Are you the kind of woman who scrubs her face with soap and doesn't bother with creams and fancy products? Or have you developed a complicated skincare regime from which you never deviate? No matter which category you fit: careless or careful, it can't hurt to take four quick steps toward preserving your outermost layer's glowing beauty. Your skin deserves at least a bit of attention to keep it in prime condition.

Start by determining your skin type . The right kind of skin care depends on acquiring a bit of knowledge about the raw product: your skin. Is your skin oily, dry, sun-damaged or combination/normal?

Tiptop Shape

∗Step 1: Cleanse—keeping your skin in tiptop shape starts with keeping it clean. Wash your face once a day, before bedtime. You don't need to spend a fortune on fancy products, but avoid the use of bar soaps which can dry out your skin. Instead, go to your local drugstore. If you have dry skin, go for a creamy cleanser. If you have oily skin, buy a clear cleanser.

Washing too often removes the natural pH balance and oils in your skin. Outside of cleansing your face before bedtime, you can splash some cool to lukewarm water on your face in the morning. Never wash the face with hot or very cold water as both can be responsible for causing broken capillaries.

∗Step 2: Exfoliate—this is the step that most people skip over during the course of their skincare routines. But once you convince someone to give exfoliation a try, they're shocked at the immediate improvement they notice in their skin's appearance.

A scrub works to remove the uppermost layer of dead skin. These dead skin cells need to be sloughed away lest they give you a dull complexion. Look for a product that contains small grains to give your skin a gentle scrubbing.

Tight Skin?

∗Step 3: Moisturize—most beauty experts insist that moisturizing the skin, no matter your skin type, is crucial to beautiful, healthy sk...

They say that beauty is only skin deep. Maybe they weren't wrong. If you have beautiful skin, this may be the very first thing people notice when they look at your face.

So, how do you get a glowing complexion? Start by learning what type of skin you have. Most everything you need to know about skin is based on skin type.

The basic skin care types number five: oily, combination, sensitive, dry, and sun-damaged. Skin type, in large measure, is determined by the amount of oil that is produced by your skin. But the amount of oil your skin produces is determined by a variety of factors including diet, medication, skincare regime, stress, and your unique genetic makeup.

Skin Test

In order to determine your skin type, you can do the following test:

Cleanse your face, and then pat dry. Take some pieces of rice paper or you use the tissues that are sold to clean eyeglasses and press them to various spots on the surface of your face. If you have oily skin, the paper will adhere to your skin, absorb some of the oil and turn translucent. If the paper neither sticks nor picks up spots of oil, you have dry skin.

Oily T-Zone

However, if the paper should stick only along what is known as the t-zone (forehead, nose, chin) you have combination or normal skin. This last skin type is very common and is found in 70% of all women.

The various skin types each have their own characteristics:

∗Type 1: Oily skin is shiny and has large pores. This type of skin is susceptible to blemishes and blackheads. There may be a sensation of tightness.

∗Type 2: Combination or normal skin has medium-sized pores, an even, smooth texture, and good color and circulation. There is a tendency toward dry skin along the cheeks while there will be oiliness in the t-zone.

∗Type 3: Sensitive skin is thin and delicate and has fine pores. This type flushes with ease and is susceptible to broken capillaries. Sensitive skin is often beset by allergi...