Oily skin and acne

All right, I have oily skin and would like advice on how to get rid of the excess oil. I tried getting oil control facial soap. I tried it a while ago, so I don't really remember how well it actually got rid of the oil, but I got lots of pimples due to acne. I then tried Dan's regimen at acne.org. It works great, got rid of the pimples due to acne, but left my skin oily. I've tried only a few products, which are AcneFree, Advance AcneFree, and something from L'Oreal Adult Acne Regimen. Using Dan's regimen, I saw that they got rid of my acne, but still left my face oily...

Is there a product that can get rid of both? I did a little bit of research from this page. It seems I'm looking for something with 2.5% benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid, I think... Anybody know of any products with these active ingredients? Or know of any products that can help me?

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I don't remember if L'Oreal's Adult Acne Regimen cured me of my oily skin.... I used it quite a while back. If anybody can provide information on this product, that would be helpful..

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Also, do people change their acne regimen depending on the weather? Because it seems on hot and humid days (during summer), I seem to be more oily, but during cold and dry days (during winter) I seem to have less oil...

I've actually been looking into this as well just recently. Early on in high school I had very oily skin and mild/moderate acne, I went on Proactiv and it worked wonders at first; though my skin was still pretty oily, I was acne free. After a while proactiv was not keeping me as acne-free as it used to so I went in search of a better regimen for myself. I experimented with a lot of different products; exfoliating scrubs, salicylic acid washes, benzoyl peroxide washes, etc.

It's now approx. 5 yrs since I've quit proactiv and I've yet to find a good regimen for myself, and after all those products I used, my skin always has this raw, irritated look. My facial "oiliness" is dramatically reduced as compared to before but at the price of a raw, irritated look.

I started DE shaving pretty recently and used a shaving oil (Cromwell-Cruthers) and I found that my after shaving my face started looking better immediately after than before. So I was looking into oils and such to see what effects they have on the skin and it turns out there is a method which actually uses oils to "wash" your face and claims to also help control oiliness. The theory is that commercial washes and scrubs strip the skin of it's oil and the skin essentially compensates by producing more (sometimes more than it previously did) oil to recover this loss. That is why sometimes mid day after you have washed your face in the morning your face may look like an oil slick. Anyway, the method basically uses cleansing and moisturizing oils and results in balanced, healthy, refreshed skin. Also, cleansing using the oils maintains regular skin pH. If you'd like to read about this method look up "oil cleansing method" on google and you'll come up with various sites on it. I've only started reading about it today but it seems pretty promising from all the forums. I'll break it down to save on some reading for you.

The main consensus on this method seems to be to use a mixture of both extra virgin or virgin olive oil and castor oil (olive oil is rich in antioxidants and highly moisturizing while castor is great at cleansing). You can add the 2 oils in different ratios to yield different results (more castor will be more cleansing while more olive will be more nourishing/moisturizing). These 2 oils can be found at your local grocery store (extra virgin or virgin olive oil in the cooking aisle and castor in the "laxative" section ). You mix the 2 up in whatever ratio you like, and apply liberally to face. You then gently massage the oil into your face for a minute or so and then place a hot face cloth or towel on your face to help open and unclog pores and allow the oils to penetrate into your skin. Once the towel has reached room temperature you gently wipe off the remaining oil and voila your skin should be soft, smooth and healthy looking.

I went out and bought some castor oil today and will try this method tomorrow and let you know the results. Hope this helps.

Also, just a side note on salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide for you: I was using both of these as well; I would wash with a salicylic face wash and then apply bp and because both of these cause skin to exfoliate and shed itself it resulted in a lot of flakiness and dryness. I even started shedding skin on the inside of my mouth, I guess from both of the products penetrating through or something . Anyways if you do go on this be very cautious, just a heads up.

Wow, that's certain a new take on it... Hmm... I had always been told to stay away from oily materials since this would only add oil to the skin, which made sense. I'll definitely look into this.

Ya, it's definitely contrary to popular belief but I've been looking into it more and more and there's also a sound scientific element attached to it, and that is the principle in chemistry that "like dissolves like". Thus using clean, cleansing, nourishing oils will dissolve facial oils and any dirt, bacteria which is in them. Anyways, I've decided I'll try this tonight, I've made my batch (50/50 extra virgin olive oil/castor oil) and I'll let you know the results.

