Oil skin and oily skin treatment (2024)

Does your skin get shiny mid-way through the day? Or maybe even half an hour after you’ve washedyour face? You probably have oily skin. Other telltale signs that your skin is in the oilycategory include enlarged pores, blackheads, whiteheads, and, you guessed it, pimples. Not toworry. With a few basic steps, we can help ensure your complexion is healthy, balanced, andradiant.

What is oily skin?

Our skin needs a certain amount of sebum (that’s the official name for the oil your sebaceousglands produce) to keep it healthy and soft. In normal skin, oil flows freely and lubricatesyour skin’s surface, giving you a clear complexion and keeping your skin balanced. But when yourbody makes too much sebum (common during puberty or other periods of hormonal changes), you runthe risk of oily skin and, as a secondary effect, acne.

What causes oily skin?

Oily skin is typically genetic, but because our skin faces so many elements, several externalfactors can worsen naturally oily skin.

The environment is one such factor — especially if you live in a hot or humid climate or an areawith higher levels of air irritants or pollution. Ironically, excessive washing and scrubbingcan actually increase oil production, since your glands will try to overcompensate for thedryness every time you strip your skin of its natural oils. Medicines that impact hormones, likebirth control pills, and increased stress levels may also contribute to oily skin. For women,oil production can vary with their monthly cycle and then decrease during perimenopause andmenopause. For men, the hormones that trigger more oil production (known as "androgens") are atmuch higher levels during puberty and teen years and tend to normalize in adulthood. Men willalso experience decreased sebum production as they age.

Oily skin and acne-prone skin often go hand-in-hand. As a normal part of our skin’s regrowthprocess, we naturally shed excess, dead skin cells. If you have oily skin, those dead skin cellscan stick together and stay trapped inside your pores. This buildup clogs pores and leads tocomedones — what you probably know as blackheads and whiteheads. Once P. acnes bacteria makesits way into those clogged pores, your blackheads and whiteheads turn into red, inflamedpimples.

How do you know if you have oily skin? You’ll have larger pores and a shine on your complexionthat appears by mid-day (if not sooner) despite washing your face in the morning.

Is oily skin normal?

Oily skin is common, and it can even be healthy — the more oil your skin produces the moreprotected your skin is, which can help prevent fine lines and wrinkles. You won’t be wrinklefree for life, but it is a positive side effect of an oily complexion.

Aside from helping with signs of aging, oily skin is normal as long as there aren’t any otherunderlying skin conditions, and you make sure you’re doing what you can to keep your skinbalanced (more on that below).

How to treat oily skin

Unfortunately, no treatment can "turn off" oil production and get rid of oily skin, but you canhelp your skin look more balanced with the help of oil-absorbing products or blotter sheets.Other habits you can practice include refraining from over-washing your face (just once in themorning and once at night using warm, not hot, water!), using noncomedogenic (non-clogging)makeup and skincare, and reducing stress levels.

Oil and acne go hand in hand, which is why proactiv’s skincare systems are effective in banishingshine. One key ingredient in our products is salicylic acid, an exfoliant that encourages deadskin cells to loosen and shed, which helps clean out all that acne-causing debris inside pores.Without a buildup of dead skin cells, your pores may look smaller, and your skin can appear moreradiant.

The good news is proactiv has decades of skincare innovation under their belt, so they’vedeveloped effective products for oily skin:

• Advanced Daily Oil Control: Formulated with salicylic acid for acne-proneskin, this oily skin moisturizer helps reduce surface shine and unclog pores. It’s alightweight formula that absorbs quickly and helps skin stay soft, smooth, and hydratedwithout looking or feeling greasy. It’s also oil-free, non-comedogenic, paraben-free, anddermatologist-tested.
• Green Tea Oil Blotting Sheets: Do you want to know how to stop oily skin inseconds? Blotting papers are the makeup artist’s secret to combating shine. Ours are made ofbamboo charcoal and designed to instantly absorb excess oil, lift away impurities, and helpcontrol shine. Each sheet is infused with green tea extract, a powerful antioxidant thathelps fight surface free radicals and soothe skin.
• Re-Texturizing Toner: Formulated with salicylic acid and glycolic acid,these two exfoliating acids help clear pores and help prevent future breakouts by removingdead skin cells. It’s great to use AM and PM after cleansing to help keep pores clear andeven the look of your skin’s tone and texture.
• T-Zone Oil Absorber: This lightweight moisturizer was designed with a shinereducing technology that keeps skin moisturized while absorbing excess oil and refining theappearance of pores. Ideal for oily and combination skin, this formula visibly reduces shinyskin and pore size while keeping skin hydrated for up to 24 hours.

All of these products and more are available when you subscribe to a proactiv acne system!