ALL ABOUT SKIN ANALYSIS

HELLO BEAUTIES! 
WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

My name is Elizabeth Hofferden and I will be your Esthetician today. Let's sit and have a talk about skin analysis.

What is a Skin Analysis?

A skin analysis is a visual and physical assessment of the skin. It is a crucial step that needs to be done so your esthetician can create an individualized treatment plan for you which will focus on treating your skin concerns so you receive optimal results.

What Happens During a Skin Analysis?

During a skin analysis you can expect an esthetician to perform a cleanse or double cleanse of the skin which will strip away any sebum, pollution or debris from the skin. A cleanse is done so an esthetician can asses your skin in its natural state without any products. After the cleanse an esthetician will cover your eyes and use a magnifying lamp to visually assess your skin. Your esthetician will also touch and gently pinch your skin to assist with determining your skin type and skin condition(s).

What Are We Looking For?                               

                                                                           

Determining Skin Type

During a skin analysis we will be analyzing:

1. The amount of sebum your skin produces. Your sebum production can be classified as:  

• Very alipidic - your skin produces very little too little oil, and your t-zone is limited to the nose area. 
• Alipidic – your skin produces a little amount of oil, and your oil zone includes the nose to the inside corner of the eyes. 
• Normal – your skin produces a regular amount of oil, and your oil zone is on the nose, inner cheeks and most of the chin.
• Oily – your skin has an overproduction of oil which can normally be felt, and your oil zone includes the nose, cheek area, around the mouth, and on the chin.  
• Very oily/Seborrheic – your skin produces and excessive amount of oil which can be felt and is very visible. Your oil zone would cover the entire surface of the face.  

2. Your ostium (pores) size to identify whether they are:  

• Severe – your pores are very visible and covers the whole surface of the face. 
• Defined – your pores are quite visible and normally covers the nose, cheeks and chin.  
• Medium – your pores are apparent and is normally on the forehead, nose and chin (t-zone). 
• Fine/Very fine – your pores are slightly apparent or invisible and covers the entire surface of the face.  

3. The thickness of your skin, this step is done by gently pinching the skin between the thumb and index finger. This will assess whether your skin is:  

• Thin to thinnish – very little too little skin is felt. 
• Average/medium – an average amount of skin is felt.
• Thick – a large amount of skin is felt.  

4. The texture of your skin, this is done by gently touching the skin. It will determine whether your skin is:  

• Smooth – there is no resistance felt. 
• Slightly smooth – there is minimal resistance felt. 
• Rough – resistance is felt and can be caused by dehydration, comedones (blackheads/whiteheads), milia, seborrhea (red, itchy rash), and/or acne.  
• Granular/Bumpy – resistance is felt and very visible, this can be caused by various skin conditions.  

5. How hydrated your skin is and it can vary from:  

• Superficial dehydration - skin lacks water and suppleness, its often sensitive, brittle and itchy. 
• Normal hydration – skin is hydrated (full) without signs of sagging. 
• Deep dehydration – skin severely lacks water and tone, there are pronounced wrinkles and flabbiness/sagging.    

 

6. The tone and elasticity of the skin, it can be classified as a mild, medium, or severe degree of:  

• Normal/Firm – your skin has good elasticity and has good volume/muscle tone. 
• Atony – your skin has definite looseness and a loss of volume/muscle tone.

Your sebum production levels, ostium size, thickness, texture, hydration, and tone are analyzed to determine whether you have a dry, normal, oily, combination or sensitive skin type.

Determining Skin Conditions

Common skin conditions that may be found are:

• Skin Tags - a small. flesh coloured extension of the skin.
• Sebaceous Hyperplasia - a raised donut shaped bump.
• Keratosis Pilaris - a red, bumpy, itchy spot on cheeks or upper arms that can feel rough like sandpaper.
• Seborrhea Dermatitis - an inflamed, red, and flaky rash (common form of eczema).
• Shingles - group of blisters that form a rash.
• Cellulitis - large area of red or swollen skin that is hot to the touch.
• Folliculitis - inflammation/irritation of a follicle.
• Dychromas - abnormal discolouration of the skin (hypopigmentation/hyperpigmentation).
• Atopic Dermatitis - red itchy skin.
• Eczema - red, itchy, thickened or flaky skin.
• Psoriasis - red, thickened, scaly patches with silvery/white rough skin.
• Pityriasis Rosea - round or oval red patches with a flesh coloured centre, normally accompanied with a sore throat.

Please remember to visit a doctor or dermatologist to receive any antibiotics or medication to treat your skin condition BEFORE booking an appointment with an esthetician.

Contagious skin diseases that may be found are:

• Warts - flesh coloured growth with a scaly looking top.
• Molluscum Contagiosum- clusters of small, flesh coloured papules.
• Herpes Simplex Virus - cold sores or small cluster of blisters.
• Impetigo - small blisters that develop into weeping, crusty lesions.

Contagious fungal infections that may be found are:

• Tinea Pedis -itching, flaking, pink rash normally found between the toes or in moist area of the skin (athlete's foot).
• Tinea Corporis - itchy, ringed, red pattern with elevated edges that resembles a worm under the skin.
• Tinea Versicolor - yeast infection, white splotches of hypopigmentation.
• Bacterial Conjunctivitis - red/pink eyes with crusty or yellow discharge (pinkeye).

