50 replies to this topic

[BeadyB]

I've always had normal skin. If anything, it might be dry on occasion. I started getting acne this past year (I'm now 21 and female) and never really had it in the past, aside from the occasional pimple or two every month. Because I started breaking out, my derm said I needed to start washing my face twice a day which is normal, but honestly, its something I've never done before.
Yup, the only time I ever washed my face was shower or swimming. I never scrubbed it, and sometimes I would even sleep in my makeup. I never broke out from that. So my derm said my acne is hormonal.

So now, I wash my face 2X daily with Kavi sulfur soap (AQUA, the gentler one) and am also now on birth control.

MY NOSE IS SOOOOOOO OILY. I can't stand it. Is this from washing my face everyday? Because as I said before, my skin is NOT used to that. Or is it from the birth control, which is new, and my body hasn't adjusted to yet...

BTW it looks like sweat on my nose its so oily...

also, I don't moisturize. Can that help reduce oily skin?


My questions may seem dumb, but I'm new to this ordeal. Acne AND oily skin.....

Thanks

[bryan]

MY NOSE IS SOOOOOOO OILY. I can't stand it. Is this from washing my face everyday? Because as I said before, my skin is NOT used to that.

You have it backwards: your skin would only be oily from not washing it every day, not from washing it every day!

also, I don't moisturize. Can that help reduce oily skin?

No, almost certainly not. Despite the claims made on this forum for years, I don't know of any actual scientific evidence that moisturizing your skin has any effect, one way or the other, on the amount of sebum it produces. In fact, there's actually some medical evidence that there is no correlation at all between the two.

[Jofo]

The popular hypothesis at the moment is that oily skin is largely a hormonal issue and the best solution is to find hormone-regulating supplements and foods that control the problem. You know, fix the problem from the inside out. DHT is one culprit that comes up in a lot of discussions. There are lots of claims being tossed around about how the skin produces sebum (oil) in response to skin that has been dried out and the sebum acts as a protective barrier, but I haven't ever seen that claim substantiated.

I'm not an expert but I've been doing a lot of reading on this subject recently because I also suffer from an extremely oily nose. I can wash my face and not 10 minutes later you can already see little spots of oil starting to fill up in my pores. Sucks big time.

Some possible remedies to look into, which I am also considering myself: boswellia, evening primrose oil, borage oil, beta sitosterol / saw palmetto, peppermint tea, and green tea.

In the meantime, Milk of Magnesia is a popular trick for temporarily drying out oily skin when you need to go out in public or something. It's cheap and you can buy it at most shopping centers. There are lots of instructional articles and YouTube videos on how to apply it properly.

[bryan]

Some possible remedies to look into, which I am also considering myself: boswellia, evening primrose oil, borage oil, beta sitosterol / saw palmetto, peppermint tea, and green tea.

What's the rationale for using evening primrose or borage oil for oily skin, and what specifically would you do with them (apply them topically, or eat them)?

[Jofo]

Some possible remedies to look into, which I am also considering myself: boswellia, evening primrose oil, borage oil, beta sitosterol / saw palmetto, peppermint tea, and green tea.

What's the rationale for using evening primrose or borage oil for oily skin, and what specifically would you do with them (apply them topically, or eat them)?

Evening primrose oil and borage oil contain gamma-linolenic acid which is said to have an anti-androgenic effect. GLA supposedly inhibits the 5 alpha-reductase enzyme that is involved in converting testosterone to DHT. But like I said, I'm not an expert. To be honest I was hoping you would be able to shed some light on the subject since you generally seem to be more knowledgeable about the chemistry side of things around here.

The common practice is to take the supplements orally, although I have heard of them being used topically as well to dilute sebum.

From what I have seen there is very little in the way of actual scientific studies to back all of this up. But I've come across enough personal success stories on the internet to pique my interest. Andreangel, for example, made some posts last year saying that the combination of borage oil and lecithin completely dried up her oily T-zone. So I guess if you're the type of person who is swayed by anecdotal evidence then it might interest you.

I'm purchasing borage oil and lecithin myself and I'm going to experiment with them over the next couple of months, so we'll see what happens.

[Sirva]

I have oily skin too. For me, moisturizers make it worse. Oil is till being produced and on top of that is my moisturizer which doesnt absorb at all so i have it doubled then.

[bryan]

Evening primrose oil and borage oil contain gamma-linolenic acid which is said to have an anti-androgenic effect. GLA supposedly inhibits the 5 alpha-reductase enzyme that is involved in converting testosterone to DHT.

Pure gamma-linolenic acid (like what you'd get if you ordered some from a chemical company) has been proven to be a 5a-reductase inhibitor, but gamma-linolenic acid as it occurs in most natural oils (like borage, evening primrose, black currant, etc.) doesn't do that to any significant extent. That's because the vast majority of natural oils have their fatty acids in the form of various mono-, di-, and triglycerides, except for maybe a few traces of them left in the "free" state. Being part of an ester like that almost completely destroys the ability of fatty acids like gamma-linolenic acid to inhibit 5a-reductase.

Edited by bryan, 06 October 2010 - 01:22 AM.

[Jofo]

Pure gamma-linolenic acid (like what you'd get if you ordered some from a chemical company) has been proven to be a 5a-reductase inhibitor, but gamma-linolenic acid as it occurs in most natural oils (like borage, evening primrose, black currant, etc.) doesn't do that to any significant extent. That's because the vast majority of natural oils have their fatty acids in the form of various mono-, di-, and triglycerides, except for maybe a few traces of them left in the "free" state. Being part of an ester like that almost completely destroys the ability of fatty acids like gamma-linolenic acid to inhibit 5a-reductase.

