skin types

There are six types of skin - find out which yours is.

Normal Having normal skin simply means that the water and oil in and on your skin are in balance, so your skin does not react negatively to products or external factors, and does not break out excessively.

If your skin does not feel flaky or look dry, if you don't have puddles of oil coming from your pores, or an unusual sheen at 11am, you probably have normal skin.

In terms of a skincare programme, normal skin reacts best to gentle, non-soap cleansing and a light, oil-free moisturiser.

Oily Overproductive oil glands and normal water content give your skin an excessive sheen and an oily feel, often leading to acne. Pores are generally large and open, and skin is coarse and subject to blackheads.

When deciding on a moisturiser (or any skincare product), look for one that is water-based, oil-free or noncomedogenic.

Dry Dull-looking, flaky skin, especially on your cheeks, is generally a tell-tale sign of dry skin. This is because your oil glands (which are fewer in number on your cheeks than on your T-zone) make a normal amount of oil, but your water glands do not produce enough water.

Dry skin feels tight after cleansing and is characterised by small pores or a pinched look. Many people with normal skin develop dry skin during the winter months, when their skin is exposed to the elements.

Combination Overproductive oil glands in the T-zone and underproductive water glands in the cheeks cause this skin type.

Caring for combination skin is simply about getting all the zones of your face back in balance. If in the process of removing the excess oil from the T-zone you remove necessary water from the cheek area, you will then need to restore that moisture again with an oil-free or water-based moisturiser.

Using moisturiser only where it's needed is the best route for people with combination skin.

Mature Mature skin is the result of the natural ageing process, which causes underactivity of both oil and water glands. Mature skin acts very much like dry skin, and should be treated as such, with extra attention paid to mild but effective exfoliation to increase cell turnover and to refresh the skin's appearance.

Mature skin is very fragile because the upper epidermal layer, which is the barrier - or protective - layer of skin, has diminished; and both the middle dermal layer, which is the structural layer, and the lower fat layer are thinning.

Sensitive Sensitive skin, regardless of its oil or water content, is easily irritated by many common skincare products and cosmetics and by the environment. It is typically itchy and variably inflamed. Any product you do use should be fragrance-free, dye-free and hypo-allergenic.

Fragrance is the leading cause of contact allergy from topically applied products. Sensitive skin is, unsurprisingly, hypersensitive to the ultraviolet rays of the sun, so an effective sunblock (SPF 30) is encouraged in a cream or lotion; gels and alcohol-based products are too irritating.