Normal skin is firm, of medium thickness, smooth, soft, and elastic, making it a favorable skin type. Oily skin has larger facial pores and more fat, giving it a shiny, greasy appearance. This skin type is prone to facial infections but is less likely to develop wrinkles. Dry skin is fair, delicate, and prone to dryness, wrinkles, and damage. It is more sensitive to physical and chemical factors and easily irritated.
Additionally, there is a combination skin type, where the forehead and nose are oily (with excess oil and a shiny appearance), while other areas are dry, fair, and delicate, and sensitive to ultraviolet light in sunlight. Approximately 80% of women have combination skin.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), from a constitutional perspective, oily skin is often associated with "excessive internal dampness," whereas dry skin, with abnormally low moisture levels, is associated with "dryness."
For oily skin, it is advisable to consume cool and neutral foods, such as winter melon, loofah, white radish, carrots, bamboo shoots, Chinese cabbage, bok choy, cabbage, lotus root, daylilies, water chestnuts, watermelon, pomelo, coconut, whitebait, chicken, and rabbit. It is best to limit spicy, warm, and fatty foods, such as cream, cheese, cream products, preserved fruits, fatty pork, lamb, dog meat, peanuts, walnuts, longan pulp, lychees, walnut kernels, chocolate, cocoa, and curry powder. It is also recommended to use traditional Chinese herbs that clear heat and expel dampness, such as Poria, Alisma, Pearl, White Chrysanthemum, Coix Seed, Maifan Stone, and Reishi Mushroom.
For those with normal or dry skin, it is advisable to consume more alkaline foods such as beans (like black soybeans, soybeans, and red beans), vegetables, fruits, and seaweed. It is best to limit acidic foods from birds, animals, fish, and shellfish, such as dog meat, fish, shrimp, and crab. It is also recommended to use traditional Chinese herbs that invigorate blood circulation and remove stasis, as well as those that nourish yin, such as Peach Blossom, Peach Kernel, Angelica, Lotus Flower, Rose, Safflower, Goji Berry, Solomon's Seal, Glossy Privet, Eclipta, Lily, Mulberry Parasite, and Mulberry Fruit.