What makes you think the GLA found in borage oil and EPO doesn't have a similar effect? Were there studies performed on those forms of GLA that determined they have no inhibitory effect on 5-alpha reductase? I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm actually curious.

[bryan]

What makes you think the GLA found in borage oil and EPO doesn't have a similar effect? Were there studies performed on those forms of GLA that determined they have no inhibitory effect on 5-alpha reductase? I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm actually curious.

Yes, there were studies which showed that esters of those fatty acids had severely reduced ability to inhibit 5a-reductase, compared to the pure fatty acids themselves.

Edited by bryan, 06 October 2010 - 11:29 PM.

[Jofo]

Yes, there were studies which showed that esters of those fatty acids had severely reduced ability to inhibit 5a-reductase, compared to the pure fatty acids themselves.

Well that's disappointing to hear. I'm going to try borage oil and lecithin anyway since I already ordered some online. The anecdotal stories of these supplements reducing people's sebum still give me some hope that there is something to the idea, even if it's not directly related to 5a-reductase inhibition. Maybe the exact mechanism behind it isn't really understood. Wishful thinking, I know. That tends to happen when you're desperate for a solution.

Even if it has no effect on oiliness, I've at least heard people say that borage oil makes their skin softer.

[Corsair]

You just can't make dissapear oil production, but you can read more about zinc and linoleic acid. I believe that if you apply the RIGHT moisturizer, you can reduce the production by regulating the hormonal effect on your skin. Read more about it, a moisturize skin is a healthy skin, hopefully antioxidant, and remember, use thr right amount, not too much. Also check the moisturizers with SA, like Effaclar M (LHATM; Vitamin CG; Vitamin E; Zinc PCA.)

Edited by Corsair, 07 October 2010 - 09:41 PM.

[bryan]

I believe that if you apply the RIGHT moisturizer, you can reduce the production by regulating the hormonal effect on your skin.

Exactly how and why would a moisturizer change the hormonal effect in your skin?

[noondle]

I've always had normal skin. If anything, it might be dry on occasion. I started getting acne this past year (I'm now 21 and female) and never really had it in the past, aside from the occasional pimple or two every month. Because I started breaking out, my derm said I needed to start washing my face twice a day which is normal, but honestly, its something I've never done before.
Yup, the only time I ever washed my face was shower or swimming. I never scrubbed it, and sometimes I would even sleep in my makeup. I never broke out from that. So my derm said my acne is hormonal.

So now, I wash my face 2X daily with Kavi sulfur soap (AQUA, the gentler one) and am also now on birth control.

MY NOSE IS SOOOOOOO OILY. I can't stand it. Is this from washing my face everyday? Because as I said before, my skin is NOT used to that. Or is it from the birth control, which is new, and my body hasn't adjusted to yet...

BTW it looks like sweat on my nose its so oily...

also, I don't moisturize. Can that help reduce oily skin?


My questions may seem dumb, but I'm new to this ordeal. Acne AND oily skin.....

Thanks

I started having pimples too when I was on birth control, which is a known side effect, so I went off that. Some women find that after a while their body adjusted to it and normalise, but I don't know personally.

If your skin is already oily, I suggest not using moisturiser. I stopped using mine, and in conjunction with using vitamin A palmitate, has seen my face become less oily. I suppose either one could be the cure. Since you don't use moisturiser, then you might want to try buying Vit-A capsule from a health food store, and use what's inside to apply to the area you find oily at night. I think you should know if it works or not in about two weeks. Not that you need to at 21, but Vit-A will also help smooth away wrinkle. Only use it at night because it increases the skin photo-sensitivity to sunlight.

[Corsair]

Yes, It can. Hormonal effect in the skin is related to the sebaceous glands enlargement and oil production ... where do you think the oil comes?. Moisturizer, fatty acids, helps the skin to reduce the effect of that and inflammation, read about linoleic acid and if you read more you realize that the body use those molecules intensively, like cholesterol for the cell membrane. Read also about Zinc. And if you don't want to use a moisturizer (who also helps prevents oxidation), then you can take supplements.

Edited by Corsair, 12 October 2010 - 10:22 AM.

[bryan]

Yes, It can. Hormonal effect in the skin is related to the sebaceous glands enlargement and oil production ... where do you think the oil comes?

Sure, but that isn't what I asked you! I asked you how a moisturizer can affect the hormones in skin, especially the androgenic ones. Can you answer that question?

[wowacne]

Sigh bryan....
You go into every oil related post and challenge people about what you think you know.
It does help when putting moisturizer on the oily skin, but not necessarily by changing your hormonal levels. Everybody will react differently. Just because it didn't work for you, doesn't mean it won't for everybody.

[bryan]

Sigh bryan....
You go into every oil related post and challenge people about what you think you know.
It does help when putting moisturizer on the oily skin, but not necessarily by changing your hormonal levels.

Really? Then how _does_ it supposedly work?

Everybody will react differently. Just because it didn't work for you, doesn't mean it won't for everybody.

I've never tried such an oddball experiment.

[Luis Figo]

Does anyone else find Bryan extremley annoying?

Everytime i read one of your posts your always challenging peoples results and ideas, you come off as a very negative know-it-all person.

Maybe you are right with some of the facts you post, but its the way you do it.

You seem to talk down to people who think differently to you..

[bryan]

Does anyone else find Bryan extremley annoying?

Everytime i read one of your posts your always challenging peoples results and ideas, you come off as a very negative know-it-all person.

Maybe you are right with some of the facts you post, but its the way you do it.

You seem to talk down to people who think differently to you..

Oh, is it because I said "Really? Then how _does_ it supposedly work? " and "I've never tried such an oddball experiment" in my post above? Would you feel a lot better if I had simply said "How does it work?" and "I've never tried that" instead?

[wowacne]

So you've never put on moisturizer before.. hmm k.
What a joke....