Oily shine on the skin: why it appears and how to deal with it correctly (and is it necessary)

Last update: 02/21/2021

Each of us dreams of having smooth, velvety skin that looks flawless in any weather and in any condition. But what to do if an unpleasant oily sheen appears on your forehead, chin and nose? An experienced doctor, Valentina Andreevna Razheva, will tell you why facial skin sometimes resembles an oily pancake and what to do to remove oily shine.

How do you know if your skin is oily?

Each of us can determine our own skin type. If your skin becomes shiny from time to time, it is most likely prone to oiliness. Dermatologists consider other characteristic features of oily skin to be:

• Enlarged pores.
  Pores quickly become dirty and expand because of this. The face looks lumpy and loose, and the skin on the forehead, chin and nose begins to shine.
• Tendency to inflammation.
  Oily skin is many times more likely than dry skin to become inflamed, acne, rashes, and redness appear on it. The thing is that the glands that produce sebum work too actively. Excess fat accumulates, hardens, and plugs appear on the surface of the skin, which interfere with its self-cleaning. Blackheads and inflamed pimples appear on oily skin.
• Problems with cosmetics.
  Cosmetics don't stick well to oily skin. Due to the greasy sheen, powder, foundation and even blush “float”, and disappear 2-3 hours after application.
• Frequent greasy shine.
  The skin begins to shine about 2 hours after the morning toilet.

Surely each of you knows a rapid test for diagnosing oily skin. You need to apply a thin paper napkin to your face. If marks remain on it, it means that the skin produces too much sebum and is prone to oiliness.

The fifth rule is the application of skincare products

Oily skin, which constantly develops shine, needs hydration and nutrition, which must come from external sources. This source can be a water-based moisturizer. It should be applied immediately after cleansing and other procedures. After 5-10 minutes, you can wipe your face with a paper towel to remove any unabsorbed product residue.

Causes of oily shine

Firstly, don’t worry if your skin becomes shiny on a hot day, in a stuffy room, in a bathhouse or sauna. In this case, its shine is a normal reaction of the body.

Common causes of oily shine are:

• Gastrointestinal diseases
  , for example, stomach, liver, intestines. Improper functioning of internal organs most often immediately affects the skin.
• Hormonal surges.
  Sebum is produced most strongly before menstruation, during or after pregnancy, as well as when the endocrine system is imbalanced.
• Frequent stress.
  It's no secret that constant hassle has a bad effect on your appearance. The nervous system causes the glands to work more actively, which causes oily skin.
• Poor nutrition.
  An excess of fried, fatty, spicy and smoked foods in the diet very often provokes excessive oiliness. In addition, an excess of sweets and soda in the diet leads to excessive oily skin.

Incorrect care and use of low-quality cosmetics can also lead to the appearance of an oily sheen. And, of course, a common cause of the problem is considered to be a hereditary predisposition to fatness.

The tenth rule is health improvement, normalization of lifestyle and diet

If you begin a comprehensive recovery of the body, the skin will be one of the first to respond. Her condition will noticeably improve, and the oily sheen will no longer bother you if you take the following measures:

1. Go through a full examination of the body to identify diseases of the internal organs, which may occur in a latent form.
2. To ensure that the glands produce less fat, stop eating unhealthy foods and switch to fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs, lean meat, fish, whole grain cereals, and vegetable oils. To cleanse the intestines, add flax seeds and bran to cereals and salads.
3. Drink enough clean water (1.5-2.5 liters per day), give up coffee and black tea. Instead, you can drink green tea, decoctions of medicinal herbs, and water infusion of rose hips. Drink water even when you don't feel like it, at least half a glass. After all, if the body lacks fluid, the skin also suffers. And when the epidermis lacks moisture, it produces sebum more actively.
4. Consult with your doctor about the use of dietary supplements to improve the health of the skin, vitamin and mineral complexes of the “skin, nails, hair” type.
5. Use decorative and skincare cosmetics with safe ingredients. Wash and care products should not contain alcohol or sodium lauryl sulfate, which have a negative effect on the skin. You don't have to buy expensive products. Companies such as Mary Kay, Avon, and Oriflame offer high-quality mass-market cosmetics available to a wide range of consumers. They also have luxury and premium product lines.
6. Do not use cosmetics that contain oils (fats). To remove oily shine from the face, it is better to use light creams and other water-based products. You can also choose products with a mattifying effect.
7. Always remove your makeup at the end of the day. Sleeping with makeup on your face means worsening the condition of your skin.
8. The last piece of advice from experts is to try to avoid stress and conflict situations, get more rest, walk in the fresh air, and get enough sleep. All this helps to optimize the functioning of the nervous system and normalize hormonal levels.