You can also experiment with the many essential oils out there to find a combo. that works for you. Olive oil seems quite thick but we'll see if it clogs up my pores or anything.

Here's a list of other essential oils you can substitute or add in to the mix if you or anyone else is interested:
almond oil
avocado oil
castor oil
coconut oil
hemp seed oil
jojoba oil
olive oil (virgin or extra virgin is best)
rosehip seed oil
shea butter
walnut oil

And here are descriptions of other oils:
http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/essential_oils_for_beautiful_skin

Try Burt's Bee's "Tomato Soap for Troubled Skin" (now that's a tactful way to say zitmeister, pizzafaces !!! LOL). The lutein & acid in the tomato works great on my Troubled Skin (and believe me, my skin is troubled). It's available & Whole Foods, Target & most "organic" type stores. $8 & it's a bargain at that price.

Also, don't use alcohol a/s or toners on your face, try Witch Hazel instead. If you must use alcohol try the Burt's Bee's Tomato Toner & see how you like that.

Cetaphil Gentle Face Cleanser & their Moisturizer's are also great products. Pitifully inexpensive & non-comedogenic (doesn't clog up your pores). Most all dermatologists recommend Cetaphil.

That's what works real good on my problematic skin. YMMV of course

Is it edible?

Yeah I keep my distance away from alcohol-based AS. Right now I use Aqua Velva, but I would like a more consistent fragrance with my other products, so I'm going all out on Truefitt & Hill 1805 AS and cologne.

I read a review on some dermatologist site. It had a list of anti-acne products and Cetaphil was the most popular. Unfortunately they didn't have an easy list of the top rated... That would've been very useful information along side with the most popular list...

I'll definitely look into Cetaphil and Burt's Bee's. I mean do a little research before buying them to see how well they really do.

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Oh, a little note about Lavender and Tea Tree oils. There's some research indicating that it lowers androgen levels and increase estrogen levels. So I suppose that's part of the reason why they would work (help stabilize androgen levels). However a not so good side effect is you might start becoming feminine. Not to say females are bad, but I think most guys would like being guys... And I think most guys wouldn't like to have their own set of boobs on them... If side effects do become that bad, it was advice that you keep off them for a month, then the breasts will go away, and then you can start using them again.

A good quality clay facial mask would probably help - complimented with an oil balancing daily facial wash

My acne has cleared up since I stopped washing my face. I'm not sure I can recommend that you do this, since it's contrary to the "wisdom" of dermatologists, but I know that it has helped me.

If you have oily skin, you could probably just splash your face with water or take a wet paper towel and gently wipe it.

SalvadorMontenegro said:

My acne has cleared up since I stopped washing my face. I'm not sure I can recommend that you do this, since it's contrary to the "wisdom" of dermatologists, but I know that it has helped me.

If you have oily skin, you could probably just splash your face with water or take a wet paper towel and gently wipe it.

Click to expand...

The theory behind this, is that if you wash your face too much, your skin tries to over compensate for the natural oils you are stripping away, and ends up producing more, therefore making your oily skin worse.

This is why an oil balancing gentle facial wash is a good idea, rather than harsh soaps etc.

Seems like a totally differnet take. I've had acne since i was 13 never really gone away have to take antibiotics daily and use benzol peroxide gel. Its controlled it fairly well. Major draw back to benzol peroxide is that using it every day sensitises skin especially for shaving lover neck. Which isnt nice!. I was advised once to only use warm water to clesanse in the morning. I'm thinking about trying this out but im gusessing it depends on what type of acne you have. cant see this working for cystic acne. Anyways see one site recommends 75% castor oil and 25% Extra virgin olive oil with a few drops of tea tree and vitamin E oil. I find that after about 3 hours after washing in the morning that my forehead is shiny with oil. Maybe this method would reduce that and allow for a better shave. Althougth you are suppost to cleanse throughly for a good shave remove oil from whiskers.

