News flash: what we did in the ‘80s and ‘90s was not the best way to care for oily skin.  

If had acne and oily skin growing up, you are all too familiar with the idea of getting rid of all of that oil by using an alcohol-soaked pad, only to have to do it again and again, every day, to continue to get rid of the oil. But really, what did you accomplish? If you’re anything like me, I ended up drying out my skin creating dry patches, and still had the acne I started with.

Fast forward to when I started going through perimenopause, still had oily skin, and gained the acne back due to hormone fluctuations. Instead of going back to the good-old alcohol pad and making the increasing dry patches worse, I decided to start doing research into how I could truly help my skin heal itself and improve all those fun skin symptoms due to perimenopause. Through my research I discovered that all those things the skin care industry told us when we were young are exactly the opposite of what we should be doing - stripping the oil from your skin also strips your skin barrier, diminishing its ability to stay moist and help it heal on its own.

Your skin will try to overcompensate for being stripped of oil by producing…you guessed it…more oil. By giving your skin deep moisture in the form of a facial oil that is high in Iinoleic acid, also known as a dry oil, the need for your skin to produce large amounts of oil will start to calm down and balance itself out.  In may quest to find the perfect moisturizer that would both balance my oily skin and moisturize my dry patches, I decided to make my own.  I spent years developing the perfect facial oil that would help my skin balance itself where it comes to oil, clear spots, deeply moisturize and soften fine lines.

I know it's hard to wrap your head around adding oil to oily skin to make it less oily, so started giving it to people who were very skeptical about using a facial oil as they’ve had both oily skin and bad experiences with facial oils in the past. They have become converts.

The perfect routine for oily skin

A consistent, simple and nourishing skincare routine is essential if you have oily skin. While you may want to user lighter products for moisturizing, but you still want to be careful not to strip your skin of all of the skin-barrier protecting oils it naturally produces.

This means using mild, pH-balanced cleansers and toners. To help your skin get both clean and nourished with the light moisture that will help your pores produce the right amount of oil to protect and not turn into an oil slick, we recommend the following routine:

Cleanse:

Cleanse with a mild, pH-balanced solid or liquid cleanser that does not contain soap. This is important as soap starts with lye, and when it converts into glycerine, it is very acidic. It will clean your skin, but it will also strip it of all of the good things from it as well, causing it to become dry….and then try to overcompensate by producing too much oil. Farmacy’s Whipped Greens is a nice option.

Tone (optional):

Using toner will give your skin a little lightweight moisture and rebalance your skin after cleansing. It will also help any moisturizer you apply afterwards to penetrate deeply.

Moisturize:

Moisturize with a lightweight lotion or oil that will seal in the moisture you provided (either the dampness from after cleansing or the toner). We recommend using a gel lotion like Tata Harper’s Hyaluronic Gel Moisturizer or our product, The Innovator.

Sunscreen:

Apply a sunscreen! We can’t stress enough how important it is to use a sunscreen every day. Even if you live in a colder climate and it’s winter. This will both help protect you from sun damage as well as potentially add some other benefits as many facial sunscreens have dual purposes nowadays. We recommend Saint Jane’s Luxury Sun Ritual as it has an SPF of 30 and acts as an amazing primer for your makeup.

At night, you can change this routine slightly by double cleansing to remove makeup but not strip your skin, add a treatment such as a night exfoliating serum, and finish with a few drops of The Innovator to wake up with smooth, glowing skin.

For more tips,  visit the American Academy of Dermatology Association to review 10 do's and don’ts from dermatologists on how to care for oily skin.