In this article:
What is normal skin?
Skin care for normal skin
Do I need skin care if I have normal skin?
How can I improve my skin health?
What is the best thing to put on your skin before bed?
Most skin care advice revolves around attempting to fix, minimise or control whatever skin type or skin concern you’re struggling with.
But what if you’re one of those lucky people who doesn’t have any concerns to tackle or reign in? You might have truly normal skin, meaning your skin has no apparent concerns or problematic skin type (excess oil, dryness) to address (1,2).
If the above sounds like the perfect description of your skin, we have a research-backed guide to normal skin and how to care for it, as well as an essential skin care routine below!
What is normal skin?
The best way to think about normal skin is that it ends up being a subtle matter of degree, preferences and expectations. In other words, even those with seemingly flawless skin still can feel a bit of dryness or a bit of oiliness or see signs of combination skin with occasional clogged pores.
Think about it as mostly normal skin plus a little bit of other minor, barely detectable concerns. It also always depends on the skin care products you’re currently using. Now let’s discuss what kind of normal skin products you should consider using. For the little bit of occasional dryness you experience, consider products aimed at normal to dry skin. For the little bit of oiliness of clogged pores you experience, choose products labeled as being for normal to oily or combination skin.
You can also make decisions based on your personal preference. You may like somewhat more enriched or creamy-feeling products while others with normal skin may prefer weightless fluid-textured products. When skin is normal, texture preference is more about options than necessity: you have more flexibility on the products that you choose compared to those skin types on the extreme ends of the spectrum.
Mostly what you want to avoid are products that will cause problems, creating a skin type you don’t want. If you’re using products that contain irritating ingredients or abrasive scrubs or stiff-bristled cleansing brushes, you'll be damaging your skin. This throws your naturally normal skin into a state of disorder, creating more problems than it solves.
Skin care for normal skin
Skin care that caters to normal skin focuses on maintenance, fortification and protection. Instead of putting all its energy into skin concerns, a skin care routine for normal skin’s focus is on really dialing into skin health and giving skin the ingredients and products it needs to help protect from damage.
Do I need skin care if I have normal skin?
Yes! Having normal skin doesn't mean you don't need a skin care routine. It simply means you need a skin care routine with different pillars than those regimens that cater to oily or dry skin.
Normal skin care routines should provide skin with all the help it needs to defend itself. Why wouldn’t you want to strap on some armor and assist skin with its daily battle against environmental stressors?
Think of it this way, you may not see signs of sun damage from not wearing sunscreen or other skin care problems due to seasonal weather changes, environmental assault or mid-life changes but they are affecting skin, nonetheless. But, these pro-ageing agents will eventually chip away at skin’s health and the evidence will show up on your face in the form of an uneven tone, loss of firmness, dark spots and fine lines and wrinkles (3).
A skin care routine that includes skin-beneficial ingredients like antioxidants and SPF can assist skin in the fight against sun and environmental damage.
That means a healthy skin care routine is critical for you to start giving to your skin now. As the saying goes, "An ounce of prevention…"
How can I improve my skin health?
The best possible way to care for normal skin is to follow the basic steps every skin type needs, including daily use of a gentle, effective cleanser, a non-irritating AHA or BHA exfoliant, sunscreen with SPF and a beautifully formulated moisturiser with skin-restoring and skin-soothing ingredients.
It can also help to add an antioxidant serum to your skin care routine since even normal skin needs a robust number of antioxidants to keep it defended against the environment and aid in visible repair.
Our Hyaluronic Acid Booster and 7% Ectoin + Hyaluronic Acid Milky Hydrating Serum are excellent options to shore up skin’s hydration. Hyaluronic acid is well-known for its ability to draw moisture into skin, while ectoin helps skin retain moisture and defends it against environmental stressors. Our 1% Retinol Booster can help maintain the contour of your normal skin. Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Corey L. Hartman agrees, “these are the basic components of a skin care regimen focused on prevention and benefit everyone regardless of skin type.”
If your normal skin type leans slightly or occasionally dry, choose our creamy, richer-textured SKIN RECOVERY products; if it leans slightly oily or combination, the lighter weight, more fluid textures of our SKIN BALANCING products will serve you well; if you’re looking to restore a bouncy, plump look to your well-balanced, normal skin, the peptide-packed, gel-cream Pro-Collagen Peptide Plumping Moisturizer is a great choice.
As mentioned above, those with normal skin can also choose based on your texture preference.
What is the best thing to put on your skin before bed?
The best thing to put on your normal skin before bed is an antioxidant serum and skin-replenishing moisturiser that will encourage recovery and barrier fortification while you sleep. Simply apply as the last step in your nighttime skin care routine! If you wish to add an eye cream because the skin around your eyes looks and feels drier, that would be the last step of your before-bed skin care routine.
If your normal skin needs some extra love, treat it to a sleep mask like our Super Hydrate Overnight Mask. It reinforces the smoothness and radiance of skin’s surface, allowing you to feel confident your skin’s ready to face all that it’ll encounter when you wake up.
Now that you have a good idea of what normal skin really is, how to identify it, and—most important—how to care for it, you'll be able to make the best decisions about which skin care routine products to buy to keep your skin in top shape. With the products recommended above, you'll be giving your skin what it needs to look younger and stay normal for as long as possible.
Regardless of how perfect your skin is now, getting older, visible effects from cumulative sun damage from unprotected sun exposure, accumulated environmental damage and mid-life changes to your skin will eventually show up and take a toll. We want you to keep your skin healthy, energised, and vibrant to ward off the signs of ageing and other problems as the years roll by, but it’s also important to know your skin type and routine will change with time.
Learn more about skin tips.
References for this information:
- Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, March 2022, pages 444–452
- Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, February 2021, pages 677–683
- Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, January 2015, ePublication
