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If you have oily skin, then you are naturally prone to acne. It’s both a curse and a blessing. I have oily skin and I have been battling with hormonal acne as well as oil induced acne.
There are so many types of acne. And the only way to completely get rid of acne on your face is to know what is causing your acne.
in the case where you’ve done the skin type test and you’re aware that you have oily skin, then you can be sure that is one of the causes of your acne.
So in this post we’ll go over those simple habits that women with oily skin practice daily to enjoy an acne free face.
If that sounds like something you want to be able to achieve with your skin, let’s get into it.
Watch Your Diet.
When you have oily skin, your sebaceous gland produces a ton of oil that the clogs your pores and causes blackheads and whiteheads.
In my case, I realized that whenever I ate fatty foods, I would breakout within that same week.
So i simply stopped or reduced my intake of fatty foods.
Fatty foods in this case is anything that is deep fried. That is fries, chicken nuggets, and most fast foods.
I know that might sound a little crazy but why don’t you start paying attention to the things that you’re eating
Coz here’s the thing, it’s a proven fact that the sebaceous gland does overproduce fat/lipids and deposit to your pores when there’s an increase in consumption of dietary fat.
Pay Mind to the type of Products you Apply on Your Face.
I did not know this until a couple of years ago when I went to my cousins place. And I loved her facial wash because it was smelling so sweet (like candy). Unfortunately, my cousins skin type is dry. That’s why her skin loved the product.
Unfortunately, the product destroyed my face. Within a day, I had blackheads develop all over my face – especially on the edges of my face. And within a week I was experiencing a full acne break out.
Turns out that the product hydrates the skin and ensures the skin doesn’t feel or end up drying or cracking.
The problem is that oily skin does not need that. Our faces are naturally oily even if we don’t apply oil.
So the facial wash simply enhanced the production of oils (which I don’t need) causing an overproduction of oil that will naturally lead to an acne breakout.
In short, buy products that are meant for oily skin. Avoid products that are made for dry skins. And only in rare occasions should you use products made for normal skin.
But how do you know which products are made for oily skin.
Most products that hydrate are not meant for oily skin. Avoid that type of product.
Instead go for products that have these words in them:
- Oil-free
- Mattifying
- Oil Control
- Oil Removing
- Non comedogenic
- Salycilic acid
- Absorbent
- Clay related.
As you can see, all these words are geared at ensuring there is controlled oil production on your skin so that your pores don’t get clogged. While others are made to deep clean your pores so that they don’t get inflammed.
Remember, it’s one thing to completely clear acne and another to maintain soft skin.
Maintenance ensures you never have to deal with inflammed pores (ie acne). And that’s what I’m sharing with you here.
Avoid Picking at your Acne
This one is really hard for me. I hate the bumps and the white heads on my cheeks and forehead. And sometimes I’ll sleep and wake up with a big bump on either side of my cheeks. And because I don’t want it there, I’ll start picking at it, pressing it down or just pop it.
If youre anything like me I will urge you now to stop it.
This habit has caused me so much scarring. Every time I pop a pimple, it heals and leaves a dark scar.
So just ride out the blackheads and the white heads. They will go on their own if you follow a routine to clear acne. They will dry out and heal without any marks.
Change Your Pillowcase
I feel that if you.have been following this blog that I love talking about this one.
And fhe reason behind it is that a dirty pillowcase contains oils from.yoyr face and dead skin and dirt.
So when you don’t change it out, all that grime gets transferred back to your skin which then clogs your skin.
Also, it’s hygienic to do it… So why not just do it.
Speaking of hygiene…. The next one you’re probably guilty of not doing
Wash Your Makeup Brushes
I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve heard beauty YouTubers talk about how filthy their makeup brushes are.
And don’t think I’m a saint when it comes to this one… In fact I’m fond of forgetting to wash my makeup brushes until they look muddy… More like this ?
But what I realized is that makeup brushes collect a lot of dust, bacteria and have a ton of product leftovers.
So when you use your makeup brush, you are applying bacteria and dust along with your product which seals them all in to irritate your skin.
Also the leftover product adds on to the little product that you apply on your face which also clog your pores.
Now that we are in the topic of makeup, we might as well talk about foundation.
Use Light Coverage Foundation.
The thing with full coverage makeup is that it hides all the blemishes on your face.
