Skip to content
Beauty 101: How to Create a Simple Skincare Routine for Oily Skin
Did you know that your skincare routine should differ by skin type? While everyone needs the same basics - cleanser, moisturiser, sunscreen - there are some extras that can be added to your beauty routine, customising it to your exact skin type!
When it comes to skincare for oily skin, getting that careful balance of minimising shine without going overboard and actually damaging your skin in the long run is tricky - but we’ve got the best tips for creating the perfect skincare routine for oily skin!
Skincare Essentials for Oily Skin: Where to Start
Creating a skincare routine for oily skin starts with asking one very simple question: what does oily skin need? The knee-jerk reaction is that this skin type needs to have any and all sebum forcibly removed - but this approach is outdated and can actually do more harm to your skin than good. If you skip the right skincare for oily skin, you could leave your skin feeling dehydrated which only adds to the discomfort.
Vine Vera Resveratrol Cabernet Toner
This toner combines the antioxidant power of resveratrol with niacinamide for an effective, gently cleansing formula.
While it’s tempting to use everything and anything under the sun to forcibly remove oil from skin, let’s pause for a minute - while oily skin types find that their skin is shiny and uncomfortable, natural sebum serves an important purpose. They help to literally grease up the microscopic spaces between your skin cells, ensuring they all lie flat and smooth for skin that’s soft and healthy.
Sebum also helps to maintain your skin’s natural acid mantle (aka moisture barrier), which helps trap hydration to your skin, keeping it healthy and also helping to protect it from external stressors
At least, this is what your natural facial oil is trying to do! Sometimes, skin can overproduce sebum, leading to the classic oily skin problem of just too much - so how do we create the perfect skincare routine for oily skin?
SK-II R.N.A Power Airy Milky Lotion
For the day time, oily skin needs oil-free moisture like this niacinamide-packed moisturiser from SK-II.
Best Skincare for Oily Skin
Just like with other skin types, with the right skin care, oily skin should have the right balance of hydration and natural oils to stay happy and glowy - even if that’s a little more glowy than other skin types! When it comes to oily skin, there are two major skincare ingredients that you might want to add to your skincare routine for oily skin - clay and niacinamide.
Benefits of Niacinamide for Oily Skin
In a skincare routine, these two ingredients work incredibly well together to impact how oily skin looks and feels - research suggests that niacinamide can slow down the rate that your skin produces sebum, preventing your skin from feeling as oily as quickly! And the great thing about niacinamide is that it works well in all kinds of skincare - but our recommendation for oily skin has to be a toner with niacinamide.
It does double duty ensuring that your skin is perfectly clean after your makeup remover and cleanser, while delivering the benefits of niacinamide straight to your skin!
Clay Skincare for Oily Skin
The other skincare ingredient is clay - kaolin clay, bentonite clay, volcanic clay - you name it, they’re all super effective for helping oily skin. Why? Clay is super absorbent and adsorbent (yes, those are two different things!), meaning it’s incredibly effective at grabbing both lipid-based and water-based molecules from your skin.
The benefits of a clay mask for oily skin are instant - the clay absorbs any sebum that’s in your pores or on your skin, leaving it immediately free of any oil and any impurities so that it’s completely matte and shine-free.
Eve Lom Rescue Mask
Sample available - try this today!
Get a two-in-one clay mask and exfoliator with this Rescue Mask from Eve Lom.
If you have oily skin (I mean, you’re reading this article so chances are you do have oily skin), then you’ve probably already used a clay mask before - but using them the right way in your skincare routine for oily skin is crucial to getting the most out of your skincare and ensuring your skin stays healthy!
Clay masks are best used once a week to regularly purify and deep cleanse skin - this has the added bonus of helping to prevent breakouts and could help to clear any existing ones. Smaller amounts of clay can also be formulated in moisturisers and primers - when used this way, clay helps to mattify oily skin throughout the day for a shine-free finish.
Simple Skincare: Oily Skin Edit
When it comes to amazing skin care, oily skin doesn’t have to miss out. Here’s our suggested beginner’s skincare routine for oily skin!
Daily Skin Care Routine (Morning):
- Cleanser
- Toner
- Moisturiser
- Sunscreen
Daily Skin Care Routine (Evening):
- Makeup Remover (Micellar Water or Oil Cleanser)
- Cleanser
- Clay Mask (once a week)
- Toner
- Moisturiser
Now that you know how to choose the simplest, best skincare for oily skin, we’re sure that you’re on the way to getting your beauty affairs in order (and becoming a skincare fanatic)!
If you want a little more help putting together your perfect beauty routine, try our skin quiz.
Products Mentioned:
