Do you find your skin to shine more later in the day or is it always shiny? Don’t worry if you answered yes! It is perfectly normal and healthy to have some shine. It’s natural to want your skin to look more shiny or less shiney, especially if your skin is oily. Today’s post will reassure you that oil is a good thing. Your skin needs some surface oil (also known as sebum) to be healthy.

Why Sebum is Important?

While it is not desirable to be shiny, it is a dangerous path to try to avoid a shiny skin. The skin is meant to have oil on the surface. Sebaceous glands are found on every hair and scalp follicle. Sebum (oil) is produced by the sebaceous gland. It flows onto your skin’s surface through the follicles (pores).

This oil has two main functions: to moisturize your skin and make it soft, pliable. Your skin wouldn’t be flexible and brittle if you didn’t have any oil. It wouldn’t move well. The acid mantle, which is a protective layer created by oil, is the most important. The acid mantle, a mixture of sweat and oil on your skin’s outermost layer, is the protective layer. It’s not visible, but you can feel it. This layer is slightly acidic and protects you against microorganisms (acidic pH does not deter all but a small portion of microorganisms), chemicals irritants, polluting particles, and other ecotoxicants.

Your skin’s barrier function is the first component of its ability to protect and preserve the skin’s integrity. The epidermis’ lipid bilayers are the second part of your barrier function. They hold your skin cells together, and prevent water from evaporate too fast. This acid mantle can be removed by using excessive cleaning or an astringent that contains a lot alcohol. That’s how you lose your first layer of protection. This means that you expose your skin to the elements and make it look naked. It is like going outside and not having any clothes. To protect yourself against extreme cold, heat and wind, dirt and bacteria, as well as physical abuse (such cuts and scrapes), you need clothing. You don’t want to strip away the oil layer. This can lead to skin that is prone for failure. This means that you expose your skin to the elements and potentially compromise your barrier function. Every skin problem that you have or will develop later is further aggravated.

• If you are prone to acne, your chances of developing more skin inflammation have increased. Breakouts are now more common.
• You’re more likely to experience irritant reactions if you have rosacea, sensitive skin or other conditions.
• You’ve made it more difficult for water to seep through if you have dry skin.

What is the “Normal” Oil Content?

When you wake up, oily skin shows its shine early in the morning. Shine can be seen on the entire face or on large areas of it. The T-zone of combination-oily skin will have shine in the morning. Because there are more oil-producing glands in the T zone, and they are also more active, we produce more oil. Normal skin has a shine in the T zone by the end the day. This is normal. Although the shine might not be obvious to others, it is more evident in photos or videos. Dry skin, which is skin that does not produce much oil, isn’t able to shine.

Can You Change Sebum Levels? And Why Skin is Oily?

Hormones are responsible for oily skin. The sebaceous gland produces oil by activating testosterone. This is why women have less oily skin than men, and men should moisturize less than women. Another reason is the increased facial hair in men. Your endocrine system controls testosterone, which is complex and genetically determined.

There isn’t much you can do to control the amount you produce. There are some habits that you can change. Your skin will respond to removing sebum by producing more. Your body is constantly trying to achieve balance. When it senses an imbalance, it will automatically correct the situation. It might be tempting to ask, “Why can’t you temporarily remove the oil? To look nice at least for a while,” because it will return later. There are two reasons. First, because removing that sebum exposes your skin to danger (your skin barrier can be damaged). You end up with more oil than you started with. It’s worse than ever. It takes time before your skin returns to its natural balance. Although it is tempting to pick at blemishes or over-cleanse, these actions can be detrimental for your skin’s health. To get better skin, you will have to wait longer.

You may be wondering if you have acne – I am getting skin breakouts from too much oil. What should I do? Accept some Shine. It’s totally okay. The media has conditioned us to believe that shine is evil. Models and celebrities today are using mattifying makeup. Photoshop does the rest to remove imperfections, including shine. This is an example of what not to do when you aren’t posing for magazine spreads.

Shine is a good thing. You don’t have to be shiny on all your face. We want you to avoid making the common mistake of trying to shine 100% all the time. Shine can give skin a glow. Both oily and smooth skin can give you glow (how light reflects off of a surface). Have you ever seen someone with dull, lifeless skin? Does their skin have shine? They don’t have shine, which is why they look dull and lifeless. Oil is good for keeping wrinkles away. People who have more oil naturally age faster – they tend to have fewer wrinkles and have firmer skin. If your oil is bothering you, don’t worry – it will make you feel better later.