5 TIPS FOR OILY SKIN // TIPS AND TRICKS

Are you one of those guys or gals that always becomes oily after an hour or so of waking up or putting on your make up? I used to always spend 20 minutes doing my skincare, putting on my make up, making sure it looked great... and then... AND THEN.. BAM, Oil decides to come say hello and sit on my face for the rest of the day. With some trial and error, I found a way to reduce the oiliness and keep it to a nice "glow". So here are my 4 tips for reducing oil.

1. YOUR MOISTURISER
Everybody needs to moisturise! The question is, are you using the right moisturiser? The most common types of moisturisers are creams that are thick and can often sit on top of the skin. My favourite cream based moisturiser is by Cetaphil since it is super gentle, non-comedogenic, and fragrance free. It is absolutely awesome! BUT, if I wear it under my foundation, you will see me super slick within 30 minutes.

If you are using a cream moisturiser and find yourself becoming oily throughout the day, switch to a water or gel based moisturiser. My current favourite is Neutrogena Hydroboost Water Gel. It sinks in immediately and doesn't leave you oily. Another option is Cliniques Dramatically Different Gel. I haven't tried this one since it is more expensive, but it is definitely on my list of products to try out.

2. ARE YOU EVEN MOISTURISING?
A lot of people think that because you are oily you don't need to moisturise. WRONG. Often your skin produces oil because it is trying to over compensate for the lack of moisture your skin has. By moisturising your skin you will remove the excessive amounts oil your skin is producing.

3. TRY OUT AN OIL
This might sound weird, but using an oil in your skincare routine will dramatically help reduce oil. In fact, when I used this on my drier areas, it made it drier (so be careful). Oils are a great way to naturally moisturise the skin and different oils have different benefits. For example, Jojoba Oil is great for acne prone skin, and Rosehip Oil is amazing for evening out skin tone.

By using oil instead of moisturiser, or even under it, your skin will say hey.. what's this? there's already oil on my face? Guess I don't need to produce anymore oil! And ta - da, your oily skin days are solved! I mean its not that easy and probably a lot more scientific, but that's probably the best way to understand it.

4. PRIMER
Try using a primer underneath your foundation to help control your oil. The one I use is by the Body Shop.  I use the Tea Tree Pore Minimising Primer for blemished skin, and although it isn't targeted directly for controlling oils, the tea tree helps to keep my shiny T-zone at bay. You can try any oil control primer though, they all seem to do a similar thing.

5. USE A POWDER FOUNDATION
Powder foundations aren't overly popular in the beauty world and aren't talked about often, but using a powder foundation instead of the liquid foundation helps to absorb oil that decides to come up through your skin. Bare Minerals is an amazing mineral beauty brand that sits beautifully on the skin and doesn't clog your pores like a liquid foundation does.

Other powder foundations include Nude by Nature  from Priceline. Both are great brands and give a luminous and natural finish.

If you have had oily skin forever and are looking for a way to combat it, then why not give one of these tips a go? Or even better, if you have any suggestions for others, share them in the comments!