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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