THE BASICS- Get to know your skin.

The first step to taking care of our skin is understanding it. The skin on our face is more sensitive than most of the skin on our bodies, bears important organs like our eyes, and is most exposed to extremities. Pollution, wind, sun, and cold can cause premature aging and even acne. Taking care of the skin on your face can make a huge difference in the longevity and elesticity of your skin.

What's My Skin Type?

Dry- Dry skin is easily disturbed and usually sensitive, often times acne-prone. Dry, dead skin can flake off and clog pores causing blackheads. Dry skin can cause overproduction in oil that becomes trapped under the skin causing hard pimples like keratosis pilaris and under-skin whiteheads that are hard and persistant. people with dry skin should protect themselves from the sun using hats and sunscreen that says non-comedogenic or oil-free on the label.

Oily- People with oily skin get shiny during the day, can wipe excess oil off the skin, will notice a slickness around the t-zone (forehead, nose and chin.) While oil production is important to keeping youthful, healthy skin, excess oil can clog pores and cause acne.

Combination- People with combination skin will experience both dry skin and oily skin. Sometimes at the same time, such as oily cheeks and frehead with a flaky dry nose. Other times a person can have inconsistant skin that is dry one day and oily the next. In this case it is important to treat skin accordingly and try to restore balance.

Normal-
Or as I like to call you, the lucky-ducky. These are the people that have baby soft milky skin and wash their face with bar soap. If you are one of these people, take care of your skin! protect it from the sun and moisturize it to keep it beautiful for many years to come. If you don't have this skintype, don't sweat it! Most people struggle with acne at one point or another and real results are possible with balance and patience.

This image may be able to help pinpoint where your acne stems from, though I am not sure how accurate this chart is.