Here’s one for the ladies, and the dudes who take really good care of their skin.
If you read beauty stories in magazines, about 95% of them tell you, “Everyone needs to use a moisturizer on her face. It doesn’t matter how oily your skin is: just do it.” But then occasionally the other 5% of beauty articles will admit, “Look, beauty editors are forever telling you that moisturizer is absolutely necessary, but between us? If your skin isn’t really dry, you actually can get away with skipping it.”
For years, I just ignored the 95%, because my skin is very oily. Like, so oily I still get zits regularly; the cleansers I use are for acne-prone skin, like a teenager’s. But then when I hit age thirty, I started to get paranoid about wrinkles and figured I’d better start using a moisturizer or I’d be fucked. But the 5%…I couldn’t get them out of my mind.
Now that it’s warm out, you see, the facial moisturizer I’ve been using — Vitamin C from The Body Shop: regular during the day, the night cream, duh, at night, and the under-eye cream every time I wash my face — has started feeling really heavy. If I happen to pass a mirror about an hour after I get back from the gym, my face looks slick and red and tired and just bad.
So yesterday I did an experiment: I showered and washed my face as usual, followed up with toner, put on just some eye cream, and left it at that. And hours later — even without any makeup — my face was hardly shiny at all.
My questions are as follows:
- Am I just kidding myself? Do I really need to use moisturizer, no matter how oily my skin is naturally?
- Is the issue that I’m using a moisturizer that’s too creamy? Even if the Body Shop stuff says it’s for normal to oily skin, are they lying?
- If I should be using moisturizer, what should it be?
I’m anxious to get answers on this from you fine, brilliant people, so I’m happy to field any questions you may have about my skin-care regime, no matter how seemingly personal.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
1. Possibly. The biggest (controllable) cause of wrinkles is sun damage, not dryness. So you may not need a moisturizer.
2. I think so. Body Shop may not be lying but anything making you greasy is definitely too heavy for you.
3. Cosmetics Cop (my go to for beauty myths) has some info and product reviews
In the same vein as RandomRanter, I’d say that the most important thing is to find a good sunblock and use that every day, but since those are almost always moisturizer/sunblock anyway, you might take care of the moisturizer conundrum right there anyway.
1. I agree about sun damage being the biggest cause of wrinkles. For this reason, I wouldn’t skip it all together, but make sure you’re using one with some SPF (at least 15).
2. Even people with the same “type” of skin won’t react the same to the same product. If yours isn’t working, I’d say experiment until you find one that works for you.
3. Personally, I use Cetaphil with SPF15. I have sensitive, combo skin and I am as pale as they come. It’s very, very light.
Using toner has historically made my face oilier and more breakout-prone; it’s like my skin is overcompensating. You might try leaving that out for a few days and seeing if your skin balances itself…and if you’re using a scrubbing cleanser on your face, like the Freeman’s apricot scrub, don’t use it every day.
My skin is actually less oily since I formally gave up and starting using SPF 30 sunscreen and lemon body lotion as my only moisturizers; when I try too hard with the Buf-Puf and the anti-aging serum and whatnot, my epidermis just gets annoyed and throws me a bunch of those hurty zits right next to my nostril. Maybe you just need to give it some space.
I used to use the Vitamin C lotion from The Body Shop on my super-oily skin for AGES, and then someone at the store told me it was actually designed for super-dry skin and was totally the wrong thing for me to be using. (This was at the Bloor West Village store and the employee was, like, a trillion times more helpful than any other Body Shop employee ever.) I switched to using things from the tea tree and seaweed lines and saw a lot of improvement. (Although now I am using products from Julique and Garnier, and remain, as always, on the lookout for the next skincare line which will, I hope, finally make my skin stop looking like shit.)
1. Eh. I’ve read the “you don’t need moisturizer if your skin isn’t dry” theory, which makes sense, but I’ve also read that skin generally doesn’t need to produce as much oil if it’s well-moisturized, which actually works for me. If your skin is super-oily, I definitely wouldn’t be doing it twice a day.
