I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned. Cutting out ALL dairy has not only cut down 90% of my oily skin, but also reduced a lot of my acne. It is tough. There are alternatives like coconut milk, almond butter, etc. I do miss cheese and ice cream the most. However, it's worth it to me in the end.

Also, been taking about 16,000 iU of Vitamin A daily. Eliminating dairy did more than the Vitamin A in my opinion.

I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned. Cutting out ALL dairy has not only cut down 90% of my oily skin, but also reduced a lot of my acne. It is tough. There are alternatives like coconut milk, almond butter, etc. I do miss cheese and ice cream the most. However, it's worth it to me in the end.

Also, been taking about 16,000 iU of Vitamin A daily. Eliminating dairy did more than the Vitamin A in my opinion.

Nice to hear that it's working for you! Do you mind if I ask whether you are male or female? When I cut out dairy completely, I noticed a reduction in acne but not oily skin. I'm wondering if a dairy-free diet might be more effective for females as far as oily skin goes.

Vitamin C works great for reducing the oiliness of my skin.

wouldnt say im extreme but if id wash with a regular cleanser, id get real moist and oily in like 1 hour, one good tip is to wash with dove sensitive unscented bar. helps oil and is gentle.

Soaps have no influence on oil production. Don't give false hope to the newbies coming here please.

baby or talcum powder works like a charm

you might try sulphur based cleansers and or oral medicines,they help!

Nothing so far. Currently just using "band-aid" methods to combat the oily skin through oil-absorbing pads. Testing out the vitamin d3 at the moment.

Vitamin D3 will do absolutely nothing for you oily skin. Don't waste your time.

Here's a topic where you'll find solutions proven to work for oily skin:

The only face lotion that keeps my oil production down is Neutrogena Rapid Clear Acne Defense Face Lotion. It seriously works. Sometimes I may have to supplement murad oil control mattifier to my t-zone in the summer time but I highly recommend getting the acne defense face lotion. Hope this helps!

Oil production is entirely controlled by androgens, nothing you put on your face will "keep it down".

Before you jump to conclusion, I suggest that you try the Neutrogena lotion out yourself prior to making a presumptive comment. My face used to be extremely oily, and nothing helped (except Accutane, but the effect wore off overtime). My face was so oily that my make up will literally melt from my skin by mid-day. I tried various over the counter mattifiers, used blotting paper around the clock, etc, and nothing helped. You can literally swipe makeup off of my face with a single finger stroke, it was THAT oily. I tried using the Neutrogena lotion because I wanted to prevent acne from forming, but it actually dried up my skin. Yes, my face is no longer an oil slick like it used to be. It seriously helps. If you are looking to try anything that could help, you won't be disappointed in this investment.

Oh yeah, my skin was so oily that I even tried the milk of magnesia homeopathic remedy (yes I applied to my t-zone twice a day and I looked chalky after application), and my face was still as oily as clarified butter by mid-day. It sucks to have oily skin

for girls: you have to try spironolactone, it is a fucking magical drug, see more at my topic

Yup, I've tried spironolactone (low dose; only 25mg) and it didn't help with my acne (and bacne). I've heard great things about it so if you are thinking about trying spironolactone don't let my post discourage you. I think acne is a multifactorial disease and there is no single best treatment for everyone. The only pharmacologic agents that have worked to decrease my oil production was Accutane (but the oil came back with a vengeance after I discontinued it 1.5 years later) and birth control pill (the improvement was moderate, and not as dramatic as Accutane). For topicals, if I smear my face with a thick layer of benzyl peroxide it definitely stunts the oil production temporarily, for probably 3-4 hours the most. The most effect topical lotion that has consistently controlled my oil production around the clock is the Neutrogena acne defense lotion. But I need to consistently apply that to my face twice a day. Skipping even once will invite the oil back immediately.

Well... at least I don't have to worry about wrinkles with all that oil covering my face. I guess that is the only silver lining in my acne-prone life.

Again, you cannot stop oil production, even temporarily with simple external soaps. Your sebaceous glands produce oil at a constant rate and this rate is influenced by androgens only.

anniej is right, spironolactone will work for oily skin, because it inhibits androgen activity.

You and I have the SAME EXACT problem. Even after getting out of the shower, my face still shines with oil. Mine is hereditary...

 

Illogical? I have both dry skin and an extreme amount of sebum production. I'm pretty the sure oil I produce does nothing to moisturize my skin, otherwise I wouldn't have dry and flakey skin under the oil.

Same here. I have dry and oily skin, too. My skin is only flaky, where it's oiliest (on my forehead and cheeks). But I can't moisturize because then I would break out. That's why I wanna go on a low dose of accutane but I still have to convince my derm. As of the moment, she does not want to give it to me.

That sound's like seborrheic dermatitis to me. Flaky skin, especially in the pores but with oily skin, I had it for about 8 years before getting a diagnosis.

I find bathing with a half a cup of baking soda or borax will help dry out my skin and close my pores. It doesn't cure the oily skin but it helps a decent amount. You can easily overdo it though so be careful and imo don't scrub either directly onto the skin except for the scalp as it can be pretty harsh.

A low carb diet has helped with oil for me and i mean extremely low, ketosis low but I found that diet unsustainable. I am switching to a regular paleo which helps but not to the same degree in my recollection.

