Breakouts are also more likely because the sebum mixes with dead skin cells and gets stuck in your pores. The causes of oily skin include genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. While you can't necessarily get rid of oily skin, you can take steps to make your skin less oily.
Everybody's skin produces oil. Your sebaceous glands produce sebum, an oily or waxy substance that moisturizes and protects your skin and hair. Oily skin happens when your glands produce too much sebum, which can lead to a greasy surface, clogged pores, and acne. Oily skin is perfectly normal.
Drinking ample water balances the oil and water content on the skin of your face. This helps to prevent excess oil and sebum secretion, which means fewer clogged pores and acne.
Androgens are the hormones mostly responsible for oil production, and sometimes they can fluctuate, stimulating an increase in sebum production. This often happens during puberty, just before menstruation, during pregnancy and during menopause.
Hormonal medications such as antiandrogens could be effective in reducing sebum production. In one study , dermatologists used spironolactone to treat oily skin in females. They found that their skin produced less sebum. Other research also found that cyproterone acetate reduced sebum production in females.
Insulin resistance is a precursor to type 2 diabetes but is also responsible for oily skin. Many of us in the UK are thought to be deficient in vitamin D, especially during the winter when sunlight levels are low.
Your current skin care routine can also cause an oily nose. If you don't moisturize enough, your skin can become dehydrated, causing your nose to produce more oil. Over-cleansing is another factor because it can strip your face of natural oils, as does washing your face with extremely hot water.
Zinc can help control oily skin. Zinc and vitamin E are a couple of indirect vitamins for oily skin treatment. On their own, zinc and vitamin E have no affect on skin health and over-production of oil. When paired with a diet rich in vitamin A, however, they serve to boost the effects of the vitamin on skin health.
Vitamin A is one of the most important vitamins for healthy skin, and Vitamin D helps reduce oil production. We've already talked about zinc in skincare, but it can also reduce the quantity of your skin surface sebum upon consumption!
What vitamin C is best for oily skin? Vitamin C in the form of L-ascorbic acid may be the best option for oily skin, because it's both lightweight and water-soluble.
When your skin produces excess sebum (or oil), your forehead and other parts of your face can appear shiny or oily. While this may happen for a variety of reasons, stress, fluctuating hormones, genetics, and humidity are common factors.
Although oily skin can clog pores and lead to increased acne breakouts, oily skin also has many benefits. Oil helps preserve the skin, and people with oily skin tend to have thicker skin and fewer wrinkles. The key is to strike a balance between having too much oil and maintaining your skin's natural moisture.
Drink between 64 and 80 ounces of water every day, which will effectively moisten and hydrate the entire body, inside and out. Once the skin is properly hydrated, the oil glands will receive signals from the brain that excess oil is no longer needed, and will consequently slow down the oil production in the skin.
For people with oily skin, breakouts may never stop as they age. But oily skin does have a plus: It wards off wrinkles better than dry skin because the oils keep skin moister and smoother.
The main cause of an overproduction of sebum is hormonal imbalances, including as a result of puberty and pregnancy. “As well as hormones, heat, exercise and genetics play a part,” says Kate Kerr, acclaimed clinical facialist.
Zinc halts the over-production of keratinocytes and helps clear up acne over time. It also helps with the epidermal balance of keratin and collagen to help prevent blockage within the skin. Similarly, zinc is a natural DHT-blocker that lowers the amount of sebum that the skin produces.
Sebum production is controlled by our hormones, so a sudden surge in scalp oil production could be down to hormonal changes. If you've recently gone through a major life event that's known to have an impact on your hormone levels, this may be having a knock-on effect on the amount of sebum your scalp is producing.