Skin Types

Identification of Skin Types

Knowing your skin type can help with just about every skincare decision that you are going to make.  The incorrect products for any skin type can have undesirable effects and can potentially worsen skin conditions, for example acne or dryness or any other skin problem.

You need to understand your skin type and ways to help your skin regain its natural balance.  Each element of your skincare routine could potentially restore the damage caused by sun exposure, aging, harsh cleansers, harsh chemicals, soaps, astringent alcohol use and other harsh abrasives.

Balanced skin is healthy skin!

Each person has a skin type that is classified into the 4 most common types, which are normal, dry, oily, or combination.  In most cases, people have areas that are a combination of oily and dry skin.

Dry Skin:

• Typically looks dull and has less glow and sometimes appears red or flaky.

• The skin may appear rough or scaly or look like alligator skin on some areas of the body.

• The skin is hypersensitive to dry conditions like deserts, heat pumps or air conditioning.

• The skin may feel tight or less elastic without moisturizers.

• The skin typically shows more visible lines and wrinkles at an early age.

• The skin may become itchier or irritated when you use soaps or harsh chemicals, and oils without applying topical hydration or moisturizers.

• Your skin may look and feel tight, but you may also see fine lines around the eyes when you are washing your face or lips.

Hydration and protective skincare products are ideal products for dry skin types.  This includes:

• Cleansers

• Hydrating Serums

• Rich Moisturizers

• Gentle Exfoliators

• Using rich essential oils to fight off the signs of aging and flakiness.

Dry skin is often temporary.  Some people only get it in the winter, but it could be a lifelong condition.

Signs and symptoms of dry skin depend on your age, your health, where you live, the time you spend outdoors, and the causes of the underlying issues.

Dry skin tends to cause one or more of the following skin conditions:

• A feeling of skin tightness, especially after showering, bathing or swimming.

• Skin that feels and looks rough, which has slight itching to severe flaking or scaling or peeling, fine line or cracks that may bleed, infections as well happens with dead dry skin.  If it cracks, this allows bacteria to enter causing infections.

• Dry skin is usually harmless but when it’s not cared for, it may lead to eczema if you are prone to develop this condition.

• Excessive dryness can lead to the activation of this disease, causing redness, cracking, and inflammation.

In most cases, dry skin is caused by factors like hot or cold weather, low moisture in the air and soaking in hot water for too long when bathing.

Normal Skin:

Having normal skin means that your skin is balanced and doesn’t have any ongoing issues or conditions for your age.

The key word is ‘ongoing’!

• Normal skin will experience breakouts under stress but it also has a stable sebum (natural oil) output. 

• It is not prone to breakouts, flakiness, or feeling slick, tight, or dry.

• Normal skin doesn’t feel overly dry, nor overly oily and sebum production stabilization and balance is generally the goal for all skin types, and normal skin has an easier time achieving this.

• Pores are normally small, and the skin’s texture is smooth and it’s less likely to be prone to sensitivity or blemishes.

Normal skin will cause the least issues and will tolerate the widest range of skincare suggestions and products.

Great habits and normal skin are a dream combination!

Normal skin sensitivity is a term that describes well-balanced skin that tolerates a wide range of products and ingredients, including products with chemicals, strong fragrances, or dyes that other skin types might not be able to tolerate.

Oily Skin:

If your skin produces excess sebum (oil) and sweats year-round, you are most likely to have oily skin.

One of the benefits of oily skin is that your skin naturally has oils that protect and moisturize very well, which means they’ll have fewer lines than their peers.

On the downside, oily skin has a tendency to breakout, and it can also be acne-prone.

Fungi and bacteria love oily skin when an excess of oil leads to breakouts.  Oily skin can spiral into a bacterial and fungal infection that can be very difficult to treat.

If your skin is oily, you will most likely be more inclined to have enlarged pores, develop pimples, acne, blemishes, scarring, and you might be prone to prolonged acne breakouts too.

Targeted skincare products and ingredients include antifungals, antibacterial agents, and the appropriate potencies of ingredients like Niacinamide.

