20’s Skin Care Mistakes That Ruined My Oily Acne Prone Skin

Today, I would like to admit that I made hell of skin care mistakes back in my early 20’s. Some of those skin care mistakes were really common yet harmful. I think I should really summarize those mistakes for you, specially if you have acne prone oily skin. It’s so important to identify what your skin type is and what kind of product it needs. If we use wrong products, our skin would react badly within few days of using those products. Skin care does not only depend on the products you use, but also on your lifestyle habits including your sleep pattern and on what you eat.

Most Commonly Made Oily Skin Care Mistakes

Staying Away From A Moisturizer

One of the biggest myth among the oily skinned beauties is that you don’t need a moisturizer. Specially during summer, I remember skipping it all together. Back then, it did not make much difference to my skin appearance. But, not using a moisturizer on oily skin, actually has two ill effects.

1st, After washing face, skin feels taut and oil free, we love that feel, but the oil glands, take it as a signal to produce oil. Hence you feel your skin getting oily within an hour.

2nd, Slowly, you are loosing your skin’s elasticity if you skip using a moisturizer.

How to choose moisturizer for oily skin?

Using a moisturizer on oily skin is as important as on dry to normal skin type. A moisturizer does not need to be heavy and pore clogging. Oily skin needs little hydration, and a water based moisturizer is the best bet. Try to go through the ingredients of the product. Aloe Vera infused products work the best for oily skin. It should not clog your pores.

Also, stay away from day creams that contain sunscreen. They are highly suspected to block your pores like Pond’s White Beauty Day Cream.

Using Oil Clearing Face Wash

I know, when you have oily skin, using an oil clearing face wash is the first thing that comes to your mind. But only if you can try to understand the mechanism behind oil production, you will realize, you are making your situation worse.

Why your skin produces more oil than your friend’s skin?

Oily skin has hyper active oil glands. The oil glands produce oil or being more technical sebum. The oil glands on a dry skin are not that active and hence it feels rough and dehydrated. On your oily skin, when you use a drying face wash, your glands sense that dryness and produces more oil. If you have ever noticed, within one hour of using a foaming face wash, your nose and upper cheeks may start feeling oily/sticky. It is all because, your oil glands can sense that your skin needs moisture. The  more your take away that natural oil, the more your skin will produce. And you are trapped in a cycle.

What Should You Do Instead?

Our goal is to keep our oil glands in check. Let’s not trigger them. Hence, do not use over drying face washes that claim to keep oil away. These face washes will rip off the natural oil from your skin, triggering it to produce more. And you will end up using the face wash more than once. That way, you are not only hurting your pocket but your skin too. Your skin, gets hyper sensitive, and inflamed because of over washing and over rubbing.

Use mild face wash, stick to natural cleansers. If your skin feels sticky even after using a face wash, you can use plain water to refresh your skin. Oil bloating papers and sheets, even powders too trigger your oil glands. Use Niacinamide infused products that actually balances your skin. And does not let your skin produce extra oil without over drying it. I love The Ordinary Niacinamide + Zinc solution.

Not Wearing Sunscreen Daily

The biggest mistake you can ever make is to ignore your sunscreen even if you are hardly out in the sun. Being a software engineer, I hardly ever went out in the sun. SO, I assumed it was alright to skin sunscreen. The another reason I skipped one, was the fact that I actually could not find the right sunscreen for my skin type. Back then, there were not much choices. Every sunscreen I ever used, was too heavy, made me feel sweaty, or the worse, broke me out. I thought, I am better off a sunscreen.

But in long term, it’s the worse decision ever. Sun rays really damage our skin. You realize that once you hit your late 20’s. Deep pigmentation, hyper pigmentation and fine lines start creeping out. And this kind of skin damage takes a lot of of efforts to reverse.

A sunscreen is a skin care product to be used life long. If you use one, it will not only protect you against the sun, but also against the environmental pollutants. Also, it would prevent appearing dark spots on your skin. If you have acne, it would not let them getting darker, and will help you getting rid of them easily.

What Is And Ideal Sunscreen for Oily Skin?

• It should offer broad spectrum protection against UVA and UVB rays.
• It should be lightweight, preferably gel based.
• Should feel heavy or make you feel sweaty at all.
• It should not irritate your skin making it look red.
• Prefer a physical sunscreen over chemical ones.
• For acne prone skin, a sunscreen containing Zinc/Zinc Oxide is beneficial.

If you stay indoors, wear at least SPF 30, you can go higher if you have to go out. Today, we have lots of options, to find the sunscreen our skin would love. I am currently using La Shield Gel Sunscreen and very happy with it.

Over Scrubbing

I feel, every body falls prey to this one. I remember using St.Ives Anti Blemish scrub every single night. Yes, every single night, because it helped me getting rid of acne for some time. I stopped using it only when it got discontinued. Over scrubbing is as bad as using a bad cleanser/ not using a moisturizer or not using a sunscreen. By scrubbing every night, we do not let our skin heal. We do not give it time to rejuvenate by itself. We rip it off it’s natural oil.

I love scrubbing. But I have realized by now, that it’s another skin sin to over do it. Now, I don’t remember when I scrubbed last time. But it does not mean I am not exfoliating my skin. I use Chemical exfoliaters like AHA and BHA. The Ordinary BHA 30% Peel is my current favorite. If you do not have access to The Ordinary product, there are several such exfoliators/cleansers that contain AHA and BHA. These are mild. They gently take away the dead skin off your skin and leave behind clean and smooth skin.

But frequency is what matters. If the product has a nice strength, use it once to twice a week, and not more than that. No exfoliator should be used every day. Unless it’s your cleanser like Globus Face Wash. Do not forget to moisturize your skin after using an exfoliator.

The Only physical exfoliator I use : The Body Shop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion

Trying Out Every Product That Claims To Banish Acne

When you are desperate, you can go to any measures. I remember, back then, every time, I heard about an acne clearing cleanser/lotion/ointment, I would grab it. My vanity was overflowing, not with makeup, but with products from every brand that claimed to help with acne. I tried many inter national brands, including Pro Active, Acne.Org regimen etc.. Now I think with all that money gone to drain, I would have gone on a trip to Goa.

What Should you do instead?

You are blessed to be born in an era where you have internet on your fingertips. You can read medical papers online and can find out the mechanism behind every thing. Do not be a fool. If a brand claims, they have a revolutionary product that would take away excess oil, run away. That is against the nature. Your skin needs to have a layer of moisture. If you rip it off, you are disrupting it’s natural functionality. You are pressing the wrong button. Try to understand your skin’s needs and choose the simplest products.

Lack Of Nutrition & Sleep

I hardly ate anything green, I hardly ate any fruit or nuts. I would hardly drink even 5 glasses of water. Don’t even ask about my sleeping pattern. It was all mess. Back in my 20’s it was all about my career. I never really cared about my lifestyle. There was no time or motivation to exercise because I was quite lean(another myth). All in all, my body was accumulating toxins and my skin was trying to tell me this. I was dumb not to understand that.

If you are not eating clean, not getting enough sleep or active hours, you are definitely inviting bad stuff for your skin. Eat well, stay active and sleep peacefully, to enjoy healthy skin.

 

I do not want you to make the same mistakes I made in my life regarding my skin care because I could not understand the reason behind my bad skin. That was a distressful phase. Once you are in that cycle, it’s really hard to make a cut. If you are struggling with Acne / oily skin, you can write to me at highongloss@gmail.com and I would love to help you out.

 

See Ya Soon…!!!

Nisha Malik ❤

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