What are the best skincare products for combination skin?Updated a year ago
Those with combination skin often have the hardest time choosing skincare products. Many brands only market their products to the skin types on the far ends of the spectrum. Even if brands were to recommend products specifically to combination skin, there’s so much variation within the combination skin category that there’s no guarantee that those products would work for you.
With that in mind, you’ll probably do best with products that don’t market to specific skin types but instead focus on solutions:
- Providing hydration
- Cleansing gently
- Protecting the skin
- Addressing any other specific concerns, like signs of aging or acne
With each new product, focus on how your skin responds and how it feels after you’ve used it - you’ll usually be able to know if you’re over-cleansing or moisturizing adequately within a few days.
By focusing on a goal-oriented approach while making sure that your products balance each other out, you’ll be able to build the perfect skincare routine for your combination skin in no time.
With that out of the way, here are our tips for choosing specific skincare products for combination skin.
Moisturizer for combination skin
Finding the best moisturizer for combination skin takes balance. You don’t want a product that feels too rich for your skin, but you still need an adequate level of moisture.
Often, the texture of a moisturizer doesn’t have a major impact on how well it moisturizes, but it does impact how well you perceive it to moisturize. With combination skin, chances are that creams with a light to medium texture, like our Hydration Cream, will feel nicest on your skin.
That said, you may find you need to change your moisturizer from season to season, choosing something lighter in summer and a little richer in winter. Gel moisturizers often feel great when your skin is at its oiliest.
You’ve probably also heard suggestions that you use different products on different parts of your face. This suggestion isn’t very practical if taken at face value. That said, one way you can apply it is by using a light moisturizer all over your face, and then layering something a little thicker and richer only over the areas where you need more moisture, like your cheeks or under the eyes.
Cleanser for combination skin
Cleansing is an important skincare step, especially when your skin is feeling extra oily, but it’s also very easy to overdo.
Improper cleansing can disrupt your skin barrier, which will lead your combination skin into bad extremes. You can end up with areas of significant dehydration and other areas of excessive oiliness.
You can avoid this disaster by choosing gentle, light cleansers that’ll remove excess oil while keeping your skin feeling supple and strong. Look for gel or foam formulas that advertise themselves as hydrating or gentle.
When you do try a new cleanser, focus on how your skin feels. A great cleanser will leave your skin feeling almost the same as it did before cleansing. If you feel any tightness or irritation, it means the face wash you tried is too aggressive.
If you’re looking to correct texture issues, or you find that your skin resists absorbing skincare products, you can look for a cleanser that’ll double as an exfoliator. We champion simplified yet advanced skincare routines at Protocol, which is why our AHA cleanser is designed to remove excess oils, keep the skin supple and hydrated, and remove excess dead skin with a combination of alpha-hydroxy acids.
If your skin is prone to breakouts, you can also look for a cleanser with salicylic acid, which is a similarly gentle exfoliant that unclogs pores and helps fade blemishes.
Serums and treatments for combination skin
When it comes to choosing serums, your skin type doesn’t matter much. Serums give you the opportunity to address those niggling concerns you might be dealing with. The best serums for combination skin are designed for maximum absorption, so their textures tend to be light and appropriate for all skin types.
The best treatment ingredients, like retinol, vitamin C, and niacinamide, are beneficial for almost everyone, regardless of skin type. These ingredients help improve the way the skin behaves at a very basic level, which is especially useful when you have combination skin and find it difficult to balance your skin’s different needs.
For example, retinoids like the retinaldehyde in our Retinol Serum work by boosting the skin’s own self-renewal mechanisms. This makes them multi-beneficial: They can reduce signs of aging, but also help fortify the skin, speed up the healing of breakouts, and correct texture issues.
Niacinamide, another ingredient in our retinol serum, is slightly less active but still highly beneficial. It boosts the skin’s ceramide levels, which helps with dryness and dehydration, but it also reduces the overproduction of oil. In other words, it’s the ultimate balancing ingredient for combination skin, since it treats both dryness and oiliness at the same time.
Sunscreen for combination skin
A great sunscreen is a must regardless of skin type. For those with combination skin, the best sunscreens will fit seamlessly into your morning routine and feel great on your skin.
So what does a great sunscreen for combination skin actually look and feel like? There’s a lot of room to play around!
You may prefer a rich, moisturizing sunscreen in the morning, to save you the need for a daytime moisturizer - especially in winter when your skin can be more dry. On the other hand, you might prefer a more mattifying sunscreen in summer when your skin feels oily.
If you want to boost the efficacy of your sunscreen, our Vitamin C Superserum is another product to consider. Vitamin C helps to keep sunscreen stable while also protecting the skin from other external aggressors like pollution or cigarette smoke.