Hey Kawaii people, to start off my first post here, I'm a 16 year old bi-racial male with both my Dominican/Chinese mother's side and my European father's side both sufferers of the dreaded oily skin and acne. My acne started around the age off 11 and had been awful since then. I've only had a handful of cysts in my struggle (thank god) but I've the unfortunate recipient of a plethora of whiteheads, blackheads on my nose, a lot of redness, and the all powerful oily skin from the shadow realm.
3 months ago I was prescribed tretinoin or commonly referred to as retin-a along with the antibiotic known as doxycycline. I experienced an awful initial breakout that lasted for about 10 to 11 weeks I'd say. However, now, on around my 13th week my skin is pretty clear. I only have 1 whitehead at the moment and that's a far cry from the 20 whiteheads or so I had during the I.B. and which were almost clustered up or centralized underneath or on the corner of each side of my jaw and my lower and mid cheeks. That's over, and the little bit of dryness is gone. However, the blackheads remain on my nose (not a big deal, I'll give it time), there's still some redness (Irish heritage might be playing a bigger role than acne I'm not sure) but most importantly the oily skin reigns supreme.
I wash my face only twice a day and I no longer use any cleanser, I'm considering buying an all natural soap from either Dr. Bronner's or Burt's Bees as I highly recommend not using anything with harsh chemicals on your face as that can strip your skin from sebum it actually needs and would only lead to additional oil production. I'm currently only rinsing my face with lukewarm water (I've noticed my face get extremely oily no matter if I wash it with cold/hot/or lukewarm water so that's not the cause either.) However, I've heard that moisturizing is extremely important and that's not something I've done on a daily basis, mostly due to the fact that whenever I do my face just explodes in oil over the course of the day even more than when I don't moisturize. Is a lot of time needed to see results apropos oily skin with moisturizing, and if so, what's a really good oil-free moisturizer? I'm currently using Cetaphil dermacontrol oil-free moisturizer (or whatever it's called, google cetaphil dermacontrol it's the only one with that name) and it's nothing special.
Recently I've really improved my diet in an effort to lose some weight and benefit my training program as well as help my skin ( I'm eating a lot of fruits and vegetables while taking centrum supplements in the morning which aren't prescription or anything of that nature for those who don't know) so I don't really think my diet is an issue here either, I'm not eating any greasy foods or fast foods, sodas, I've basically cut out anything with high fructose corn syrup (that stuff will kill you over time).
I didn't really notice my face get really oily until I started using products to combat acne starting last August ( I tried a multitude of products with either benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid which are both garbage, furthermore Proactiv is the worst product of all time) and it's continued after I quit using all these products and transitioned to tretinoin so the rumor that tretinoin causes an increase in oily skin might be a small factor to my situation but not the de facto culprit.
I recently read up on that taking vitamin B5 really helps oily skin but it causes initial breakouts (god no, please never again) and even in severe cases cause hair loss or dry scalp ( of all the problems I've suffered or inherited from coming from such a diverse background, there's nothing wrong with my hair and losing my dominican/chinese hair would make me cry). If anyone has any feedback regarding vitamin b5 and if it's worth it any degree I'd greatly appreciate it.
Please, if anyone has found anything practical to reduce their oily skin please share with me (I know all about blotting papers, and they're no godsend). And for all my comrades currently combating with retin-A make sure to duke it out and fight until the end because your skin will clear up, like I said I still have really oily skin ( lol forgot to mention I only wash my face twice a day so that's not a reason either) and I also still have a LOT of post acne marks, but I strongly believe that that will greatly decrease over time just as my actual acne did. Thank you and I apologize for this novel. - Jonas
I have seen anecdotal evidence on here that megadosing B5 and/or vitamin A can reduce or slow sebum production. That said, personally I would not advise doing either. I think I have also read that relatively high doses of MSM or niacinamide can also do that, though I can't seem to find the articles. Accutane shrinks the sebaceous glands and largely eliminates sebum production, but I wouldn't advise going that route either.
