Choosing an ingredient for your skin can be very frustrating, especially for those who are highly sensitive to skincare ingredients.

The perfect skincare ingredient should the one that should moisturize your skin, hydrate it, and also balance the ph levels on your face to prevent any breakouts or irritation.

In this part, we will be covering the basic skin types which are dry skin, oily skin, combination skin, and sensitive skin.

A patch test is a method that doctors use to determine if a patient is allergic to certain substances. When patch testing doctors leave the patches at the back of the body for about 48 hours or more.

You can use the product at the back of your ear or at the middle of your arm and the reason is that those parts are the most delicate parts just like the face.

It’s better to use the product on the back of your ear because it’s closer to your face and you can get a more accurate reading. Cover the area with a bandage to make the product more effective and get a better reading. Leave it on for 48 hours or more.

Start with one-half of the recommended amount. Use 1/3 of the application area, apply every second night. Once you’re able to tolerate it, increase to apply to the directed area.

Once tolerated increase application by an extra night a week. If you’re experiencing irritation, redness, and stinging, stop using the product.

Dry skin is a skin type caused by a lack of oil. This causes the skin to feel tight, dry, and flakey all year round.

• Hyaluronic acid: it helps draw in moisture from the air.

• Ceramides, fatty acids, and cholesterol: these ingredients occur naturally in our body and do not cause sensitivity to the skin.

• Panthenol: it is moisturizing, soothing, and anti-inflammatory properties.

• Madecassoside: This is another ingredient like panthenol and performs the same functions.

• Petroleum, balms, and shea butter: these ingredients will work for dehydrated skin and prevent Transepidermal Water Loss.

• Glycerin: This is an underrated ingredient that pulls in moisture from the air into your skin.

• Mandelic acid: an AHA that is gentle and not drying.

• Alcohol: Now alcohol is the main ingredient used in skin care products and it has the ability to dry out your skin. Alcohol can accelerate your aging process since it makes your skin soo dry. It can also lead to irritation. It might also have a negative effect if you are allergic to it.

• Fragrances: Many people might be allergic to fragrances and it might be better to avoid them.

• Parabens, formaldehyde, SLS, and preservatives: can dry your skin out and lead to irritation.

• Chemicals Sunscreens: chemical filters get absorbed into h the skin and cause a lot of problems.

Oily skin is the type of skin that’s formed because of the overproduction of sebum and pores can also become clogged, blackheads may also appear and there might also be acne problems.

• Salicylic Acid: This is a beta-hydroxy acid. This acid is really good for people having oily and acne-prone skin and it also helps to keep the pores clean. It helps to remove the excess oils(sebum) and keep your face. Since it removes the oils there might be a chance for your skin to become dry.

• Retinoids: like retinol, tazarotene, adapalene, accutane or tretinoin can help with oily skin. It helps to keep the pores tighter and thus emits less oil.

• Niacinamide: suitable for acne skin and helps to control sebum production.

• Benzoyl peroxide: This acid is used mainly for treating acne and also helps to kill the bacteria under the skin and remove excess sebum. It may make your skin dry. I recommend using salicylic acid because it is gentler on your skin. Make sure to use low concentrations as high concentrations can make your skin dry and irritated.

• Tea Tree Oil: Now tea tree oil is not that great of an ingredient and the best one for acne but it has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. But people with acne can be sensitive to tea tree oil so sometimes that product might not be for you.

• Squalene Oil: Squalene oil is a powerful moisturizer suitable for all skin types including oily skin. Tricking your skin to think it has more oil than needed can actually reduce oil production.

• Alcohol: Now using alcohol on your skin can actually dry out your skin and it will only make your skin worse. Drying out your skin can result in the overproduction of sebum and may also lead to acne breakouts. It’s pro-aging.

• Fragrances: Fragrances can also affect your skin especially if you have oily and acne-prone skin. So choosing an oil-free perfume or no less perfume is better.

• Natural, Mineral, and Comedogenic oils: There are many natural and mineral oils out there that can make your oily skin worse and there are some that won’t.

Combination skin means having oily skin and dry skin in some areas. There are two types of combination skin.

The first one is where areas such as the cheeks are dry and the T-zone (forehead, nose, and chin) is oily.

The second is where you have oily dehydrated skin, the surface of the skin is dry or flaky with a layer of oil sitting on top. This skin type is the hardest to manage.

• Hyaluronic acid: it helps draw in moisture from the air.

• Mandelic acid: an AHA that is gentle and not drying.

• Salicylic acid: a BHA that can help unclog pores and cleanse the skin.

• Alcohol: Now as I said before alcohol can make your skin dry and it might become drier.

• Fragrances: make sure not to use fragrances as they can worsen the situation.

• Products containing oils: You should buy products that have little oil or no oil. It should absorb deeply into your skin.
• Plant extracts: these ingredients can be irritating to the skin.