I use Clearasil Skin Clearing Aftershave Balm, it has 0.5% salicylic Acid, don't use Alcohol based After Shave, that only drys the skin and more oil comes out as a respond to the dryness. I also like to apply Alum Block right after finish shaving, my sister tells me that it helps clearing up acne and that all her friends use it; I just like the "clean" feeling that fallows after use it and most of all don't touch your face with your fingers too much, that only provides germs and bacteria to the pores of the skin causing the acne, I know is hard to keep hands from touching your face after a great DE shave! Marco

Alright, I meant to post the results of the oil cleansing last night but I was left with a "this has to be too good to be true" feeling . Basically, if anything my face produced less oil than usual and was less oily this morning than it normally gets overnight. I found that even with a 50/50 castor/EVOO mix my face even felt somewhat dry, but thoroughly cleansed after (believe it or not ). Since you have very oily skin you may want to try a 60/40 or 70/30 mix, but don't go too overboard as castor oil definitely is the "skin-drying" oil in the mix.

I would also suggest that once you apply it, spend at least a couple or even 3-4 minutes gently working the oil into your face, I spent about a minute and a half last night and then hot-toweled for about a minute. Although this did give me good results it didn't "pull" as much dirt, bacteria, etc. out as I had hoped. I'm going to try again shortly so I'll post the results after.

Just completed my 2nd oil cleanse and am pretty impressed with the results so far. This morning I massaged it in for approx. 2 mins, let sit 30 seconds then hot-toweled for a minute and wiped it all off. Definitely got a lot more dirt, etc. pulled out and it even brought (sorry to go into such detail) whiteheads to some stubborn ingrown hairs on my lower neck which I was able to easily remove. It hasn't done much to the blackheads I've got on my nose just yet, but it does seem to be doing a good job in general by cleansing. 60/40 or even 70/30 castor/evoo might not even be that bad of an idea, I'll probably try it once this batch of 50/50 runs out.

Okay, so a 7:3 (or possibly 3:1) virgin olive oil:castor oil, let it sit for 2 minutes, and hot towel for a minute? Do you just lay a hot towel on top of your entire face? Don't mind the details. In fact, it helps a lot! So far your regimen seems to be the most promising.

For the people saying I might wanna try not washing my face. I'm a teenager, so naturally there's fluctuations in hormones, more specifically androgen. So that may not be the greatest idea since that's a pretty big reason for the subem glands to grow and make more oil. Not gonna do that until I'm out of my like 25-ish. If that doesn't work, then I'll go back to whatever regimen works. By thirty, if I'm an average person, I should be able to go about without washing too much.

As for just splashing water on my face. I've tried that. Lasts for like 1-2 hours, and then I get oil again. I'd have to splash water on my face every few hours. I think that's gonna make me generate more oil.

oil balancing... Isn't that basically the same idea as virgin olive oil with castor oil mix, except it's pre-made? Or does it have other stuff that helps? Any suggestions as to which brand works?

I looked quickly at some reviews for Burt's Bee's Tomato Soap for the Troubled Skin. It seems to be half and half. For some people it works, while others it doesn't... I suppose it'll be one of the last ones I try.

Anyway, so far the oil mixture looks reallly promising!

Yep, you just basically have to maintain contact with the towel and your face so that the heat will open up your pores and allow the oil to better penetrate the skin. I'll break down exactly how I prepared and use this method for you.

Preparation:
-Mix 100ml of Castor Oil (that was the size of the container it came in) with 100ml of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (any brand should work so long as there aren't any additions to the oil) in a container (I used an old glass jar my mom used to use for jam, it's got a tin lid w/ a good seal on it - air exposure quickens olive oil oxidization; makes it rancid quicker I believe).
-Every time before cleansing thoroughly shake the container to ensure both oils are properly mixed.

Oil Cleansing Method:
-Pour out about a palm-full (cup your hand and fill your palm) of the mixture and apply liberally to face.
-Gently massage oil in for at least a couple of minutes (I don't think there is a maximum, the longer you work it in the better cleanse you would get I would think) all over face/neck.
-Fill your sink with hot water and let a towel or wash cloth soak in it (I've read they recommend flannel material but I use a cotton hand towel and it works alright)
-Ring out the towel enough so that it is not dripping wet.
-Tilt head back slightly or lay down and lay towel on face/neck. Lightly press towel all over face and neck region to ensure it heats up the skin properly.
-When towel is room-temperature, remove it.
-If there is noticeable oil left on your face, lightly massage it for 30 seconds or so while the towel is soaking in the sink of hot water again.
-Again, ring out the towel so it is not dripping and lightly wipe off your face paying close attention to wipe the entire area where the oil covered. (This is the step which removes all the dead skin, bacteria, dirt, etc. from your skin)
-From here it's up to you, you can end with the last step or follow it up with a cold or warm water rinse and then dry off. I do the cold water rinse now because it is supposed to help tone skin and close up open pores.

