Tips for Oily Skin – Do’s & Don’ts

Do’s

1. Use a cleanser for oily skin.

Look for cleansers made for oily skin. This may seem obvious, but it doesn’t hurt to state the obvious again.

Cleansers formulated for oily skin will contain ingredients that help control oil activity and clear pores.

If you can afford it, I recommend professional skin care brands (what you’d find in a spa or doctor’s office) rather than drugstore brands. They generally contain better ingredients that are more sophisticated and effective. Drugstore brands can be aggressive and strip too much oil from skin.

2. Use a toner to hydrate your skin.

While not everyone needs oil, everyone needs water in their skin. A toner hydrates skin effectively, by giving skin humectants (water-binders) that attract and hold onto water.

A hydrating toner is suitable for all skin types. Be careful not to use an astringent (an alcohol-based toner). Look for an oil-free toner with humectants.

If you’re very oily, a toner may be sufficient to hydrate your skin – you can use that instead of a moisturizer.

More about hydrating with a toner

3. Use an oil-free moisturizer if you need more moisture. Or an oil that is non-comedogenic.

If you need more hydration than a toner can provide, consider adding an oil-free moisturizer.

Alternatively, you can use a face oil to moisturize your skin. An oil might seem counterintuitive, but oily skin, like all other skin types, needs nourishing too. Your skin barrier is made up of lipids and natural moisturizing factors, which make the skin strong and supple. Lipids are essential for good skin.

If you’re cleansing with an aggressive cleanser or using harsh acne products, it may strip your skin of essential lipids.

An oil can replenish those lost lipids. Not all oils are suitable for oily skin. But the right face oil can moisturize your skin well without leaving an oily or greasy feel. 1-2 drops is all you need.

Put a drop of oil on a finger, spread it onto a few other fingers, then press those fingers into your skin over your face. The oil on your fingertips will transfer onto skin. You don’t need a lot. Applying oil is not the same as rubbing a cream or lotion all over your face.

All About Face Oils

4. Treat the oily areas of your face separately from the non-oily areas. Use different products.

If you’re combo-oily (oily on the T-zone but normal/dry elsewhere), use an oil-free moisturizer on the T-zone and your regular moisturizer elsewhere.

It’s not realistic for one skin product to “do it all.” Your skin condition isn’t the same everywhere on the face. Nor is it the same every day. In fact, it’s always changing. So it makes sense to treat your skin with different products according to its needs.

If you’re like me (normal skin type but a bit oily on the T-zone), then you should treat your T-zone differently from the rest of your face. In the summer when my nose gets blackheads, I use an oil-free sunscreen (AM) and oil-free moisturizer (PM) on the nose.

There are times when I use 3 different moisturizers on my face – 1 for the nose, 1 for the cheeks (where I have spots), and 1 for my forehead and chin. Nothing wrong with that! More work, but it gives me a better outcome.