Swathy and Sky

Oily Skin mostly feels like a bane to everyone who has it. And, most likely, it is. Because, the skin is prone to the onslaught of acne and pimples and regular outbreaks. A slight imbalance of food habits can also tip the scales and result in more oil production. And, there seems to be nothing one can do about them. But, the boon part of having oily skin is that you are not prone to wrinkles and fine lines as much as people with dry or normal skin are. But, this seems like a small compensation when you have to invest so much amount of care to tend to oily skin. 

Cleansing is not that big a concern. There are a number of natural ingredients which can clean the oily skin. Milk, citrus fruit juices, tomato, besan or any other flour, baking soda, clay masks are all great cleansers when it comes to oily skin and they also tend to control the oil (sebum) production in the body. Green / Black Tea can act as a toner. But, my concern today is how to moisturize oily skin? I have been asked by many of my readers how to take care of oily skin. But, I am, honestly, clueless when it comes to moisturizing the oily skin. You can not use any ingredient like milk cream or oils like you can for normal or dry skin.

I would say that there are two ingredients in my mind which can be used to moisturize an oily skin. And, yes, oily skin also needs to be moisturized. Otherwise, it gets dull and greasy. 

First ingredient I would vouch for is aloevera. Aloevera gel, fresh from the plant, can be used to moisturize any skin type. But, aloevera is actually a little drying. So, I think it will suit oily skin well. And, it is great for acne and pimple prone skin.

Second is a product – any calamine lotion. More commonly, one we get in India, is called Lactocalamine. The blue bottle is suitable for normal to oily skin. The main ingredient of any calamine lotion is Kaolin clay which is very good for oily skin. 

But, I am confused as to is there any other natural ingredient which can be used to moisturize oily skin. I would not vouch for honey as a moisturizer because commercial honey has lot of preservatives. 

Another thing I was wondering was how does application of oil affect the oily skin? I know many of you would be horrified on the mention of such a thing and cast it directly as outrageous. The obvious answer would be that it would lead to more inflammation and acne and other kinds of outbreaks. But, is it really true. 

Update: I recently visited Marie Veronique Organics site and found this which I am directly copy-pasting from their site:

Most people get a bit nervous when they hear the words oil and skin in the same sentence. But there’s no reason to get nervous. In fact, waxes, not oils, are the major cause of skin congestion. Applying oils to the skin, without the interference of a wax barricade, gives your skin the essential fatty acids it needs. These fatty acids, called lipids, form an environmental protection barrier that prevents the elements from assaulting our skin, keeping all skin types healthy. Research indicates that a compromised lipid barrier may be at the root of skin problems such as eczema, acne and wrinkles.
MVO oils maintain the integrity of the lipid barrier, preventing moisture loss and dehydration. At the same time they inhibit peroxidative and oxidative damage. The reason you should care about that is, in a word, wrinkles. Upon contact with light, lipids will undergo what is known as peroxidation. These peroxidized lipids lose their barrier ability and gaps occur in the lipid matrix, resulting in a loss of skin resilience and the formation of wrinkles.
A word (or two) about acne. Treating oily skin with oils may seem even more counter-intuitive. But think about this:

• Scrubs, harsh soaps and other drastic treatments that strip off your topmost lipid barrier do a number of things that may actually aggravate the problem.
• Oil-stripping actually prompts your skin to produce more oil, but it may be more of the oil that you’re trying to control.

Topical applications of fatty acids alleviate breakouts by re-stabilizing the lipid barrier, thus restoring anti-microbial activity on the skin’s surface. What’s more, because lipids dissolve lipids, MVO oils actually break up congestion at the source.

Marie Veronique is a former chemistry school teacher who got into making her own products because she could not find any good sunscreen. And, now she is one of the biggest names of the industry. The best thing is that her products are all organic. And, she is one to advocate oils for all kinds of skin. So, I hope I have convinced you to try applying oil and see the results.


[Do share with me how you control your oily skin]