2. Possibly? The Body Shop has lot of ones with various natural oils, which may be why it feels so heavy.
3. I use an Oil of Olay SPF one, which is actually oil-free and cheap.
Hope in a Bottle from Philosophy — moisturizer and anti-acne medication combined into one magical elixir. I have very oily skin, and a lifetime history of acne. But if I use this stuff every day, the acne is greatly (usually entirely) reduced and I don’t get the oily feeling I get from other moisturizers. (It’s a chunk of change for a pretty small bottle, but I find I only need a tiny amount, so the bottle lasts a good long time).
Well, I live in Florida (see: hot and humid) and have had oily skin my whole life. What finally started working for me are three things:
- Cetaphil for Oily Skin (face wash)
- Olay Regenerist Skin Serum (not techinically a moisturizer but an anti-aging treatment)
- drinking at least 56 oz water daily (sometimes more)
My skin is still a little oily, but a few blotting papers mid day and I’m good to go. The acne is under control. In the end, I think everyone’s skin acts differently and it’s a trial and error process.
So funny that I got a copy of a book at work by Carmindy, the make up lady from What Not To Wear, and she says (and I’ll quote, which I’m sure is totally illegal) the following about moisturizer:
“Use an oil-free lotion. A lot of women assume that if their skin is oily, they should skip moisturizer. Not true.”
Apparently, your skin overcompensates and then makes more oil, so you’ve got the right instinct in using cream in the first place, but her suggestion is to find one that’s oil free with alpha-hydroxy acids to help control the breakouts.
Kiehls has that lovely blue line and their moisturizer has acne-control stuff and I find it works very well. I also have a nice light lotion from Dermlogica called skin softening or something, which was in my acne kit.
I agree with everyone who suggests lightening up on the moisturizer. I am a big fan of the Murad Skin Perfecting Lotion line (everyone commented on how noticeably different my skin looked after about 3 weeks of twice daily use); it is a bit pricey though. I’ve also had good luck with the oil-free moisturizers from Neutrogena.
My dermatologist has suggested taking it easy with astringents and toners as sometimes they can trick the body in to producing extra oil to compensate for the drying action.
I have oily skin and just use the Neutrogena oil-free face moisturizer with SPF. Never feel it after…
I was once told by a very nice Clinique lady that after washing and using toner and eye cream, you should wait 5 minutes, then put a teensy bit of moisturizer anywhere that feels dry and tight. That’s what I do, and it works for me.
I was also told to stop using products for oily skin even though I was breaking out, because although my skin was oily, the oiliness was because I had dry and sensitive skin and I was aggravating it by using harsh products, which created more oil.
That sounds confusing, but my skin’s been realy good since I took Clinique lady’s advice! I’d still be using their products if they weren’t so freaking expensive.
I have oily skin, prone to eczema. (So: Grease and flakes!)I had a dilly of a time finding skin care that suited, but I succeeded. In the morning, I do a non-alcohol toner, use Prescriptives Super Flight Cream (regular flight cream is fine as well) with Nivia Q-10 for my eyes, At night, I use an alcohol astringent and an alpha-hydroxy exfolliant to deflake. The Prescriptives is the first moisturizer I found to give me enough heft to survive daily exfolliating without breaking out, but without the grease. I wash with Clean & Clear’s Morning Burst, which de-oils me nicely without scrubbers.
Moisturizers vary a LOT from formulation to formulation. Keep experimenting. Try exfolliating, too. If you use a gentle enough one, it may help you avoid so many acne breakouts.
