July 31, 2021 by Olga Put Spanish Vocabulary 0 comments

Describe Your Skin and Skin Care Routine in Spanish

Are you inspired to talk about your skin and skin care routine in Spanish?

Perhaps you’re looking to delve into the beauty industry and attract Spanish-speaking clients. Or you want to better understand the Spanish label on a specific skin product.

If you’re traveling to a Spanish-speaking country, you may enjoy a spa treatment where this vocabulary will come in handy.

Whatever your reasons might be, in this article I offer useful Spanish vocabulary and phrases to help you talk about your skin and its needs.

I cover skin types, skin problems, and skincare routines.

Let’s talk about skin in Spanish!

Types of Skin in Spanish – Tipos de piel

Why do we need to know our skin type? To protect it adequately!

There are two ways to classify our skin. The first one, called the Fitzpatrick skin typing, categorizes skin according to the amount of melanin present in it. It helps you to protect your skin from sunburn and UV radiation. The second classification helps you to determine your skin type according to the quantity of sebum it produces and how well it retains moisture.

Knowing the types of skin in Spanish will help you to take care of it appropriately. Imagine you’re on vacation in the Caribbean enjoying the beach and basking in the sun. You might need to go to a local store to buy un protector solar (sunscreen) that suits your skin type. Or you might simply need an adequate makeup remover that won’t dry out your skin.

Here are different skin types in Spanish vocabulary.

Fitzpatrick Skin Types in Spanish

Spanish	English
piel oscura	brown skin
piel muy oscura (piel con profunda pigmentación)	dark brown or black skin
piel morena clara	fair skin
piel morena oscura	light brown skin
piel muy clara	pale white skin
piel clara	white skin

Four Types of Healthy Skin

Spanish	English
piel mixta	combination skin
piel seca	dry skin
piel normal	normal skin
piel grasa	oily skin

You may want to add some determiners to communicate the degree of dryness—for example, piel seca (dry skin) would become piel muy seca to say “very dry skin,” or piel extremadamente seca for “extremely dry skin.”

Skin Problems

Unfortunately, our skin may get hurt and it’s useful to know adequate terms for discussing skin-related problems. These are especially useful to talk about skin in Spanish with a dermatologist, beautician or spa worker.

Spanish	English
el absceso	abscess
la decoloración	discoloration
la sequedad	dryness
la descamación	flaking
las ronchas	hives / welts
la comezón, la picazón	itching
el bulto	lump
el lunar	mole
la erupción / el sarpullido	rash
el forúnculo	skin boil (a furuncle)
la lesión cutánea, las llagas en la piel	skin sore
el papiloma cutáneo	skin tag
la verruga	wart

Facial Skin Problems

Spanish	English
el acné	acne
el punto negro	blackhead (open clogged pores)
la imperfección	imperfection
las pápulas	papules
el grano	pimple (pustule)
las pústulas	pustules
las manchas	spots
el punto blanco	whitehead (closed clogged pores)
la espinilla, el barro (el barrillo)	zit, pimple

Skincare Vocabulary

Here are some more tools to describe your skincare routine in Spanish presented in three categories:

Adjectives
Verbs
Nouns

Adjectives to Talk about Skin in Spanish

These descriptive words help you to better understand labels on skin products that you find in beauty stores as you’re visiting a Spanish-speaking country:

Spanish	English
envejecida	aged
delicada	delicate
apagada	dull
extremadamente sensible	extremely sensitive
flácida	flaccid
luminosa	luminous, clear
mate	matte
minimamente sensible	minimally sensitive
moderadamente sensible	moderately sensitive
hinchada	puffy
radiante	radiant
sensible	sensitive
tersa	smooth
suave	soft
muy sensible	very sensitive
maquillada	with make-up

Verbs to Talk about Skin in Spanish

These verbs appear on the application instructions for beauty products as well as in the descriptions for skincare routines.

Spanish	English
limpiar	clean, cleanse
aclarar, enjuagar	rinse
exfoliar	exfoliate
hidratar	hydrate
masajear	massage
preparar	prepare
reducir (los poros)	reduce
desmaquillar	remove make-up
cuidar	take care
tensar	tighten
tonificar	tone
usar	use

Nouns to Talk about Skin in Spanish

You might have already come across a few of these useful Spanish nouns! They’re a must if you plan to discuss your skincare routine and skin in Spanish.

Spanish	English
la limpieza	cleansing
las células muertas	dead cells
el dermatólogo / la dermatóloga	dermatologist
la exfoliación	exfoliation
la cara, el rostro	face
la mascarilla facial	facial mask
el cuidado facial	facial care
la hidratación	hydration
las impurezas	impurities
el maquillaje	makeup
el masaje	massage
los poros	pores
zona T (la frente, la nariz, la barbilla o el mentón)	T zone (forehead, nose, chin)
la tonificación	toning
el tratamiento	treatment
las arrugas	wrinkles

Skincare Routine in Spanish – Example Phrases

What’s your skincare routine?

Here I cover some powerful skincare routines using the Spanish vocabulary you explored above.

Encourage yourself to understand each section in Spanish before reading the complete translation beneath it!

1. Rutina para reducir los poros abiertos:

Remover el maquillaje antes de ir a dormir para evitar la obstrucción de los poros.
Exfoliar el rostro cada semana para eliminar las células muertas.
Aplicar una mascarilla facial cada semana.
Hacer baños de vapor para abrir los poros del rostro y eliminar las impurezas.
Aplicar cubos de hielo sobre el rostro para tensar la piel.

Routine to reduce open pores:

Remove makeup before bed to avoid clogging the pores.
Exfoliate your facial skin every week to remove dead cells.
Apply a facial mask every week.
Do face-steaming to open your facial skin pores and remove impurities.
Apply ice cubes to your face to tighten the skin.

2. Cuidado facial básico

Desmaquillar
Poner mascarilla
Aclarar
Masajear
Hidratar

Facial Care Basic Routine

Remove make-up
Apply a facial mask
Rinse
Massage
Hydrate

I hope you enjoy pampering yourself with this basic skincare routine!

If you want to know more vocabulary and phrases related to the beauty industry, check out the following articles:

Time to Practice With a Native Speaker!

Learning a new language through topics that interest you is a great way to reach fluency faster. If you can relate a new language to your hobbies and interests, it will be easier to motivate yourself.

If you work or plan on working in the beauty industry, knowing Spanish can land you more clients and your network will highly appreciate your new language skills. Did you know that according to a study conducted by The Economist, a person can earn anywhere from $50,000 to $125,000 extra just by knowing a foreign language alone?

If you’re determined about improving your language skills, sign up for a free class with one of our amazing, Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala and start practicing all you’ve just learned about skin in Spanish.

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Ready to learn more Spanish vocabulary? Check these out!

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Olga Put

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

I'm a Spanish philologist, teacher, and freelance writer with a Master's degree in Humanities from Madrid. I speak Polish, Spanish, and English fluently, and want to get better in Portuguese and German. A lover of literature, and Mexican spicy cuisine, I've lived in Poland, Spain, and Mexico and I'm currently living and teaching in Madeira, Portugal.