An Essential Guide for Men Dealing With Oily Skin
Is Oily Skin Giving You a Hard Time? – So How to control oily face for men?
Are you someone who feels like you’re in a constant battle against your oily skin? Does your face feel greasy, even when you’ve just washed it recently? Many men have oily skin that can be downright frustrating to deal with when you don’t know what to do.
Oil is naturally present on our skin and is actually important to keep the skin lubricated. This skin oil is known as sebum and is meant to help protect the skin from damage – whether it be the cold weather, dry air, and other environmental factors.
In this article, we’re going to go over everything you need to know about oily skin and how to prevent oily face for guys naturally. Whether you’ve always had a problem with oily skin or this is something that has just recently started, you will find that our tips can provide quick relief without much effort on your end.
The Ugly Side of Having Oily Skin
From enlarged pores, acne breakouts, dark spots, and too much face shine, having excess oil on your skin can seem a bit tricky to tackle. You may find that your skin only gets worse during the summer months thanks to the rise in temperatures.
When oily skin gets out of hand, your self-confidence is what takes the hit. It’s hard to deal with problems affecting the way we look. Though the challenge oily skin brings is a difficult one, in most cases it is not impossible.
A Few Benefits of Having Oily Skin
If you thought there was absolutely nothing good about having oily skin, then you may be pleasantly surprised that there are a few benefits. People with oily skin tend to deal with less premature ageing. This is because the oil present on our skin is meant to protect and lubricate, helping preserve the skin.
Another reason to save your worries is the fact that problems with oily skin recede once you begin the journey into your early or mid-thirties. This is where a slowing in our skin’s activity occurs, which is responsible for the lower production of oil on the skin’s surface for most people. So how to maintain oily skin for men?
There are Solutions to Your Problem!
How to Stop Men’s Oily Skin?
The good news is that you don’t have to lose your battle against oily skin anymore. In fact, you can start winning! No, it’s really not that hard to combat it. No, you don’t need a ton of fancy, overpriced skin products to get the job done.
All you need to do is follow the special tricks and tips for men’s oily skin and you’ll notice a difference in your skin.
The advice we have to offer consists of skin cleansing regimens, face mask recipes, and more. You may feel like some of these suggestions are meant for women, especially if you’ve witnessed your wife or girlfriend making an oatmeal mask before.
If this is true, then it would actually be a good idea to ask her to help you with some of the tips we’ll be sharing in this article.
Keep in mind that we’re not just giving you these tips for no reason. If you really care about tackling your oily skin, then you may have to go a little bit out of your comfort zone.
Don’t worry, we’re not asking you to do anything extreme. In fact, we’re not asking you to do anything! We’re just offering an in-depth guide on how to combat men’s oily skin.
What Causes Oily Skin?
Whenever you’re dealing with a problem, it’s always best to get down to the root of the problem. Here is where we will list and go over the main causes of oily skin.
DHT
With oily skin, the main cause of excess oil production is an abundance of the hormone known as dihydrotestosterone, aka DHT. DHT is a naturally occurring hormone in men. Excess DHT itself has a number of causes that can be covered in an entire article on its own.
Genetics
Like eye and hair colour, oily skin can be a genetic trait that has been passed on to you. If your parents or one of your parents deals with oily skin, this is likely the reason you do too.
Age
Being older doesn’t 100% guarantee your oily skin will stop giving you problems in life. That being said, it’s worth mentioning that less oil is produced by the skin as you age. Because of this, many of those who are ageing deal with dry skin.
Location and Time of the Year
If you consider that humans are adaptive and that our bodies react directly to the environment they’re put in, then it makes sense that location and weather have an effect on our bodies.
Hot and humid climates and summer seasons make the skin produce more oil since the temperatures are high. Winter and fall months are notorious for causing dry skin, meaning that your skin’s oil production will be less.
Enlarged Pores
The thing about enlarged pores is that they can be a cause and effect of oily skin. This is because large pores tend to produce more oil and large pores are often caused by previous breakouts – which were probably caused by your oily skin.
Diet
What you put into your body will show on the outside. Many people find that when they improve their diet and manage the food they eat more carefully, many health benefits come shortly after. Some foods have a tendency to cause oily skin. These foods include:
- Milk
- Butter
- Cheese
- Milk chocolate
- White bread
- White rice
- White pasta
- Cereal
- Deep-fried foods
- Cakes & pastries
- Sausages
- Fast foods
- Sugar
- Excess salt
- Alcohol
While the list may seem long and extremely restrictive, it’s not too hard to work around it. You don’t need to cut everything out 100%, but instead, you can reduce the intake of certain foods that aren’t good for you.
Replace refined grains with whole grains (whole wheat bread, brown rice, etc.) and opt for fresh fruits instead of cakes & pastries that are packed with sugar.