Oily skin can get out of control and make you very unhappy, since oily skin usually produces an excess amount of sebum (oil) and can feel slick and greasy, especially in the T-Zone, forehead, nose, and chin areas.

Make sure that you have a good exfoliation habit.  A good cleanser pH balancing from a non-comedogenic toner and the right serums to keep your pores clear and your skin’s surface free of the nasties that are so fond of oily skin.  Skincare products should be rich in natural ingredients.  If they contain oils, they need to be of the finest quality and a small molecular size.

When you have oily skin, you mistakenly think that you are going to completely go oil free, and that’s the way to go.  But this doesn’t consider that you might need a strong emollient-based cleanser so that the natural oils and the sebum can be removed efficiently and gently for your skin.  Going oil free doesn’t allow for high quality essential oils to be used in either serums or moisturizers to make sure that the sebum doesn’t harden in the pores, causing blackheads and pimples to form.

Essential oils bind with sebum!

This is a great way to control blackheads and to keep sebum from hardening, causing oil plugs or with those with oily skin being efficient at naturally producing sebum and skin hydration, which is sweat.  The skin will maintain elasticity longer and will also be able to keep the signs of aging, like deep wrinkles and deep lines at bay.

The oil in the body is secreted through the skin.  If your dietary choices include a lot of oilier foods, this might exacerbate, or it may even be the root cause of oily skin.  This is also true for T-zone oiliness.

If you have food sensitivities, this may cause the skin to overproduce lipids as a reaction to expelling those toxins from shellfish sensitivity or other food sensitivities.

Limit fried foods, oily foods, and some nuts, like peanuts or peanut-based foods and monitor your sensitivity level.  You can also make an appointment with your medical professional for possible allergy testing.

One skin rejuvenating cycle is what you want to do.  Test your sensitivities and take photos throughout the process so that you can mark changes and make sure that you are documenting your skin changes.

Combination Skin:

Combination skin has areas that are dry as well as oily.

This is most known as ‘T-zone skin’ and that’s because it’s usually the area where the most oil is produced. The cheeks tend to be drier than the T-zone area (forehead, nose, chin). 

Combination skin has oil and dry characteristics and it’s a bit more difficult to control.

Some people with combination skin have an oily T-zone and dryness on their cheeks while others may have dehydrated skin that is susceptible to breakouts on the sides of the face and chin area and the rest of their face is fine.

If your cheeks are prone to dryness, you can address this issue with a cleansing and moisturizing routine that is different for the rest of your face, that’s more naturally oily in the T-zone.

The good news in this case is that you can focus on serums and moisturizers as the primary areas and will quickly start to make progress and then extend this to the rest of the areas of the skin.

For combination skin, different areas should be treated differently for optimal results.  For instance, segment your face and use serums and moisturizers that are formulated for your dry areas as well as your normal areas.

It can be very frustrating because you may be using a cream that works perfectly on your cheeks, giving you a fabulous healthy glow, but then around the nose you may get more whiteheads and enlarged pores than before.

By adding a few tweaks to your skincare routine, you can help this tremendously.  For example, don’t apply moisturizer on nasal area and chin, or changing out your serum for that area.  Perhaps, a 5% Niacinamide will stabilize and get the gorgeous combination skin looking fantastic.

Topical niacinamide can inhibit the production of oil, which can be beneficial to those dealing with acne or oily areas of the skin.  It also does the same for dry skin.  So, what you use on the oilier areas may not be right for the drier areas.

The same 5% serum used on your cheeks might become destabilized because that area is drier and very different in its treatment needs.

Sensitive Skin:

The skin is more prone to negative reactions, redness, blemishes, or inflammation.  While there are several diagnosable types of sensitive skin, like rosacea and acne, people with sensitive skin simply react stronger to certain products and stimuli than those with normal skin.

Sensitive skin is often referred to as a skin type, but you can also have oily and sensitive skin, dry and sensitive skin, normal and sensitive skin, or combination and sensitive skin.  So, it’s more like a reaction or a condition rather than a skin type.

