All of us with oily skin often groan
and moan over how shiny and greasy we always look. And all the steps we must go through to ensure we keep the
excess oil at bay and keep our makeup on for more than 10 minutes.
But, as we battle with the excess oil, we must remember there are wonderful benefits to our oily skin! Let’s take a look at why an oily skin might actually be the best type of skin to have in the long run!
Protection
Skin
is our largest and most exposed organ.
It is our first line of defense and the oil or sebum produced by the
skin is essential in delivering nutrients and fighting off negative
environmental effects.
According to research conducted at Northwestern University in Chicago “…The
sebaceous glands and sebum serve as a transport mechanism taking the lipophilic
antioxidant vitamin E from the blood to the skin surface. The highest levels of
vitamin E are found in the sebum and in the skin lipid film in sebum-rich areas
such as facial skin.
Vitamin E is a particularly potent antioxidant and helps stabilize sebum to protect and fight off harmful environmental pollutants.
Sun Damage Resistance
Oily skin boosts the effectiveness of SPF in sunscreen, which is the best defense against damaging UV rays. The added protection we get from our oily skin helps us avoid burns especially during transitional seasons when we might forget to put on SPF products. Do always wear SPF products and know that your oily skin is bolstering its effects.
Aging Slower
Aging is a part of life, everyone ages, but those of us with oily skin have to worry less about damage done by environmental pollutants, UV rays and other stressors. Our oily skin tends to be thicker and has higher natural resistance than dry skin thus ages slower.
Less Wrinkles
All the grease produced by our overachieving sebaceous glands keeps our skin from becoming over-inflamed. Why is this so important? Inflammation in fact leads to wrinkles and fine lines. We must be careful at how we control the oil production. We can’t be overzealous with harsh scrubs and constant washing and cleansing. To keep our pores unclogged we need to turn to gentle pH balancing foaming cleansers and exfoliating gentle scrubs like Perfection Cleanser Micro-Dermabrasion Scrub and water based moisturizers like Allure Oil Free Moisturizer.
Hydrated
Alan M. W. Porter, M.D., Ph.D. wrote in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, "Secretions of the sebaceous and apocrine glands ... emulsify eccrine sweat and thus encourage the formation of a sweat sheet and discourage the formation and loss of sweat drops from the skin." In translation our sebum causes us to loose less moisture through evaporation, keeping us hydrated. And while the process of sweat evaporating from our skin is hugely important to regulating our temperature, staying hydrated during periods of exertion is equally important.
