Saturday, July 31, 2010

How to Care for Oily Skin



Oily skin is one of the more complicated types of skin, and in every era physicians have differed on the particular type of skin care that may benefit oily skin. A consistent and well directed skin care routine can be quite beneficial for oily skin. Oily skin tends to appear shiny, with visible appearance of large pores. These pores release oils from the sebaceous glands underneath. They are more frequent around the T zone, which includes the nose and the forehead. People with an oily T zone but dry patches elsewhere on the face are declared to have combination skin. If one has oily patches on the rest of the face, especially around the chin and hairline, and sometimes cheeks as well, the skin gets oilier.

It’s common to find black heads on nose and sometimes forehead on oily skin. This is a result of accumulation of dead skin mixed with overproduction of oils. The dead skin needs to be removed on a regular basis, i.e., at least once a week. So it’s recommended to use a good exfoliant such as apricot or orange scrub weekly. It’s also recommended to use products with salicylic acid, which is a chemical exfoliant and helps keep the dead skin, and hence the blackheads in check.

The goal for oily skin is to keep oils at bay, without causing excessive tightness and dryness on the skin. The conflict comes from the issue about how many times should one cleanse their face, and what kinds of cleansers are important. One group of skin care specialists believe that oily skin should be cleansed with alcohol based cleansers, because they dissolve the oils and completely remove them from the skin. Another group argues against alcohol based cleansers, as complete removal of oils will stimulate more production of oils and keep the vicious cycle on.

There are specific skin care products in the market now that have been specially developed for oily skin.