Avoid products with benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, and retinol which can stimulate the skin and can cause irritation regardless of which skin type you have.

If you have sensitive skin, it might look red and feel like it’s burning, itching, or dry.  These symptoms may be related to having skin that is more vulnerable to external irritants, and these may be triggered by certain ingredients like dyes or fragrance, or it may be according to some environmental factors.  If you get too hot or cold, your skin may flush or if you eat something that doesn’t agree with you, your skin can become sensitive.

We should narrow down potential irritants or triggers.  What are the common triggers for sensitive skin?

• Soaps

• Dyes

• Detergents

• Fragrances

• Perfume

• Skincare products

• Household products

• Your diet

In addition, exposure to cold and heat, sun, temperature can all cause flareups.

This is how it’s supposed to work:

Cleanse your face, then gently pat dry.  If after 30 minutes your skin appears shiny throughout, you probably have oily skin.  If it feels tight or flaky or scaly, you most likely have dry skin or if the shine is only on your T-zone, you probably have combination skin, and if your skin feels hydrated and comfortable but not oily, you probably have normal skin.

There are several reasons that the oil glands react based on what the skin needs in the short term, which means that this test is heavily dependent on the cleanser you are using.

The skin may be overproducing or underproducing sebum because of medications, products, or ingredients because the skin is stressed or recovering from trauma-like sun exposure.

If your skin feels tight or tingly, the skincare products might be too overpowering for your skin, leading to skin being stripped of natural oils.  This may result in an increase in sensitivity also.

This may be caused by over exfoliation, or it could be an active ingredient that’s making your skin sensitive, such as retinol or salicylic acid.  These can cause adverse reactions to dry skin.

Other causes could be over-stripping the skin with drying alcohol and toners, doing too much cleansing, taking in too much sun or wind or cooling, or heating.

If you are experiencing any of these or see any of these, you must look at the products you are using, each ingredient, the frequency of use and then determine if you are using them as recommended and whether they are the best products for your skin.

What about dry, normal combination skin types?

Dry combination skin is characterized by dry cheeks, dry on the side of the face, the forehead or the chin and an oily T-zone.

Most of the sebaceous glands are in the T-zone area. This means that your T-zone produces more sebum than the rest of your face.  And in combination skin types, there are areas that are drier and some that are normal.

The best suggestion for combination skin types are targeted serums and targeted moisturizers.

For example, facial oils added to your daily moisturizer to supplement the drier areas using glycolic acid in the T-zone and drier areas and also incorporating retinol or vitamin C serum more frequently than in the T-zone or oiler areas and less in the drier areas.

What about T-zone combination skin?

If you have normal to oily combination skin, it means that a product may work for your T-zone but may not be the best for the rest of your face.  You are essentially treating two types of skin when you have combination skin.

At the cellular level, it’s important to take care of your skin.  Eating a skin-healthy diet and refraining from vaping and smoking will make sure these things don’t affect the aging process in a negative way.  It is well-known that cigarettes smoke is a carcinogen, which is toxic to all the body’s cells, especially skin cells.

Poor skincare habits can result in the loss of elasticity.

As a habit, forgetting to cleanse, treat, or moisturize your face at night can have the cumulative effect of damaging your skin.  If you think about it in terms of the environmental impact, the grime, the dirt from the world, including free radicals, which are damaging, will sit on your skin when you sleep.  Makeup products and other products every night sitting on your skin when you sleep are not good because your pores can become clogged. Don’t go to bed with dirty skin.

Normal to oily skin types are ones that are most often difficult to treat.  You may be over stripping your whole face to get the oiliness of the T-zone and have that become under control.  As you can imagine, this is not the best strategy.

Segment the face – treat the T-zone, nose, chin, cheeks and sides of your face.

What about oily skin types?

One of the most misconceptions when you have oily skin is that you can’t or shouldn’t use moisturizer.  People with this skin type think that adding moisturizer on top of their oily skin will make their skin look even more oiler.

Most of the time, if you have oily skin, you have this condition because you haven’t been using serum or moisturizer to help regulate sebum production.

