
The near-constant shine that always seems to accompany oily skin can be frustrating to deal with. People often find themselves aggressively scrubbing at their skin whenever they cleanse or exfoliate in an attempt to remove as much of that grease as possible, even though this only provides temporary relief. The problem with this method is that it can often dry the skin out a little too much, meaning that once the oil starts to return, it does so with vengeance!
So, what’s the solution if you don’t want to be sporting a shiny face all day, every day? Keep reading as Vine Vera shares some top tips for reducing how greasy your skin feels without drying it out.
Focus on Gentle Cleansing
When it comes to controlling shine on a daily basis, cleansing is your most effective tool. This should be done twice a day; once in the morning and again at night. While some people with oily skin try to squeeze a third cleanse in, this isn’t advisable. Why? Because this is exactly what will dry your skin out.
When it comes to cleansing, you need to be careful. Over-cleansing your skin will remove too much of your skin’s sebum. Sure, this may seem great in the short run but it will only stimulate your sebaceous glands into ramping up sebum production. This will then leave your skin oilier than ever.
Of course, even if you limit your cleansing to twice a day, over-cleansing can still occur if you use a cleanser that’s too harsh for your skin. Again, going for an overly powerful cleanser may seem like a no-brainer when you’re trying to get rid of as much grease as you can but this will also increase oil production in the long run. Instead, find yourself a gentle yet effective formula, like the Vine Vera Resveratrol Cabernet Mousse Cleanser. It will lift away excess oil and impurities without drying your skin out.
Fight Oil With Oil
People with oily skin often avoid skincare products that contain oil. After all, if your skin is already oilier than you want it to be, why would you then choose to add more oil into the mix?
The answer to that is simple. As you may know, oil attracts oil. This means that using a cleanser that contains oil can be a great way to remove excess sebum from your skin. The oil in the cleanser will bind itself to the oil on your skin, leaving you looking less shiny once you’re done.
The best way to incorporate an oil-based cleanser into your skincare routine is by double cleansing. This is when you cleanse your skin twice. The first cleanse is done with an oil-based cleanser and then, once this is rinsed off, you cleanse again with a water-based cleanser. This will remove any residue left behind by your oil-based cleanser while also sweeping away water-based impurities, like dirt and sweat, from your skin.
Again, you don’t want to be double cleansing twice a day every day. This will only lead to over-cleansing. Instead, save this technique for the evenings when your skin would benefit from a more thorough cleanse.
Exfoliate in Moderation
Exfoliation is another great way to rid your skin of excess oil. Unlike cleansing, which focuses on the surface of the skin, exfoliators pull sebum out from pore openings. This significantly de-greases the complexion while also preventing the appearance of clogged pores and breakouts – something that oily skin is usually highly prone to.
However, just like with cleansing, taking your exfoliation efforts too far can cause a number of problems. The damage that over-exfoliation does to your skin barrier means that dehydration, excessive sebum production, acne breakouts, inflammation, and more will become prevalent.
There are two factors to keep in mind if you want to ensure that you don’t over-exfoliate. The first is to make sure that you aren’t using an overly potent exfoliator. While acid-based exfoliants are best for oily skin, don’t automatically assume that a high-concentration formula is what your skin needs, especially if you think that it may be dehydrated. Instead, pick an exfoliator that’s formulated with a gentle acid, like the mandelic acid that’s used in the Vine Vera Resveratrol Vitamin C Peeling.
Once you’ve found the right exfoliator, make sure that you exfoliate in moderation. Avoid exfoliating more than three times a week as this will undoubtedly dry out and damage your skin.
Work on Boosting Skin Hydration Levels
One big contributor to excess sebum production is dehydration. When your skin cells lack moisture, they try to compensate for this by increasing how much oil they produce. The best way to counter this is by ensuring that your skin cells are receiving all of the moisture that they need.
