Acne.org Products
Hey Joonbug! I got the lemon oil at the vitamin shoppe. Nature's Alchemy. I place one small drop on my fingers on top of a small drop of my moisturizer. I mixed them together and apply it. Smells great, doesn't burn. I wouldn't use more than a drop though because it's very potent. Also, be sure to use an spf moisturizer or with your make up (if it has spf in it) because lemon oil is on the list of essential oils that apparently can make your skin very sensitive to sunlight.
I attempted going moisturizer free- didn't work. My skin still produced the same amount of oil and honestly, it just didn't feel right. Like Jofo said, oil is not a moisturizer.
Yeah, the overcompensation thing is a joke, the sealing in thing doesn't even make sense....but I believed a lot of these myths for so long. Now, getting on here and talking to people that know the science behind oily skin, I fully understand that oily skin has only to do with genetics, androgen levels, and sebaceous glands. Besides some of the drying agents (milk of magnesia, lemon oil, aloe vera juice) nothing topical affects oil production. My skin care routine is to manage and prevent my acne (which it does marvelously) and manage the appearance of my shiny skin. Needless to say, I've learned a lot and I feel like I'm in a position to start managing oil from the inside.
My older family members say the same thing and I believe them 100%. Pollution and weather does have an effect on us and looking at my Grandmother's skin, I definitely believe her. She took such good care of her skin and it still looks fantastic. I also listened to her about sunscreen. I stopped tanning in my 20s and started using spf on my skin everyday. I'm 33 and I have no sun damage, and no crows feet. Couldn't have made a better decision.
I've tried a ton of moisturizers and some definitely make me more greasy but I have found one that gives me my glow, has an spf, and also has vitamin c (which is awesome for skin when applied topically) has no effect on my oil production and also keeps my combo skin from acting up. It's neutrogena's tone correcting ageless intensives. Been using it for years and no matter what else I try, I always come back to this one. If you try it, I hope you have the same luck as I do. 
Oh I know about the Vitamin C is topicals! I'm using an overnight peel right now that has Vitamin C in it, and while it doesn't prevent breakouts I've noticed it is helping heal the ones I do have faster. It was an unexpected side effect but I'm not going to complain! Also, I tried the water pat tip this morning. I noticed quite a bit of excess moisturizer came off, but it didn't make too much of a difference in the oil level of my skin. I went and bought some lemon oil today so I'll see if that helps. I'm also going to be trying out some new moisturizers (they're from the body shop- I bought the tea tree one and two of the seaweed matifying ones. They had a sale on them this weekend and I've heard pretty positive reviews. I'll figure out a creative way to use up the other moisturizers that I have that I wasn't happy with. Body lotion maybe?). Searching for the right product can be such a pain sometimes... Hopefully I'll figure out what works best for me soon!
Joonbug- Hey! If you like the vitamin c peel, I'll mention what I do in case you want to try it. I have good luck with this healing acne and preventing cysts from getting worse, but it also helps lighten up old acne marks. Every night after I cleanse, I use lemon juice (from actual lemons) and apply it with a cotton round. I let it dry and then tone it off and continue on with the rest of my routine. Having sensitive skin, exfoliation/peels/acids are tricky for me. Having sensitive/combo makes this even trickier. But the lemon juice is mild, exfoliates ever so slightly, and helps with all acne. Nice thing-lemons are cheap. I cut one in half and squeeze a little juice out, then throw it in a ziploc and use it each night until it's time to cut a new one. Good luck on the lotion quest...trial and error is the worst!
Hey Vanbelle- I originally posted this question before I tried it, just wanted input on other people's experiences. Turns out, not using any aggravates my combo skin way too much. And it did nothing for oil reduction, but I'm glad I gave it a shot at least!
Joonbug- Hey! If you like the vitamin c peel, I'll mention what I do in case you want to try it. I have good luck with this healing acne and preventing cysts from getting worse, but it also helps lighten up old acne marks. Every night after I cleanse, I use lemon juice (from actual lemons) and apply it with a cotton round. I let it dry and then tone it off and continue on with the rest of my routine. Having sensitive skin, exfoliation/peels/acids are tricky for me. Having sensitive/combo makes this even trickier. But the lemon juice is mild, exfoliates ever so slightly, and helps with all acne. Nice thing-lemons are cheap. I cut one in half and squeeze a little juice out, then throw it in a ziploc and use it each night until it's time to cut a new one. Good luck on the lotion quest...trial and error is the worst!
If the peel ends up not working for me I'll give the lemon juice a try! I've only been using it for a bout a week or so now so it's too early to tell if it's working or not (packaging said to give it at least four weeks).
This thread hasn't been very active lately, but I noticed something recently with some moisturizers that I tried out lately and I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed this too. So I purchased three moisturizers from the body shoppe a few weeks ago like I mentioned in my last post. Two of them did not contain SPF (Tea Tree Moisturizer and the Seaweed Mattifying Cream Moisturizer- I haven't had the chance to try this one yet though). The one that I bought that had moisturizer was the Seaweed Mattifying Moisture lotion. I started using the Tea tree one first (with a little drop of lemon oil like Oilygirl1980 suggested) and I felt like it managed my oil to some extent. I still got oily eventually, so it wasn't 100% perfect but I felt like I didn't get oily as quickly as I normally do. I started sampling the SPF lotion a few days ago, and I'm pretty much oily and greasy feeling from the moment I put it on (I've been using it with lemon oil as well, haven't tried it without). I normally buy lotions with SPF since that's one of the main reasons I moisturize my oily skin. I'm wondering though if SPF lotions make anyone else's skin feel more oily and greasy? I feel like there might actually be a correlation and this is the first time I've noticed it since I haven't tried a non-SPF formula moisturizer before...
Hey Joonbug- I've seen the same thing with some SPF lotions. I mainly use Neutrogena products since I've had too much trouble with other lines. Years ago, I used one of their spf lotions and it was super thick and definitely made me appear oilier than normal. I'm the same way with spf lotion. I have to use it because I do not wear make up that contains spf since I only wear blush and mascara. I know that powders and foundations have spf, but those are a nightmare for oily skin and big pores.
I'm happy with the one I use now and I think because it has vitamin C in it, it tones down the greasy spf ingredients. Either way, oil will pore out of my skin at some point, I just want to go longer through the day without having to blot.
But- at night I use nature's bounty vitamin E cream and I don't see a difference in oil between my day and night lotion. I want to use the lemon oil since it helps, but it was still causing some bumps for me. I might try peppermint oil. Im hoping that I'm not allergic to it like everything else. My cleanser has menthol in it and that doesn't aggravate my skin at all so hopefully that will help.
So- I agree, spf lotions definitely make me look oilier, but I just can't go without it. I hope at some point, maybe there will be a magic ingredient that contains spf and isn't heavy.