While milk chocolate can be irritating and cause of oily skin, dark chocolate has been shown to provide some benefits for overall health. Let’s have a look at how to maintain oily skin for men.
How to Deal with Men’s Oily Skin
Keep Skin Cleansed
Keeping your skin clean is one of the most important parts of any skincare routine. However, the cleaning needs to be done right to ensure you don’t damage or irritate the skin, furthering your skin problems.
While it may seem necessary to invest in an expensive face wash, it’s not necessary. In fact, if you’re currently using a face wash, there is a possibility that it’s irritating your skin.
Many facial cleansers contain chemicals that can cause dryness, increase oil production, and more.
When choosing a face cleanser, go for organic, natural ingredients. Face washes that include naturally antibacterial ingredients like tea tree oil and peppermint oil are great to use, just make sure to test it out on a small patch of skin before using it on your entire face.
There are a few more guidelines that need to be followed to properly keep your skin clean and free of irritants.
- Clean in the morning and at night
- If needed, give your face a quick rinse in the middle of the day
- Don’t overwash your face, keep it to 3 times a day at most
- Washing with hot water is a no-no
- Give your face a final rinse with your cold water maxed out – this is to help shrink the pores and prevent clogs
Best Cleanser for Men’s Oily Skin:
Exfoliate 1-2 Times per Week
Exfoliation should be done no more than twice a week to ensure dead skin is removed, and skin is not irritated from over-exfoliation. Face scrubs work at exfoliating the skin but can be too harsh and be careful if have any type of beard style as the product can just remain within your beard :). Try out a few of these natural recipes for gentle exfoliation:
- Lemon or lime juice + baking soda – Squeeze the juice of 1 lime or ½ a lemon into a glass bowl. Add enough baking soda to make a paste, making sure it is not too thick. Apply the mixture directly to your face and rub in circular motions. Leave this on for 10-20 minutes and rinse off with cool water.
- Apple cider vinegar + baking soda – Follow the same recipe we mentioned for the lemon or lime juice + baking soda, just replace the citrus juice with apple cider vinegar.
- Bentonite clay mask + coconut oil – Make a mask by mixing enough bentonite clay with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to make a paste. If it gets too thick, add a small sprinkle of water. Apply this mask to your face and leave on for no more than 20-30 minutes. Clean it off with warm water, then finish it off with a cool rinse.
- Baking soda + water – A simple mix of ½ teaspoon of baking soda with some water is a bare-bones exfoliation recipe that any man can make with no problems. Rub this mix on the skin for 20-30 seconds before washing it off with cool water.
- Orange juice + oatmeal – Mix together freshly squeezed orange juice and oatmeal to create a thick paste. Apply and leave on your face for up to 20 minutes. Rinse off with warm water, making sure to finish with cool water.
Moisturize for Oily Skin Men
You may think that keeping the skin moisturized is unnecessary because your skin is oily. The reality is, just because you have oily skin doesn’t mean it’s hydrated. If you would like to use a facial moisturizer, then you should make sure it’s light and oil-free. The best times to moisturize your skin is after washing and exfoliation.
Stay Hydrated
Making sure you drink enough water is one of the most, if not the most important part of keeping your skin as healthy as possible. If you drink enough water, then your skin will stay hydrated.
People who don’t drink enough water typically deal with dry skin. That being said, if you’re someone who doesn’t stay properly hydrated, it can be one of the causes of excess oil production. Sometimes the skin can overproduce oil to help protect skin that is not properly hydrated.
Don’t Pick at Blemishes
Picking at blemishes is a big no-no! This can cause acne scars and spread bacteria to other parts of your face, creating new blemishes, spreading acne, and potentially more scarring. If this is a habit of yours, then you need to stop ASAP. You will be sure to notice an improvement in your skin as soon as you kick this habit.
Keep Blotting Sheets on Hand
Even when following all the tips and tricks we’ve shared, oil can still be a little on the excess side. This is where blotting sheets can be really handy. If you aren’t familiar with blotting sheets, they are thin pieces of absorbent paper made to absorb excess liquid (such as oil).
Blotting sheets are available at most stores and can be stored in your desk, pocket, or car with ease. They’re small and take up barely any room. Using them is easy – all you have to do is softly pat your face with one sheet to get rid of some excess oil and you’re ready to go!
Conclusion
Now that we’ve shared with you our advice on how to manage your oily skin as a man, try them out for yourself. We made sure to cover all aspects from what causes oily skin, skin routine suggestions, cleansing, exfoliating, diet, and more to ensure you can effectively win the battle.
Don’t allow oily skin to make you feel bad about the way you look. The tips we provided are fairly easy to follow and don’t require much effort on your end. Take it slow and incorporate 1-3 new changes in your skin routine per week and you’ll likely see improvements within the first month.