I've also read if need be, you can also use your oil cleansing mix as a moisturizer, but you must be very stingy with it. Do not use too much or your face will appear quite oily. I personally don't need to use moisturizer because this method does leave my face pretty moisturized as it is. I'm still learning a lot about this method, and it's very customizable to your skin type/needs although this castor/olive oil mix does seem like the standard for it.

EDIT:
I will hopefully eventually make a sticky for this method encompassing all the oils and effects for those interested.

Wow! This is great! I'll have to go out and buy some castor oil. Maybe some virgin olive oil since I'm not exactly sure what olive oil we have. And I suppose a container will be needed too, lol.

This sounds very exciting! Hyperwarp sent me a pm about Burt's Bee's Tomato Soup for the Trouble skin. So I might just grab a box or something. Check it out if this isn't sufficient enough, though it sounds very promising. Cheaper too! I mean cheaper than the other products... Burt's Bee's for $8 is hard to beat..

Where can I get some of these essential oils?

the essential oils can be found at whole foods or any stores like that.

If you have light acne a facial scrub (Nivea makes a scrub sold in the men's shaving section) or salicylic acid based treatment would probably be helpful, and might reduce the oily feeling on your skin. For moderate acne where there is some inflammation and the comedo (technical term for zit) becomes infected (a papule), benzoyl peroxide would probably be better. You have to use any effective acne treatment every day (or practically every day) for them to work, and you've got to use it all over the affected areas-there's no magic cure for acne and it takes time and vigilence. The good news is that it usually decreases as you get older.

Oily skin isn't unhealthy and doesn't directly cause acne (overproduction of skin cells that aren't flaking off, and bugs feeding on the oil/skin goo, do however). If the appearance bugs you Witch Hazel will tone down the production of skin oil (you might also find alum is useful for this too).

Not sure what specific stores exactly you can get high-quality essential oils at modest prices (most I've seen are sold in small bottles and are really quite expensive for the amount you get). However, both Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Castor Oil are readily available (and cheap too) at most large-chain grocery stores. Before I forget, I forgot to mention; make small batches at first (the 200mL batch I made will probably last me at least a week) so that if you find it is too moisturizing or drying you can always just make another without having to worry too much about wasting oils. Then again, you can always just add more of the lesser oil to compensate .

On another note, today was the 1st day back to work for me using the oil cleansing method and to be perfectly honest with you, my face didn't get nearly as oily as usual (I work delivering packages so I'm outdoors in the heat quite a bit). And I have to say my skin is also looking quite a bit healthier than before too ; not as much "rawness" and more of an even tone especially on my cheeks and neck. There's no doubt in my mind now that what I was using before to clean my face (a supposedely "natural pH balanced cleanser") was irritating my skin somehow and possibly stripping it's oils because my skin looks much healthier and less oily. Also, I stopped shaving for a bit so that I could see the effects of the oil cleansing method alone and the whiskers that have grown since then seem alot softer than usual (not sure if this is the oil nurturing the hair or if it's unrelated).

One thing I tried too last night, just as an experiment, was after I massaged the oil into my face for a few minutes, I filled the sink with hot water and submerged my face in it for approx 20 seconds. Initially when I removed my face it was beet red and I was afraid I just screwed up bigtime but I waited for it to recover a bit then hot-toweled my face and neck and after wiping my face looked quite toned. I may do this along with the hot-towel but my neck is also a problem area for me and it's really quite difficult to submerge your neck . Anyways, if you do try this method, go with the hot towel, leave it on for a minute or so (you may have to "refresh" it with hot water to keep it warm on your face) and then wipe off gently. I'm no expert in this but if you have problems/concerns just post them and I'll be happy to answer . This is pretty new to me and I'm excited to have potentially finally found an awesome all-natural cheap cleansing routine.