Not Your (Skin) Type

Our skin type has forever been the marker for choosing products, but it might be time to rethink this age-old approach

- KONIKA DATTA

We tend to box people into categories, and it’s no different in skincare land. Anyone who has even scratched the surface of this overwhelming industry knows the first step towards building an effective routine is determining your skin type – which can be either dry, oily, sensitive, or normal. We always use this as the yardstick to determine what products to use, and brands religiously apply this system to market their products.

This approach to skincare is so deeply ingrained in us that we don’t realise how flawed it truly is. For the unversed, this conventional skin typing system was developed in 1975, based on our skin’s response to sun exposure. We have obviously come a long way since, but the metric clearly hasn’t evolved with time.

Truth bomb: There are several limitations to sticking to one skin type and building our regime around it. However, if skin type is not the accurate parameter to look at when treating our skin or creating an effective routine, then what is?

A SYSTEMIC FLAW

Our skin has different zones, and each zone can have a different type. For example, our cheeks can be sensitive, T-zone can be oily, and the chin area prone to breakouts. “As dermatologists, we never follow this skin typing system. These traditional skin types might come in handy when people want to start using skincare, but you’ll soon realise it is not a straightforward system,” explains dermatologist Dr. Renita Rajan.