Measured: Skin type is read with the bare-face test. Cleanse, apply nothing, wait an hour, then judge shine and tightness zone by zone rather than across the whole face at once.
The basics
What to know about skin type
Skin type describes two separate things that often get confused: how much oil your skin makes, and how well it holds water. Sebum and hydration move independently, which is why skin can be oily and still feel tight, and why an oil-free routine sometimes makes both problems worse. Type is a description of behavior over time, not a diagnosis of anything.
The bare-face test is the usual way to read it. Cleanse with a gentle wash, apply nothing at all, sit in a normal room for 60 minutes, then look zone by zone: forehead, nose, chin, cheeks. Shine on the nose alone with tight cheeks reads combination. Shine everywhere reads oily. Tightness everywhere reads dry. No strong signal either way reads normal.
Take the five labels as behavior rather than identity. Four of them describe oil and water. Sensitive describes reactivity and sits on top of any of the other four, so oily sensitive and dry sensitive are both ordinary. Type also shifts with season, climate, age, hormones and medication, so run the test again twice a year. Persistent redness, pain, itching or breakouts that do not settle belong with a dermatologist rather than with a new product.
