How to Identify Your Skin Type: A Quick Test and Tailored Routine

To identify your skin type, a few simple signs are enough: shine, tightness, texture and reactions. These help distinguish four skin types, and an at-home tissue test can help confirm them. Separating skin type from a temporary condition then allows you to choose skincare suited to each area of the face.

The 4 skin types and their signs

Skin types are distinguished mainly by the amount of sebum produced: normal, dry, oily or combination. Sebum is the natural oil made by the sebaceous glands. Its quantity determines shine, comfort and the appearance of facial pores.

Normal or dry skin

Normal skin maintains a balance between sebum and hydration. It feels soft and smooth. The complexion is even and pores are barely visible. When skin is this balanced, it is neither shiny nor tight.

Dry skin is defined primarily by insufficient sebum, not simply a lack of water. Several signs point to it: tightness, roughness, fine flakes, reduced suppleness and a dull complexion. Dry skin often feels uncomfortable even without exposure to cold. The Korean routine for dry skin specifically addresses this lack of lipids.

Oily or combination skin

Oily skin produces more sebum and quickly becomes shiny across most of the face. The oily feeling is present on the cheeks too, not just the forehead and nose. Enlarged pores, blackheads or frequent spots often complete the picture, although oily skin is not necessarily acne-prone.

Combination skin brings together an oily T-zone and normal-to-dry cheeks. Pores and blemishes therefore concentrate in the centre of the face, while the sides remain matte or even uncomfortable.

Observing each area of the face

A single glance in the mirror is not enough: each area tells part of the story. The T-zone comprises the forehead, nose and chin. It typically produces more sebum than the cheeks.

• Forehead and nose: shine that appears quickly indicates marked sebaceous activity.
• Chin: blemishes frequently gather here in combination skin.
• Cheeks: shine here points towards oily skin, while tightness suggests a dry tendency.
• Shine only in the T-zone: with comfortable or tight cheeks, the profile is more likely combination than oily.

This area-by-area assessment then helps you choose the texture and approach suited to each part of the face. It is more precise than applying the same product everywhere.

A quick at-home facial test

The tissue test makes it easy to assess your skin type in a morning, without special equipment. It relies on clean skin that is left to rest, then examined area by area.

Preparing for observation

The results depend on preparation. Washing immediately changes skin parameters.

• Cleanse gently: remove makeup and coverage products with a gentle cleanser without exfoliating, then rinse with lukewarm water.
• Dry without rubbing: pat the face gently.
• Apply nothing: no cream, oil, serum or makeup while you wait.

Then wait at least an hour. An experimental study involving 22 Korean women shows why: hydration, sebum and transepidermal water loss decrease 20 minutes after washing.

In the same study, hydration returned to its initial level after around 40 minutes. Sebum and transepidermal water loss, meaning water that evaporates through the skin, only stabilised at 120 minutes. This interval is therefore not an official threshold for diagnosing oily skin.

Carrying out the tissue test

The tissue test can be done in the morning on a clean, dry face. Blotting paper, by contrast, is applied after a few hours without washing. Cut a tissue into several pieces, then press them gently, without rubbing, onto the forehead, nose, chin and cheeks.

For each area, note whether shine is absent, slight or clearly present. Also record tightness, redness, stinging or flakes.

Interpreting without overdiagnosing

Oil marks on almost all the paper, including from the cheeks, suggest oily skin without measuring actual sebum levels. Paper that is oily mainly on the forehead, nose and chin, with little marking from the cheeks, points towards combination skin.

Paper that stays dry everywhere corresponds to normal or dry skin. If the results contradict one another, repeat the observation another time. This test helps you assess your own skin type, but does not replace a dermatological examination.

Distinguishing skin type from skin condition

Once you have identified your skin type, a second level of assessment is needed. Type describes a lasting tendency linked to sebum. A skin condition, meanwhile, may be temporary and occur alongside any type.

Dryness or dehydration

Two different deficiencies can lie behind the same discomfort: one concerns lipids, the other water.

• Dryness: a lack of lipids and sebum; this is a lasting skin type.
• Dehydration: a lack of water in the stratum corneum, often linked to a weakened barrier.
• Tightness with shine: a possible sign of dehydration in oily or combination skin.
• Tightness without shine: a sign that points more towards dry skin.

Oily skin can therefore lack water. In that case, an overly rich product is not the answer: the first step is to hydrate without weighing the skin down.

Recognising sensitive skin

Sensitive skin is defined by sensations: stinging, burning, pain, itching or tingling. These are triggered by water, wind or cosmetics that are normally well tolerated, and the skin may look entirely normal. Redness alone is not enough. A reaction to a particular ingredient suggests a contact allergy instead.

The Sensitive Scale-10 questionnaire helps with screening. A French study involving 160 women aged 18 to 65 proposed a threshold of 13 out of 100. This threshold offered 72.4% sensitivity and 90.3% specificity. If this profile fits you, a gentle Korean routine for sensitive skin limits exposure to irritants.

Understanding changes in the skin

Age, hormones, stress, climate, medicines and the products used change the skin's appearance, temporarily or permanently.

Age is particularly important. A study involving 481 volunteers observed a linear decline in sebum over the years. Several elasticity parameters fell sharply between ages 54 and 65. Skin that is oily in your thirties may therefore become drier over time.

Some signs go beyond cosmetics: severe burning, swelling, patches, eczema, pronounced itching or persistent redness. These warrant dermatological advice rather than a change of cream.

Choosing skincare for your skin

Adopting a coherent beauty routine does not require a long series of steps. It means adapting each action to the need identified during observation.

Building a simple routine

A sensible foundation is enough in most cases. Additional active ingredients are introduced only for a specific need.

• Appropriate cleansing: gentle, without stripping the skin's protective film.
• Moisturiser: matched to the texture your skin needs.
• Sun protection: every morning, as the final step.
• Toner: optional; it can hydrate or soothe but does not replace cleansing and is not intended to restore pH.

Drying out oily skin with harsh cleansers or exfoliants increases discomfort and may stimulate reactive sebum production.

Adapting textures and application

Dry skin calls for a creamy cleanser and a cream rich in ceramides, squalane or shea butter to replenish its lipids. For reactive skin, introduce only one product at a time, free of alcohol and fragrance, for example with panthenol or Centella asiatica. For combination skin, a lightweight gel suits the T-zone, while a more nourishing cream suits uncomfortable cheeks.

Choosing active ingredients in moderation

Niacinamide and hyaluronic acid provide lightweight hydration for oily or combination skin. Zinc and gentle purifying skincare focus more on excess sebum. Salicylic acid helps clear the T-zone, while PHAs exfoliate reactive skin more gently. Stop exfoliating if persistent stinging, redness or peeling occurs.

Maison de Porcelaine recommends choosing each product according to its composition, texture, use and place in the routine, rather than automatically choosing an entire range. For contrasting areas, the Korean routine for combination skin offers solutions tailored to the T-zone and cheeks.

Frequently asked questions