautions when exposing yourself to the elements and do your best to make positive lifestyle choices that support skin health.

Environmentally damaged skin might have been oily or normal in its youth, but it’s almost always at least normal to dry if not very dry after the age of 40.

CARE RECOMMENDATIONS

Because this type of skin is frequently sensitive and dry, read the sections on sensitive skin and dry skin.

Each season brings its own challenges for environmentally damaged skin. Always remember that your skin needs deep hydration and constant sun protection. For the face and body, a nonirritating, mild, water-based lotion-type or creamy cleanser fortified with skin-nourishing oils such as jojoba, hazelnut, extra-virgin olive, sesame, sunflower, or macadamia nut deep-cleans and feeds your skin. Finely ground oat, nut, and seed cleansers and clay-blend cleansers are gentle skin foods that encourage softness and soothe irritation. If the skin on your body is dry, please avoid soap.

For toning, mild and nondrying are key words. A lavender, lemon balm, chamomile, or neroli hydrosol refreshes and removes any excess cleanser from the face. Never leave home without a spritzer bottle of purified water or your favorite hydrosol to quench your skin’s thirst. Throughout the day, and every hour if desired, spray a light mist on your face. This keeps your makeup fresh and your skin from becoming flaky, dull, uncomfortable, and drab-looking.

For moisturizing, a lotion or cream enhanced with rose hip seed, coconut, sesame, macadamia nut, extra-virgin olive, sunflower, or jojoba oil helps feed, rejuvenate, tone, and support cell membrane functions within the skin of both the face and the body. An herbal facial elixir or facial oil with carrot seed, lavender, rosemary (ct. verbenon), neroli, or helichrysum essential oil helps stimulate new cell generation and encourages a brighter appearance.

SPECIAL INTENSIVE THERAPIES

See recommendations for dry skin