12.2 Skin Types, Analysis, Consultation & Records

12.2 Skin Types, Analysis, Consultation & Records

Quick Answer: Type the skin by oil, then note water (dehydration), sensitivity, and sun response (Fitzpatrick). Record what you asked, what you saw, and what you did. If analysis suggests infection or a lesion you cannot identify, you stop under OAC 175:10-7-20 rather than guessing with a mask.

NIC Skin Care and Services (about 10% of the theory exam) opens with consultation, analysis, and documentation: evaluate type and condition, recognize contraindications, recommend products, and keep records. Oklahoma's Board practical is a separate, Board-run performance test; the facial kit list on the Board's cosmetology exam page is packing context (cleansing cream, astringent, moist cotton pledgets for eye protection, spatulas, headband/cap/turban), not a substitute for this written analysis content.

Consultation before you touch

A usable consultation is a conversation with a purpose, not a clipboard ritual.

• Identity and intake — name, date, and how to reach the client if a product reaction appears after they leave.
• What they want — congestion, dryness, makeup-ready finish, or "just a facial." Match the protocol to the goal after you have ruled out stop conditions.
• Medical and product history that changes the face — isotretinoin, topical retinoids, recent peels or medical resurfacing, waxing, known allergies, asthma or claustrophobia (steamers), cold sores, eye infections, and anything the client calls a rash. You are not diagnosing Accutane effects; you are identifying fragile or photosensitized skin that cannot take extraction, strong exfoliation, or heat the way textbook oily skin can.
• Lifestyle clues — outdoor work, tanning, very hot showers, harsh home scrubs. These explain dehydrated oily skin better than a product upsell.
• Consent and explanation — what you will do, what you will not do (no mole removal, no lancing pustules, no Class 3 microdermabrasion), and that infection-control law can end the service.

Wash and examine your own hands before service (OAC 175:10-7-18). Look at the client's skin in good light. If you have reason to suspect a communicable or infectious disease, wash and disinfect your hands, discontinue, and refer to a physician (OAC 175:10-7-20).

Skin types by sebum

These four labels describe oil activity, mainly sebaceous, on the face.

Normal is not "no care needed." It is the absence of a dominant oil imbalance. Seasonal change can move a client from normal toward combination.

Dehydrated is not dry

Dehydrated skin lacks water in the corneum. The surface can look dull, show fine dehydration lines, and feel tight after cleansing. Importantly, oily skin can be dehydrated. Clients who foam-cleanse three times a day, sit in air conditioning, or skip moisturizer "because they are shiny" often present with oil plus water loss. The acid mantle and barrier lipids are compromised, so water escapes (transepidermal water loss conceptually — you do not need a lab number).

Dry (alipidic) means the sebaceous system is under-producing oil. A dry, dehydrated client needs oil and water support. An oily, dehydrated client needs water support and smarter cleanse, not more detergent.

If an item gives you flaky cheeks plus a shiny nose, do not pick a single-word type until you separate T-zone oil from cheek water/oil.

Sensitive skin

Sensitive is a condition more than a sebum type. You may see easy flushing, stinging on bland products, visible capillaries, or a thin-looking corneum. Heat, fragrance, high-percentage acids, rotary brushes on a fast setting, and aggressive extraction are poor matches. Sensitive can coexist with oily, dry, or combination. Rosacea-prone redness is not a dare to prove your massage; OAC 175:10-7-20(d) already bans massage on inflamed surfaces.

Treat sensitive as a reason to simplify: lukewarm steam or none, no coarse scrub, no high-frequency sparking, patch-test new leave-ons, and document what flared last time.

Fitzpatrick scale: sun response, not a diagnosis

The Fitzpatrick phototype scale (I through VI) estimates how skin tends to burn versus tan after sun exposure. Classic teaching:

• I — always burns, never tans; very fair.
• II — usually burns, tans minimally.
• III — sometimes burns, tans gradually.
• IV — burns less often, tans easily.
• V — brown skin that rarely burns.
• VI — deeply pigmented skin that does not typically sunburn the way Type I does.

Use it to talk about photosensitivity, pigment-change risk after inflammation, and why SPF at the end of a facial is not only for Type I. Do not use it as:

• a disease name,
• proof that darker skin "does not need sun protection,"
• a reason to skip analysis of moles or lesions,
• a substitute for asking about recent UV, hydroquinone, or retinoids.

A Type IV client can still have herpes simplex, tinea, or a hypertrophic mole that is outside your scope. Phototype never overrides infection-control law.

In-service analysis

After cleanse, analyze with magnification and light. Look at pore size, comedones, pustules, scale, telangiectasia, scars, and patches of hyper- or hypopigmentation. Palpate gently for texture and for warmth that suggests inflammation.

A Wood's lamp (filtered ultraviolet) is a conceptual analysis tool. In a darkened room, different fluorescence patterns are classically taught as clues — for example, orange-yellow in oily or comedonal areas, brown in some pigmented patches, and lighter or violet tones with dehydration or thick dead-cell buildup depending on the textbook. Treat those color lists as memory aids, not laboratory results. The lamp does not diagnose cancer, does not replace a physician, and does not make a contagious lesion safe to extract. If the lamp (or the naked eye) shows something you cannot explain, you document and refer.

Records you should be able to describe

NIC language includes service history, client card, and medical history. A defensible Oklahoma salon record typically captures:

1. Date and services performed (cleanse, steam, extraction yes/no, mask type, machines used).
2. Products and approximate strengths (especially acids — see 175:10-7-29).
3. Skin type and conditions observed, in your words, without fake medical codes.
4. Contraindications screened and any refusal or referral.
5. Home-care recommended and any adverse reaction from a prior visit.
6. Client signature or acknowledgment according to your establishment's policy.

Creams come out with a spatula (OAC 175:10-7-11(e)), so your record and your sanitation story match: no double-dipping fingers into the jar you will use on the next patron.

Worked consultation

A 28-year-old wants extractions. T-zone is shiny with open comedones; cheeks look tight and flaky; she uses a foaming cleanser twice daily and skipped moisturizer. She reports occasional cold sores but none visible today. Phototype appears Type III. You chart combination + dehydrated, not "dry." You plan a gentle cleanse, modest steam, comedone extraction only on the T-zone with hygiene, a hydrating mask on the cheeks and a clay on the T-zone if the product allows, then moisturizer and SPF. You ask about tingling at the lip border; if a vesicle appears on the day of service, you stop. That is analysis plus Oklahoma stop-and-refer logic, not a canned facial for every head on the pillow.