You can also look into DHT and androgens in the hormonal section and how they relate to sebum production and acne. Natural DHT inhibitors are saw palmetto, pygeum, EGCG, DIM, nettle, and pumpkin seed oil.
I can relate to this post in every way.
Im taking saw palmetto, fenugreek, and black cohosh. Soon will be adding the pumpkin or the nettle like john suggested. Also, i finally cut out sierra mist and drink nothing but spearmint tea now. I see a difference. Hoping it will get even better. Ive read that these are not awesome options for guys, but research and talk with people on here to see if its something you should consider.
Heres my blackhead fix: wash my face and rinse well with hot water, use a nose strip and get them pulled out. For stubborn ones, i steam my face and wrap my fingers in kleenex and very gently extract the rest. Not trying to encourage face picking, but its all that works sometimes. I just try to be smart about it. I dont push too hard, never use bare fingers, and i immediately use witch hazel or toner to remove any bacteria i may have spread. I have been lucky not to cause any more issues on my nose doing this. (Face-whole other story. Its never a good idea) and lastly, aztec clay mask. Sucks all the icky crap out and my pores are smaller for about two days. Helps very slightly with oil the next day. I do all of that maybe once every two weeks since it can take that long for them to get big. My blackheads never go away completely. Ive read that this is just something oily skinned people will deal with.
Cleansers- i wear makeup so water only is not an option. I made an attempt to go green with my skin care but im unfortunately allergic to most of those products. But, i did use dr bronners baby mild castile soap. A small drop cleaned very well and did not leave my skin tight. If youre not allergy prone like i am, i would start there. Burts bees is owned by clorox so just be advised. I no longer trust that the ingredients are of good organic quality. Its certainly better than most though. Ive heard black soap is great too. Smells wonderful.
Moisturizers- i recently had a really helpful thread going about moisturizing and ive concluded that using it doesnt make me less oily, but not using it aggravates my combo skin. Also, giving up spf is not an option. day lotion is neutrogena tone correcting with spf and vitamin c. Most spfs are super thick and heavy so im happy with thjs one. If you dont care about spf, natures bounty vitamin e cream is excellent.. Also, grapeseed oil. Some would never try it, but lotions, oil free or not, all do the same thing. This one was super light, soaks in well and even has a natural spf of 4 i think. I was surprisingly not allergic to this one like i was with jojoba oil. That gave me a rash but as a lotion, that one felt great as well. Ive learned that "oil free" means nothing. I believe that is just a marketing thing now. A bottle of either of those lasts FOREVER which is awesome and they are both totally organic. (Still really wish i wasnt allergic to most of the plant based products.)
Neutrogena bp is my savior. I have no acne because of this. I cant use cleansers with this, but a thin layer of bp after i moisturize is my acne miracle. It adds a slight matte finish but not for long unfortunately.
Lastly (sorry this is long) the things i found helpful for oil are as follows:
Lemon essential oil- tiny drop in the moisturizer (use spf with this) and i didnt have to blot all day. I got a small itchless rash so i had to stop but it worked for the oil.
Aloe vera juice- after my whole face care routine, i gently patted this on with a cotton round and it also helped fade old acne marks.
Glycolic night cream. I have sensitive skin so i cant use this often but it made me 100% oil free for two days straight. Also helped old acne marks. They literally just start flaking off. A thin layer of this at night under vitamin e cream is all you need
Witch hazel- tn dickinsons in the large bottle with the blue label. No reactions to this and i apply it the same way as the aloe vera juice. Works better than that actually. This also dries up acne and it flakes off the next day. Pretty awesome to get rid of a white head over night.
So! I hope some of that helped and i hope you have better luck than i did with the allergies. My first choice would be the lemon oil for anyone with normal skin.
I have found that a prescription retinoid works the best for me. I still get clogged pores on occasion. Does anyone know if its normal to have a few clogged pores all the time? Its like I can never have just 0...but I don't know if skin can ever be that completely clear? I have oily skin. I rarely get inflamed pimples.