Understanding your skin is the first step towards a beauty routine that truly benefits it. Here's the complete guide to identifying your skin type and adopting the right natural skincare.
Why Know Your Skin Type?
Every skin is unique. However, there are five main skin profiles, each with its characteristics, needs, and preferred active ingredients. Identifying yours means avoiding unsuitable products and giving your skin exactly what it needs.
1. Normal Skin
Characteristics: Balanced, neither too oily nor too dry. The complexion is even, pores are barely visible, and discomfort is rare.
Needs: Maintain this delicate balance without disturbing it. A light routine, gentle and nourishing active ingredients are sufficient.
Recommended active ingredients:
- Organic Aloe vera — light and soothing hydration: Organic Aloe Vera Gel or Organic Lov'Aloe Serum
- Sweet almond oil — subtle nourishment, respecting the hydrolipidic film: Organic Sweet Almond Oil
- Immortelle — to preserve natural radiance daily: Organic Pur'Immortelle Day Cream
Our recommendation: An aloe vera gel or a serum to maintain suppleness without weighing it down.
2. Dry Skin
Characteristics: Tightness, feelings of discomfort, sometimes dull complexion. The skin lacks lipids and struggles to retain water.
Needs: Deep nourishment, restoration of the protective film, essential fatty acid intake.
Recommended active ingredients:
- Organic Shea butter — melting and rich, it envelops the skin in a protective veil: Organic Shea Butter
- Roucou oil (Bixa orellana) — concentrated in beta-carotene, it restores vitality to dull skin: Organic Amou'Roucou Light Concentrate
- Organic Sweet almond oil — emollient and gentle, ideal for body and face care: Organic Sweet Almond Oil
- Organic Castor oil — fortifying and repairing, ideal for very dry areas: Organic Castor Oil
Our recommendation: A pure shea butter as a night care, or a rich care oil applied to slightly damp skin to maximize penetration.
3. Oily Skin
Characteristics: Shine, enlarged pores, tendency to imperfections. The skin produces excess sebum, often in response to overly aggressive care.
Needs: Rebalance without drying out — the classic mistake is to over-cleanse, which further stimulates sebum production.
Recommended active ingredients:
- Organic Karanja oil — light and with natural purifying action, it absorbs quickly without a greasy effect: Organic Karanja Beach Oil
- Organic Propolis — hive active ingredient with recognized purifying properties: Organic API Propolis Purifying Cream
- Organic Aloe vera gel — light hydration without a greasy effect: Organic Aloe Vera Gel
- Organic True lavender essential oil — for a balancing skincare routine: Organic True Lavender EO
- Organic Super lavandin essential oil — toning and purifying: Organic Super Lavandin EO
Our recommendation: Counter-intuitively, a dry oil like karanja is perfectly suited for oily skin — it regulates without clogging. Discover our Organic Karanja Beach Oil.
4. Combination Skin
Characteristics: Combination skin is recognized by its T-zone — forehead, nose, and chin — which is oily and shiny, while the cheeks remain normal to dry. This T-shaped zone concentrates more sebaceous glands, which explains this localized excess sebum.
Needs: Versatile care, light but sufficiently nourishing for dry areas.
Recommended active ingredients:
- Organic Aloe vera — universal hydration, suitable for all areas: Organic Aloe Vera Gel or Organic Lov'Aloe Serum
- Karanja oil — ideal lightness for the T-zone: Organic Karanja Beach Oil
- Immortelle — to even out the complexion and harmonize the zones: Organic Pur'Immortelle Firming Serum
Our recommendation: An aloe vera gel as a base, complemented by a touch of dry oil on the areas that need it.
5. Sensitive Skin
Characteristics: Reactivity to temperature changes, perfumes, heavy formulas. Frequent redness, tingling, discomfort.
Needs: Clean formulas, free of disruptors, with soothing and well-tolerated active ingredients.
Recommended active ingredients:
- Organic Aloe vera — essential reference for reactive skin: Organic Aloe Vera Gel or Organic Lov'Aloe Serum
- Unrefined shea butter — protective and soothing, without additives: Organic Shea Butter
- Organic Sweet almond oil — one of the best-tolerated oils, even by the most delicate skin: Organic Sweet Almond Oil
Our recommendation: Prioritize COSMOS Organic certified formulas, without synthetic fragrances, with a short and readable INCI list.
How to Identify Your Skin Type?
A simple test: cleanse your face in the evening, apply no skincare, and observe your skin the next morning.
- Comfortable, without shine or tightness → normal skin
- Tightness, discomfort, dull complexion → dry skin
- Generalized shine, visible pores → oily skin
- Shiny T-zone, normal cheeks → combination skin
- Redness, tingling, reactivity → sensitive skin
What Disturbs, Dries, and Irritates the Skin
Even healthy skin can become unbalanced due to external aggressions or bad habits. Here are the main factors to monitor — and how to counteract them.
Pollution
Fine particles, heavy metals, and exhaust fumes settle on the skin and disrupt its natural microbiome. Result: dull complexion, clogged pores, accelerated aging. Gentle but effective cleansing in the evening is essential, followed by an antioxidant treatment.
Sun and UV Rays
Sun exposure without protection dehydrates the skin, alters collagen fibers, and can cause spots. Sun protection is the most effective anti-aging gesture there is. After exposure, a soothing aloe vera gel or an organic after-sun gel helps restore skin comfort.
Swimming Pool and Chlorine
Chlorine is a powerful oxidant that destroys the hydrolipidic film and significantly dries out the skin. After each swim in the pool, rinse thoroughly and apply a nourishing oil or a shea butter to restore the skin barrier.
Chemicals and Detergents
Household products, aggressive soaps, synthetic fragrances, preservatives — these ingredients alter the skin's natural pH (slightly acidic, around 5.5) and weaken its protective barrier. Prioritizing COSMOS Organic certified formulas with short and transparent INCI lists is the best daily protection.
Cold and Wind
Low temperatures reduce sebum production and weaken the protective film. The skin feels tight, reddens, and cracks. A rich occlusive treatment — like shea butter or sweet almond oil — forms a protective shield against winter aggressions.
Stress and Lack of Sleep
Cortisol (the stress hormone) stimulates sebum production and promotes inflammation. Lack of sleep slows down nocturnal cell regeneration. Visible result: dull complexion, dark circles, imperfections. A meticulous night routine with regenerating active ingredients like immortelle helps compensate for these effects.
Hard Water
Very hard tap water alters the skin's pH and can cause dryness and irritation, especially on sensitive skin. Rinsing with lukewarm rather than hot water, and immediately applying a moisturizing treatment after cleansing, limits this effect.
Unbalanced Diet
The skin is a reflection of what we eat. An excess of fast sugars, alcohol, or ultra-processed foods promotes inflammation and accelerates skin aging. Conversely, essential fatty acids (omega-3, omega-6), antioxidants, and good internal hydration are the best allies for balanced skin.
The Âme Sauvage Philosophy
At Âme Sauvage, each formula is designed to respect the skin in its uniqueness. Our COSMOS Organic certified skincare relies on carefully selected plant active ingredients — roucou, karanja, immortelle, aloe vera, shea — to meet the needs of each skin profile, without compromising on quality or transparency of formulas.
Because taking care of your skin also means choosing what you apply to it.
🌿 Find the right care for you
COSMOS Organic certified care, adapted to each skin type.
Find my care →