Oily Skin Care

The term "skin type" in the cosmetic world actually defines the skin appearance by the oil and moist "behavior" of the skin. Its very common to divide the skin into four skin types:

Normal skin: Characterized by not having oily or dry areas at all.
Oily skin: Characterized by having oily shiny skin in all areas and no dry areas.
Dry skin: Characterized by tight, sometimes even with scales and no oily areas at all.
Combination skin: Characterized by oiliness mainly in the nose forehead and chin also known as t-zone, and normal or dry skin everywhere else.

Having that said, you should know that you can't count on these four categories all the time. Your skin type is not permanent. Changes in the skin occur as a result of external and internal factors: climate changes, emotional state, hormonal changes, medication, diseases, smoking, nutrition and more.

This is why we have to diagnose the skin type at a given time. Every skin type requires specific treatment to the behavior of the oil secretion, moistness level, wound, acne, pigmentation, wrinkles and so forth.

Classic oily skin: Defined by excessive secretion of the sebaceous glands, expended pores, blackheads or whiteheads. Even after Cleansing, in a short period of time, the skin is shiny. Sometimes pimples can be found in that skin type.

Dried oily skin: the dryness is a result of treatments or products that cause skin dehydration, climate changes or internal changes.

Combination skin: Excessive oil secretion mainly in the t-zone while other parts are normal or dry.

Acne oily skin: Defined by acne (pimples), active mostly in puberty accompanied with wounds in the chin and jaw areas.

Treatment can benefit the skin and improve its condition. Nevertheless, a wrong treatment or not doing anything at all can deteriorate the skin condition. Treatment that doesn't take into consideration the changes in the skin, can dehydrates the skin and cause the glands to secrete even more sebum and cause the skin to be more oily! the treatment in this type of skin requires gentleness.

1. Cleanse your face. Not more than twice a day, with a gentle cleanser, suitable for oily skin. Avoid alcohol based cleansers.

2. Absorb the oil secretion with with special products for oily skin.

3. Oily skin makes its own lubrication but you should also want to moisturize it as well. Use water based moisturizers. Moisturizing is crucial if you have combination skin.

4. If you have pimples you should treat them specifically. It's important to diagnose the pimples and make sure it is not acne, which has its own unique treatments.

5. Make sure to use makeup that doesn't clog the pores and is oil-free. There are really good foundations for oily skin these days that control the shine and keep the skin matte.

In this condition of hyper functionality of the sebaceous glands as a result of hormonal activity, the sebum production is increased. In addition, dead skin cells are blocking the gland pathway or some of it and the oil path is blocked and a blockage is created. This phenomenon lids to the creation of a black or white "head" around the pore. In a blackhead the pore is not entirely covered by a layer of dead skin cells, some air can comes through and this causes oxygenation, and this is how the blackhead is created. If the pore is covered completely by dead skin cells, there is no oxygenation and then you get a whitehead.

1. Use gentle cleansers. Hard soaps irritate the skin and may cause the skin sell to become scaly, cause their premature shedding and then to the accumulation of them in the pores that leads to clogging.

2. Use gentle peelers such as alpha and beta hydroxide acid. They can shed dead skin cells from the skin surface and reduce the pore blockages.

3. Use products that contain derivative of vitamin A sometimes help the skin to function normally and improve the pores appearance which improves the sebum path (and you get less blockages).

4. Birth control pills. Sometimes in severe problems of sebum production, taking pills can adjust the hormonal system and reduce the excess production of oil. (You must consult your gynecologist).

I prefer to use preventive treatment, but sometimes you need to get these blackheads out, so if you do, you should do it properly. Aggressive motions on a large area will cause more bad than good. Blackheads removal should be done by a certified cosmetician. You should avoid doing it yourself. If you press to hard, pinch or scratch you can create scars.

When it's done gently, in the right way, with minimum pressure than it is the best and only way to remove blackheads.

1. Cleansing with a cleanser suited for your skin type.

2. Peeling, in order to remove dead skin cells. At this stage you should also soften the skin with steam.

3. Applying a special softening lotion (found at cosmeticians) that will prepare the skin for the blackhead removal.

4. Cover the fingers with a cloth to aviod slipping.

5. Press evenly from both sides of the blackhead.

6. Repeat this action only one more time if necessary. If the blackhead didn't come out, then we probably can't get it out, and if we keep pressing we might damage the skin, worsen the infection and scar the area.

Important note: If there are pimples, touching and picking is a bad idea and should be avoided. These actions will speed up the infection and can also create scars.
Skin care advice