Check ‘Yo Skin Before You Wreck ‘Yo Skin

Knowing your skin type — oily, dry, normal, combination, or sensitive — is integral to choosing the appropriate and most beneficial skin-care regimen. Problem is, most women still don't know exactly what type of skin they have, or, for that matter, what their main skin care concerns should be. The root causes of your skin issues are very different from the symptoms (i.e. you may know that you have acneic skin, but not what specifically is causing the breakouts), and you need to know and treat the cause in order to alleviate the symptoms. Short of hiring an on-call dermatologist, how are you supposed to figure all of this out on your own?

Starting this week, you don't have to, thanks to DDF. Consultants from the famed dermatological skin care line will be doing a cross-country tour of Sephora stores nationwide, now through February. They'll be holding one-on-one consultations with consumers where they will be offering a free skin analysis to help you determine what's really wrong with your skin, plus what you can do to fix it.

Customers can head to DDF's Facebook page to get the scoop on when the consultants will be in their area, then call their local Sephora to book an appointment. During their consultation, DDF skin specialists will be equipped with a handheld skin evaluation tool, similar to the one used by derms, to evaluate the severity of your wrinkles and pores, and the evenness of your skin tone. The handheld machine, which is hooked up to an iPhone that contains the evaluation software, is held up to your skin, where it takes a reading and rates you on a scale to determine what your biggest problems are. You are then asked a few lifestyle questions to determine any secondary concerns.

Once the tool has read your skin, it will print out an assessment and a personalized protocol, which you can take to a Sephora representative to help you pick out the products that are best for you. Obviously this is not meant to take the place of regular visits to the dermatologist, but if you're someone who has never had your skin professionally evaluated, this could be a great way for you to get more insight into your skin-care needs. Plus, it's free, and you can't beat that!