I typically have very dry skin, so you can imagine my horror when the weather in Toronto turned steaming hot and humid (literally overnight), and the skin on my face turned into a greasy mess.
It wasn’t so much that my entire face went oily, it was more the T-Zone area. If you’re not sure where the T-Zone is on your face, here is a pretty diagram I’ve made for you. Just imagine a T shape on your face. The top part of the T is your forehead, and the bottom is a line drawn down your nose and chin.
And it wasn’t just oily skin either, I broke out with some small pimples, with two on my nose, one on my chin and a small scattering on my forehead. Not a pretty site and very unfortunate after I’d only recently be celebrating completely clear skin.
I don’t think I helped matters much either by using my ‘usual’ amount of moisturizer on the first humid morning. I slathered on a decent amount of my Olay moisturizer which my skin usually needs in the cold and dry weather. On this very humid day it just made my skin greasy and shiny. So much so that my house mate even made a comment at how greasy my face was looking! Eww.
So the first thing I knew I needed to do was to use less moisturizer. In fact, I’m of the belief that if your skin is oily or you feel as though you don’t need any moisturizer, then why bother even putting it on. I’m sure there are beauty therapists out there groaning and shaking their heads, but I’m positive that moisturizers only work on the top layers of the skin, so they’re more for aesthetics and making your skin feel better rather than being a ‘cure all’. So if you already have plenty of natural moisture on your skin, why bother?
As soon as I started using significantly less moisturizer, and leaving my forehead out completely, my skin began to recover. I also used my Paula’s Choice 2% BHA once a day (at night), and used my Miessence Purifying Blemish gel on the small spots that I had. It took about a week for the blotchiness and pimples to go away, but they did! And now I’m happily pimple free again.
So for those of you with oily skin or oily t-zones, consider perhaps how much moisturizer you’re using on your skin. If it’s making your skin feel oilier or greasier then do you think you’d be better off with no moisturizer at all?
Here’s a video I recorded about my oily T-Zone:
Fran
Fran Kerr is the founding editor of High on Health. To cure your acne, sign up to Fran's FREE acne cure mini-course or download her latest how to guide, Eat Away Your Acne.
11 responses ↓
Thanks. This was really helpful to think about. I started thinking, yeah, topical moisturizer makes sense if I’m using a harsh face wash and harsh pimple cream everyday, drying my skin out, or it makes sense for skin that’s not prepared to deal with harsh dry winter weather, but I imagine you’re right, if it’s summer, and I’m using only a gentle cleanser and natural spot treatments, like aloe vera, well, the skin’s natural oils should take care of moisturizing, shouldn’t it? I think I’m going to give that a try for a day because I have an extremely oily t-zone.
OK. The past couple of days, I’ve stopped moisturizing at night. I wake up every morning with soft, but not greasy skin. My natural oils seem to take care of it very well. In the morning after washing, though, I put on a moisturizer with spf. I’ve noticed a big difference in how often I need to use blotting paper.
Estella that’s awesome!
Hi, I just starting looking at your videos on youtube and I have been trying to clear my skin for about 10 to 12 years. I don’t want to go into a long story but maybe you could let me know what I should try that might work. First mistake I made was a friend of mine had told me that everyday he would put vaseline on his face, well I have extremely oily skin I mean if my arm or my leg is dry I could actually use my face as a lotion. Anyway since then I have had very many blackhead, whitehead and large painful bumps that has been in my skin for about 10 years. I believe I have the most servere acne I have ever seen. There is seriously more “pimples” than I can even count on my face. Also from the old pimples there are scars many dark scars on my face which make it look like someone threw-up on my face. Also I am a black woman just 25 years old and this has been preventing me from getting a job. People love me on the phone and think I do excellent work but when they see me it’s a totally different story. I have tried everything from over the counter to Proactiv to Murad. Nothing seems to work. I don’t mean to vent but I really am tired of being let down by products. Let me know what should be my first step. Please inform! Thanks
Hi Danielle, you may have very badly clogged pores from years of using the wrong products, so the constant oil is breaking you out and keeping your pores clogged (the first stage of an inflammation).
Sign up to my mini-course if you haven’t already, and follow the steps in that. This article is also a summary of the mini-course:
http://www.highonhealth.org/the-ultimate-guide-to-clear-skin-in-7-easy-steps/
I’d suggest that you start using products for oily skin, specifally something that contains a salicylic acid or BHA so you can help purge your clogged pores. You’ll then need to use something antibacterial to try and stop those breakouts. If you can find a cleanser and moisturizer that contains tea tree oil, or something else that’s natural and antibacterial, then this will be a good option for you.
Also work on your diet by eating typically low GI foods. This will help remove the excess oil in your skin, and reduce the redness and inflammation. Diet is extremely important for the holistic healing of our skin. It’s not good to just work on the surface level, you need to consider your whole body
This is really long, sorry. If you would like more help, jump into the forum and I can answer more there.
Hi Fran I was wondering do you still need to put on sunscreeen if you skin is oily?
[...] wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about not moisturizing my T-Zone, so I guess I’m now just taking it one step further. I had such good results with not [...]
Hi Zack, if you’re going outside of course. A sunblock is not for moisturizing, it’s to protect our skin from skin cancer, so if you’re going out in the sun you definitely need it.
My mother, grandmother, grandfather and uncle have all had skin cancers so I’m very careful when I’m out in the sun.
Thanks Fran for the info. I will be writing on your forum, but I wanted to say that I am unable to see a dermatologist because of lack of funds. So I will be looking for product with tea tree oil in them and if there is anything else please let me know. Thanks!
Hello. Nice videos. I do not have much acne anywhere but there is many on my forehead. I think it is because for all my life I hung my hair there. I am fourteen years old. I have been holding my hair back for about a week and a half and how long do you think it will take? Also what products do you recommend? I have been applying Aplicare Povidone Iodine on my forehead and I have been seeing little progress. There is currently 6 or 8 pimples but many many red spots from previous acne. Thank you.
Hi Jonathan,
All of your questions are answered in my free acne cure mini-course and in the acne blog archives (http://www.highonhealth.org/acne/).
Or you can join my coaching program for personal support:
http://www.highonhealth.org/coaching/
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