If you have any experience with dealing with acne and have found some strange solution that works for you then you can let us know about it in the comments section below.

Before I continue with the tips on how to help manage the effects of acne, I want to remind you that being self conscious about acne never helps. I understand that it is upsetting and you just want it to go away but stressing over it just makes it worse. Once you know you are doing all you can to reduce the problem, try to take your mind of it. It is easier said than done but I just had to say it. It is a problem than many people deal at some point with and everyone understands. Once you start obsessing over the issue, you will start to drive your self crazy so try to avoid over thinking the issue in the first place.

I will start with some simple tips on how you can help reduce the effects of acne. You will (or should) know most of these but it is worth reminding yourself of some and checking if there is anything new here.

1- Avoid touching your face. This is definitely my top tip. Touching your face causes the acne to spread. It even annoys me when other people touch their faces. Just stop it!

2- Wash your pillow case as often as possible. I know this just adds to your chores but it is worth doing.

3- Food does actually make a difference but it is not just one or two types of food, it’s your diet as a whole. You need a healthy diet which is based more on protein than sugars. A diet based on sugar will cause your skin to suffer.

4- Try some vitamin supplements. Acne and spots could be caused by a deficiency in one or more vitamins or minerals.

5- Wash your face with a cleanser that contains sylylic acid.

6- Try to get enough sleep. If you are not sleeping enough then there must be a reason for it, but you should at least try to tackle the issue.

7- Drink plenty of water.

8- Be careful with what you put on your face. Just like when you manage oily skin, you need to research what you use on your skin, whether it be foundation or moisturizer. Trial and error is essential here but there are some basic guidelines you should follow to speed up the process.

9 – Reduce Stress – This is another tough one, however if you feel like stress might be the cause of your problem then you should start to think about ways to manage your stress.

10- Sunshine and fresh air – If you work from home and don’t have the chance to get out much then this might be an issue for you. Try and go for a walk every day and see if this helps improve your skin as well as your health in general.

These are just 10 basic steps you could take to try and improve your situation. Being proactive is the way forward when dealing with acne. Although it does sometimes just go away, this is not always the case so it’s better to start making some simple changes to your life in order to improve the situation now rather than later.

I’ll be looking into each of these aspects more closely, and adding what I learn on this page. Acne is a big deal and I am here to try and get the best information in one place for you (and me). I am 22 and still deal with the issue so I hope to learn some new ways of dealing with it myself.

We all know that different things work for different people, but it’s still sometimes worth trying some new things out. This is why I’ve created the forum. We can all help each other out that way.
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Welcome to For Oily Skin! If you’re looking for information about how to deal with oily skin and how to pick the best products for oily skin then you are in the right place.

There are many resources on the internet about dealing with oily skin.  The point of this website is to bring together the best information on oily skin, how to reduce the oiliness of your skin and products that are best suited for oily skin. There are simple changes that you could make to improve the condition of your skin!

If you really think there’s a problem with your skin, you should seek advice from a dermatologist.

Taking small steps to improve the situation and your health in general is the best way. One factor that you should always remember and be grateful for is that the oily skin type ages at a slower rate than other skin types. Also, keep in mind that the recommendations made on this website and other websites may not work for everyone, it is always worth trying a few methods out and seeing which works best for you.

The main topics on this website will be:

The causes of oily skin
The effects of diet and exercise on oily skin
Foundation for oily skin
Moisturizers for oily skin
Cleansers for oily skin
Sunblock for oily skin

You can access the information on these topics by clicking one of the links above, or on the navigation bar at the top of the site. There are also loads of articles at the bottom of the homepage about oily skin.

Here are the basic things you need to consider when fighting oily skin:

• Keeping clean

Arguably the most important aspect of dealing with oily skin is the cleansing process.

It’s vital to regularly clean oily skin with warm water and face wash that’s designed for oily skin. This is to avoid the pores from being clogged up. Picking the best face wash is important. Some don’t do enough to remove excess oil and dirt while other are too harsh and leave the skin too dry. This can cause the oil glands to overcompensate for the dryness by producing more oil than usual.

Try an oil or water based cleanser (yes oil based!) and avoid cleansers with too many chemicals and unnecessary ingredients in them such as perfumes or alcohol. I highly recommend products from Simple if they’re available to you. Again this is personal as everyone has different skin so it is worth picking a few different face wash products and seeing what works best with you. Just avoid the ones with harsh chemicals in them such as alcohol.

Be sure not to wash your face too many times a day. This will also cause it to dry out and cause the oil glands to overcompensate. For most people once in the morning and once as night is enough however on some days one extra wash in-between could help out without causing any dryness. Some experts recommend washing the skin every 8 hours.

