If you’re anything like me, oily skin is probably the bane of your existence. From having to push up your glasses a million times a day to feeling #pain when you look like a shiny greaseball in every flash photo, it can often seem like you’re fighting a losing battle against your pores.
Not all hope is lost though. To help you get the skin of your dreams, we’ve compiled seven common skincare mistakes to avoid so you won’t have to blot your face every five minutes.
Having a freshly-washed face is probably one of the greatest feelings someone with oily skin can ever experience. But no matter how appealing it may sound to wash our face the moment our skin starts feeling greasy, it’s actually counterproductive if you want to reduce oil in the long run.
Overwashing your face can seriously dry out your skin – especially if you tend to use stronger facial cleansers. Although having dry skin may seem ideal, your skin tends to overcompensate and produce more oil and sebum in response.
To fix this mistake, try not to exceed two washes per day, a.k.a. the maximum recommended times to wash your face. Better yet, opting for a gentler cleanser can also prevent your skin from being harshly stripped of its natural moisture.
Tip: If you’re in a pinch, you can apply an essence like the L’Oreal Revitalift Crystal Micro-Essence onto cotton pads for a quick 10-minute mask to control the excess sebum on your face.
After a long day at work, there’s no better way to relax and unwind than taking a soothing hot shower but unbeknownst to many, hot water can actually make your skin even oiler.
Sure, hot water opens up your pores and can help you get a deep cleanse, ridding your skin of excess sebum. But taking hot showers for too long can be extremely harsh on your skin and can cause it to produce more oil as a defence mechanism.
Switching to lukewarm water will help to fix this mistake and ending your showers with cold water can even help to retain your skin’s elasticity while shrinking all your pores.
Falling down the rabbit hole of #skintok and overbuying beauty products may be hard to avoid – especially when your newest skincare routine doesn’t seem to be working. While it’s good to switch things up if you’ve had a negative reaction to a certain product, it can actually be bad to constantly use new skincare products.
Not only do you run the risk of mixing active ingredients that probably shouldn’t be mixed like AHA/ BHA acids and retinol, but skincare products often take around four to six weeks to have full effects on your skin. Instead of wasting your money and running the risk of having an allergic reaction, it’s best to stick to your tried and true basics and switch things up only when truly necessary.
Some skincare can even clog your pores and cause acne so be sure to do your research and only buy non-comedogenic products.
Tip: Consider multi-purpose options so you don’t have to worry about becoming the next skincare hoarder. For instance, the L’Oreal Revitalift Crystal Micro-Essence moisturises your skin and minimises pores at the same time.
By now, we’re probably all familiar with the recommended skincare routine of washing your face before moisturising. But when you’re already using countless sheets of blotting paper a day, it can seem pointless to use a hydrating moisturiser on top of all that skin grease.
As strange as it may seem, applying your daily moisturiser is actually the key to reducing your skin oil. Skipping moisturiser can dry out your skin which causes your skin glands to go into overdrive which results in an even oiler face.
If you’re guilty of skipping this crucial skincare step, it’s better late than never to start moisturising. To ensure that your skin reaps the most benefits, try choosing a water-based facial essence for light and refreshing skin hydration.
Whether it’s by using a coarse facial scrub or just vigorously using a makeup wipe, it’s easy to accidentally use too much force when exfoliating our skin.
Although this may seem beneficial in removing our dead skin cells and giving us that #glow, aggressively rubbing our face can also damage the more sensitive layers of our skin causing wrinkles and – you guessed it – more oil.
To avoid premature aging and excessive drying of your skin, opt for more gentle methods of exfoliating and makeup removal like chemical exfoliators and oil cleansers.
As tempting as a bowl of instant noodles or a McSpicy meal may sound, salty and oily foods aren’t the best if you want to maintain good skin – after all, you are what you eat. Good skincare comes from within so if you want to ensure hydrated and grease-free skin, avoiding your favourite salty foods is a good first step.
Think about it – when was the last time you sanitised your phone? From placing it on dirty restaurant tables to touching it with our unwashed hands, our phones harbour more bacteria than toilet seats and yet, we press them to our bare faces every day.
The bacteria and oil from our phones can clog up our pores and cause our faces to break out, which isn’t so ideal if we’re trying to achieve that all-so-perfect glass skin. To make sure that our skin remains clean and that our expensive skincare products aren’t for naught, sanitising your phone every night with a wet tissue is a good habit to cultivate.
Having good skin can be a real confidence booster and avoiding these seven skincare mistakes makes all the difference when it comes to reducing the shine on your forehead. Keeping your skin moist and hydrated is the best way to keep greasy skin at bay, but choosing the right products can be a real struggle.
Choosing a non-comedogenic, a.k.a non-pore clogging, product like the L’Oreal Revitalift Crystal Micro-Essence ($39.90) is crucial to avoid making oily skin worse.
Not only does it control excess sebum and oil, but it also brightens your skin and visibly minimises pores in just seven days for that flawless K-idol skin. Rather than being shiny because of your grease, this essence will give you that healthy glow, even without makeup.
Investing in a hydrating essence makes moisturising your skin even more luxurious and at only $35.90, the L’Oreal Revitalift Crystal Micro-Essence is an affordable way to achieve all your skincare goals.
With this essence, up to 10 layers of your skin will be penetrated with all kinds of active ingredients like salicylic acid and centella. Better yet, with its light and watery consistency, your skin won’t feel oily or weighed down while using the product.
You can find the L’Oreal Revitalift Crystal Micro-Essence in the following stores:
This post was brought to you by L’Oreal.
Photography by Elizabeth Natalie Ng.
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