Full transcript of “The Truth About Oily Skin: 5 Myths Exposed”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 There you go again. There you go again. Putting skin care products on this pedestal as if they are responsible for all of skin issues and simultaneously going to be the solution for all skin concerns. Today specifically, we're going to break it down. Those of you who are sick and tired, sick and tired of the shiny forehead, the blinded by the light when you look in the mirror, this video is for you. We're going to be breaking down oily skin, oily skin care myths. So you have a better understanding of the biological basis behind oiliness aka seria and really what little influence products actually are having on the production of oil but how they might actually help you out depending on what you choose to do.
0:46 First of all the sebaceous gland attached to your pore. you have the most sebaceous oil glands, not on your face, but on your head, on your scalp, uh, where we have all of our hair, but on our face, we have a lot of them as well, attached to our pores, especially in the T-zone, around the nose, the forehead. The activity of the sebaceous oil gland is under the influence of hormones. And for this reason, oiliness, it happens through various life stages. You become most oily around the time of puberty when the androgen hormones are ramping up. You may experience more oiliness with the menstrual cycle and of course certain medications that influence hormonal signaling. Maybe you're taking a exogenous androgen for example can lead to that. There are also underlying
1:31 hormonal disorders namely polycystic ovary syndrome where you can have searia as a result of a skewing towards hyperandroenism in women. Other manifestations of this include heretism, pattern hair loss, acne. Then the stress hormones like to tinker on in there and and and tip the scale. Chonergic signaling at the level of the oil gland leads to more oil production. And this is likely why people who consume nicotine, whether it be cigarettes, chewing it, now they have all these different forms. Vaping it, they tend to have oilier skin and more problematic acne. Not only oiliness, seabria, but also that coneric signaling directly affects the cells lining the pore
2:16 causing them to proliferate abnormally leading to pore clogging, blackheads, and white heads. So, all that to say, if you are consuming nicotine, please stop doing that. It is not good for your health and your face is trying to clue you into this. One of the biggest misconceptions traps people fall into is we were led to believe that if you have oily skin, you got to dry your face out. Hence the popularity long ago of harsh aringents, harsh alcohol-based toners that gave our current modern toners a bad rap because they are formulated very differently from those seabbzeesque desiccation stations. Oiliness does not actually mean that your skin and your skin barrier needs are properly being addressed. Yes, it's true to a certain extent seria excessive oil production
3:02 does offer some degree of moisturizing benefit but really not enough. So much so that most people who have excessively oily skin and surrounding skin problems like maybe acne or seabriic dermatitis. They actually often have an impaired skin barrier and for that reason really need a moisturizer. Not specifically to control the oiliness but to address the barrier issues which are leading to more water loss and irritation and inflammation that leads to the formation of redness, red spots, red patches. It can cause dark patches or even take away your background skin tone if you have a deeper skin tone. That is what inflammation does to you. All that to say, the sebum, the oils, your natural oils as people like to refer to them,
3:48 they're really not that moisturizing. So, you do still need a moisturizer. And when they're being pumped out on your scalp, they're really not that great for your hair. They're really not. They're not moisturizing the hair strands to a significant degree. A lot of people are under the impression that if you bathe, you strip away this magical sebum gold and that leads to dry skin. and to a certain extent over bathing 100% does lead to dryness, irritation, and skin problems, but that sebum left behind on the skin. The problem with it is is a it's not particularly moisturizing. B, it oxidizes as it's sitting there and that's actually very inflammatory on your face. That can contribute to those acne breakouts. That also can contribute to a sebri dermatitis flare-ups on your
4:33 scalp. That contributes to hair follicle miniaturization. So much so that it is clear as day that for people dealing with hair loss issues, shampooing the scalp to remove sebum at a frequency with which your hair type tolerates, which will vary depending on the texture of your hair anywhere from daily downwards to at least once a week is a gamecher for hair loss disorders and a go-to recommendation for hair loss disorders like androgenetic alopecia. The biology at the pyosbaceous unit, it's complex. There's hormonal signaling going on and there's life stages. There's medical conditions like PCOS. There's medications that can influence it. Skin care products which always get, you know, put on this pedestal as must be responsible for all things. They
