Oily Skin

Oily skin, is when you face is shiny, greasy, with large pores and can accompany with pimples, blackheads and whiteheads. I know this problem very well, my skin is very oily, sometimes its so oily I could have shiny skin in an air condition room. Its not visually attractive to have a shiny face when taking a picture. So why does it happen?

• Over active

Oily skin is caused by over active sebaceous glands. This glands produces sebum, a natural lubricant for the skin. This keeps the top layer of the skin, soft and supple. People with dry skin are lacking with this substance. However too much of a good thing can be bad. Too much of the sebum causes the skin to be shiny and greasy.

• Causes

It could be a family trait, if your relatives have greasy skin, you could too. Food can be a factor, especially the greasy, over processed food. External factors such as humidity or heat can cause skin to produce excess oil. The human body is all about balance, if your skin is over dried to due harsh skin care products, your skin will produce excess oil to compensate to dryness of the skin.

• Treatment

The way to treat oily skin is not by scrubbing the oil away or using harsh soaps to dry the skin, but is to treat it gently and making sure there is balance of oil on the skin. You can use cleanser made for oily skin. A general guide on cleanser suitable for oily skin is that, it could be in a gel form, it has clay ingredients to absorb oil, or its not oily. These cleanser with leave your skin feeling very matte and fresh. Then afterward you need a bit of moisturizer to balance the skin oil. An alcohol free toner is actually a very good moisturizer for oily skin, and it will help the skin to be less oily, since the skin is already moisturized the skin will not produce excess sebum anymore. Another route to go is to you a gentle cleanser that cleans the skin gently, but this is not enough to get rid all of the oil, so a toner with alcohol in it can really help clearing up the oil. Our main mission is to create balance in the skin, to reduce the oil at a certain level to reduce greasiness but at the same time leaving a bit on so that it will stay moisturized without being greasy. Another product that is very good for oily skin is benzoyl peroxide. Benzoyl peroxide is great since is absorb excess oil from the skin while being the best product to treat mild to moderate acne. There are many studies that has shown the effectiveness of benzoyl peroxide to treat oily and acne prone skin. If you do find it over drying or causes your skin to peel, find a product with 2.5% benzoyl peroxide concentration, this low concentration is mild enough for most skin, unless you are allergic to it.

• Conclusion

Your skin will always be oily no matter what you do, you can't really help it, however with the right care, your skin will be dewy and moisturized without being greasy. If it does get greasy during the day, all you need is just tissue paper to blot the oil away or just wash your face with plain water. One bonus thing of having oily skin, is that it does not get wrinkled easily or photo ages, so you don't need all that expensive creams to reduce wrinkles, your skin produces enough of it, to keep your skin soft and supple.