The primary cause of oiliness may be because the skin is dehydrated and may be increasing sebum production and artificially manufacturing too much sebum for the underlying type of skin.

If you add a proper and recommended type of moisturizer or sebum (oil) to your skincare routine, it may train your skin to produce less sebum.

Often, when the sebum is too dry, it compensates by excessively producing oils.  When you hydrate and add hydration, your skin will cut back on sebum production.  There will most likely be a period of adjustment, which will need to be monitored because this no longer has to have a compensation effect for lack of moisture on your skin.

Mature Skin Types:

Skin maturing can happen any time after the age of 25, but it really depends on your unique genetics and how you have looked after your skin and environmental factors.

Some people start seeing the maturing of their skin as young as 25, while others are lucky in their genetic makeup and prudent about how they treat their skin.  You may not see it affect your skin until in your 30’s, 40’s, or older.

Mature skin is defined by the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, loose skin, wrinkles in the neck and eye areas, and the loss of volume in the soft tissue of the face leading to yowling and the nasal labial folds (laugh lines).

Maturing in the skin happens when changes in the body make it more challenging for the skin to retain its youthful glow.  It can be a result of aging when the collagen and sebum production slow down, you are much more at risk for dehydration, which can affect the skin’s appearance when your skin is aging.  Hyperpigmentation or dark spots can also manifest in maturing skin.

Melanin Production and Skin Cancer Assessment:

This is called the Fitzpatrick Scale and Melanin Production Chart, developed in 1975.  It was designed as a scientific method to conduct skin type classifications in terms of its reaction to UV rays and the amount of pigmentation in your skin.

The goal of this information as it relates to skincare, is that it can help predict the overall risk of sun damage and skin cancer.  Once you are aware of your risk level, you can arm yourself with tools to protect your skin.

A person’s Fitzpatrick Skin Type or Photo Type determines the amount of melanin pigment in the skin in a band of six types.

Melanin is a type of pigment that provides color to the hair and eyes.  The primary function of melanin is to absorb harmful UV rays.  In this way, melanin can provide some of the skin’s protection from cellular damage.  You already know that when you go out into the sun, your skin begins to tan and darken.  This is an important part of melanin.

Most people think that a tan looks healthy, but tanning can be extremely dangerous when you understand how harmful UV rays from the sun are that penetrate through the skin and damage the DNA in the skin’s cells.  And that happens just about immediately.

If you remember, from your school days, DNA in our cells are the building blocks that keep our skin cells healthy and functioning properly.

So, how do you use the Fitzpatrick Skin Type Classification?

The Fitzpatrick Skin Type Classification is determined by the constitutional color – white, brown, or black skin, including the effect to sun exposure and UV radiation, which is tanning.  The scale is based on the premise of this – that pale or white skin burns easily and tans slowly. Therefore, it is imperative that you protect your skin against sun exposure.  Darker skin, on the other hand, burns less and tans more easily and is more susceptible to developing post inflammation injuries like brown spots.

The Fitzpatrick Skin Type Scale (6 Categories):

The Fitzpatrick Skin Type Scale is based on sun exposure.

Category One:

• Skin color before sun exposure is ivory

• Eye color is light blue, light green, or light gray

• Natural hair color is red or light blonde

• Reactions: Always burns easily, freckles, and skin peels and rarely tans

Category Two:

• Skin color before sun exposure is fair or pale

• Eye color is blue, gray or green

• Natural hair color is blondish

• Reactions: Freckles, burns and peels, and rarely, if ever, tans

Category Three:

• Skin color before sun exposure is fair to beige with gold undertones

• Eye color is hazel or light brown

• Natural hair color is dark brown or dark blonde

• Reactions: Freckles, burn on occasion, and sometimes tans

Category Four:

• Skin color before sun exposure is olive to light brown

• Eye color is dark brown

• Natural hair color is dark brown to black

• Reactions: Freckles, burns rarely and tans often

Category Five:

• Skin color before sun exposure is dark brown

• Eye color is dark brown to black

• Natural hair color is dark brown to black

• Reactions: Rarely freckles, almost never burns, and always tans

Category Six:

• Skin color before sun exposure is deeply pigmented dark brown to the darkest brown

• Eye color is brownish black

• Natural hair color is black

• Reactions: Never freckles, never burns, always tans darkly

What does your skin type mean for you?

