Moisturizer Won’t Make Your Skin More (or Less) Oily
I have very oily skin, which I consider a plus: Sure, I’ve spent my twenty years fighting stubborn nodular cystic acne, but perhaps all that extra oil means I’ll age more slowly than my dry-skinned peers. Unfortunately, any anti-aging effects are probably offset by my grimace when someone insists that my skin is oily because I’m not hydrating enough. Sorry, ” reactive seborrhea ” is useless.
Moisturizing does not change the amount of oil produced on the skin, but to understand why, you need to know where the sebum comes from. The fats you drain from your nose are produced by two different types of cells: sebocytes and keratinocytes:
- Sebocytes form the basis of the sebaceous glands, and their only task – to produce sebum – a thick waxy substance that lubricates our hair and skin.
- Keratinocytes have many different functions, but what is important here is caring for and nourishing the outermost protective layer of dead skin cells known as the stratum corneum . Lipids produced by keratinocytes are a solution for the bricks of dead skin cells; they hold the stratum corneum together.
Because they are bound in the extracellular matrix, keratinocyte lipids don’t actually contribute to the accumulation of fat on the surface, making sebum the culprit for your glowing nose.
The sebaceous glands have been misunderstood for a very long time, but research in recent decades has shown that they are an important part of the endocrine system . This means that sebum production is controlled by your hormones, which are usually outside the scope of topical treatments. Some topical products can reduce pore size , but we have no evidence that this reduces oil production – and we’re talking about specific medications anyway, not your primary moisturizer.
Your skin cells cannot detect and regulate the amount of oil on your skin, which means that a regular moisturizer cannot change the amount of sebum your body produces. If your skin is extremely oily but otherwise healthy, stick to a gentle but thorough cleansing, moisturize as needed, use sunscreen, and wear blotting wipes to combat the midday shine. Painful inflammatory acne requires medical attention, so if you can see a dermatologist, do so – a good dermatologist will save you time, money, and emotional distress.