But when you have smooth, acne-free skin, you don’t have to put a full coverage makeup.
Also, the full coverage makeup really clogs your pores…. More than the light coverage.
And to remove the full coverage makeup, you’ll need to do a deep pore cleanse or use this product.
But we all know we are guilty of not washing our faces especially after a night out with the girls.
So half the time we are not really cleansing out our pores… Because life does happen. And that’s okay.
The only problem is that your oily skin does not know that. You will have breakout every other day especially if you love wearing heavy makeup all the time.
If you’re one of those people, you can simply use one of these light foundation that have a Mattifying effect to avoid the extra step of baking under your eyes. (If you know you know)
Drink Lots of Water
I know you’ve heard this one before. But I can guarantee you that it will help you especially if you have already established that you don’t have hormone-related acne.
If your acne comes from your skin type – ie clogged pores, then water is the remedy.
And for those of you who love precise advice. I’d suggest you drink 2 bottles of water throughout the day. This is the water bottle I use and I realized when I added an extra bottle of water throughout my day, my skin started glowing and it felt more plump.
Also I did realize that the small little pimples on my forehead disappeared.
Keep Your Oiled Hair Out of Your Face
Remember you have an oily face naturally… So adding more oil is bad for your face.
Anywhere that your oily hair touches on your face will break out – even if you have a fringe.
If you want to wear your hair touching your face, avoid oiling it heavily. A single run through of this hair serum will work perfectly.
But even if you do that, don’t forget to do a deep pore cleanse right before you go to bed.
Speaking of hair…
Wrap Your Hair When You go to Bed
This is especially useful when you have just come out of the salon. Hair stylists always put extra oil on your hair which is great for your hair but not so great for your face – for the oily skin girlies.
A simple bonnet will help prevent that hair oil being smeared all over your face when you sleep. Also, it will help to keep your pillowcase free of grease.
In the case where you have soft hair and the bonnet comes right off when you sleep, use a satin bonnet inside and wrap the satin bonnet with a cotton scarf.
That will keep the bonnet on through the night.
Avoid Over-Drying your Face
I know this will be a little confusing but let me explain.
You do want to ensure that you remove that extra fat produced on your skin but you don’t want to overdo it.
Because if you do so, you will be tricking the sebaceous gland to produce more lipids/ oil to your hair follicles/ pores.
So youll end up breaking out instead of clearing your acne.
For example, if you’re washing your face three times a day, lower that to two times.
If youre exfoliating your skin every day, lower it to two times a day.
In the case where you’re using a toner, avoid using it every day. And the same goes for salicylic based products.
All these I am mentioning have a drying effect on your skin so avoid using them on a daily basis.
Take Supplements to Help with Inflammed Pores
The truth is that you’ll get acne breakouts once in a while even if you do all these things.
You’ll change your environment, travel, meet family… Go for holidays. And you will not have time to remember to do all these things.
Plus different environments will have different impacts on your skin.
If you have oily skin, high humidity areas aka beach cities will cause overproduction of sebum and hence cause an acne breakout.
But that can’t really stop you from living your life, can it?
That’s why you need supplements to help with your inflammed pores when you do travel to these places.
I will normally carry zinc supplements or omega-3 supplements. Though, I will say that Zinc works better and faster than Omega-3 in healing inflammed pores.
But you can try out both these products to figure out which one works best for your skin.
Because I know I’ll get this question asked, I take the supplements in the morning. And if I decide to party and drink booze, I know I will not get any adverse effects – because when you travel, alcohol will somehow be included in your daily activity.
Avoid doing Skincare Layering Like this…
I know… I know I’ll get a lot of backlash for this but hear me out.
When i say skincare layering I mean using the same product twice.
I’ve seen skincare YouTube videos that tell women to layer their serums – apply two/three layers of serum.
That’s an absolute no-no especially if you have oily skin.
Your skin automatically produces oils. So do not layer oils. That method works for women with dry skin and hardly works for women with normal skin.
Also, do not layer products that dry out your skin.
For example, do not exfoliate, add salicylic acid, and use a clay based mask all in one sitting.
What will happen is that you’ll have an acne breakout and that will get you frustrated because you’re trying to “take care” of your skin.
If you want to layer your skincare, combine drying products with hydrating products and finish off with a non comedogenic light oil.