How can you do this without weighing your skin down and leaving it looking shinier? By seeking out skincare products that contain humectants. This ingredient group has moisture-binding properties, enabling them to draw moisture from the environment around them and bind that to the skin. They’re light ingredients that feel weightless on the skin, making them perfect for rehydrating oily skin.
The Vine Vera Resveratrol Chianti Revival Serum does this beautifully. It’s packed with numerous humectants, including sodium hyaluronate, peptides, seaweed extract, and collagen. It also contains several ingredients that are known for reducing the appearance of acne marks, such as kojic acid and licorice root extract. Witch hazel extract is in this blend too. It’s a botanical that not only makes the pores look smaller but has also been proven to lower the feeling of inflammation in the skin.
Keep UV Rays at Bay
Spend some time in the sun and you may feel as though those rays have managed to reduce the shine on your face and dry up some of that excess oil. However, in truth, all they’ve done is suck the moisture out of your skin, leaving your skin cells parched. As you know, dehydration leads to an increase in oil production, making those sun-soaked hours bad news for your skin.
This doesn’t mean that you have to completely avoid the sun. Instead, keep your skin protected with sunscreen so that you can spend time outdoors without having to worry about your skin. Over time, this will help to reduce how greasy your skin feels while also saving your complexion from fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, and all of the other visible damage that UV rays cause.
With that said, people with oily skin often struggle to find a sunscreen that doesn’t leave them feeling even oilier! While spray sunscreens can seem like a good solution, they don’t provide even, or enough, coverage to adequately protect the skin from the sun.
One way to get around this is with an SPF moisturizer, like the Vine Vera Resveratrol Cabernet Replenishing Moisture Cream SPF 30. It’s a lightweight cream that will hydrate your skin while it protects against the sun. It’s filled with antioxidants too, which will enhance how shielded your skin feels.
Mask With Clay Once a Week
If face masks aren’t already something that you use regularly, it’s time to change your ways. Why? Because clay masks can be a game-changer for people with oily skin.
Clay has been loved for generations for how it binds itself to sebum, making it so easy to de-grease the complexion. Yes, it can over-dry the skin too, but only when used incorrectly. This tends to happen if clay masks are left on the skin for too long, which is why it’s important to follow the usage directions that come with your mask of choice.
Going for a clay mask that contains a few hydrating ingredients will also help to ensure that your skin doesn’t dry out too much. The Vine Vera Resveratrol Chianti Thermic Mask, for example, will hydrate your skin with a blend of aloe vera and sweet almond extracts. It’s filled with antioxidants too, along with ingredients that reduce the appearance of inflammation.
For best results, aim to use a clay mask on your oily skin once a week. Apply it after exfoliating your skin and the clay will be able to work its magic even more efficiently!
Take Your Hormones Into Consideration
Sebum production is often directly influenced by your hormones. When hormonal fluctuations occur, sebaceous activity can increase, leaving the skin oilier and shinier.
What can you do about this? In some cases, nothing. The hormonal changes that your body experiences during puberty and menopause, for example, are normal. Simply being aware of them and how they affect your skin will enable you to proactively adjust your skincare routine in a way that prevents all of that grease from building up at certain times. Of course, if your hormonal changes are extreme, your doctor may be able to prescribe medication that helps to bring things back in balance.
Other hormonal changes, on the other hand, can be controlled by you. The cortisol levels in your body increase when your stress levels rise. This is why cortisol is often nicknamed ‘the stress hormone’. Again, it ramps up oil production while causing a number of other issues. Learning how to keep your stress levels low will go a long way in preventing all of that cortisol from shooting around your body and causing havoc in your skin.
Caring for Oily Skin With Vine Vera
While the thought of drying out your oily skin may seem appealing, this is the last thing that you want to do. Instead, focus your efforts on keeping excess oil at bay in ways that don’t leave your skin cells feeling parched and damaged. The tips that we’ve shared above will help with that, enabling you to gain some control over that shine without causing any more problems for your skin.
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