Best Products For Combination Skin at Sephora
Here Are the Products Sephora Shoppers With Combination Skin Can’t Stop Raving About
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Why can it be so unbelievably difficult to control combination skin? It's like some areas look like they've been rubbed with butter while others offer a gift that can best be described as face dandruff. To make matters worse, combination skin is not only unpredictable from one person to another, but also (seemingly) from day to day.
Luckily, there is skin care at Sephora that addresses the underlying problems of combination skin, even if those problems aren't totally uniform for everyone. In fact, there are certain clues that let you know a product may just help your oily-slash-dry-slash-sensitive combo complexion.
First, you'll want to gently cleanse and balance your skin. You'll probably want to use something that's oil- and alcohol-free, and ideally noncomedogenic, too. Then, if you're dealing with other skin issues like acne or hyperpigmentation, you'll want to treat those with milder formulas for minimal (new) irritation. Finally, you'll want to tackle dry spots with lightly hydrating products that won't quickly clog pores, and also mattify the places where oil has made itself at home.
Here are the products that Sephora shoppers love for doing all of those things for them. Find top-rated skincare products to cleanse, moisturise, and treat your own combination skin ahead.
Milk Makeup Vegan Milk Cleanser
It's important to look for balancing face washes, like this creamy Milk Makeup Vegan Milk Cleanser ($30) that uses (surprise, surprise) a combination of milks like oat, fig, and argan to cleanse and hydrate at the same time. It's also earned a 4.7-star rating from other Sephora shoppers, with several mentioning that a small amount goes a long way on acne-prone combination skin that also happens to be sensitive.
Farmacy Clean Bee Ultra Gentle Facial Cleanser
Gentle cleansers are the name of the game when it comes to combination skin. After all, it's a a delicate dance of (potentially) clogging pores with a lush face wash and also (possibly) stripping skin with a cleanser that's more powerful. This top-rated Farmacy Clean Bee Ultra Gentle Facial Cleanser ($28) is rich in honey, which soothes and offers protective antioxidants to keep skin healthy, all while removing makeup, oil, pollution, and other gunk from your face.
Clarins One-Step Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser With Orange Extract
You know when you need to get your face cleaner than with a regular cleanser but know your skin can't handle a harsh scrub? Well, meet this nonabrasive Clarins One-Step Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser With Orange Extract ($38). It's a great option for anyone with combination skin because it manages to exfoliate without stripping skin's moisture, and adds in orange and moringa seed extracts to leave it baby soft, too.
Nuface Prep-'n'-Glow Cloths
There's no oil or alcohol in the Nuface Prep-'n'-Glow Cloths ($10-$20), so your dry parts won't get more stripped and your oily areas won't find even more oil added. If your combination skin is also sensitive, the smooth cleansing side can be used solo (without its bumpy, exfoliating reverse). What's even better is that these cloths are packed with hyaluronic acid and skin-protecting antioxidants and minerals that stay on afterwards to continue nourishing your complexion.
Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant Exfoliator
Yes, this Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant Exfoliator ($15-$59) is technically an exfoliator, but it's true bright spot comes from the salicylic acid inside. Many acne treatments can irritate combination skin that leans dry, but this product adds a mild formulation of the pore-unclogging, oil-reducing acid to a rice-based powder with colloidal oatmeal to calm any potential inflammation that may pop up.
Biossance Squalane + Glycolic Renewal Mask
This top-rated Biossance Squalane + Glycolic Renewal Mask ($68) is a mask that's also a gentle peel, as AHAs inside brighten your complexion, resurface skin, and support natural cell turnover. Don't worry if that sounds harsh: moisture heroes squalane and hyaluronic acid are there to step in wherever skin needs a little extra plumping love.
First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Wild Oat Hydrating Toner
If the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear toner is alcohol, you're not alone. And if that ingredient scares you and your combination skin, you're definitely not the only one there either. However, this fragrance-free First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Wild Oat Hydrating Toner ($22) not only reduces redness and relieves irritation, it also helps further balance skin after cleansing with zero alcohol inside.
Primera Miracle Seed Essence
The highly concentrated Primera Miracle Seed Essence ($58) is the product that goes on after you get your combination skin cleaned (and toned) so it's ready for anything that comes next, be it additional products or environmental stressors. Other Sephora shoppers are loving how this essence smooths skin and brings out an even glow that may have seemed gone for good.
Sunday Riley Good Genes All-in-One Lactic Acid Treatment
This Sunday Riley Good Genes All-in-One Lactic Acid Treatment ($85-$122) takes on dark spots and enlarged pores like it's no big deal. Not only does the lactic acid clarify skin, but there's also prickly pear extract inside to bring about a calmer, more even-toned complexion, and, dare we say, skincare outlook, too.
Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Hyaluronate Serum
Combination skin can also really benefit from an all-over hydrating serum like this Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Hyaluronate Serum ($50). The lightweight, noncomedogenic product's consistency is closer to pudding than a traditional serum, and is 97-percent naturally derived with lipids and a seaweed-sodium hyaluronate blend to bring back skin's moisture and fatty acid levels organically.
It Cosmetics Confidence in a Gel Lotion
Looking for gels or gel lotions (instead of rich creams) is a good way to go when thinking about combination skin. It Cosmetics Confidence in a Gel Lotion ($36) is a top-rated, oil-free moisturiser with ceramides and glycerin to keep skin hydrated — and leave your complexion prepped for makeup after it dries.
Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel
The top-rated, dermatologist-developed Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel ($5-$39) can balance oilier areas on combination skin with no additional oil coming from this lightweight gel. Dry spots are also soothed as ingredients like barley and cucumber extract work to strengthen skin's natural barrier and its ability to retain moisture.
Origins Original Skin Matte Moisturiser With Willowherb
Tackle that t-zone head on with this Origins Original Skin Matte Moisturiser With Willowherb ($21-$36). The water cream visibly diminishes pores and leaves a lasting matte finish on the t-zone (or any other oily problem spots), according to high praise from other Sephora shoppers.
Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Dream Night Cream
This Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Dream Night Cream ($19-$48), on the other hand, offers extra hydration for combination skin that's on the drier side overall. It's a lightweight, overnight detoxifier that uses the brand's potent "super lotus" — extracted from the entire lotus plant with antioxidants to fight the signs of ageing. There's also peach leaf extract to help your skin recover from additional stress, all while you're getting some shut eye.
Laneige Water Bank Hydro Gel
Instead of a heavy overnight mask that could result in clogged pores by sunrise, opt for something water based like this Laneige Water Bank Hydro Gel ($38). In this case it's vitamin-rich, green mineral water coming from kale, watercress, and beet that hydrates skin as it cools and nurtures.
Indie Lee Squalane Facial Oil
Yes, even if you have oily spots on your combination skin, you can still use a face oil . . . the right one, that is. You don't want anything too heavy, so this noncomedogenic Indie Lee Squalane Facial Oil ($34) is a good choice. Top rated by Sephora shoppers and made of 100-percent pure, olive-derived squalane, it manages to help with oil control at the same time as it lightly hydrates your skin.
Shiseido Urban Environment Oil-Free UV Protector Broad-Spectrum Face Sunscreen SPF 42
When it comes to sun protection, you want an option that's oil-free and lightweight like this Shiseido Urban Environment Oil-Free UV Protector Broad-Spectrum Face Sunscreen SPF 42 ($35-$48). It does double duty as it also absorbs excess sebum, resulting a matte finish (along with that UV protection). There's no chalkiness or stickiness, and it serves as a smoothing, pore-reducing primer for makeup, too.
