We’ve all been there. Whether it was early in our teen years or even later into our adult life, we’ve also suffered the oily, acne prone skin, desperately trying to maintain oil control and keep our blemishes strategically covered up. But it’s exhausting. We feel alone, frustrated, and helpless where to turn next. With such a concentrated market of acne solutions, it’s hard to know what will work best for our skin types and be rid of the oil and acne forever.
Many products target this specific consumer market with guarantees, pretty packages, and very enticing before and after pictures (which are usually photoshopped anyways). It’s no wonder people get frustrated and result to more makeup coverage, or constantly checking to make sure the oil on their face is under control. However, we are here to change that. Let’s strip our skin care regimen down to the basics and see exactly what it is we need to find our best skin care regimen for oily acne prone skin and resolve the frustrating skin problems for good.
Not sure if you need high end brands for your skin care routine or can get away with drugstore products? Click here to learn more!
Face Mapping
Let’s start with face mapping. This is going to be the key in figuring out why you have acne and what it is trying to tell you – pretty amazing right? Our bodies are amazing (and yet annoying) in that they tell us there are issues with our internal organs by a plethora of ways including tweaks in our spines, cavities in our teeth, and, of course, breakouts on our skin (1). When we have excessive breakouts and oily skin, our bodies are trying to communicate with us that something internally isn’t working quite right. Everyone displays these messages differently in their own bodies but breaking out on the face is a sure and easy way to tell where the problem may lie.
Although face mapping may sound like a new trend on the rise, it actually dates back several thousand years to the ancient Chinese medicine days. Also known as Mien Shiang which translates in English directly to ‘Face Reading’, this is a 3,000 year old practice that correlates bodily imbalances with breakouts on the face. With such history and wisdom in the art of face mapping, it is usually dead on as far as what needs to be fixed in order to relieve your skin.
This book is an in-depth look by Professor Lillian Bridges who is a popular academic on the subject. She takes a deep dive into the markings and features of the face to understand internal functions, both physically and mentally, and where the problem may lie in order to target that area for healing. She gives a clear understanding of the techniques behind face mapping and how they can be used in your everyday life to achieve maximum health, and of course clearer skin.
When adopting face mapping to better understand your internal systems, remember that it takes time and discipline. Clearing up oily skin and acne will always start internally. Changing up your diet, correcting your sleep and exercise patterns will drastically change up your skin very quickly, but it still can take up to a few months of work to see the results you want. So be patient and kind to your body in the process of healing!
Keep Your Skin Clean
Now that we have started internally, let’s now pair that with topical solutions to speed up the process and aid our skin in the healing. Keeping our skin clean seems like an obvious step. But with so many face washes on the market, specifically targeting oily, acne prone skin, these face washes can actually be more harmful than good. Instead of working with your skin to resolve the issue, they instead dry out your skin to give you a quick fix. The only problem with this is that it actually aggravates your skin over time which can cause more breakouts and even oilier skin. If you don’t know where to start, we recommend trying the Dermalogica Dermal Clay Cleanser.
This powerful product is fantastic for oily, acne prone skin. Instead of drying out your skin, it works with your skin to purify it by pulling out oils and debris that may be clogging your pores and gives your skin a healthy breath of fresh air. It includes highly effective ingredients such as Kaolin and Green clays, combined with Sambucus, Lemon, and Ivy extracts to remove oils. Then it springs into action with Cucumber and Sage extracts to soothe your skin and leave it feeling soft and fresh. Not only is this product powerful in the fight against acne and oil, but it also helps prolong the aging process by promoting elasticity in the skin.
Oil Control
The next step is to control the oil in your skin by balancing pH levels. This can be done internally by staying on top of your water intake and staying away from greasy, processed foods (I like to refer to these as ‘beige’ colored foods), alcohol, and smoking. But it can also be paired with topical solutions to speed up the process of healing. The key here is to find a good toner. Toners should always be full of clean, natural ingredients, and should always have witch hazel at the top of the ingredients list. Witch hazel is a completely natural toning solution that balances pH levels in the skin, helps control oils, and can even reduce redness in your skin tone. The best part about it too is that it works almost instantly!
We highly recommend using the Mario Badescu Witch Hazel & Rosewater Toner, as it is the best toning product for oily, acne prone skin on the market. Of course, this toner has witch hazel as one of the top ingredients, but it also includes rose water. Not only does rose water smell amazing, but it is extremely powerful in reducing acne, redness, oils, and fighting against skin aging. Once you have cleaned your skin, be sure to add a splash of this all over your face and watch the magic happen. Over time, with consistent use of this product, you will notice your oil and acne breakouts completely under control.
Moisturize? Are You Sure?
I know. It seems very counter-intuitive. While oil breakouts can be for a number of reasons including stress, lack of exercise, or consumption of greasy foods, it can also be because your skin is dry – weird right? You would think that because your skin is producing so much oil that there would be no question as to whether or not your skin is getting the hydration it needs. But you would be wrong. When our skin is too dry or not fully balanced, it can produce an excess amount of oils to try and counteract this problem (2). This leaves us with an underlying problem of dry skin, but an evident problem of too oily of skin. However, the solution is thankfully simple! Finding the right moisturizer will be key – one that is highly effective but not too heavy as to further irritate your already sensitive skin.
So what does that look like? Well it looks like Tata Harper’s Clarifying Moisturizer. This moisturizer is specifically made for oily and cane prone skin. It dives deep into multiple layers of the skin underneath to hydrate immediately and long term. It includes 41 high performing, naturally sourced ingredients, and best of all is a lightweight moisturizer. It is highly effective in addressing the deeper issues of hydration in the skin, while controlling oil and acne outbreaks with its natural, non-toxic synthetic-free ingredients.