Well, there are some positive and beneficial aspects to UVB rays, and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that 5-15 minutes of sun exposure 2-3 times per week is beneficial for your health.  Sun exposure is detrimental to most people.

The production of Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, which strengthens bones, muscles, and the body’s immune system.  It may also lower the risk of some cancers such as colon cancer.

Sunshine helps some skin conditions as well.

UV light is recommended for the treatment of skin conditions such as psoriasis, which is a condition where the skin cells shed too frequently and develop itchy, scaly patches.  Exposure to UV light slows the growth of skin cells and relieves these symptoms in sufferers of psoriasis.  UV mood elevators often help people with depression, sadness, which is called ‘seasonal affective disorder’, so this is a good thing about UV rays as well. This means that UV rays are necessary for some health benefits, but we must remember that UV radiation is harmful in excess.

Tanning beds and other artificial tanning machines are very harmful for everyone, regardless of skin type. The statistical data suggests that people who are using these types of tanning before the age of 35 are 75 times more likely to develop melanoma in their lifetime.

Your risk of sun damage is also higher if you live near the equator, the closer to the equator you live, the more intense the sun rays are.  So being very vigilant about sun protection is crucial.  Everyone should limit their exposure to UV rays and direct sunlight and always apply sunscreen whenever you are outdoors.

What are the risks and how do I protect my skin based on my skin type?

The following are the risks for the Fitzpatrick Skin Type Categories:

Categories One and Two:

If your skin type is in the categories one and two, you have a high risk of sun damage, sun aging from sun exposure, melanoma, and other skin cancers.

You should follow these guidelines to protect your skin:

• You must have an annual check up with a professional (dermatologist)

• You must always use sunscreen with an SPF 30 or greater when outdoors

• You must limit sun exposure and sit in the shade when outdoors and wear a hat with a wide brim to protect your face and hair, and wear UV blocking sunglasses

• You must wear protective clothing with a UFP rating of 30 or higher if you are planning on being in direct sunlight for an extended period

• You must always check your skin from head to toe every single month for any changes (moles, new skin tags, etc.)

  
  

Categories Three to Six: These skin type categories still have lower but considerable risk of skin cancer from sun exposure, especially if you’ve used indoor tanning beds.  You should still use sun protection even though your risks are lower than is for people with types one and two.

People of color have a lower risk than white or fair skinned people of getting skin cancer, but they still have a risk because the sun still damages everyone’s skin.  No matter who you are or what kind of melanin you have.

Monthly self-exams can help find skin cancer early when a cure is likely.

The Skin Cancer Foundation is a trusted source that notes that black-skinned people who have never been diagnosed with melanoma usually are often diagnosed at a later stage, contributing to a poorer outlook than that of lighter-skinned people.

You should follow these tips to protect your skin:

• Annual checkup with medical skin professional is highly recommended

• Limit sun exposure

• Check your skin from head to toe monthly

• Pay attention to any strange growths

Melanoma is the dominant form among darker-skinned people.  It appears on the parts of the body not often exposed to the sun.  It’s often undetected, and after the cancer has spread, you must make sure all areas of your body are checked.

• Wear SPF 15 or greater (preferably SPF 30)

• Apply sunscreen liberally before going outside and wear a hat with a wide brim to protect your face and head

• Wear protective clothing if you plan on being in direct sunlight for an extended period

• Wear UV blocking sunglasses

  
  

Tanning is a warning sign.  The thing most people think is healthy-looking is, in fact, a huge warning signal.

In the hours after DNA damage formation has occurred in human skin, the cellular alarm responses start going off in response to damaging UV rays and to guard against cellular damage.

The body immediately starts to produce more melanin to protect its cells.  This is what causes a tanned look.  The problem is by the time that the tan appears, the cellular damage has already happened.