Two-step cleansing

The foundation of skin care is two-step cleansing. First, it is important to remove makeup using micellar water or special milk. It is important to properly moisten the cotton pad with a special product, because dry cotton wool can subsequently cause facial wrinkles.

Even washing your face in the morning, without makeup on your face, is better to start with milk. The product will remove all impurities from the surface of the skin and prepare the face for the next stage of cleansing.

After washing with milk, you should use a gel or foam for oily or combination skin. Products with aloe, chamomile, cucumber, apple, witch hazel and other natural ingredients will be effective. But the content of salicylic and lactic acid in cleansers should be no more than 2%.

An effective product for use after cleansing for those with problematic skin prone to oily shine is the STOP ACNE Basic Care mattifying cream-gel. The main components of the product are:

• ALPAFLOR ALP-SEBUM complex (alpine fireweed extract) with clinically proven effectiveness. The complex controls the functioning of the sebaceous glands and reduces oily skin, has anti-inflammatory and anti-allergenic effects, and also eliminates irritation and redness of the skin.
• Betaine, which prevents dehydration of the epithelium.
• Boron nitrite, an element that helps create a matte, radiant effect, maintaining a healthy glow to the skin.
• Licorice extract relieves inflammation, redness and flaking of the skin.
• Violet extract has anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory and soothing properties.
• The string extract has antiallergic, wound healing and antimicrobial effects.

Try to wash your face no more than twice a day. Remember: the more thoroughly you wash away fat, the more actively new will be produced. Do not wash your face with too hot or cold water.

Special care

In addition to daily care, special procedures will help remove oily shine on the skin.

• Twice a week, during the evening wash, you should use an exfoliating agent - special milk, soft peeling or foam.
• From one to three times a week it is allowed to make cleansing and moisturizing masks that will regulate the functioning of the sebaceous glands.
• Those with an oily sheen should never touch pimples, much less try to squeeze them out. Inappropriate actions can cause scars to appear and infection to spread, which can lead to even more acne. Any mechanical cleaning should be carried out only by a cosmetologist.

Rule six – increasing tone and closing pores

In order for the pores to close and not secrete sebum, and also to prevent dirt and particles of decorative cosmetics from getting into them, the face must be treated with tonic. It is desirable that the product contains many useful components of natural origin and no alcohol.

Ice can also be used as a tonic. Short-term exposure to cold will improve the skin's health and help close pores more effectively. Ice can be made in the freezer of the refrigerator using a mold with small square compartments, as well as a variety of liquids:

1. Regular drinking water.
2. Mineral water without gas.
3. A weak decoction of medicinal plants.

To tone the epidermis and remove oily shine from the face, rub an ice cube over the entire surface. Including the under-eye area - a light touch of ice will help relieve bags under your eyes and reduce the appearance of dark circles. However, experts warn that this method of toning the skin is not suitable for people who have spider veins on their faces, as well as those with very delicate and sensitive dermis.

How to remove oily shine from your face?

Unfortunately, modern dermatology has not invented a universal remedy for oily sheen. To get rid of this pathology, it is important to first eliminate its internal causes - improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, normalize nutrition, and level out hormonal levels. And, at the same time, it is important not to forget about local skin treatment.

Let's look at the recipes for the most effective masks against oily shine. If you add them to your weekly beauty plan, the compositions will not only help deal with shiny skin, but will also nourish it with useful substances, moisturize and cleanse the skin.

Clay mask

Clay is rightfully considered the best means of mattifying the skin. For the mask, you can choose any clay - white, blue, pink or black. It is enough to dilute 2 tablespoons of clay with boiled water or chamomile decoction, and then apply the composition to the face in a thick layer and leave for 20 minutes.

It is better to apply the mask in the morning, after washing, but before using toner. After using it, the skin remains smooth and matte for up to 8 hours.

Protein mask

Egg white perfectly cleanses pores and tightens them. To prepare the mask, it will be enough to use the white of one egg with a teaspoon of aloe or lemon juice. The resulting composition should be applied to the face with a brush in several layers. As soon as the last one dries, you can wash off the mask.