Part of your issue may be the type of toner you are using. If you are using a toner for acne skin it is more than likely over stripping your skin of its natural oils. Your skin needs some oil to keep it nourished and hydrated properly. This is a common mistake people who have acne or oily skin make. You should cleanse with a gel cleanser, tone with an alcohol and acid free toner (Burts Bees makes a nice carrot toner) and use and oil free moisturizer with spf like the one mentioned above by neutrogena. Your skin is just out of balance. Toner should condition your skin, not strip it. It is the same theory as using conditioner on your hair after you shampoo. Your skin should NOT feel dry or tight after you cleanse and tone. That is why so many people use moisturizers that are too heavy for them. This is just the opinion of a humble esthetician. Hope it helps. Also there may be areas of your face you do not need to moisturize. I tell a lot of clients not to moisturize their nose.
So what I use at night is Eucerin, and it’s AMAZING. I have extremely oily skin, and this stuff doesn’t make me break out any more than usual, or make me any more oily than usual. I LOVE this moisturiser. You can find it at most drugstores. I found it at Walgreens.
I also recommend anything by Origins. Everything is at least partially natural, and it smells great. Their “A Perfect World” moisturiser is superb. I also have further skincare tips if you’re interested.
Why is the beauty industry is one big scam:
1. Cosmetics only provide us with an enhanced appearance but in most cases they do not and should not change the structure of our skin. If they do, then those are drugs and should not be sold as cosmetics (it’s unethical and against the law). However, it still happens.
2. Some dermatologists see moisturizing as non essential. If you have oily skin it’s self-moisturizing unless you dry it out. There are even some who think that moisturizing can cause rapid aging because your skin gets used to “being lazy” and not producing oil (much like being addicted to lip balms).
3. By using series of products such as toners, moisturizers, eye creams and the list goes on you regulate the moisture (or lack thereof) in your skin but you will not change your skin type. The salespeople encourage you to do what is completely unnecessary, expensive, and time-consuming.
4. All those brands are owned by bigger brands, e.g: The Body Shop is owned by L’Oreal etc. Therefore, they sometimes use similar ingredients. And regardless of brands, if you look at the ingredients most products are similar in composition.
Conclusion: don’t moisturize, wash with just plain water, you can use a diluted lemon juice to cut back the oiliness or a bit of plain soap. Don’t worry about wrinkles and pimples- we all get them, you can do little to prevent them. Enjoy the outdoors, sun and sea water dry up pimples (without sunscreen and in moderation)…what else? wear less makeup (skip foundations, blush, powders, and concealers) and use baby wipes or sunflower oil as make up remover (or anything that is non-drying and not formulated specifically for this goal). Study science: chemistry is a good way to understand what those creams are made of and being able to become not only a wise consumer but the maker of your own destiny.
Having had very oily skin over the years (my skin is more “normal” now), I never used a moisturizer, despite being told by all of the skin care experts, that I needed one. I think it is very important to listen to your skin. Sometimes, oily skin can have dry patches right over the oily areas. In this case, you may want to use a light moisturizer. Combination skin may want to apply moisturizer over only dry areas, including the eye area. It is important to use a light weight sun block every day with a minimum of an SPF 15. Some natural oils can be very light (such as jojoba, sesame seed oil, apricot kernel oil) and can be fine for some with oily skin. These oils are completely non-greasy and may not make skin feel oilier when applied. As we get older, we do want to use high quality products with anti-aging ingredients such as antioxidants. R-Lipoic Acid is a great antioxidant to use. Depending upon how oily your skin is, you can opt for an anti-aging cream with light natural oils, or even a serum which is oil free.
I am an esthetician and I’ve had many clients with your exact problem.
The first thing I must let you know is nobody is lying to you , moisturizer is necessary for alot of reasons, one being it protects your skin from free radicals, two it seals in any treatment you put onto your face such as if wash you face with a cleanser that had ingredients in it such as alpha hydroxy acids to help with your acne ,if you didnt have on moisturizer after, the acids would not be as effective, the moisturizer would lock the acids in your pores, three moisturizers believe it or not hydrate your face. my suggestion would be you are not obligated to one skin care line. there are thousands of different types of skin care products, I tell my clients to try as many different products until there satisfyed with their results. So try a different product besides the body shop ,who knows. I will recommend one that worked for one of my clients is Dermalogica oil free moisturizer.