How To Deal With Oily Skin

Waking up in the morning and you are greeted by a gigantic zit on your chin, enough to put a bump on the rest of your day. Midweek there’s a small village on your chin, travelling to your cheeks and claiming your face as its own habitat. Most people suffer from occasional break-ous, and only a few people are aware that ingredients found in beauty products can actually aggravate the problem.

‘’Many of us forget that the cleaning of the skin need to be approached carefully, so that your skin will remain in good shape for years to come,’’ writes David J .Leffell.

By now most people know that there are four types of skins: dry, normal, combination and oily. What works for the other skin type might not necessarily work on yours (which is why you shouldn’t always trust your cousin miracle products). People with normal skin have it easy on break outs and shine, while that’s the bane of oily skin and dry skinned people deal with tight feeling skin.

Although people with oily skin wrinkle less due to the oil skin  produces, this production of oil tends to work on an overdrive making the skin to breakout with large pore, while other skin types  experience less intense breakouts. People in this category deal with the worse type of acne. Bear in mind that sometimes acne can be due to hormonal imbalance.

And all those products that promises to ‘’ eliminate the appearance of pimples forever’’ or ‘’ get rid of spots in five days’’ are just make believe and fairy dusts. What you look for rather, is the ingredients at the back of a product you about to purchase. That’s where the magic is! Ingredients like alcohol – denatured alcohol and oil (unless it’s natural/extracted from plants), must be avoided and toners be used cautiously. ‘’ Toners and astringents remove excess oil from the skin because alcohol dissolves fatty chemicals.

They are usually scented to cover the medicinal smell of the alcohol. While the coolness they impart may give the impression of a tighter pores and better skin tone, this tends to be a passing fancy,’’ writes Daniel J. Leffell, a medical doctor, specialising in diagnosis, treatment and prevention  of skin cancer and author of Total Skin: The Definitive Guide to Whole Skin  Care for Life. ‘’In general, keep alcohol-containing products away from your skin as much as possible,’’ he continues.

Furthermore, there are ingredients you should be on the lookout for that will help dealing with oily skin. The top two almost magical constituents are Salicylic acid, it helps to unclog pores, and benzoyl peroxide – which has similar reaction as salicylic acid. Good alcohol like stearyl and glycol alcohol is permissible. Water is not only a good cleanser, it’s also an amazing moisturiser. Doctor Daniel J Leffell recommends that the people who battle with oily skin use water-based moisturisers in their routine.

This can be the warrant you have been looking for to arrest and evict those unwanted residents that have made your face into a playground. One day at a time.
Side bar:

Face wash regimen for oily skin.
Make sure your hands are clean before washing your face.
Wash your face twice a day (morning and night).

Incorporate essential oils such as (Lavender, eucalyptus and tea tree oil) as they have healing properties and are anti-bacterial.  A few drops is enough.
Always pat your face dry with a damp cloth instead of rubbing with dry one.

This helps to minimise the over-production of oil on your skin.

Writer: Tsholofelo Mabona