Started drinking baking soda 1/4 tsp 2 times a day in between meals today as well. Hopefully, the paleo diet with a lot of fruits and veggies along with the baking sodas 'alkaline' effects will help calm down my skin.

Seborrheic dermatitis is something everyone on this thread/sub-forum should look into if they haven't already imo..

Has anyone mentioned Ketsugo? I used this with great success to control my oily skin. It comes in a spray bottle so is light and easy to apply. Try it!

Oily skin cannot be treated with topicals.

Oily skin cannot be treated with topicals.

you really need to stop spreading this misinformation. oily skin is hormonal but it is just plain wrong to think that hormonal response is not impacted by environmental factors. topicals COULD potentially reduce or eliminate someones problem. They may even partially cause the problem in some. You are just wrong by stating this over and over.

BP keeps my face from getting too oily. I do drink milk thistle supplements, but I'm not sure if it helped me with the oilness. I also control my oilness with powder makeup. Works wonders.

I recommend to you hommade masks for oily skin. Especially with cucumber and lemon. Here you can find tips, how to preper it: [Edited link out] . Moreover, you have to remember about diet. People with oily skin should not - for example - eat fatty meats.

I just wanted to share my experience with oily skin, maybe it will help someone as well.

So from the age of 9 to 19, I had extremely oily skin due to a hormonal imbalance.

Not just the T area, but all over my face, chest and back would be covered in oil within 24hrs (hence the acne there).

Even high end mattifiers would make me shiny.

Then I began a vegetarian diet and on some days I would be vegan.

I continued this for about 8 months and my body changed.

I produced way less oil on my face (I was still oily but not to the extreme).

I stopped getting cystic acne (my only acne were clogged pores and marks).

But my iron levels decreased so much that I had to return to eating meat.

But still, my face didn't go back to the cystic mess that it was before.

I actually have combination skin now

^ Never thought I would say that.

I hope it stays this way.

On 4/25/2014 at 9:42 AM, stilltrying1 said:

On 4/25/2014 at 1:52 AM, FredTheBelgian said:

Oily skin cannot be treated with topicals.

you really need to stop spreading this misinformation. oily skin is hormonal but it is just plain wrong to think that hormonal response is not impacted by environmental factors. topicals COULD potentially reduce or eliminate someones problem. They may even partially cause the problem in some. You are just wrong by stating this over and over.

Citation needed. Your skin will still produce oil no matter what you put on your face. Hormonal response to environmental factors is minimal to not even measurable. Oil production is determined by your hormone profile and thus your genetics. No matter how unpleasant and definitive it sounds.

On 4/25/2014 at 10:26 AM, cupcakejess said:

BP keeps my face from getting too oily. I do drink milk thistle supplements, but I'm not sure if it helped me with the oilness. I also control my oilness with powder makeup. Works wonders.

Benzoil Peroxide has no influence on oily skin. Milk thistle could help a little because it elevates your estrogen levels. I would not recommend that to men.

On 5/14/2014 at 3:39 PM, bartektsw said:

I recommend to you hommade masks for oily skin. Especially with cucumber and lemon. Here you can find tips, how to preper it: [Edited link out] . Moreover, you have to remember about diet. People with oily skin should not - for example - eat fatty meats.

Cucumber and lemon will not have any influence on oil production. Same for diet, eating fatty foods doesn't make your skin produce more oil. Typical acne broscience argument.

On 5/18/2014 at 5:42 AM, Rati said:

I just wanted to share my experience with oily skin, maybe it will help someone as well.

So from the age of 9 to 19, I had extremely oily skin due to a hormonal imbalance.

Not just the T area, but all over my face, chest and back would be covered in oil within 24hrs (hence the acne there).

Even high end mattifiers would make me shiny.

Then I began a vegetarian diet and on some days I would be vegan.

I continued this for about 8 months and my body changed.

I produced way less oil on my face (I was still oily but not to the extreme).

I stopped getting cystic acne (my only acne were clogged pores and marks).

But my iron levels decreased so much that I had to return to eating meat.

But still, my face didn't go back to the cystic mess that it was before.

I actually have combination skin now

^ Never thought I would say that.

I hope it stays this way.

Most likely placebo like the reports of other people here. Also, don't encourage people to potentially starve themselves or embarass themselves socially by suggesting they should "go vegan". Acne and oily skin are already hard enough to manage by themselves.

So to summarize, all the statements that are quoted here are just plain lies. If you want to help people with oily skin, you should at least suggest solutions that have some science behind them, like I did in this thread:

Anything else is just useless and can potentially harm the well-being of oily skin sufferers.

Bottom line: oily skin is determined by the sensitivity your sebaceous glands to male hormones.

Most likely placebo like the reports of other people here. Also, don't encourage people to potentially starve themselves or embarass themselves socially by suggesting they should "go vegan". Acne and oily skin are already hard enough to manage by themselves.

So to summarize, all the statements that are quoted here are just plain lies. If you want to help people with oily skin, you should at least suggest solutions that have some science behind them, like I did in this thread: Anything else is just useless and can potentially harm the well-being of oily skin sufferers.

Bottom line: oily skin is determined by the sensitivity your sebaceous glands to male hormones.

Eating a vegan diet also helps my oily skin a ton. It is most definitely NOT a placebo affect. I used to have horribly oily skin. Within minutes of washing my face I could see oil coming out of my pores. Now I can last a lot longer (8-12 hours) before I feel like absolutely need to wash my face because of the oil.