Why is this?

The body is only able to produce a certain amount of melanin.  The amount is not nearly enough to protect the skin from further UV damage once the skin begins to tan.  This is an indicator that cellular damage has already occurred. Over time this cellular damage can potentially lead to skin cancer.

The Fitzpatrick Skin Type Classification attempts to shine a spotlight on this risk by correlating the amount of melanin a person has with their certain risk of cellular skin damage.  Sunless tanning is absolutely preferable when we realize that a glowing tan is desirable to many people, especially those with very pale skin.  No baking in the sun, potentially setting you up for skin cancer.  Sunless tanning products are designed to give great color without damaging the skin.  Most high-end skincare companies have at least one sunless tanning product.

Acral Lentiginous Melanoma – this is the most dominant form of melanoma among darker skinned people.  It appears on parts of the body not often exposed to the sun.  It often is undetected until after the cancer has spread, so make sure you check all areas of your body.

When looking at sunless tanning products, be sure they contain ECO certified organic DHA whenever possible.  This ingredient is very high quality so that you get the tanning results that you desire.

How do you repair DNA damage?

Look for products and ingredients armed at reviving DNA damaged collagen deficient skin and/or ward off the damage of UV rays, hours after exposure while repairing DNA are amongst the newest skincare innovations backed by science.

UV damage that triggers cellular mutations is to be avoided.  These can result in precancerous lesions and skin cancer.  This entire cancer growing process has been scientifically studied with the goal of formulating products with DNA repair enzymes.

The question is when should I get screened?

Always have an annual skin exam or screening no matter what your risks are.

An increased risk of cancer should have more frequent exams if and when recommended by your healthcare professional.  Depending on the individual needs and risk, skin screenings could be performed more frequently than an annual exam.

The general rule for the Fitzpatrick Scott Type Scale is the lower the number, the higher the risk and the more vigilant you should be about screenings and checkups.

Skin cancer affects more people than you think.  No one is immune to the risks of UV rays and overexposure to the sun.

These are examples of the names of celebrities who’ve been affected by skin cancer at some point in their career:

Fitzpatrick Type One:

• Diane Keaten – very fair skinned.  At age 21, she was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma on her face.  She’s a spokesperson for L’Oreal and has been very vocal about using sunscreen daily.

• Ewan McGregor – Has had multiple cancerous moles removed, and he stopped smoking and drinking alcohol, avoiding two habits that increase the risk of other cancers too.

• We would put Keaten and McGregor into Category One, which is very high risk for sun exposure damage.

  
  

Fitzpatrick Type Two:

• Hugh Jackman – best known as the Wolverine in the X-Men franchise.  He looks healthy, but in 2013, he was diagnosed with basil cell carcinoma.  Luckily, he caught it early and for the next two years had it and 4 other cancers removed from his skin.  Now he gets a checkup every 3 months to ensure his skin remains healthy.

• Donal Logue – fair skin with reddish hair, best known for his roles in Sons of Anarchy and Vikings.  He noticed a bump on his scalp that turned out to be squamous cell carcinoma.

• Melanie Griffith – A survivor of multiple cancer cases, one from her nose and the other for a different part of her face.

Fitzpatrick Type Three:

• Khloe Kardashian – she has become an extremely vocal spokesperson about this risk of skin cancer.  Even though people think she’s healthy and somewhat of an olive skin, which would put her in Category Three.  She had two moles removed from her back, which was melanoma.

• Caitlyn Jenner – Retired Olympic Gold Winning Decathlon and American TV personality also had basal cell carcinoma removed from her nose.

Fitzpatrick Type Five:

• Bob Marley – in 1981, he died as a direct result of skin cancer that developed under his toenail, which was discovered too late.

This should be a reminder to always check any unusual spots with your dermatologist.

Actor Kerry Washington, in the documentary ‘In the Sun’, said that she wanted to dispel myths about the dangers of UV radiation, even for people of color, specifically because they tend not to check the disease until it’s too late.

