While it may seem silly, maintaining a good skincare routine can help your skin stay in good condition. As your body sheds skin cells throughout the day, it’s important to keep your skin glowing and in good condition. With an effective routine, it can help prevent acne, treat wrinkles, and help keep your skin looking its best. However, if you’re one of those people who happened to be blessed with oily skin, welcome to the club!
With the constantly clogged pores, acne and blackheads, and forehead shine it’s no secret oily skin is a pain. Oily skin is proven to be one of the most difficult skin types to care for due to the fact the body produces more oils than deemed necessary. Our body needs oil, in turn, natural oils is what keeps our skin soft and fresh; however, when too much is produced that is when greasy skin becomes present. Hormones are usually the culprit behind the body producing too much oil, thus leaving an oily body in its wake.
Although it may seem like a piece of cake, learning how to take care of your oily skin takes time and a lot of patience. It’s essential to find the right products for your greasy skin in order to establish a daily skincare routine; after all, our skincare routine is only as good as the products we use. Don’t expect quality results from poorly made products that can actually cause more harm than good.
When it comes to caring for your oily skin, here are a few do’s and don’ts to keep in mind when planning your daily skincare routine.
Do’s for Oily Skin
1. Moisturize every day
If you don’t use a moisturizer, your skin will produce more oil on its own to compensate for its loss, which will only lead to further breakouts. Re-hydrate skin by using an oily skin moisturizer such as Neutrogena Hydro-Boost. Its gel base makes it free of any harsh ingredients, and seals moisture into the skin you’re not “clogging your pores”, you’re giving troubled skin the hydration it needs.
2. Exfoliate Once a Week
Exfoliation is key to help combat oily skin. Try using a gentle exfoliator with salicylic acid to fight breakouts without leaving your skin dry. Excess oil leads to dead skin cells on your face, leading to pimples, acne, and blackheads. Exfoliation will eliminate dirt and dead skin cells and renew your skin!
3. Use An Alcohol-Free Toner Every Day
Using a toner daily will help regulate your skin’s oil production and eliminate dirt from your skin. It’s recommended to try one with rosewater to soothe your skin, shrink your pores, and keep your skin pH balanced.
4. Wear Less Makeup
Heavy foundation can be a trigger for oily skin. Especially if you wear foundation in hot weather, it can melt into your pores and clog them, resulting in even more oil. Wear less makeup or an oily skin foundation, like a CC Cream, for a lighter makeup look to prevent this from happening.
5. Wash every day and night
Those with oily skin need to vigorously adhere to their face-washing schedule. Choose a face wash that will combat oil and shine but not strip the skin of oils.
Don’ts for Oily Skin
1. Touch your face
Touching your face is one of the biggest culprits of pimples, especially if you have acne-prone skin. Your fingers have a lot of oils/sweat coming out of the pores, and just think of all the things you touch throughout the day – do you really want that on your face? Dirt, oil, and bacteria build up on our fingertips, so quit touching your face!
2. Sleep on a dirty pillowcase
Pillowcases absorb everything! And when I say everything, I mean dirt, grease and grime and you spend eight hours a night resting your face on them! To keep your freshly washed faced clean, change your bed pillowcase frequently.
3. Dirty makeup brushes
This is a ground rule you need to stick to if you’re from the oily skin family. Keeping your makeup brushes dirty leads to the accumulation of bacterias on them, which then comes in contact with your temperamental skin when you use said brushes. Result? Skin problems, of course! Make sure you clean your brushes regularly to save your oily body from breaking out.
4. Put your skin under pressure
This may not seem obvious, but a big cause of irritated skin is heat, friction, pressure and rubbing of the skin for prolonged periods of time. Try eliminating points of hard skin contact from your clothing or accessories such as straps, bands and tight fitting elements and see if your skin improves.
5. Skip laundry day
While it may not be affordable or practical for you to do laundry every day, the more often you wash your pillowcase, the better! Cleaning off the dirt and bacteria from your pillow may just be the step you need to break the dreaded problem skin cycle. And while you’re at it – don’t forget to give your makeup brushes a good wash too!