beauty

'I tried the 30-minute skin type test. The results were surprising.'

Mamamia's Tried and Tested series is your review of the latest to hit our desks in beauty, health and wellbeing. You won't find any #sponsored content here, just honest, relatable and independent advice. This week, Mamamia's Lifestyle writer and podcast host Em Vernem trials the skin type test hack.

If you've used skincare, you have to ask yourself one question: Do I have dry, oily or combination skin?

When I was new to the game, I had no idea what this meant. Some people would say I have dry skin, some would say my skin is oily and those who weren't sure would say "you're dry with an oily T-zone (you know it's a safe answer)".

As someone who is mediocre at beauty, I finally had enough and decided to get to the bottom of this mystery. I needed to know what skin type I was so that I could address my skin concerns once and for all.

After dumping this very important concern on anyone who'd listen, a friend sent me a TikTok (of course) that shows you how to tell exactly what skin type you have in 30 minutes.

@bambidoesbeauty

Skincare Tip✨that won’t cost you any more money!✨#skintok #skincaretip #skincaretips #skintype #dryskin #oilyskin #combinationskin #dehydratedskin #skincarehacks #skincarehack #skincare101 #skincareforbeginners #skincaretipsforyou #skincaretiktok #skincaretips101 #affordableskincare

♬ original sound - Bambi Does Beauty

What was the hack?

Beauty influencer and TikToker Bambi (@bambidoesbeauty) shared a video where she said that there's a really easy way to work out your skin type that won't cost you any money. Immediately I was sold (even though it was free).

She said to cleanse your skin, wash it off and leave it for half an hour. That's right, just sit there with cleansed skin — no moisturiser, no serums, nothing.

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After 30 minutes, she said that the results would be in.

If your skin feels rough to the touch and a bit scaly, that means you have dry skin.

If you touch your skin and can already feel that it's starting to produce oil, then you have oily skin.

If you have a bit of both — oily and dry in different areas — then you have combination skin (a classic).

She also gives a little tip, saying that if your skin feels tight like you need to slap some moisturiser on ASAP, well then bestie, your skin is dehydrated — and that can affect all three of the skin types above (brb as I go slap on the thickest cream I can find).

Watch: Delta Goodrem on You Beauty. Post continues below.


Video via Mamamia.

How did you go?

After I cleansed my face, I played the waiting game. Straight away… my skin felt tight (uh, oh, no one tell Bambi). I made a mental note that I needed to address this and kept waiting.

After the 30-minute mark, my skin felt super dry to the touch. I thought… okay, I must have dry skin.

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But wait — I was pottering around the house and at around the 40-minute mark my skin felt super oily.

I was then very confused, thinking that I got the timing wrong, or maybe I have combination skin, or maybe I needed to start all over again…

Luckily, I was seeing my facialist the next day, so I asked her. I told her that I always thought my skin was oily because at the end of the day it was so oily I looked like I'd just been swimming in grease, but when I did the skin type test, my skin first felt dry before it got oily.

She told me that my skin type is actually dry. The reason it gets oily is that it's overproducing oil to make up for the dryness (whoops).

Listen: The author of this article talks about the skin-type hack on the You Beauty podcast. Post continues below.

The verdict.

After confirming with my facialist, I guess I can say that this skin type hack works.

She was confident that my skin type is dry and that's the exact result I got from the test. I would say that the 30-minute mark is the most important, so make sure you don't touch your skin under or over that time frame, because it'll naturally start to even out if you don't use any products to help it along.

Emily Vernem selfie.Happy glowy girly. Image: Supplied.

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Thanks to Bambi, I've now changed up my skincare routine to address my dry skin, and without trying to sound too egotistical… I'm glowy af.

have you tried the TikTok skin-type test? Let us know in the comments below!

If you want more beauty content from Em Vernem, you can follow her on Instagram @emilyvernem or listen to her every Wednesday on the You Beauty podcast.

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