Which facial suits your skin type?

A facial is not one treatment — it's a category, and the right version of it depends on whether your skin runs oily, dry, combination or sensitive. Here's what each type generally needs.

Oily skin

Oily skin produces more sebum than it needs, which can leave skin looking shiny and make it more prone to clogged pores and breakouts. A facial aimed at oily skin generally focuses on a deeper cleanse, gentle exfoliation to clear dead skin cells that trap oil, and extractions to clear congested pores — followed by a light, oil-free moisturiser rather than a heavy cream, since oily skin still needs hydration, just not more oil.

Dry skin

Dry skin produces too little natural oil and often feels tight, flaky or rough, especially after cleansing. The right facial for dry skin leans toward hydration rather than deep exfoliation — gentler cleansing, a nourishing mask, and a richer moisturiser or facial oil worked in at the end. Overdoing exfoliation on dry skin tends to make the tightness and flaking worse, not better.

Combination skin

Combination skin is oily in some areas — usually the forehead, nose and chin, often called the T-zone — and normal or dry elsewhere, typically the cheeks. A facial for combination skin often treats these zones a little differently within the same session: more attention to clearing the T-zone, gentler, more hydrating treatment on the cheeks, rather than applying one product uniformly across the whole face.

Sensitive skin

Sensitive skin reacts easily — redness, stinging or irritation from products that would not bother most people. A facial for sensitive skin should use gentle, fragrance-free products, avoid strong exfoliants or active ingredients, and generally skip steam or extractions, which can aggravate reactive skin. If your skin is sensitive or you have a diagnosed skin condition, it is worth saying so before the treatment starts rather than partway through.

If you're not sure which you have

Plenty of people sit somewhere between these categories, or their skin changes with the season — oilier in summer, drier in winter, for example. That's normal, and it's exactly the kind of thing worth mentioning when you book: describing how your skin actually behaves (shiny by midday, tight after washing, prone to breakouts around your period, reacts to new products) is more useful than trying to self-diagnose a category before you arrive.

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