Hey, oily skinned sisters! It’s me, your friendly cyber skincare fanatic, bringing you another article that hopes to alleviate some of your skin worries. Now, I’m one of you: I’ve suffered with what I like to call my organic blinding highlight, I’ve carried around a pack blotting sheets that seem to run out too quickly, and I’ve sighed as my makeup slips off my face. But after many trials and many more errors, I’ve found the following products that seem to prevent me from blinding others after they look at my midday shine:
1. Soap and Glory Face Soap and Clarity Facial Wash
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With cleansers, it’s important to find one that doesn’t dry out your skin. I know what you’re thinking, and while it may seem counterintuitive not to strip all of the oil off our oily faces, we have to remember that our skin does need some of the moisture the oil provides. If our skin feels too stripped of its oils then it’ll produce more oily making our faces a whole lot shinier. Which is why I find this Soap and Glory facial wash so great! It’s great washing away the impurities that have lived in my face all day long while also keeping my skin from feeling too tight and dry afterward.
2. CeraVe Foaming Cleanser
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Right now you’re probably asking yourself if I actually use two cleansers and yeah I do. While I tend to use the Soap and Glory one at night, I usually use this CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser in the morning. It’s more of a gentle cleanser than the previous one and is great on the cold, windy mornings in which my skin needs a little more of the moisture my oil is providing while still actually cleaning my face. Why don’t I just use one of these cleansers? Other than my need to sometimes do the most™, it’s because my skin needs the extra boost of strength the Soap & Glory cleanser has.
3. Thayers Alcohol-Free Rose Petal Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera
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Using a toner is the next step in my cleansing process, which makes sure all of the make-up, dirt, and impurities are off of your skin. Like with cleansers, you want to avoid drying out the skin which means that you want to swipe a hard left on any toners that contain alcohol. Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel is not only alcohol-free but also smells AH-MAZE-ING. Because of the aloe vera in the formula, it’s also a great moisturizer that will help alleviate any dryness your cleanser may cause. I use this both at night and in the morning after my cleanser by just squirting some of the product on a cotton round and applying on my face.
4. Pixi Glow Tonic
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Yes, this is another toner, but instead of being a hydrating toner like Thayers, Pixi Glow Tonic is an exfoliating toner. It replaces your physical exfoliant, which can sometimes rely on small grains of material to exfoliate your skin. Going too hard on with it can cause micro-tears in the skin aka breeding ground for bacteria. As a chemical exfoliant, Glow Tonic does the same job but without the problems that physical exfoliants might cause. Now, this doesn’t mean you should go ham on the product since over-exfoliation can cause the skin to-you guessed it- produce more oil. I tend to use it two to three nights a week, alternating the product with the Thayers Witch Hazel.
5. Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture
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There seems to be a myth floating around that oily skin doesn’t need moisturizers. Which is not only dead wrong but is the reason so many of us are walking around with shiny skin. Since so many of the cleansers marketed towards oily skin strip our skin of moisture, you have to add it back to our skin with other products. But it’s important to pick a moisturizer that is too heavy or creamy which can clog up our pore and cause breakouts. When picking a moisturizer, us shiny gals have to pick a moisturizer that is oil-free and non-comedogenic (aka it won’t clog pores); for these reasons, I love Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture. The product absorbs quickly into the skin and moisturizes without leaving my skin greasy or shiny. Personally, I use the one with SPF thirty-five since I love to combine steps in my morning routine, but if you don’t want to use that one there are many more in Neutrogena’s Oil-Free Moisture line up for you to choose from.
6. Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel
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While I use the previous moisturizer in the mornings, I use Neutrogena Hydro Boost at night. Although I use it in the nighttime, the product can honestly be used during the day too. It’s hydrating, but not too heavy and it absorbs into the skin quickly without leaving any greasy residue. I honestly love this product, calling it my Holy Grail to everyone and anyone who would listen. I would completely wear this product in the day if Neutrogena were to come out with a version with high SPF, but until that day Hydro Boost will stay in my nighttime line-up.
7. Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay
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Sheet masks, clay mask, peeling masks, I love them all. The Aztec Secret Indian Healing clay is one of the best masks around! Because it’s so powerful, I tend to use it only once a week by mixing equal parts clay powder and apple cider vinegar in a plastic bowl and then leave it on my face for twenty minutes (it actually does pulsate!!) before washing it off with a washcloth. You can really feel how deeply in cleans your pores and that pimple you could that was about to sprout up on your chin? Yeah, that’s completely gone.
8. Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask
Image via Madame Keke
If you feel that the previous mask would be a bit too much for your sensitive skin, then try the Origins Clear Improvement Charcoal Mask. While my skin isn’t that sensitive, I have a friend whose skin is oily and reacts to everything, but she loves this mask. She says that her skin feels nice and clean afterward and that the mask helps her dry out those day-ruining pimples.
9. Mario Badescu Drying Lotion
Image via Mario Badescu
If you want to get rid of your pesky pimples overnight, I recommend the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion. Just use a cotton swab to dot the pink clay on any white head, go to sleep, and wake up with a smaller or practically-gone pimple. I love to use this spot treatment on those pimples that have put up the good fight and avoided all my other lines of defense. That’s when I bring in the drying lotion, and for being in such a small bottle, I promise this product packs a big punch.
10. Clinique Broad Spectrum SPF 50 Mineral Sunscreen for Face
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According to dermatologists, you need to be wearing a sunscreen that has an SPF of at least thirty for it to be doing any good. Yes, that even applies to college students that spend all their time at the library. Not only should you be wearing SPF thirty on your face at a daily basis, but if you’re the type that spends more than a few passing moments in the sun in between classes, then you should be wearing something higher like Clinique Broad Spectrum SPF 50. This sunscreen reacts great with oily skin since it’s really light-weight and fast absorbing. It dries down clear and is great to use under makeup or on those days when you don’t want to wear makeup at all.
11. Vanity Planet Facial Cleansing Brush
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This is just an extra skincare product I find myself being unable to live without. The Vanity Planet Facial Cleansing Brush is great; it gets out every bit of dirt from my skin. After the first time I use it, I could not stop touching my face because it felt so clean! I tend to use the silicone brush head in the morning for more of a gentle clean and the regular brush head at night for a more thorough clean. This a completely extra product, if you prefer to use your fingers that’s okay too.
Oily skin is handled!
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