Caring for combination skin can be a challenge, particularly as the weather warms up. Hot weather and sweating can exacerbate oily trouble areas, like the T-zone, while using sunscreen and other sun care products can wreak havoc on your dry spots.
To protect your combination skin, there are some simple routines that you can incorporate to help cut down on the various problems that your trouble areas encounter.
Because your combination skin presents two types of challenges on opposite ends of the spectrum, you can’t effectively treat your entire face with the same products, lest you over-saturate your oily zones or dry out your dry patches too much.
Many products are designed to treat either oily or dry skin, so applying them all over your face may help one portion while harming another. This is why you need to take care to apply some product to certain parts of your face and other products to other parts.
Products meant to help combat oiliness, for example, shouldn’t be used on dry patches, as they will promote more drying that can be both painful and very dulling to your skin’s appearance. Similarly, products to combat dryness should never be used on oily areas, since they will promote more oiliness and possibly lead to breakouts.
One step you should take daily is to clean your face with a water soluble facial cleanser that strips away grime and makeup to leave your skin clean and fresh. Regardless of your separate areas, you entire face benefits from a good wash.
Additionally, consider adding a gentle exfoliant once a week or so. This will clean out your pores and remove dead skin cells from dry areas to help perk them up. It’ll also help to reduce the likelihood of breakouts in oily zones.
Using an antioxidant-rich toner will provide your skin with essential nutrients for looking and feeling its best. Toner will help to even out your skin’s appearance and choosing one that’s high in nutrition and is oil-free will give you the best results.
Consider sleeping with an antioxidant-rich lightweight moisturizer on as well. This will give your skin some needed moisture – particularly helpful for your dry spots – and will add an extra boost of rich anti-aging antioxidants.