What Type of Skin Do I Have?

What’s best for one guy’s skin is not best for the next guy’s. That’s right. Not all skin is the same. And unless you know your skin type, there’s a good chance you aren’t giving it what it needs to look and feel its best. 

But don’t fret. We’re here to help you understand the specifics of your skin so you can develop a skincare routine that keeps your skin looking as healthy and vibrant as possible. 

Some guys have naturally dry skin and need the right goods for that. Fellas out there with greasier skin need skincare products for oily skin. And some of us fall in the middle — not too dry, not too oily. Some guys have extra sensitive skin, while others have skin that is just straight up normal. 

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We’re here to help you understand the various skin types so you can diagnose where you fall. After all, what’s the point of using a skincare product if it’s not helping the cause? And there’s one commonality that holds true for all skin types: You need to use the right face wash every day and you need to moisturize every day.

So let’s take a dive into the various skin types, help you determine where you fall on the spectrum and then make sure you’re going after that precious mug of yours with the right products. 

Dry Guys

If you’re even slightly attuned to your skin, you’re certainly aware if you fall into this category. Your skin tends to be rough and more apt to show lines if you’re overtired or dehydrated. Things are especially unpleasant during the winter months, when that dry skin goes into full-on desert mode. When your skin goes through especially dry stretches, it will likely feel stiff and inelastic, almost like you’re wearing a mask. 

Oily Guys

Oily guys are polar opposite from guys in the dry camp, but inhabitants of either category won’t exactly be shocked to learn where they fall. If you’re dry, you know it. Same goes for being oily. Greasy skin is the result of overzealous oil production from your sebaceous glands. That oil (sebum) can lead to increased problems with acne. 

Combo Guys

Guys with combination skin get a little bit of everything. This can be a frustrating type of skin to manage — dry in some areas, oily in others. That oily portion of the mug will almost certainly encompass your T-zone, that area of your face that extends from the chin, through the nose and up to the forehead. The T-zone is a hotbed of oil production because sebaceous glands are especially abundant there. But beyond having a greasy T-zone, guys in the combo category find that the remainder of their mug tends to get annoyingly dry. 

Sensitive Guys

If you’re prone to flare-ups — a rash here, a sudden blast of itchiness there, an irritated patch over there — you probably have sensitive skin. Of course, having sensitive skin doesn’t mean you can’t also fall into one of the other skin type categories. But having sensitive skin means certain products may do more harm than good. Your skin is reactive, not just to products but to environmental elements as well. If you deal with frequent unpleasantness on your skin, it’s important to pay attention, determine the triggers and do your utmost to avoid them. 

Normal Guys

Last, but not least, here we have guys with regular ol’ skin. If you read through the previous four descriptions and a light bulb didn’t flicker on — ah, yes, that’s me — you quite likely fall into this category. But if your skin does in fact fit into the normal bucket, that doesn’t mean you chill and do nothing. As we noted previously, an element that transcends skin specifics is the importance of a proper skincare routine that includes — at the very least — routine cleaning and moisturizing. 

Testing, Testing, 1-2-3

If all of this still has you feeling a little uncertain about where you fall, there are a couple of methods you can use to achieve clarity. 

For the first option, all you need to do is wash your face, and then…wait. Give it about half an hour and then inspect the situation. If the time elapses and the whole of your mug looks oily, that means you fall into the greasy category. If your skin is dry after 30 minutes, guess where you fall? Yep, you have dry skin. If your T-zone is shining but the remainder looks dry, you’re a combo man. And if that skin is looking and feeling fresh and clean, you’re almost certainly a dude with normal skin. 

The next test isn’t so different from the first. You wash. You wait about 30 minutes. But then, you add blotting paper as a supplement to the visual inspection from the previous test. Blotting paper absorbs oil from your skin, so when you press it to your face, you can see the oil it extracts. After you’ve dried your face and waited the requisite allotment of time, test the various regions of your mug. If the blotter paper looks like the bottom of a pizza box no matter where you press it, you have oily skin. Just oily in the T-zone? You likely have combo skin. Next-to-no oil no matter where you press? You’re a dry guy. And if there’s just a consistently modest amount of oil from all the regions of your face, you have normal skin. 

But keep this critical lesson in mind: Skin types are subject to change. Environmental factors, lifestyle, aging and other components can cause dudes with greasy skin to go dry and vice versa. So just pay attention. If your skincare routine stops yielding the returns it once did, that may be because your skin has dipped into a different category and now requires different products. Be mindful and make adjustments when something that’s been doing you right stops working.  

A Man with a Plan 

All of that should help you develop a pretty good idea of your skin type. With that knowledge gained, fellas, it’s on to the next move: developing a skincare routine that’s tailored for your face.   

For all you guys who trend toward the more parched side of things, we have you covered with premium skincare products for dry skin. Now a lot of guys with dry skin assume it might be best to cut down a little bit on face washing. Is that the right thing to do? Uhhhh, no. You need to wash your face a couple of times a day, no matter what. You just need the right face wash. Of course, you need the proper moisturizer for dry skin, too. Use it after you wash. Now a lot of people will tell you that chugging water will help with your dry skin. The jury’s out on that, but you should certainly avoid taking extra-long, extra-hot showers. Those are a surefire way to dehydrate your skin. 

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While dry dudes may operate under the incorrect assumption that they shouldn’t be washing their faces quite as often, many oily dudes understandably assume that they shouldn’t be moisturizing. Regular cleaning and moisturizing is essential for every dude out there. When oily dudes don’t moisturize, their sebaceous glands tend to boost sebum production, and that can lead to a dreaded uptick in breakouts. So, again, it’s all about using the right stuff, like this gel moisturizer for oily skin. Of course, our line of products for oily skin has everything a guy with greasier skin needs. One critical thing oily dudes need to do is resist the temptation to overdo it with their products. Get the right stuff and use it as intended; otherwise, you’re defeating the purpose by disrupting the natural balance of your skin. 

You can probably guess what the proper skincare routine looks like for dudes with combination skin. Yep — a little of this, a little of that. Or, more specifically, combo dudes should use products tailored for oily skin on the T-zone. For the remainder of their mug, they need products suited for dry skin. It’s true that this means you need more products, but those products will also last longer, as you’re using a bit less per application. 

Just like everyone else, dudes with normal skin need to develop a skincare routine and stick with it. At the minimum, they need to wash their faces at least twice per day and moisturize on the reg. Beyond that, though, they can step up their games by exfoliating a couple of times per week and really pampering those pores with a weekly charcoal face mask. Of course, exfoliating and peel-off masks can be a boon for dudes in the previous three camps, but dudes in the next category might need to proceed with a little more caution. 

And that brings us to guys with sensitive skin. Guys with sensitive skin simply need to be more mindful of how products, specific environments and behaviors impact their skin. For example, many guys with sensitive skin find that exfoliating once per week gets the job done, but doing it twice leads to irritation. That’s fine. No matter what, guys with sensitive skin just need to pay attention to their skin, find products that work without causing irritation and develop a routine that suits them best. What works for one dude in this camp probably won’t be just right for the next dude. There’s no shame in being a dude with sensitive skin. But not doing what’s best for your skin — that might be a little shameful.   

There you go, dudes. This rundown of the basic skin types should help you appreciate the particulars of your skin. Because if you care about your skin — and my gosh, shouldn’t we all? — you can’t give it precisely what it needs unless you develop a more detailed understanding of your specific skin type.  

 

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