After cleansing, most people should moisturize their skin. I say “most people” because some experts say that people with really oily skin who are under 30 may benefit from missing out this stage. If you feel like you are in this category then it may be worth trying this method out. For more information about moisturizers for oily skin then please visit the Moisturizers section.
Other approaches that could be used are mud masks. An astringent substance is a chemical compound that tends to shrink or constrict biological tissue. Some mud masks contain astringents such as witch hazel which could be helpful in dissolving excess oil, however they should be used sparingly to avoid drying the skin out too much.

• Water!

Water is good for pretty much everything! Drink more of it if you feel you may not be drinking enough. Try swapping soft drinks for water and see if this makes a positive difference.

• Quit smoking!

Are you a smoker? This could be the reason why you have excess oil on your skin. Smoking promotes enlargement of the pores.

• Are you sleeping well?

Sleeping is when the skin’s cellular repair activity is at its optimum so a good nights sleep could help your situation. I know that saying “get a good nights sleep” is much easier said than done, however this could be one of the reasons why your skin is not how you’d like it to be.

• What kind of food do you eat?

Cut out the junk and you should see an improvement in the health of your skin. For more information please visit the Diet section where you will find information about the best kind of diet for oily skin.

• Exercise

There are a few conflicting opinions about the effects of exercise on oily skin however I always recommend exercise to promote general good health. For more information about exercise, visit the Diet section.

• Stress and hormones

Stress and hormone imbalances can lead to the skin being more oily. These factors are harder to control. Living a balanced life with a healthy diet and lifestyle can improve these factors. If you feel like stress could be the cause of your skin problems then see if it’s possible to make some changes in your life that could promote a more relaxed lifestyle. Be proactive and try and improve the factors you can control.

For more detailed information, click on one of the topics in the navigation bar at the top of the site or read some of the other articles on the home page.

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There has been some research on the effects of caffeine when it’s applied topically on the skin and it’s been found that it can actually help fight skin cancer. Other than that, the research in limited.

Stress is one thing that we do know can cause oily skin and acne. There have been a few studies on this and it was found that a prolonged period of stress can cause breakouts. So does caffeine cause us to become more or less stressed? Here is a quote on the effects of caffeine on stress:

“Moderate caffeine consumption makes a person react like he/she is having a very stressful day.  If you combine the effects of real stress with the artificial boost in stress hormones that comes from caffeine, then you have compounded the effects considerably.” (Professor James Lane, Duke University Medical Center)

So maybe the fact that caffeine can cause is to become more stressed, can indirectly make our oily skin or acne worse. Like I said at the start of this article, I am just guessing here.

Sleep is also something that can effect the health of our skin. Anyone who has been sleep deprived, will know that it makes their skin feel and look terrible! Caffeine can effect our sleep so this could be another indirect way that the consumption of caffeine can effect our skin.

The last strange theory I have is about milk. It’s been suggested that dairy products can worsen acne (although more research needs to be done about this too). Maybe it’s the milk that you add to your tea or coffee that makes your acne worse.

All my strange theories so far have been about how caffeine can make our skin oilier or worse. My final theory is about how the most popular source of caffeine, coffee, could actually reduce the effects of acne. Coffee is anti-inflammatory, which means it could actually help our skin look a little bit better.

All of these things are theories that will hopefully get you thinking. In reality, the best way to find out if coffee’s making your skin oilier or causing breakouts, is to cut out the caffeine from your diet and see if things improve!

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My favorite study on the topic was done by a Colorado State University Scientist. The study compared people who consumed the western diet with people from Papua New Guinea and Paraguay who only ate natural foods such as fruit, vegetables, lean meats and seafood. Amazingly, in the two years of study, they couldn’t detect a single zit. Compare this to the 95% of teens in America dealing with Acne.

It was a pretty amazing finding. Now you might think that it could be other factors that could be causing the big difference, but to test this, the researchers also looked at South Americans and New Guineans now living in westernized settings. They found that when they started to eat like Americans, they too started to develop acne.

The theories behind the findings are all about the diets glycemic load. The scientists believed that a diet with a high glycemic load is what causes acne.

“By raising levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), more male hormone testosterone is produced, which leads to overproduction of more sebum — the greasy gunk that blocks pores and triggers acne. Researchers have long known that elevated testosterone levels does trigger acne.“ Sid Kirchheimer

So after all you’ve tried to get rid of your skin problems, it could simply be your diet. Have any of you tried a diet that only includes natural products? What kind of results did you see?

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If it’s really cold, our skin can become flaky and red and the cold can even cause more frequent acne breakouts. In order to ensure our skin stays healthy, we need to monitor the condition of our skin. If you’re used to cleansing three times a day, try dropping this frequency down to twice a day to see if it’s enough. If your skin still feels too tight after cleansing then it may be worth switching to a cleanser thats more mild, then going back to the old cleanser when the wether warms up a little.

