There are many reasons for oily skin, including stress, humidity, genetics, and fluctuating hormones.
Although oily skin can clog pores and lead to increased acne breakouts, oily skin also has many benefits. Oil/sebum helps moisturise and protect the skin, and people with oily skin tend to have thicker skin and fewer wrinkles.
As overproduction of sebum can lead to oily skin, the key is to strike a balance between having too much oil and maintaining your skin’s natural moisture.
In the quest to control oily skin, many use harsh and drying out products, but this makes the skin oilier as our skin overcompensates for the drying out and ends up producing even more oil. Read on to find out how to care for oily skin and the most common mistakes to avoid:
- Over-Cleansing/Wrong Cleanser
Frequent mistake is over-cleansing and over-exfoliating. People with oily skin will often cleanse the skin with harsh cleansers, trying to strip away all the natural oil (sebum) and making the skin squeaky clean.
Along with avoiding over-cleaning, it's important to choose the right kind of cleanser to help tackle excess oil. Opt for a gel-based cleanser if you have oily skin. Our lightly foaming nourishing gel-cleanser thoroughly removes impurities whilst protecting the skin's natural lipid layer maintaining a healthy skin barrier. The choice of cleanser can greatly affect the success of the entire skincare regimen.
2. Using Harsh/Drying Toners
Using a harsh, alcohol based toner can take a tool on your skin. Look for alcohol-free toners meant to balance the skin as opposed to powerful astringents. A toner is especially beneficial for ladies with oily skin as a good-quality toner balances the pH level of the skin. Our ECM Advanced Repair Balancing Toner blends our signature organic raspberry water with rose hydrolat, vitamin B5, aloe vera and hyaluronic acid to balance skin’s pH, nourish and hydrate for a softer finish and a healthy, radiant glow.
3. Understand Hydration
Breakouts or excessive oil production can be a sign of dehydrated skin. Your skin might be over-producing oil to compensate for a lack of hydration. There is still a lot of mis-conception about dryness, hydration and moisture.
Dry skin has a lack of oil, or lipids, whilst dehydrated skin lacks water. You don’t need to have dry skin to have dehydrated skin. Oily and combination skin can be dehydrated as well.
Our Hydration Booster hyaluronic acid serum is fantastic to use for oily skin as it draws water molecules into the deeper as well as superficial layers of skin. It also tackles inflammation which could be one of the causes for an excessive sebum production.
4. Moisturiser Is Crucial
The most common mistake individuals with oily skin make is thinking that they don't need to apply a moisturiser because their skin is oily.
That is completely incorrect. In fact, moisturising is essential to keep the skin barrier intact and healthy. Lack of moisture can make the skin dry and dehydrated, making it paradoxically produce more oil.
Moreover, products such as our ECM Advanced Repair Nourish & Heal Moisturiser containing high quality vegetable oils can actually improve the condition of your skin. Many have anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that can help keep excess oil from forming. These actually work to balance your sebum production while calming and soothing the skin.
