Finding the Balance: Perfecting Your Skin Care Routine for Combination Skin
Is unruly combination skin leaving you perplexed and irritated? Is it hard to nail down exactly what your skin's tendencies are? Perhaps one week it feels oily and the next it’s painfully dry. Or maybe it has both qualities at the same time.
While your skin might seem capricious, there are trackable reasons for its behavior. Thus, there are ways you can treat it that will reliably address its unsatisfactory condition.
Here we’ll guide you to a deeper understanding of combination skin where we provide researched recommendations for a routine that will calm any frustration you may have from combating unpredictable skin.
Table of Contents
- What Is Combination Skin?
- What Causes Combination Skin?
- What Is the Best Skin Care Routine for Combination Skin?
- The Ultimate 8-Step Skin Care Routine for Combination Skin
- Ancient India’s Organic Ayurvedic Skincare: Bringing Radiance and Balance to Combination Skin
What Is Combination Skin?
Combination skin has dry and oily areas, often in a T-pattern (oily forehead, nose, and chin with dry cheeks). The extent and severity of this condition depend on seasonal changes, hormone fluctuation, stress levels, and genetics.
Key features of combination skin include the following and occur on different parts of the face:
- Shiny skin
- Acne
- Large pores
- Redness
- Flaking
- Roughness
- Tightness
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What Causes Combination Skin?
Combination skin results from the interplay of various factors. Skin gets drier and less oily with age. Hormonal changes due to age, contraceptives, and menstruation also cause skin changes. Lastly, seasonal weather changes can play a role.
What Is the Best Skin Care Routine for Combination Skin?
If you have dry and oily patches of skin, one product will not suffice. On one hand, moisturizing products can make oily areas oilier. On the other hand, products that reduce oil can dry out vulnerable areas.
Finding the right balance and building your skin’s resilience are the keys to caring for combination skin.
- Balanced skin has an optimal oil-to-water ratio, making it a strong barrier between the inside and outside of the body. Skin with just the right amount of oil and water is healthier and less vulnerable to irritants.
- A strong skin barrier makes skin more resilient, protecting it from stressors such as poor diet, lack of sleep, and seasonal changes. These variables can lead to rough, dry, dull, or oily skin with enlarged pores, but you can fortify the skin barrier against these with proper care.
The Ultimate 8-Step Skin Care Routine for Combination Skin
Once you learn this 8-step skin care routine to manage combination skin, the key to getting the results you want is to consistently follow it.
Step 1: Cleanse (Morning & Evening)
Before you can treat your skin, it needs to be clean. A cleanser’s job is to remove buildup that occurs overnight and throughout the day, including buildup from makeup.
Ancient India’s Ayurvedic Face Wash with triphala, beyond just cleansing, has anti-inflammatory properties and nourishes the skin with its balanced pH and soothing, natural organic ingredients
Step 2: Tone (Morning & Evening)
Toner is a water-like substance that prepares your skin for the rest of your skin care routine. It provides the following benefits:
- After cleansing, any buildup, bacteria, or makeup that your cleanser left behind is picked up by your toner.
- Toner helps seal the pores, making them appear smaller and making them less vulnerable to environmental stressors.
- Toner can enhance the operation of your other skin care products by helping to balance the pH of the skin.
- Toner soothes and refreshes irritated skin.
A good toner for combination skin has a pH-balancing formula and hyaluronic acid, which moisturizes and calms the skin. It can be applied with a cotton pad immediately after cleansing in the morning and evening.
Step 3: Exfoliate (2-3 Times Weekly)
A gentle exfoliator helps remove dead skin cells and other buildup, helping to unclog pores and prevent breakouts. You might choose to avoid exfoliating dry areas to avoid irritation.
In addition, a chemical exfoliator is preferable to a physical exfoliator because the latter’s rough texture and harsh composition can be irritating to the skin. Lactic acid is a gentle chemical exfoliator that’s great for combination skin.
Step 4: Moisturize (Morning & Evening)
Moisturizer is another product we recommend using strategically, applying only a small amount to oily areas of your face but in normal amounts on dry areas. It keeps your skin hydrated and regulates oil production.
Besides hydrating the skin, Ancient India’s Intense Hydration Squalane Face Crème helps support the skin barrier and protects against signs of aging, like fine lines and hyperpigmentation. Its peptide formula supports the skin’s natural restorative process.
Step 5: Apply Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid (Morning & Evening)
Niacinamide is a form of vitamin B3, which is critical for maintaining healthy-looking skin. It helps calm the skin and prevents water loss, so it keeps the skin hydrated and contributes to an even tone.
Hyaluronic acid is a sugar molecule that helps hydrate the skin, keeping it smooth and supple. It is naturally present in your skin, but since our bodies produce less of it as we age, our skin can become dry, wrinkled, dull, and unevenly toned.
The most efficient way to apply these is in the form of a niacinamide and hyaluronic acid serum.
Ancient India’s Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid Serum Face Lift Drops contain a hydrating, anti-inflammatory formula that strengthens the skin barrier and helps restore damaged skin. Made with organic botanicals, these face lift drops fortify your skin gently and naturally.
Step 6: Apply Facial Oil (Evening)
Facial oil helps treat dryness, redness, scars, and signs of aging. It treats dryness by functioning both as an emollient and an occlusive, which add moisture and lock it in, respectively.
Facial oil also stimulates collagen production, helping to minimize wrinkles, and evens out skin tone, promoting a fresh glow in dull skin.
Ancient India’s Fountain of Youth Ayurvedic Organic Face Oil strengthens the skin against toxins, free radicals, and water loss. Use it every evening to nourish and revitalize your skin with its all-natural ingredients, including:
- Saffron: Repairs, moisturizes, and soothes skin
- Sea buckthorn: An antioxidant that protects skin cells
- Triphala: Has anti-inflammatory properties
- Turmeric: Helps heal the skin and reduce pigmentation
- Babchi: An organic alternative to retinol, which unclogs pores, encourages cell proliferation, and stimulates collagen production
Step 7: Use a Clay Mask (Weekly)
Used less frequently, a clay mask helps detoxify the skin, drawing out impurities and oils. The result is a restored and balanced complexion. A clay mask gives your skin a deep clean, calms and hydrates it, and helps prevent acne by reducing excess oil.
Ancient India’s Ayurvedic Anti-Aging Clarifying Clay Mask contains a blend of botanicals, peptides, and antioxidants that deeply purify the skin, as well as two forms of clay to reduce impurities and absorb oil. It can be used as a spot treatment or for the whole face.
Step 8: Apply Sunscreen (Morning)
A high-SPF sunscreen protects skin from UV rays and thus helps prevent premature aging and wrinkles. Use an SPF of at least 30 containing zinc oxide to soothe irritated skin. Zinc oxide is antimicrobial and does not clog pores. In addition, it is a true sun “screen,” meaning it is not absorbed into the body as many chemical sunscreens are.
Ancient India’s Organic Ayurvedic Skincare: Bringing Radiance and Balance to Combination Skin
Ancient India is a luxury skincare brand for all ages and skin types. If you want organic, high-quality products that are free of chemicals yet still produce excellent results in the long term, Ancient India is for you.
Our products are formulated based on a combination of wisdom from Western science and ancient Indian Ayurvedic skincare rituals. Ayurveda is a plant-based healing system that has been used for over 5,000 years to promote full well-being.
Browse our website today to find trusted, safe, and eco-friendly products to incorporate into your skin care routine for combination skin.
The content in this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.