Skin Type Quiz — What Is My Skin Type?
Answer 8 questions about how your skin behaves and get your personalised skin type result with a recommended skincare routine. Takes about 2 minutes. No sign-up needed, runs privately in your browser.
1. How does your skin feel 2 hours after cleansing (without moisturiser)?
2. How does your T-zone (forehead, nose, chin) look by midday?
3. How does your skin react when you try a new product?
4. How often do you experience breakouts?
5. How does your skin feel after washing with just water?
6. What is your main skin concern?
7. How does your skin look in photos taken in natural light?
8. Which area of your face gets oilier first during the day?
How Skin Type Quiz — What Is My Skin Type? Works
Take this skin type quiz to find out if you have dry, oily, combination, sensitive or normal skin. Get a personalised skincare routine. Answer the questions honestly and the tool calculates your result based on research-backed criteria — everything runs privately in your browser.
How to Identify Your Skin Type
The most reliable way to assess your skin type is the "bare-face test." Wash your face with a gentle cleanser, pat it dry, and wait 2-3 hours without applying any products. Then observe how your skin looks and feels. If it appears shiny all over, you likely have oily skin. If it feels tight or rough, especially on the cheeks, you have dry skin. If only your T-zone (forehead, nose, and chin) is shiny while your cheeks remain normal or dry, you have combination skin. Sensitive skin is characterised by reactions — redness, itching, burning, or stinging — often in response to weather, stress, or products.
This quiz asks about eight different skin behaviours to improve accuracy. Single-question quizzes can misclassify skin type because individual symptoms overlap significantly between types. For example, both oily and combination skin can look shiny, but the distribution is very different. By looking at multiple signals, the quiz produces a more reliable result.
The Five Skin Types Explained
Normal skin is balanced — it produces enough sebum to stay hydrated without becoming greasy, pores are small, and the skin has an even texture and tone. It is the easiest type to care for and tolerates most products well. Dry skin produces insufficient sebum, leaving the skin feeling tight, rough, or flaky. It is more susceptible to fine lines and wrinkles and benefits most from rich, emollient moisturisers. Oily skin produces excess sebum, leading to a shiny appearance, enlarged pores, and a higher tendency for blackheads and acne. Lightweight, non-comedogenic products are key.
Combination skin is the most common type — oily in the T-zone and normal or dry on the cheeks. This means the same product approach doesn't work across the entire face. Sensitive skin is defined by reactivity — it flares up easily in response to ingredients, weather, stress, or hormonal changes. Common conditions associated with sensitive skin include rosacea, eczema, and contact dermatitis. Sensitive skin benefits from minimal-ingredient, fragrance-free formulations.
Building a Skincare Routine for Your Skin Type
Every effective skincare routine starts with three essentials: a cleanser, a moisturiser, and sunscreen. Beyond these basics, the choice of active ingredients depends on your skin type. For dry skin, look for hyaluronic acid, ceramides, glycerin, and squalane to restore and lock in moisture. For oily skin, niacinamide (reduces sebum production), salicylic acid (clears pores), and lightweight gel moisturisers work well. For combination skin, use different products on different zones or choose balanced, gel-cream formulations that won't over-moisturise the T-zone.
Sensitive skin benefits most from a stripped-back routine with barrier-supportive ingredients — ceramides, centella asiatica, and colloidal oatmeal — while avoiding known irritants like synthetic fragrances, alcohol, and physical exfoliants. Introduce new products one at a time, waiting at least a week before adding another, to identify any triggers. Regardless of skin type, a broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher sunscreen every morning is the single most important step for long-term skin health.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 5 skin types?
The five main skin types are: Normal (balanced, few imperfections, not too oily or dry), Dry (feels tight, rough or flaky, pores barely visible), Oily (shiny or greasy appearance, enlarged pores, prone to breakouts), Combination (oily T-zone with dry or normal cheeks), and Sensitive (easily irritated, prone to redness, burning, or stinging with new products). Some dermatologists also recognise Acne-Prone as a sixth category, though it can overlap with oily and combination skin.
Can skin type change over time?
Yes. Skin type can change with age, hormonal shifts, seasonal climate changes, diet, stress, and the products you use. For example, many teenagers and young adults have oily skin that becomes combination or normal by their 30s. Hormonal changes during pregnancy and menopause can also shift skin type. It is worth retaking a skin type quiz after major life changes or if your skin seems to behave differently than usual.
How is combination skin different from oily skin?
Oily skin produces excess sebum across the entire face — cheeks, nose, and forehead all appear shiny. Combination skin only has excess oil in the T-zone (forehead, nose, and chin), while the cheeks and sides of the face are normal or dry. This is an important distinction because people with combination skin should not use the same heavy-duty oil-control products on their cheeks that they use on their T-zone — doing so can strip the drier areas and cause irritation.
What is the best routine for sensitive skin?
For sensitive skin, keep your routine minimal and introduce products one at a time with at least a week between new additions. Choose fragrance-free, hypoallergenic formulations with as few ingredients as possible. Key products: a gentle non-foaming cleanser, a simple hydrating moisturiser with ceramides or niacinamide, and a mineral (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) sunscreen. Avoid alcohol-based toners, synthetic fragrances, and physical exfoliants like scrubs. Always patch-test new products on your inner arm before applying to your face.
How do I know if I have dry skin or dehydrated skin?
Dry skin is a skin type — your skin produces insufficient sebum (oil). It feels tight, rough, or flaky, especially after cleansing, and this is consistent year-round. Dehydrated skin is a skin condition — your skin lacks water, not oil. Dehydrated skin can look dull, feel tight, and even appear oily in some areas (since skin overproduces oil to compensate for lack of moisture). You can have oily skin that is also dehydrated. Dehydration is temporary and improves with hydrating serums (like hyaluronic acid) and drinking more water. Dry skin type requires oil-based moisturisers to supplement missing sebum.