Coping with an oil glut

If you have excessively oily skin, that’s due to your sebaceous glands producing more sebum (the acne-related oil that I discuss in detail in Chapter 3) than you’d like them to. This is often the case if you also happen to have acne. But for now, here are some tips on caring for your oily skin:

• Be happy that you’ll save a few bucks on not buying moisturizers.
• Be happier because your skin will tend to stay more wrinklefree and younger looking!
• Be even happier because your skin will tend to be less sensitive!

But you probably want some more concrete tips, so here you go:

• Even though your skin’s oily, don’t irritate it. Washing your face twice a day should be enough. I realize that you may have been told to wash 77 times a day with strong abrasive soaps, but that will only irritate your skin and make it redder — and if you have acne, all that scrubbing will only make it look worse! For advice on exactly how to wash your skin, check out “How to wash your face.”
• If parts of your face feel oily during the day, the oil can be wiped away with a mild alcohol-and-water astringent such as Neutrogena Clear Pore Oil-Controlling Astringent, Noxzema Triple Clean Astringent, or Clean & Clear Advanced Acne Pads.