If you have oily skin and want healthy-looking skin, that doesn’t feel greasy all the time, the skincare routine presented here will be of help. It is important to build a skincare routine for oily skin that you can stick with. There are a lot of products on the market that promise you a mattified, purified, and clean complexion but is important to know what to look for and where to start.
With every skincare routine in general you should make sure to incorporate the steps and products gradually so your skin gets accustomed to the new products. This way you can also see if you have any reaction to some ingredients and/or products.
In this post, I am going to tell you what is oily skin, what ingredients and products help treat and prevent oily skin as well as showing you a step-by-step skincare routine for oily skin that can help keep in check your oily skin.
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The skincare routine that is best for your skin is totally dependent on your skin type so make sure first to find your skin type. Also, keep in mind that one product that works for one person might not work for another so you must test all products for yourself.
What is oily skin
Oily skin is skin overproducing its natural oils. Our sebum is produced to naturally lubricate and moisturize our skin. If our skin is properly moisturized our sebum realizes this and it stops step by step overproducing even more oil. So, sebum production can be regulated if you find a proper balance of hydration and moisturization.
If you use too many mattifying lotions or drying alcohol toners while trying to get rid of oily skin, the sebum production will only increase more. Our skin will figure out that we are drying the skin and it will just start to have more and more sebum. Mattifying lotions do get you rid of the greasy feeling on the surface of the skin but they don’t treat the underlying issue.
Tip: Make sure you are not over-exfoliating your skin as this will disrupt your skin barrier function.
Ingredients that help regulate sebum production
1. Niacinamide
Also known as vitamin B3, is a holy grail ingredient, great at anti-aging, retaining moisture as well as helping boost the ceramides production and synthesis in your skin, which results in better skin hydration, which in turn helps to regulate sebum production. Niacinamide is the best ingredient to have in your skincare products for regulating sebum production if you have oily skin.
2. Tea Tree Leaf Oil
Tea Tree is a powerful antioxidant with antiseptic, antifungal, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties as this study from the American Society for Microbiology suggests. It also helps regulate your overall sebum production making it a great ingredient for people with oily skin.
How to build a skincare routine for oily skin
1. First cleanse – oil/balm cleanse or micellar water cleanse
One of the most important steps in your skincare routine should be to ALWAYS cleanse your skin at the end of the day. Yes, that means also when you are coming home dead tired from a party or drunk. Always cleanse your face before going to bed. This is one of the best recommendations that I can give you. It will help you a LOT to have a clear complexion and stay away from acne.
At night, your skin is trying to repair itself. It will try to repair all the damage made by pollutants, oxidation, and sun that occurred throughout the day. You want to make sure that it has the best start and that is by cleansing it properly and giving your skin some love in the form of massage and ingredients that it needs.
You should always wash your face with water after using any kind of micellar water, even those that claim it’s not necessary to do it. It is never ok for the surfactants and detergents to stay so long on your skin.
One thing that I don’t like about micellar water is that you need to swipe the cotton pad all over your face and in time this can irritate your skin. The best micellar water wash for people with oily skin that removes make-up and sunscreen is in my opinion Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. It is suitable for all skin types, even people with sensitive skin can use it. It is perfume-free and it removes make-up very easily. Don’t forget to wash your face after using any micellar water!
I would suggest you go in with a balm as a first cleanse to remove the make-up, the sunscreen that I hope you are wearing, and all the grime accumulated throughout the day. If you are scared to try out a balm or oil as a first step out of fear that it might break you out, don’t be. It is going to stay on your face just for a few seconds and if you are careful with the non-comedogenic ingredients you should be fine.
One of the best balms that I absolutely recommend for people with oily skin, actually for all skin types is the BANILA CO Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm Original. This beautiful sherbet of oils melts right away on the skin and removes the make-up and sunscreen very easily. It is formulated and can be used by all skin types.
This cleansing balm contains Vitamin C which helps brighten the skin, is mineral oil-free as well as alcohol-free. Has an absolutely amazing scent, emulsifies completely(turns into that milky white texture if you add water to it), and lets your skin clean but moisturized after use. You can find in this post how to use a balm to cleanse your skin.
2. Second Cleanse – water-based cleanser
For a cleanser to dissolve the oil on the face, it needs surfactants. Surfactants are basically detergents that bind to your skin and help eliminate the oil and grime. You should choose a gentle pH Balance cleanser that doesn’t contain harsh surfactants.
One of the water-based cleansers for oily skin that I recommend is the Purito Defence Barrier pH Cleanser. It has a balanced pH of 5.5 and is suitable also for sensitive skin. It contains Tea Tree Leaf Oil and Centella Asiatica Extract, a plant ingredient with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
Now if you are acne-prone skin I would also use maybe two three times per week a cleanser that contains salicylic acid like Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash with Pink Grapefruit.
Salicylic acid is a Beta Hydroxy Acid(or BHA) that helps exfoliate the outer layer of our skin and helps unclog the pores when used in moderation. I would definitely not use this cleanser daily as it will strip your skin too much because of the 2% salicylic acid that it contains, removing too much oil from your skin and endangering your skin barrier function. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding you should ask your doctor if it’s safe to use salicylic acid products.
Tip: If after you cleansed your face you feel your face really clean and tight, then that cleanser is not good for your skin. You shouldn’t have a tight feeling after you cleansed your skin.