You may need to moisturise more frequently too. If some of your skin is feeling dry while others are still oily (combination skin is actually quite common), then moisturize the dry areas more than the other areas. Strangely, my forehead become quite dry in the winter while the rest of my face stays quite oily.

The key is to monitor your skin and not just to blindly follow your routine.

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In cosmetics, its usually used as an exfoliant or in a moisturizer. It’s safety in skin use is debated so not as common as other ingredients. Some people argue that for a glycolic acid exfoliant to be effective, it needs to contain more than 10% of the acid. The issue is that most cosmetic producers don’t want to risk having too much of it in their products.  It is possible to get treatments that are high in glycolic acid, but they usually cost a fair amount.

So what can it actually do for our skin? Basically, it’s acidity exfoliates out skin. It’s just a strong exfoliant that leaves your skin feeling soft and smooth. Due to it’s strength, it can cause your skin to be sensitive to sunlight. It’s important to avoid direct sunlight after treatment. It can also cause your skin to appear red and flushed.

In this article about exfoliating I mentioned that exfoliating too often or with a product that’s too strong ended up badly for me. It caused my skin to become oilier over time. I personally wouldn’t think this treatment would be great, but I would be willing to try it!

Have any of you been treated with glycolic acid? Please tell us how you got on!

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While you may want to make you scars fade away with fade cream, it’s important to pick one that’s not going to make your skin more oily or even cause more acne which would obviously make the issue worse in the long run.

So you should look out for the same ingredients as you do when looking for a good moisturizer for oily skin. Obviously there will be some different ingredients on fade cream as it has a different job to do but where possible you should try and avoid products that contain to many oils or alcohol.

There are fade creams that are targeted towards people with oily skin like this one which may be worth trying but I’ve never used fade cream so I can’t really give and decent recommendations. As with other products you use on your face, look out for bad ingredients and then try a few different products out to see which one works best with your skin!

As I don’t have any experience with fade cream it would be great you could help us out and comment below on any experiences you have with fade cream for oily skin. Any recommendations?

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The blackheads are actually caused by dead skin cells. The dead skin cells block sebum (oils) from exiting our pores. The sebum and dead skin cells then react with the air and oxidise over time which is what turns them black. Blackheads tend to occur on the nose as it’s one of the oiliest parts on the face. They can also occur on the forehead and cheeks.

To try and tackle blackheads you could do one of two things. The best and most common approach is to try and reduce blockages by using cleansers that contain Salicylic acid. This can reduce blackheads but it doesn’t always get rid of them completely.

The second approach is to try and reduce the production of sebum. This approach is more of a long term way of dealing with blackheads and it’s what most of us on the site are trying to achieve. For my top 7 tips on how to reduce your sebum production, click here.

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This foundation is pretty heavy so you need to apply it quite lightly. You need to get the right tone as some people have found that once you apply the foundation on your face it looks quite different to how it looks in the tub. It’s not cakey and it has a matte finish which is perfect for oily skin.

From the people I have asked, this has not caused any issues with acne or it’s not caused an increase in the oiliness of their skin. It does sometimes need to be applied twice a day though. Doing a quick search on the internet tells me that some people are noticing that this foundation does cause them to brake out so it may be a little bit hit and miss.

Lets take a quick look at the ingredients:
Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Squalane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Silica Dimethyl Silylate Phenoxyethanol, Phenyl Trimethicone, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Methylparaben, Aluminum Hydroxide, Silica, BHT, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Butylparaben. May Contain: CI 77891/Titanium Dioxide, CI 77499, CI 77492, CI 77491/Iron Oxides, CI 77163/Bismuth Oxychloride, Mica.

There are a couple of things in there that aren’t ideal for oily skin. Apparently,  Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse is non comedogenic, but some people still report that they develop spots because of it. With the price being at the $7 mark, it may be worth trying this product out and seeing if it works well with your skin. As far as this being the best foundation for oily skin? I doubt that. I do think it’s worth trying out though at that price.

Overall the foundation got mixed reviews. Some people were big fans while others think that there are much better products out there for a similar price.

(Note: The links to the products in this post are affiliate links so ForOilySkin does get some money for each purchase through the links at no extra cost to the buyers.)

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The person who uses this has oily skin, but not extremely oily skin. Although the name suggests that this foundation will stay perfect for longer, it does need to be applied twice a day, like with most similar foundations on oily skin.

This foundation does make the skin look matte and does provide an even tone. It feels light on the skin and doesn’t aggravate acne or cause blemishes.

The foundation is a liquid type foundation that also has SPF 15 protection. This foundation is also pretty cheap at $5.99 on Amazon.com.

Have you used No7 Stay Perfect Foundation before? Did it work well with your oily skin?

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