Facial Skin Care: Tips For Women With Combination Skin

Combination skin, a condition that affects many women, can be an annoying and embarrassing problem. Advice for controlling your skin.

What is combination skin?Combination skin describes skin that shows different characteristics over the total area. One area may be extremely dry and flaky; the other might be oily and prone to acne breakouts.
Most combination skin problems can be traced back to the T-zone. The T-zone is the part of the face that begins at the forehead, moving downward to the nose, mouth area, and the chin. It's called a T-zone because this pattern is shaped like the letter T. The T-zone tends to be oilier than other parts of the face because the areas indicated contain more oil glands. Excess oil leads to blackheads, whiteheads and the formation of large pores. While the rest of the face may be normal or dry, the T-zone looks shiny and greasy within minutes of cleansing.
For many people, the area not inside the T-zone causes the most difficulty. Dryness, flaking, and scaling skin can be a frequent--and embarrassing--problem.
Caring for combination skin
If you have determined that you have combination skin, the products you use to care for it are very important. Before you begin spot-treatments for your problem areas, however, remember to first attend to your face as a whole.
Cleanse your face with a mild cleanser up to twice daily. Washing your face less than this could leave excess dirt and oil to clog your pores. Washing more than twice daily could suck moisture out of your dry areas, causing redness and irritation.