With summer around the corner, millions of young women across India are worrying about the blazing sun and its effect on their skin. Now if your skin is naturally oil, you might be at your wits end about how to go through the season. Typically, every time you cleanse your face, an hour or so later, it's shinier again. Blotting, powdering, and then washing again doesn’t really help. The good news? Being a teenager or a young woman blessed with oily skin is not a sentence. As soon as you get to know why your skin acts in the way it does, it becomes much easier to work towards keeping your skin glowing yet oil free.
Understanding the Science Behind Oily Skin - Sebum
There are tiny openings, which are known as pores, in your skin. Every pore has a small gland known as a sebaceous gland. It is a gland that produces an oily secretion known as sebum. Imagine sebum as the natural moisturizer that your skin has; it is what makes your skin soft, and acts as your skin's shield against dust and pollution.
Sebum is not your enemy. Every human being needs it. It does not become a problem until the time when your skin produces too much of it. When this occurs, your face shines, your pores are clogged, and a breakout comes to pay you a visit.
Why do Indians Experience more Trouble with Oily Skin?
You know the struggle already, especially if you lived in India, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, and Kolkata. It is hot throughout most of the year. The monsoon is accompanied by heavy, sticky air. And the dust and pollution? They never really go away.
During hot and humid weather when your body temperature is high, your skin attempts to cool itself through the process of sweating, and even your sebaceous glands are also activated. The outcome is additional oil on your visage. Now pour in moisture, and that oil will not evaporate; it will sit on your skin. This is why individuals in tropical climatic regions are more likely to have oily skin as compared to those in the colder and drier regions.
To top it all, most Indians are also genetically predisposed to have more sebum. It is not your fault, you see, your skin is simply reacting to its environment and its biology.
The Biggest Mistake: Washing Your Face Too Often
The majority of oily skin individuals do the same: they wash their face and wash it again and again with the help of strong soaps and harsh cleansers. It feels logical, right? In the event that your skin is oily, wash it.
However, the surprising fact is that it only exacerbates the situation.
Using a harsh cleanser means that you move all the oil out of your skin, the good oil that your skin would use. And this is felt by your skin, and then it panics. It cogitates, I am not defended! I need to make more oil, fast!' And it starts producing even more than ever. This is referred to as rebound oil production and is the reason why most individuals report that their skin is oilier when they wash their skin using a powerful face wash.
Even harsh soaps and cleansers end up hurting your skin barrier, an invisible, very thin layer that helps in holding moisture in and bad stuff out. Once this barrier is destroyed, your skin becomes sensitive, reddish, and even more susceptible to breakouts.
How Humidity Deceives Your Skin.
When the weather in India becomes humid, your skin faces twice the challenge. The moisture is already in the air; thus, the sweat and oil do not evaporate as they should. They lie on top of the surface of your skin, combine with the dead skin cells and the pollution, and clog your pores. Obstructed pores cause blackheads, whiteheads, and pimples.
Meanwhile, excessive humidity will deceive your skin with the moisturizing it does. Some of the air enters your skin, and it feels good for at least a minute. However, once you enter a room with air conditioning, the moisture quickly evaporates, and your skin ends up drier than before. To make up for this, the oil production kicks up in your skin. The frustrating cycle is something that can be broken.
The Right Oil-Control Routine: Striking the Balance, Not Stripping.
A good routine for oily skin does not attempt to completely remove oil from your skin. Instead, it is aimed at restoring your skin to a normal level, where it is generating an appropriate amount of sebum, neither excessive nor insufficient.
Simple to follow Routine for Keeping your Skin Oil Free
Step 1: Gentle Cleansing
Apply a gentle face cleanser of mild pH-balanced formulation - a type that cleanses the surface and leaves the skin tight and yet soft after cleansing. In contrast if you use a strong facewash, it would seem that you have washed your face and it is squeaky clean. However, that’s a warning sign as you may have washed away too much. The best cleanser does not leave skin dry but rather makes the skin feel comfortable.
Step 2: Toning using the correct Ingredients
Once it is cleansed, a toner is used to clean up the residual impurities and get your skin ready. Find toners that contain some such ingredients as niacinamide (Vitamin B3), which will instruct your sebaceous glands to relax and produce a lesser amount of oil as time goes by. Do not use toners that have alcohol in them; they strip and irritate.
Step 3: Lightweight Moisturizer
This comes as a revelation to a great number of people, yet the oily skin still requires moisturizer. When you fail to put on moisturizer, your skin becomes dry, and consequently, it secretes even more oil. Select either a gel or a water-based moisturizer, which should carry the title of non-comedogenic (this is one that will never clog up your pores). They are light, absorb fast, and hydrate without any greasy effect.
Step 4: Sun Protection
In India, it is not debatable to have sunscreen. UV rays weaken the protector of your skin, and the result of this is - well, it is more oil. Apply a matte or gel-based sunscreen of at least SPF 30 to the skin every morning, including cloudy days.
The Ingredients That Will Really Benefit Oily Skin.
There are a number of ingredients that have been recognized by science to be effective with oily acne-prone skin without causing any harm. Niacinamide lowers the rate of sebum, and pores become smaller. Salicylic acid pours deep into pores and dissolves the oily contents, leading to blackheads and pimples. Zinc is a natural oil-absorbing substance, and it also soothes inflammation. The kaolin clay is very mild, and it is used on certain masks and cleansers, absorbing the excess oils of the skin without removing the moisture of the skin.
Explore the Oil Control Range at CIEL.
CIEL has developed its Oil Control range with the specifications of Indian skin and Indian weather. Our products do not go against the natural biology of your skin. They will not leave you feeling dry, but instead, they will reduce sebum levels in a gentle manner, maintain your skin barrier, and provide you with a fresh appearance.
The range incorporates an oil control facewash that balances without drying out, an oil control moisturizer that does not block the pore, and specific treatments to clear up the breakout-prone areas. Give our commitment to clean beauty, none of our products contain harsh sulfates or heavy oils, and each is designed to meet the special needs of tropical skin.