6 Ways to Banish Oily Skin Forever

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Do you have oily, acne prone skin and wish it would just go away?

I have a combination skin type with the lower half of my acne prone face leaning much more towards the dry side, and my forehead leaning toward oily – however, I’ve luckily never had to deal with a complete oil slick up there.

But, sadly, I know some of you are battling some serious grease, and you want to know what to do about it.

So what’s the secrets?

1) STOP WASHING IT SO MUCH!

I know this seems counter intuitive to everything you’ve ever been told about oil and acne prone skin, but washing too much and with harsh, drying products is probably making the situation much worse.

Why?

Because sebum (your skin’s oil) is not inherently a bad thing. It’s there to lubricate your skin and protect it. When you constantly strip it of its oils, it learns that it must over produce it and it ends up producing so much that you kind of look like you smeared bacon grease on your face. Fun!

So as crazy as it sounds, you really need to cut down on the washing and switch to super gentle, natural products. Absolutely do not wash your face more than twice a day. Personally, I’d recommend  washing only once a day, or you can even quit washing altogether if you’re brave. 

For natural, non chemical, non drying products to use, I recommend manuka honeyor just plain raw honey, or any of these natural options.

At first, your skin will definitely be really oily and you may be crying to wash it, but DON’T DO IT! Soon your skin will learn that you won’t be stripping it bare assed naked against its will all the time, and will begin to naturally stop producing so much oil.

PS – This trick also works for your hair.

2) Only Wash with Luke Warm Water

Hot water is super drying, and also irritating to acne prone skin. Using it will encourage over production of oil. So only wash your face with tepid water, and try to turn the heat down a notch in the shower if you can.

3) Improve Your Diet and Lifestyle

If you have already cut back on all the washing and products and hot water, but still find yourself a bit oily, then you will have to dig further to resolve the problem. This is because oil production is triggered internally by hormonal reactions that are influenced by your diet and lifestyle.

Improving your diet means cutting back on processed foods, eating more fruits and vegetables, and a few other tweaks depending on your situation. You may also want to try cutting dairy out of your diet for a while, as for many people, the hormones in milk products can have a big influence on acne and oil production.

Other lifestyle factors to improve include getting more exercise, lowering your stress levels, getting more sunshine, and sleeping better.

If you want more help with all this stuff (because it sounds oh-so-simple in a little paragraph like this, but obviously takes much more to really put into action), check out my ebook Ultimate Secrets to Acne Freedom.

4) If You Use Moisturizer, Cut Back or Stop

If your skin is already full of moisture, why bother putting more on there?

5) Instead of Conventional Moisturizer, Try Using Oil Instead

Yes, yes, I know. Much like the tip about “stop washing so much”, it may seem completely counter intuitive to want to put MORE oil on your already oily skin.

But despite what it sounds like, it’s not like dumping gasoline on a campfire.

Oil can do two things for your skin:

1. Trick your skin into thinking that it’s already produced enough oil, therefore, getting it to stop overproducing it, and
2. It can mix with the hardened sebum in your pores and dissolve it, allowing plugs (whiteheads and blackheads) to disappear for good.

Think about it – oil and water don’t mix, so how do you expect it to get into your pores and unclog them? Oil can do that. Like dissolves like.

My personal recommendation for an oil to use is jojoba oil. It’s especially suited for oily skin, and has a great track record for helping with acne. However, there are tons of other oils you can use, and so I suggest you read this article here for more ideas.

6) Try Using Milk of Magnesium

This quirky little trick is inexpensive and easy to use, and you can find milk of magnesium at any run-of-the-mill pharmacy or drug store. Just shake the bottle, apply a layer to clean, wet skin, and rinse it off 5 to 10 minutes later.

Apparently it works like a dream for oily skin without making it a flakey, gross mess on top of the oil. This is all according to this lady, anyway, which is where I got the idea (and also where I stole the picture at the top! Thanks!)

Make Your Skin Naturally Glow

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Beauty, the saying goes, is only skin-deep. But the importance of skin goes a lot deeper. Most of us think of skin as just our body’s visible outer layer, but doctors consider skin an organ, meaning that it is very much alive and charged with many important duties.

In particular, the skin is the first layer of your immune system, serving as a shield between you and legions of germs such as viruses and bacteria. It also protects your insides from sun, cold, scrapes, cuts, and moisture. And, of course, your sense of touch is crucial for everyday function.

