How to Deal with Greasy Skin - By: Tauqeer Hassan

A greasy skin is never attractive even without acne. The shine from a greasy skin is enough make people turn away. Greasy skin is mostly related to teenagers because the hormone development during puberty stimulates the sebaceous glands which produce more oil. However the problem is not confined to a specific age group. Some people simply are more inclined to have greasy skin. Those people who have suffered this problem since teenage should not worry because there is a hope. Just because not everyone has oily skin does not mean that we don’t have to learn what causes it.

An oily or greasy skin is also prone to more pimples and dark shadows. It's not much comfort that oilier skins don't show their age nearly as badly. There isn't much that can be done to cure the problem but its effects can be controlled and minimized.

There are a few questions that need to be answered in order to understand how this skin condition emerges.

How does the skin get greasy in the first place?

Skin has a growth of body hair. Oil sebaceous glands are attached to their roots under these hairs. The function of these glands is to produce oil for coating and protecting the hair. However, when there is excessive production, the upper layer of skin is coated by the oil as well.

Oil from the sebaceous glands comes to the surface through the pores of the skin. More oil will come up when the pores are large. On the other hand, tighter pores discourage the spillage of sebum to the surface of the skin.

Every part of the skin from head to toe consists of sebaceous glands in fact same amount of oil not produced by every gland. Face has the oiliest areas which is called T-zone by beauty experts. This begins from the forehead which has the top bar of the T and continues towards the bridge and sides of the nose going down towards the mouth and areas of chin. There is less oil on cheeks and jaw.

Many factors can cause the excessive production of oil. Genetics can be one of the factors. There are chances that a child will also have oily skin if the parent or parents have oily skin. Gender can be another cause. Men can have more oily skin as compared to women. Diet is also a factor where consumption of some type of food invites oil production in the skin.

Will it go away once we get past teenage?

Oily skin is supposed to finish after teenage once the hormonal changes in the body have been completed. At the time when a person matures, the skin also ages until it gets dry as paper in our senescence. Not everyone is free from the curse of oily skin during adult. Some people still have oily areas especially on the face which produces sebum more often.

What can be done to lessen the skin’s production of oil?

Sebum is produced by sebaceous glands. Besides this, a blend of varied lipids that is an assortment of fats and dead sebaceous gland cells is also produced. Wax monoesters, squalane, triglycerides and free fatty acids are also found in sebum.

Some oils are useful for the skin while some are not. This is in contrast to the view that all of the oil on the skin is bad. The function of some skin oils is to actually protect the skin from pollutants and other harmful environmental changes that occur every day. The real task is to get rid of the harmful oils while maintaining the presence of good oils that act as a shield.

Using a facial wash and alcohol free moisturizer is a way of maintaining the skin. The ingredients must also be checked before using the facial products. Natural products are safe especially tea tree oil which is antibacterial and doesn’t wash away the good oils.

Another way of preventing skin from getting oily is using use facial toners that tighten up the pores on the skin. This discourages the excess oil from coming up. The greasiness will stop when the sebaceous glands will sense that there is less need to produce oil.
Using a clay mask regularly helps to draw the dirt from the pores. One has to be prepared for a period of more spots than usual for a few weeks as the gunk rises to the surface. There are a variety of make-up brands available in the market that particularly suits oily skin. Some will help control shine and some will help to minimize the appearance of open pores but the most important thing about any of them is that they should be completely removed completely at night before sleeping.

About the Author

Also learn why does my skin get greasy? and why does my face go red?

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