Get Shine Under Control
Oily skin is almost always the result of genetically determined changes in hormone concentrations in your body, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to control oily skin topically. The hormones responsible for oil production in skin are androgens—male hormones—and they are naturally present in both men and women. [129,130,131] When the androgens create a balanced and healthy amount of oil (sebum), it has incredible benefits for your skin, such as preventing dryness, preserving the skin’s healthy microflora, and maintaining hydration. [132,133] If too little oil is produced by the oil gland, it can be a problem; likewise, if too much oil is produced, you end up with a host of skin woes! So, when the oil gland produces just the right amount of oil, it does wonderful things for skin.
If there is too much oil, you end up struggling with oily skin, blackheads, and acne, and the pores become larger to accommodate the excess oil production. Androgens can also cause the pore lining to thicken, which prevents the oil from flowing through and getting out of the pore, and that can lead to blackheads, white bumps, and the conditions that cause acne breakouts. [27,64]
Not sure if you have oily skin? It’s recognizable by a few classic characteristics:
The first step in caring for oily skin is to take a critical look at your current skincare routine.
Products that make your skin tingle (such as menthol, mint, eucalyptus, and lemon) or that contain SD or denatured alcohol may feel like they are helping your oily skin, but they’re actually making matters worse. When your skin tingles, it means it’s being irritated, and irritating or drying ingredients can actually trigger more oil to be produced in the oil gland. [4,27,28,29] This is a very important fact to keep in mind because lots of products loaded with irritating ingredients, especially alcohol, claim to be for oily skin and breakouts. Note that fatty alcohols in skincare (examples are cetyl, stearyl, and cetearyl alcohols) are not the bad kind of alcohols; they are not drying or irritating to skin.
Products that are overly thick and emollient can also make your oily skin worse because they add more oily, waxy ingredients to skin, which someone with oily skin doesn’t need more of.
Any products that are thick and heavy, such as bar cleansers, stick foundations, thick, greasy concealers, or rich, emollient moisturizers or balms, are likely to clog pores. These types of products deposit ingredients that mix with your skin’s abundance of oil, upping the grease factor. They can also be absorbed into pores and get stuck, adding to the problem in the pore lining.
Instead of using these kinds of products, use only liquid, serum, or gel formulations for both skincare and makeup. The excess oil your skin produces will take care of the rest in terms of extra moisture!
The following essential skincare guidelines will help you take control of your skin so you’ll see less oil, smaller pores, and fewer breakouts. For further details on each step, see Chapter 5, How to Put Together the Perfect Skincare Routine.
Cleanse
Use a gentle, water-soluble cleanser twice daily. [58] Ideally, the cleanser should rinse without leaving a hint of residue or leaving skin irritated, tight, or dry. It should also be fragrance-free (fragrance is always irritating, whether it’s natural or synthetic). Avoid cleansers with menthol; its cooling tingle isn’t doing your oily skin any favors! Remember, irritation can trigger more oil production directly inside the pore.
Tone
An irritant-free toner (free of alcohol, witch hazel, and fragrance) that’s loaded with ingredients such as antioxidants, barrier-repair ingredients to help healing, and cell-communicating ingredients to improve pore size is an important step for oily skin. Toners that contain these ingredients can help skin heal, minimize large pores, reduce inflammation, and remove the last traces of dead skin cells or makeup that can lead to clogged pores. Irritant-free is vitally important. We can’t state this enough because irritation can trigger more oil production directly inside the pore. [3,4,53]
Exfoliate
Exfoliation is one of the most important skincare steps for oily skin. Oily skin tends to have an extra-thick layer of built-up dead skin cells on the surface, along with a thickened pore lining. Exfoliating skin’s surface and inside the pore lining is the best way to remove that buildup, reduce clogged pores and white bumps, and at the same time make skin feel smoother.
The best exfoliating ingredient for oily skin is salicylic acid (BHA). Salicylic acid is oil soluble, so it exfoliates not only the surface of your skin but also inside the pore. This action improves pore function, allowing oil to flow easily to the surface, so it doesn’t get backed up and clog the pore. In addition, regular use of a BHA exfoliant will help fade red marks from past breakouts. [33,64]
Another benefit of salicylic acid is that it has anti-inflammatory properties, so it reduces redness and irritation, which helps slow oil production. [33]
A.M. Sun Protection
Even if you have oily skin, a sunscreen is essential for preventing wrinkles and reducing red marks.[9,134] If you’ve avoided sunscreens because the ones you’ve tried felt too greasy or too occlusive, or you were afraid they’d make you break out, we provide product recommendations at the end of this chapter that will change your impression of sunscreens for good.
P.M. Hydration
At night, nix the heavy creams and choose a lightweight liquid, gel, or serum that doesn’t contain pore-clogging, thickening ingredients. Liquids, gels, and serums can provide just enough hydration while treating your skin to the essential ingredients that all skin types need to function in a normal, healthy manner, improving healing and reducing inflammation: antioxidants, cell-communicating ingredients, and skin-repairing substances. [5,15]
Absorb Excess Oil
Even with our recommendations, when you have oily skin there are limitations to what skincare products can do. This means you’ll probably still need to use oil-absorbing products during the day. These are products that contain ingredients such as clays (and it doesn’t have to be a special clay, despite the claims made about miracle versions from volcanoes or rare earth (meaning dirt), silica (which is exceptionally absorbent), various powders, and starches such as aluminum starch.
This is an optional step, but many with oily skin find it helpful. A good trick for nixing excess oil during the day? Blot with oil-blotting papers, and follow with a light dusting of pressed powder with SPF. (Bonus: You’re adding to your sun protection!)
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS FOR OILY SKIN:
Cleansers
Toners
BHA Exfoliants
Daytime Moisturizers with SPF
Nighttime Moisturizers
Oil-Absorbing Products