IMPORTANT: IF YOU HAVE ANY OF THE AFOREMENTIONED CONTAGIOUS SKIN DISEASES OR INFECTIONS PLEASE DO NOT BOOK AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR ESTHETICIAN, THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PERFORM ANY SERVICES ON YOU UNTIL THE DISEASE OR INFECTION IS TREATED BY A PHYSICIAN!

Why is a Skin Analysis Done?

A skin analaysis is done to determine your skin type, skin condition(s), and to find out where you fall on the fitzpatrick scale. The Fitzpatrick scale is a scale estheticians use to categorize your skin from type 1 to type 6 which helps us determine how sensitive your skin is to UV light, how well your skin can tolerate treatments, and it will also tell us how likely your skin is to end up scarring (hyper/hypopigmentation). With this knowledge your esthetician is able to formulate the best treatment plan for you.

We've reached the end beauties! I hope I was able to answer all of your questions about skin analysis. Next time you go to get a facial, you'll know exactly why your esthetician is performing a skin analysis before treating you and I hope you new understand the importance of this step.

SEE YOU IN THE NEXT ONE!

 TEXTS ABOUT BLOGS

WELCOME BACK EVERYONE!

GUESS WHAT TEXTS ABOUT BLOGS HAVE IN COMMON!

This week I've read through countless articles about writing a blog and I noticed they list so many of the same tips. Every blog should have/be;

.     Magnetic Subheadings & Headings 

• They should be visually appealing and GRAB THE ATTENTION OF THE READER. Subheadings can help readers navigate through a blog.

Quality Content 

• The information in your blog should be well RESEARCHED, ENGAGING and COMPELLING. Remember to write from the heart because the content within your blog is the real meat and potatoes of your overall post.

.  Easy to Read

• Sentences in your blog should be short-and-sweet, write like you talk but exclude any fluff. MAKE YOUR MAIN POINTS CLEAR. 

Visually Engaging  

• Different types of media like a PHOTO, GIF, VIDEO, or ART PIECE helps keep readers engaged with your content.

SHINE THE SPOTLIGHT

AND THE WINNER IS...

How To Write A Good Blog Post: 12 Expert Tips (2023)

• I enjoyed that their article got straight to the point. They provided examples and were visually appealing.

• They gave me the most useful piece of advice which was to "write like you talk"

SHOUT OUT CORNER 

Shout out to Ryan in N9A for the easy-to-read content. 

Shout out to Daniela in N9A for the awesome visuals especially the video you shared about organic fertilizer vs chemical fertilizers. 

Shout out to Chalisa in N9A for your engaging layout, I love the creativity you used writing your subheadings. 

NOTE TO ELIZABETH

In this blog I've worked on making my blog easier to read and making the layout visually appealing like using different fonts, font sizes, and colours.

In my previous blog I was great at using subheadings that helped my readers navigate my blog easier.

JUST ANOTHER OPINION

My Biggest Issue with the World

Poverty Crisis

    

    There are so many issues in 2023 worth discussing but personally I'm extremely interested in exploring the poverty crisis. I feel like this is an issue that we’ve been discussing and trying to fix since at least the world war. I'd like to explore the poverty crisis because I think it's an issue that can be fixed if we all come together to help. We live in a two-sided world. On one side there's the rich, the people who are the most comfortable in the world. The rich never have to worry about where they're going to sleep, how they will feed their families or stress about what they’ll do if they or someone they love gets sick. On the other side is the poor/impoverished, the people who face those aforementioned stressors everyday plus a lot more like not being able to send their kids to school. 

    In my opinion, if the rich and the poor come together and just share what they all have there would be no more poverty. When I say “share” I don’t necessarily mean just hand out money. We should share our resources, if there is an underdeveloped country, why can't we just send construction workers over to help build homes, schools, and workplaces? If there is a country with no food or clean water, we should help get them the resources they need to filter out their waters so it's safe. Help them with animals and plants so they're able to produce their own food over time. There are so many resources we can lend. I know it's a lot easier to say than to do but it's not impossible. Why can't we just do it? 

Something About Skill Building

Essential Skills

    I'd like to speak about the essential skills I am eager to pursue. I am most enthusiastic about pursuing critical thinking and problem solving. I am enthusiastic because those are my strong skills, I excel in moments where I must be creative. I like being able to read a body of work and draw my own interpretation, ideas, and thoughts from it. I am anxious about pursuing my skills in information management because this is a skill that I struggle with the most. When I have a lot of information handed to me, I tend to get overwhelmed. The information begins to get jumbled in my brain and then I'm unable to put my thoughts onto paper correctly. Although I'm anxious I am also hopeful that finally building on this skill will help me flourish. 

Where is my Grade?

Assessment/Grading System

    Let's discuss the assessment/grading system in my WRIT 100 class. When I first reviewed the assessment and grading system I was taken aback. In society we are made to believe that everything we do must have a clear outcome. If I author an essay or a test, there should be a clear numerical mark at the end that lets me know how well I did. We put so much pressure on ourselves because of that number. If we do well it builds our confidence and makes us feel good but if we do poorly it breaks down our self-esteem and makes us feel terrible. Now that I've had more time to think about the grading system in our WRIT 100 class, I'm ecstatic about it. I believe by taking away the numerical portion of grading you're leaving room for us to only focus on doing our best and succeeding. There is no reason to criticize oneself or feel pressured, just show up, do the work and flourish.