“An artist spends time in preparing his canvas, to create a masterpiece. We should treat our skin a bit like a canvas, and spend time taking care of it, so we can achieve great results.”

Sometimes the hardest thing to wear is your own skin and what makes it worse, is not knowing your own skin type.

One thing I can tell you ladies and gentleman is it’s not easy. My skin is that one puzzle I just can’t figure out. Just when I think I have it all figured out it throws me a curve ball. I can tell you this though; I am closer to cracking The Da Vinci Code that is my skin now than I was a few years ago. So if you are like me and your face tends to be nuisance, then you know that’s better than nothing.

A ton of factors affect your skin, external and internal. It could be hormones, the weather, and medication that you taking, your  eating habits, your health blah blah blah. Don’t worry though; we are going to solve this puzzle one piece at a time.

Humour me for the purposes of this series on skin care and  think of your face as a puzzle, the very first step towards solving this puzzle is to figure out what your skin type is because after you do you can move on to the second step which is choosing the skin care regime that works for you.

My research has shown that they are 5 basic skin types. You can have Oily, Dry, Combination, Normal or Sensitive skin. They all have unique characteristics and as a result require unique care it’s important to identify which one you are.

Does your face not show any signs of oiliness? Is it always vibrant, supple and does it rarely breaks out? Do you have regular sized pores?. Well this means you have Normal Skin and you are lucky :-).

Is your face always shinny and course? Do you have large pores and are you prone to acne break outs? Well you are like me. You have Oily Skin.

Does your face feel dry, tight and flaky? Do you have very small pores and is it prone to irritation? Well that means you have Dry Skin

Does your face have parts of it that are dry, flaky, and parts that are oily? Maybe your nose chin and forehead are very oily and the rest of your face isn’t? Well you dear have Combination Skin!

Finally, does your face feel tight, are you prone to irritation and allergic reactions, does your face feel inflamed and does it sometimes break out? Well like me, you have Sensitive Skin.

You must be thinking, “Well Miriam this is useless information, I don’t know how to figure this out!” Worry not; I have a solution for this. The one way I found easy to figure out what my skin type is was by:

Firstly, washing your face with a gentle cleanser then applying toner and allowing it to dry. Do not moisturize your face and after 2-3 hours go to the mirror and study your face of any of the characteristics I have just listed.

Remember guys, you can have a combination of skin types and your skin type can change as a result of external and internal features. I have Oily and Very Sensitive skin during hot seasons and Combination Sensitive skin during cold dry seasons.

Find out what your skin type is today and tomorrow we can move on to the fun second part of the puzzle: Facial Routines