Okay, I’m really not much on skin care products. I basically just wash my face with soap and go. However, as I’ve gotten older the skin on my forehead has succumbed to an overload of oiliness. And since I don’t wear make-up, it’s not like I can compensate with powder or something.
So, what’s a girl to do? I use astringent in the evening before I go to bed, but beyond that, I’m clueless. I’d like something super easy to keep up with and extremely (if possible) cheap. Any recommendations? I’ll even take home remedies if anyone has some to offer. Thanks in advance for any help. My beacon of shininess will await y’all’s input.
Soap is terrible for your face. You need an exfoliating wash designed explicitly for your face. I like aveno “age fighting” somethingorother with shiitake complex, but even the cheap stuff is lightyears beyond what soap is doing to you.
I have oily skin and am very allergic to pretty much everything (yay me). I use a dandruff shampoo because of allergies and when I have a real outbreak of the oilies, I’ve found that the best face wash is actually the shampoo. I just use my fingers to massage some on, gently, then rinse. Denorex or Neutrogena are my favorites for this.
because scrubbing and astringents cause more oil =)
The only time you need to scrub is if you get ingrained dirt embedded in your skin. gentle is the watchword … when it comes to the skin on your face. Back in my teens when you could have solved the worlds oil crisis with my forehead and a few strategically placed wells I found that any time it got oily, gently blotting with tissues, then splashing with cool water and patting dry gently with tissues worked the best. I rarely used any soap at all, just the clear lightly brownish neutragena glycerin soap in the morning
Thanks everyone for your replies. Amazingly, I’ve been using soap on my face for all 41 years and I get nothing but compliments on it. Go figure. I’ll have to check out the Absorbing Sheets, shampoo and glycerin soap. Thank you all again.
Another vote for Cetaphil. I started seeing a dermatologist last year to clear up some adult cystic acne (omg it sucked!) and although Cetaphil didn’t cure the problem, once the problem was gone I was able to continue simply washing with Cetaphil once a day at bedtime and my face is not oily, not dry and is zit-free.
I keep a big pump dispenser of it on my sink, and a bar or it in my shower. I still use regular Dove moisturizing soap on my body but nothing but Cetaphil touches my face.
You know, I’ve heard not to use astringent, and the reasoning makes enough sense to me, but then I’ve had the beauty experts at Macy*s (I feel like an ass typing that asterisk) that I should be using an astringent. Another lady I told I don’t use moisturizer, because my skin is oily enough as it is, said to use an astringent and a light moisturizer. I get all kinds of mixed answers about how to resolve my oily Grr! Isn’t there someone, perhaps a professional of some sort, maybe even a doctor, who specializes in skin who can just tell me what to do? Of course, there’s the best non-advice-advice that I get from my mother, which is “Love your oily skin now. You’ll age better.”
I’m planning to order some Sebasorb. Trish McEvoy used to make a similar product, and it was the GREATEST THING EVER! Not cheap, but soooo worth it. Discontinued.
When I get the Sebasorb, I’ll report back to this thread.
FWIW, I don’t find using a moisturizer makes me any more oily. I’ve been using Clean & Clear Oil-Free Shine Control moisturizer, and I like it. And it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than the DDF stuff I used to use.
Ooh! Please do report back. Tell me what kind of genetic lottery I lost with this combo: I have only skin on my face, and dry skin on my body! Fortunately, the dry skin has been much, much easier to resolve. Dove Deep Moisture body wash + pretty much any lotion = key. Now the face thing has caused me a bit more grief. Hmph.
Cetaphil sounds intriguing (as does Sebasorb – woo, that IS high though), so I’ll be on the lookout for it. And as to using moisturizers; I’ve just started, but they don’t seem to make it any worse. It always just stays the freakin’ same.
I have good luck with a moisturizing cleanser for combination skin. I can only use one type for long term because I have sensitive skin but any brand helps short term. Any type of cleanser that is too stripping or irritating (like anything “age fighting”) makes my T-zone an oil slick. This is a bigger problem in the last few years, I’m 47.
I like Aveeno’s foaming face cleanser, but I will use soap if I have nothing else.
But what I will never skip is using a toner and moisturizer afterwards. Loreal makes a toner (pinkish in color) that is very light atringent, it just seems to clarify and prepare the skin for the next layer. Next use a non greasy lotion, I use most any drugstore variety, mostly Loreal, Oil of Olay, Neutrogena, usually with a SPF in it too.
I use Neutrogena’s foaming face cleanser… it comes in a purple bottle. It’s gentle, so my skin doesn’t get rebound oiliness, but serious enough that it clears the oil off my face. I use it once a day, before bed, and if I’ve got something big going on that I need my face to be clear, I use it in the morning. (Like my wedding day, job interviews, etc.)
Perversely, I found my skin much improved by using the Oil Cleansing Method. Mine was pretty classic T zone.
It’s inexpensive and you just fiddle with the ratios to make it work for you. I also found that I need to wash my face less and still had fewer pimples.
