Why the subjective assessment of oily skin is a big misconception

There are a large number of skin care products, both for oily and problematic, as well as for dry and atopic. However, it is difficult for a consumer to decide what type of skin he has without consulting a specialist, and even more so to choose cosmetics to care for it. In other words, most cosmetics are purchased randomly by patients, and their subjective ideas about their skin type are often false.

Therefore, such an assessment of skin type is inaccurate, and, moreover, it can be affected by seasonal fluctuations in the activity of the sebaceous glands. Read on estet-portal.com which methods for assessing sebum secretion are reliable and can be used in the clinical practice of a specialist in aesthetic medicine.

Basic methods for assessing oily skin

There are several main methods for quantifying sebum secretion:

•    extraction - the technique is based on the dissolution of the surface lipids of the skin in the area of ​​application of the solvent. After sampling, the solvent is evaporated and the remaining lipids are analyzed;

•    tissue paper method. Tissue paper soaked in ether is applied to various areas of the skin in the forehead and fixed with an elastic band, then a quantitative analysis of the secretion is carried out;

•    study method using a tape that absorbs the secret of the sebaceous glands — Sebutape.

There are many ways to post-analyse this test, but the most common is to visually evaluate film transparency on a scale of 1 to 5.

Sebutape is a more accurate and faster method for assessing sebum secretion using a lipid-absorbing polymeric film that, after contact with sebum, becomes permeable to light.

Only one method is used for qualitative assessment of sebum secretion — chromatography.

Oily skin of the face: causes Sebum secretion measuring devices

To date, two main devices have been developed for assessing oily skin:

•    Lipometer

A photometric device that analyzes the lipids contained in the sebaceous glands. The evaluation is carried out using a diode light. The main disadvantage of this apparatus is that it requires careful calibration.

•    Sebometer
The operation of the device is based on the increase in the transparency of a moving ground glass after lipids have been applied to it. Analysis period 30 s. To work with this device, replaceable tapes are used, which distinguishes it favorably from the lipometer, which must be washed after each measurement.  

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! Parameters for assessing sebum secretion

Secret sampling is carried out in certain areas of the face during the time necessary for the complete secretion of sebum, for example, in the forehead area it is 5-6 hours.

The second parameter is the rate of glandular secretion. Allows you to determine the dynamics of sebum secretion by sebocytes.

Also, to quantify the secretion of the sebaceous glands, the time of complete renewal of their secretion, the rate of follicular and constant excretion of the sebaceous glands are determined.

Knowing these indicators, the doctor can clearly select cosmetics for oily skin care, determine whether the patient is in additional therapy, and also has the ability to monitor the condition of a person's skin during treatment.