Oily skin can be irritating and difficult to deal with. Your skin produces oil in order to keep your skin and hair hydrated. For some people, their skin overproduces oil which can result in oily skin.
This can cause pimples and blocked pores. It is also uncomfortable and can disrupt makeup and require some people to wash their face several times a day.
How can I clean my oily face?
This depends on how sensitive your skin is and how acne-prone it is. If you have acne-prone oily skin, then it’s a good idea to use a salicylic acid cleanser. The word “acid” might make it sound extreme but has a very low concentration and salicylic acid is fantastic for clearing up pimples.
With oily skin, it can be tempting to use aggressive scrubs and cleansers as they make your skin feel smoother and cleaner. But all this will do is make your skin produce more oil to make up for it and irritate it further. This can also cause you to develop dry patches and more pimples.
If you don’t want to use a salicylic acid cleanser, try to find something gentle without any perfume. Most people think that only dry skin is easily irritated, but oily skin can be similar.
There are a lot of cleansers available that make huge promises about closing pores. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to actually make your pores any smaller. Some cleansers and makeup can help to reduce the appearance of the pores but nothing can change the way your skin is.
As your skin is oily, it’s easy to assume that you don’t need a moisturizer but this is not the case. After cleansing your skin, you still need to add moisturizer.
If you have especially oily skin that is acne-prone, it’s best to use a very light moisturizer that is designed for oily skin. This will stop your pores from becoming clogged and also stop them from becoming irritated and producing more pimples.
If your skin is acne-prone, it’s also a good idea to add retinol or other treatments to your skincare routine.
If you have persistent non-hormonal acne, this is a common symptom of oily skin but you should still seek out the opinion of a dermatologist to help you control the oil and acne.
Why is my skin dry but my nose so oily?
This is known as “combination skin”. This is a pretty common skin type and is due to the placement of the pores on your face. Your nose is part of what is called your “T-Zone”. This is your forehead, your nose, and your chin.
These are areas of your face that will become the shiniest because they are the oiliest. This is where your pores are larger and so the sebaceous glands are also larger. So, it is natural for your nose to be oilier than the rest of your skin.
Combination skin can be very difficult to treat as anything used to add moisture to dry areas can have a negative effect on oily areas and vice versa. If you just have an oily nose in the morning and can wash it off with no other problems throughout the day, then this is fine.
But, if you have a very oily nose and very dry, flaky patches on other parts of your face, then it might be a good idea to speak with a dermatologist.
You should be able to find specialized gentle cleansers that are designed for combination skin. These will help to cleanse your pores and wash away the oil. You can then also double-cleanse your skin with a toner.
Micellar water is a very gentle and non-irritating way to do this. You should then apply a gentle and light moisturizer. Anything too rich will potentially be irritating and make your nose even more oily.
You can apply extra moisturizer too, especially dry patches if needed. If you need to, you can use tissue or blotting paper to remove oil from your nose throughout the day, without irritating your dry skin.
How can I reverse oily skin?
Unfortunately, there is no way to stop your skin from being oily. It is simply the way your skin works. Dry skin is easier to deal with as it simply needs extra moisturizing. It is much easier to add something like moisture than it is to remove oil.
There are ways to manage the oil. This generally involves using gentle cleansers and moisturizers designed for oily skin. Depending on how much oil your skin produces, you might find that wearing makeup actually helps.
This is because it can stop the pores from secreting extra oil. But, if you wear a lot of thick makeup, the excess oil can cause it to smudge and sink into your pores. Depending on your skin, makeup also might be quite irritating and cause you to develop pimples.
Unfortunately, there is no one simple way to stop having oily skin or to prevent it. You will find that it is a process of trial and error. You will need to try out a few different things to find what works for your skin.
Although skin types can generally be divided into “oily”, “dry”, and “combination” skin, everyone has slightly different skin types. You might have skin that is a lot more oily or less oily than someone else with oily skin.
So, what works for one person might not work for someone else.
How do I get rid of oily skin forever?
It isn’t possible to change the makeup of your skin, so you won’t be able to stop your skin from being oily. Your skin changes as you get older so it might naturally become less oily. This is especially common for teenagers whose skin becomes less oily and less acne-prone as they get older.
But, this isn’t always the case and some people have oily and acne-prone skin forever. The best thing to do is to regularly wash your face with gentle cleansers and try to keep on top of pimples.
Is oily skin bad?
Not necessarily. In fact, oily skin ages better. Your skin is supposed to produce oils. The oil helps to keep your hair and skin hydrated and is good for your skin. The main issue is when your skin produces too much oil. This can clog your pores and make your skin feel greasy.
This means it’s important to regularly clean your face to stop the oil from clogging your pores. But you also need to make sure that you don’t clean your face too much or use cleansers or scrubs that dry out your skin.
It’s best to use acid exfoliants rather than scrubs that contain sand or other aggressive substances.
Acid exfoliants will help to clean your face and remove dead skin. More aggressive scrubs with sand or other similar substances can cause micro-tears on your skin. They can make you feel as though you are removing the oil and making your skin cleaner and smoother.
But really you’re stripping it of too much oil. As mentioned above, some oil is important and healthy for your skin, so stripping too much off isn’t a good idea.