3. Clay Mask
Clay masks have oil absorption properties, as well as help detoxify the skin, thus helping prevent the type of acne that forms when your pores are clogged with excessive oil.
If you are wondering how often should you apply a clay mask to your face, the answer is once or twice a week. There are people that suggest using it as much as three times a week but that seems too much for me as it may overdry your skin.
Another important thing is, you shouldn’t let the clay or mud mask stay longer than 15 minutes on your skin. Also, it’s more effective if you don’t let it dry completely.
A good, simple but effective, and inexpensive clay mask that I recommend is The Inkey List Kaolin Clay Mask. After applying it, what I like to do is have some water in a spraying bottle and spray a little on the mask from time to time to not allow it to dry completely. Then, after 15 minutes, I rinse it off or remove it with a soaked face towel, having also a light physical exfoliation this way because of the towel. Do not rub your skin too hard and make sure the towel is soaked!
4. Toner (exfoliating toner)
Everyone should exfoliate once or twice a week to get rid of the dead cells. For this skin care routine, I would recommend using a toner with exfoliating properties, like Pixi Glow Tonic. The toner contains 5% glycolic acid (AHA), a gentle enough toner, which should not create any issues if you first start with it.
AHAs come from Alpha Hydroxy Acids and are a group of ingredients that can help exfoliate the uppermost layers of the skin, making your skin look fresh and smooth. Glycolic acid has a small molecule so it penetrates deeper into the skin, that’s why it might be sensitizing in the beginning.
If you are new to acids, try using them only once a week for the first 4-6 weeks until your skin gets accustomed to them.
If you are already used with acids in your skincare routine, then you can also go with The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution. As the name implies it has a higher concentration of glycolic acid, of 7% making it more potent. This is probably the best exfoliating toner for oily skin that you should try, but only after you’re accustomed to smaller percentage ones.
Make sure to not over-exfoliate, twice a week should be enough for most people in order to maintain healthy and glowy skin.
5. Essence
I would now start to go with getting the hydration back into the skin. For this, I would use the Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence. Snail mucin benefits are hydrating the skin, supporting the skin barrier function, promoting the production of collagen, and skin healing and regeneration.
The Cosrx Snail Essence is a concentrated product, formulated with 96% snail mucin. It has a syrupy consistency that some might not like, but it is so good for the skin, especially if you have breakouts. Just apply one to two pumps of product and gently pat it into the skin. It is one of the cult-favorite essences that will just transform your skin.
6. Moisturizer
One of the important things when choosing a good moisturizer for oily skin is to look for non-comedogenic products, meaning products that won’t clog your pores. I wouldn’t go with occlusive moisturizers that contain shea butter as they will only make you even more oily.
In order to protect your skin barrier, you want to follow up your routine with a moisturizer that locks all that hydration that you added into your skin. For this skincare routine, I go with Cerave Facial Moisturizing Lotion with Niacinamide and 3 essential ceramides. The lightweight moisturizer contains ceramides, which are lipids that help your skin restore its barrier. This simple and affordable moisturizer also contains Niacinamide, or Vitamin B3, that helps regulate sebum production. This lightweight lotion is the best moisturizer for oily skin that you should incorporate into your skincare routine. It will moisturize while also helping regulate your sebum production and will not feel greasy at all on the skin.
Another option would be to add a few drops of Paula’s Choice Niacinamide 10% into your moisturizer before applying it to the skin.
For the moisturizer you can go with Neutrogena Hydro Boost gel-cream extra dry. Do not be scared of the extra-dry name, it is a very lightweight moisturizer that contains hyaluronic acid, very good for oily skin types. This gel-like cream is a great humectant for your skin when applied on damp skin to lock in moisture.
7. Oil to lock all the hydration
Oily skin is usually deficient in Linoleic acid, one of the essential fatty acids that your skin needs. This means having an oil at the end of your skincare routine is actually a good thing, which might help your skin with sebum production. Sebum deficient in linoleic acid tends to clog pores.
An oil with high linoleic acid and low oleic acid can be used as the last step of a nighttime skincare routine for oily skin. Oils with high linoleic acid good for oily skin are Rosehip Seed Oil, Hemp Seed Oil, and Grape Seed Oil.
I also like the Moisture Renewal Oil from Paula’s Choice which contains a nice combination of multiple oils with high and low concentrations of linoleic and oleic acid together with 3 essential ceramides, which help restore skin barrier function. This oil is good for all skin types.
Diet
If you ever wondered if “diet affects oily skin?” the answer is yes. Taking care of your diet also has a very big role in your sebum production. Vitamin A and vitamin D are fat-soluble vitamins that affect our sebaceous glands. Vitamin D reduces oil production and vitamin A is essential for healthy skin. Zinc is another vitamin that helps manage sebum production so make sure you are taking these vitamins from your food(the best way!) or supplements.
Make sure you are staying away from foods that affect the sebaceous glands to produce more sebum like sugary foods and dairy.
You don’t have to do all the steps above but make sure you cleanse your face and moisturize it every day if you want to have nice, healthy skin.
This post was all about how to take care of oily skin daily, going from what is oily skin, to ingredients that regulate sebum production, to a step-by-step skincare routine for oily skin that you can follow to making sure that you take your diet into consideration when you care for your oily skin.
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