Like any part of your internal body, your skin can be healthy or ill. It can be well nourished or malnourished. It can be exercised, and it can wear down with age or abuse. In particular, as we age, our skin becomes thinner and drier. Plus, other, more unpleasant things happen to our skin. Things like wrinkles, age spots, dark circles, and large pores, which tend to turn up like uninvited guests at a wedding.

While you can’t control your age, you can control numerous other factors that accelerate this aging process, including excessive exposure to sunlight, loss of estrogen during menopause, poor dietary habits, stress, and cigarette smoking.

Unlike the other organs of your body, you can apply medicines, moisturizers, and other healthy potions directly to the skin. For that reason alone, there is absolutely no reason you can’t have healthy, attractive skin throughout your life. To keep your skin and face young and healthy, and to maintain its natural, protective moisture, follow these tips.

1. Skip the long, steamy showers and opt for shorter, cooler sprays. Long, hot showers strip skin of its moisture and wash away protective oils, says Andrea Lynn Cambio, M.D., a New York City dermatologist. So limit showers to 10 minutes and keep the water cool.

2. Check the dryness of your skin by scratching a small area on your arm or leg with your fingernail. If it leaves a white mark, your skin is indeed dry and needs both moisture and exfoliation (that is, removal of the outermost layer of dead skin cells).

3. Treat your neck and chest like an extension of your face. Your neck and upper chest area is covered by very sensitive skin, making it a prime spot for telltale signs of aging such as dryness, sun spots, and wrinkles, says Susie Galvez, owner of Face Works Day Spa in Richmond, Virginia, and author of Hello Beautiful: 365 Ways to Be Even More Beautiful. To keep this area youthful, use facial cleansing creams that hydrate and cleanse gently rather than deodorant soaps, which can be drying. Top it all off with a good facial moisturizing cream. If this area is extra dry, use a facial moisturizing mask twice a month.

4. Run a humidifier every night in the winter to moisturize the air in your bedroom. Not only will it ease itchy, dry skin, you’ll be able to breathe the moist air more easily.

HOW TO CHOOSE A BB CREAM

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Hands up if you used a BB on your face this morning instead of foundation?

If I could actually see this virtual show of hands I would imagine I’d see about half of you with your hands in the air, waving about madly because you’re still so damn excited that you ever jumped on board the BB train.

About a quarter of you are probably not wearing any makeup (totally ok!) and the rest of you are probably scratching your head and wondering if I’m talking in some kind of secret code.

Let me quickly unlock that not-so-secret code and bring everyone up to speed.

The BB in BB cream stands for Beauty or Blemish Balm. The concept of this formula, which was designed to lighten and brighten skin, originated in Asia. There are plenty of beauty bloggers around who swear by their favourite Asian product. Me? I only jumped on the bandwagon when BB cream first became available for sale two years ago in Australia. That was with Garnier BB Cream – one that to this day is loved and used by many SY readers.

I’ve since tried a BB from Korea (thanks Miss Amy for swinging me that stash), a couple when I was in the US last year and I’ve worked my way through almost 30 BB creams as they’ve arrived on Australian counters and shelves.

Obsessed? Most definitely.

The reason for my obsession harks back to that lazy-girl part of my beauty personality. BB cream is a multi-functioning product. A BB cream is more than a tinted moisturiser because it offers complexion-enhancing and illuminating goodness immediately on application AND over time. So you get cosmetic benefits plus ongoing skin benefits.

The upshot? A BB can make you look all glowy when your skin is far from glowy. Winning.

I have some new BB cream finds to share with you but before I do, I need to talk about CC creams.

I KNOW.

At first I thought the concept of a CC cream was just clever marketing jumping on the BB bandwagon but on closer investigation and trial, that isn’t necessarily the case.

The CC in CC cream stands for Colour Correcting so the formula contains ingredients which work to disguise redness, dullness and uneven skin tone.

Where I think the lines are really blurred is that many of the BB creams I’ve trialled do this anyway.

CCs tend to offer more coverage but I’ve also found that the coverage between BB creams can vary and my favourite BB creams offer as much coverage as the CCs I’ve tried.

Confusing?

You bet.

That’s why I’ve created a bit of a How to Choose a BB Cream – or CC Cream – road map for you.