Based on what i currently know
if your face constantly looks like it's shiny ALL OVER - not just confined to your T zone - you really need to do an overhaul of your skin care routine.
to be honest, i think oily skin doesn't look bad on its own, because it makes the skin appear glowy and healthy. what's bad about having oily skin is, you tend to have large pores which become a lot more obvious when light reflects off the oils. want to know what's one of the main causes of enlarged pores? you probably already guessed it if you read my previous entry where i shed some light on oily skin secrets..
it's dehydrated skin.
here is a list of possible causes of oily skin. i think everybody should know, especially if you want to get rid of your overly oily skin. some of them are
1. your face wash/soap/cleanser may be too harsh for you.
if your skin feels tight and dry after you washed your face (and prior to applying moisturizer), the product you're using may be ripping off too much natural oils from your face. if your skin is able to pour out enough shiny sebum within 20 minutes of face washing, you have definitely stripped too much sebum off your face, that's why your skin is over compensating for it.
for extremely oily skin, it's actually fine to use harsh soaps PROVIDED YOU GIVE YOUR SKIN BACK ITS NECESSITIES after you wash. that means the next few steps of the skin care routine will be very important to you.
otherwise, you're only making matters worse as your skin is dehydrated. when they say water is the essence of life, IT REALLY IS!
2. the humidity may affect how you feel about your oily skin.
some of you may find it hard to believe, but the skin can be oily and dry at the same time. the drier environment can definitely stimulate the skin to secrete more sebum in hope of protecting your skin from losing too much water to the environment. however, people with oily skin tend to feel more comfortable in drier areas because their oils actually protects their skin from drying out. even if you produce more oils, you are less likely to feel the side effects of it than if you were in a humid environment.
if possible, a humidifier may be able to prevent excessive sebum production as it raises the humidity the air, which translates to lesser water loss in the skin, which basically tells the body to hold its horses and not secrete too much sebum.
if you feel shiny in an air conditioned place, you can step up the moisturizing game to reduce water loss, which will indirectly reduce sebum production. ;) choose one that have an appropriate blend of water, humectant, and occlusive.
even though you may perceive the skin to be more oily when it's more humid, it doesn't necessarily mean your skin is producing more oils. it's just that your skin isn't soaking up as much sebum as it did when you were in a dry place. the same amount of oil is now in too much excess simply because your skin require less amounts.
a proper skin care routine may be able to rebalance your oil production so that your skin will produce less sebum (especially useful if you stay in humid countries), which i'll write about soon!
3. the hotter you are, the more oily you become
life is fair, if you're hot, you're oily. HAHAHA LITERALLY! if the temperature is high, we tend to secrete more sweat and sebum. that's our body's way to regulate our temperature. [source: HowThingsWorks]
the best way to reduce this kind of situation is to either stay indoors, or try your best to keep your cool (both metaphorically and literally).
hydrating mist is an awesome way to cool your skin down immediately, but the evaporation of water off your skin may take away even more moisture from your skin, resulting in more oils eventually, making it a short term fix at best. you can prevent that from happening by following up with a cream, but it's not practical when you're outdoor.
sometimes it's okay to be a little more oily. don't fight nature.
4. your menstrual cycle may make you more oily.
have you ever experienced a sudden onset of oilier skin before your period arrives? perhaps even pimples which never fail to report prior to your period?
right before menstruation starts, the female hormone levels will take a slight dip, making it relatively lower than testosterone levels. testosterone encourages sebaceous activity. so does progesterone, a hormone that rises in levels around days when you ovulate. that means 2 weeks prior to your menstruation, you will most likely experience oilier skin. [source: WebMD]
5. genetics play a role too
if you have a genetic predisposition to oily skin, you tend to secrete more oils than a person who doesn't have such a predisposition. [source: DermaDoctor]
remember, a genetic predisposition is a tendency for your body to act in a certain way. how much your body prefer to secrete oil greatly depend on the environment (and diet too! to a certain extend).
but not all hope is lost! there are still ways to remedy it. the best way is to work with your body, adjusting the environment and diet to reduce the tendency for your skin to produce so much oils.
6. nutritional deficiencies and/or food intolerances may cause excessively oily skin
as you already know, beauty is only skin deep. please take this very literally, because it's certainly not enough to only treat the skin from the outside. since the skin is one of our organs (in fact, it's the largest one), our health will directly impact the appearance of our skin. in other words, our skin definitely can reflect our state of health.
if you've had normal skin all the while but start noticing changes in your body recently (it could span from months to years), other than the environmental issues, diet and lifestyle matters too. as the overall health affects the skin, it's hard to pin point any particular causes unless you actually get your blood tested and all metabolic markers checked.
just like what i've highlighted in my entry where i wrote about causes of dry skin, the same will apply here too. this is because the body functions as an integrated machine. by ensuring overall health, you can be sure your skin won't deviate too much from the norm either.
TL;DR,
1. lower your intake of refined sugar
2. ensure a healthy balance of omega-3 and omega-6 oils
3. stay healthy!
IN A NUTSHELL
the list is not exhaustive for sure! but these are the few causes i can think of currently based of the information i've been exposed to previously.
if we treat oily skin as a health problem, it may be easier to come to terms to the changes that one has to make in order to rebalance it. some argue that diet has nothing to do with oily skin, but i feel like our diet has everything to do with our state of health, which will indirectly affect the state of our skin.
once again, everything is linked when it comes to the body. while the exact mechanism of how things affect one another is still being studied, sometimes we don't have to wait to know the mechanism before making positive changes that have been shown to improve overall health.
title photo credit: trending image
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