This disease accounts for 1-2% of all cancers in the black population because people with darker skin do not think that cancer is a high risk for them, so they tend to find skin cancers much later than lighter skinned people.

What is most disconcerting for black skin that have melanoma is that they have a 67% estimated 5-year melanoma survival rate vs. 92% for whites.

Self-examination is the first line of defense in the war against skin cancer.

People with an increased risk of skin cancer include those who have a suppressed immune system and a person or family history of cancer.  Regardless of the risk, it’s critical for you to talk to your healthcare professional for skin checkups.

Here are some suggestions that dermatologists recommend for cancer self-examination:

• Use a full-length mirror and get a partner to help examine areas that you cannot see.

• Use a camera, a cell phone, or a handheld mirror to examine areas.

• You may want to document any progress in your skin and provide any photos of any changes to your healthcare provider at your checkups.

The best way to see what’s happening with your skin is to document it with photographs in a series over a period of years.  If there’s anything that concerns you or is on the following list, please seek out medical help from a professional immediately.

When doing a self-examination, it is recommended that the person and their partner look for the following things:

• Dark spots, growths or darker patches of the skin that are growing, bleeding, or changing in any way.

• Any area where spots or growths are irregular, especially those that have recently changed, and make sure that you part your hair, look underneath your skin into any folds and that means in detail, examining every single millimeter, every centimeter of your skin on your body.

• Check places that get little sun. Remember Bob Marley?

• Check the bottoms of your feet, toenails, lower legs, groin, buttocks, underneath skin folds, underneath your breasts and look at the skin on your head, neck, and hands.

• Make sure to look inside your mouth too.

• Examine the palms of your hands, check for dark lines and underneath your fingernails.

Performing monthly self-examinations is 100% recommended.  By performing this self-examination, you can find changes to the spots on your skin, which could be skin cancer.

When these are treated, early treatment often gives a great prognosis.  In the early stages, skin cancer can turn deadly, and treatment can be difficult.  But most often if you catch it early, it will not be a death sentence.

Sores that have a difficult time healing, especially if the sores are present on the skin that was injured in the past, or a patch of skin that feels rough or dry, or also target areas as dark lines or spots in or around the fingernails or toenails.

Look at your skin again, from head to toe, examining hard to see areas like the top of your head and your back by using a handheld mirror or ask a partner to check these areas.  Please be very vigilant in doing self-examines.

The Fitzpatrick Skin Type Scale (6 Categories):

The Fitzpatrick Skin Type Scale is based on sun exposure.

Category One:

• Skin color before sun exposure is ivory

• Eye color is light blue, light green, or light gray

• Natural hair color is red or light blonde

• Reactions: Always burns easily, freckles, and skin peels and rarely tans

Category Two:

• Skin color before sun exposure is fair or pale

• Eye color is blue, gray or green

• Natural hair color is blondish

• Reactions: Freckles, burns and peels, and rarely, if ever, tans

Category Three:

• Skin color before sun exposure is fair to beige with gold undertones

• Eye color is hazel or light brown

• Natural hair color is dark brown or dark blonde

• Reactions: Freckles, burn on occasion, and sometimes tans

Category Four:

• Skin color before sun exposure is olive to light brown

• Eye color is dark brown

• Natural hair color is dark brown to black

• Reactions: Freckles, burns rarely and tans often

Category Five:

• Skin color before sun exposure is dark brown

• Eye color is dark brown to black

• Natural hair color is dark brown to black

• Reactions: Rarely freckles, almost never burns, and always tans

Category Six:

• Skin color before sun exposure is deeply pigmented dark brown to the darkest brown

• Eye color is brownish black

• Natural hair color is black

• Reactions: Never freckles, never burns, always tans darkly

Risks for Fitzpatrick Skin Type Category 1 and 2:

• Sun damage

• Skin aging from sun exposure

• Melanoma and other skin cancers

Risks for Fitzpatrick Skin Type Category 3 to 6:

• Lower but still a considerable risk for skin cancer from sun exposure

• People of color do have a lower risk than white or fairer-skinned people of getting skin cancer but the sun damages skin no matter the color