Kefir mask

This fermented milk product will be a real salvation for hair. Kefir perfectly whitens, heals and dries the skin. To create a mask, just mix a tablespoon of kefir with a tablespoon of oatmeal or pea flakes. The composition should be lightly massaged into the skin, left for 20 minutes, and then rinsed with warm water.

Yeast mask

Both dry and live yeast can get rid of oily skin for a long time. To prepare the mask, dilute a tablespoon of yeast with a teaspoon of milk, and then pour 5 drops of lemon juice into this mixture. The composition should be applied to the skin, and after 15 minutes, rinse with warm water.

Cucumber mask

To prepare this refreshing composition, grind half a fresh cucumber and two tablespoons of oatmeal through a meat grinder. The composition should be left on the face for 10 minutes until it swells, then rinse with cool water.

Potato mask

Compositions with potatoes remove oily shine, rejuvenate and brighten the skin. To prepare the mask, mix the juice of one potato tuber with egg white and add 3 drops of lemon essential oil. The mask should be kept on the skin for 20 minutes, then rinsed off with water.

Before using “homemade” masks, consult a dermatologist/cosmetologist.

Third rule - scrubbing

After washing, once every 2-3 days you can treat the surface of your face with a scrub. The use of such a product provides additional cleansing and a massage effect, due to which oily shine will occur less frequently.

You can buy a scrub for oily skin at a cosmetics store or prepare it yourself. If you choose the latter option, you can use several folk recipes. The main thing is that the scrub consists of two components - one acts as a base, the second as an exfoliator. Our experts recommend testing the following options:

1. The base is something thick or viscous - natural yogurt without additives, sour cream, glycerin, honey.
2. An exfoliant is something that has small particles without sharp edges - finely ground table or sea salt, soda, crushed oatmeal, fine brown sugar, fresh or used coffee grounds.
3. You can also add moisturizing, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory components to the scrub, for example, a few drops of lemon juice or gelatin swollen in water.
4. After mixing the components, scrubbing must be done quickly, as the exfoliant may dissolve in the base. The scrub is applied to the surface of the face with soft circular movements along massage lines. After rubbing the product into the skin, wait a couple of minutes and rinse with plenty of warm water.

First aid for face

If your skin starts to get shiny at the most inopportune moment, products such as:

• Matting napkins.
  It is enough to simply apply such a napkin to the skin. Excess fat will quickly be absorbed into it, and your face will become smooth and matte.
• Thermal water.
  This water can be bought at any pharmacy or cosmetic store; a small bottle with a sprayer can easily fit in a handbag. If the skin begins to shine, water can be used over makeup; it will perfectly refresh and moisturize the face.
• Mineral powder made from oatmeal
  perfectly disguises imperfections and mattifies the skin. If you use this powder in the morning, your face will not shine until noon.

We hope our recommendations for eliminating oily shine will be useful to you. Show a little attention to yourself, and your skin will always be velvety, smooth and soft.

Salon treatments

The condition of oily skin is noticeably improved by cosmetic procedures:

• chemical, ultrasonic or mechanical facial cleansing;
• gas-liquid peeling;
• microdermabrasion;
• darsonvalization (pulse current);
• biocybernetic (microcurrent) therapy;
• cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen;
• laser resurfacing;
• vaporization;
• mesotherapy;
• plasma injections;
• massage.

Each method is effective and has its own pros and cons. However, the effect of the course of procedures lasts no more than six months. Afterwards the program must be repeated.

Oily skin is not a death sentence. A proper lifestyle and regular care will help you cope with the problem once and for all. The main thing is not to despair. Moreover, this type of dermis will delight the owner in adulthood. Oily skin ages more slowly and is not prone to the early appearance of wrinkles.

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Clinical researches

The La-Cri Atoderm line was developed jointly with Professor Denis Vladimirovich Zaslavsky, chief specialist in dermatovenereology and cosmetology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation in the Northwestern Federal District of the Russian Federation.

The products are characterized by clinically proven effectiveness.

Sources:

1. Sukolin Gennady Ivanovich, Illustrated clinical dermatology. Brief alphabetical reference book, Lux Print publishing house, 2010.
2. Churolinov Petr, Herbal medicine in dermatology and cosmetics, Medicine and Physical Education, 1979.
3. Schneiderman Paul, Grossman Mark, Differential diagnosis in dermatology. Atlas, Binom, 2022.