5:20 really don't actually directly cause the sebaceous oil gland to do anything different. They don't have any ability to activate sebaceous gland receptors to cause sebocide differentiation. So, people are like, "Well, why is it that certain skincare products seem to make me oilier?" I think it's a couple of things. I think it's that the products themselves are of a greasier, oilier, heavier texture. They may lead to the slowing down of spread of the sebum on your skin. So, it tends to localize in areas where it is being produced more commonly as opposed to distributing throughout your face in a more even fashion. And I think that may contribute overall to excessive shininess with certain products. A lot of people in
6:06 particular experience this with sunscreens because sunscreens tend to be shiny. They they really do tend to be shiny. The good news is there are certain ingredients in sunscreens and facial care products in general like moisturizers which will actually help to absorb some of that excess oil. If you look, for example, in sunscreens marketed to people who have oily, acne prone skin, they often will contain dimethylone, which is a great moisturizing ingredient for all skin types, but it tends to it tends to mingle with our sebum, our natural oils, in a little bit more of a open fashion, if you will, and that helps to reduce shine. Also, many products in this category contain different starches, aluminum starch that can absorb some of
6:52 the excess oil. Certain mineral sunscreens I personally find to be so anti- oiliness, like they're so mopping up of oil. They're cloyingly matte. It feels like my skin, which is kind of in the middle. I don't have really oily skin. I don't on my face at least. I don't have really dry skin. Um, I find that some of these mineral sunscreens are so cloingly matte that it feels like my skin is going to pop off of my skull. I'm looking at you, Australian Gold Botanical, but a lot of you guys love that. There are products out there that can lessen the burden of the shine for sure. Powders also can absorb some excess oil and mattify things. Nowadays, we have a lot of sunscreen powders, powders that have SPF. Those are not intended to be a replacement for sunscreen because they don't really put
7:38 down a even adequate protective layer, but they are a nice option to mattify a very shiny sunscreen because as you are using it, not only does it reduce the shine, but it deposits a little bit more sprinkling here and there of sunscreen active ingredients. And there are many great options out there if that is something that you want to try. Another myth with regards to seabbum production, seabria, excess oil, is that washing your face dries out your skin and causes the oil gland to produce more oil to compensate. And that's not how it works. The oil gland does not sense these things that you're doing to your skin. It talks to hormones. It doesn't talk to whatever it is that you're doing on the surface of the skin. You can wash your face and it's not going to cause the oil
8:25 gland to make more oil. By not washing your face, the oil will just sit there. It can oxidize and be very inflammatory. You're going to look shinier. If you're not washing it off of your scalp, it can make your hair look very greasy, depending on your hair type, and can contribute to seabriic dermatitis of the scalp, aka dandruff, and hair loss disorders. A piece of advice I give to people who have very oily skin is to consider washing their face twice a day, which many people are already doing. Many people already wash their face twice a day. It's not actually necessary to do that, but people who have oily skin, they benefit from washing their face in the morning to sort of degrease and stir it aesh. I also suggest considering using a cleanser or a leave-on product that has salicylic acid. Salicylic acid will not directly
9:11 impact sebum production, but but it can improve the appearance of pores, reduce pore clogging, and the hope in doing that is that it will end up allowing for the sebum that you do produce to flow out of the oil gland more efficiently and not kind of build up and pull up around clumped up, stuck together skin cells. You'll have a smoother exit, if you will, out of the pore. Salicylic acid is a great option because it actually gets down in the pore pretty efficiently to exfoliate it to just make for a smoother output. Reduces pore clogging. Pore clogging has to do with those cells that line the follicle. Their maturation process is gets abnormal and they get stuck together and that leads to a comedone which can be
9:57 either a blackhead or a white head depending on how close to the surface it is. And a lot of people put a lot of weight into skincare products as contributo to comedyone formation, seeking out a laundry list of things that will not quote unquote clog their pores. But you have to understand the behavior of the cells that leads to pore clogging. It's a differentiation issue that they're getting stuck together. And really what will open your eyes is the fact that when you moisturize your skin consistently, when the outermost protective layer has good water content, cell differentiation, maturation of uh the epidermis, including the epidermis lining the pores is much more efficient because it relies on water in order to do that effectively. When the outermost layer is desiccated, there's not good
10:44 water content. All of that goes very slowly and those cells are more inclined to clump up and clog your pores. So moisturizing your skin actually in the long run can potentially reduce pore clogging. It also will improve the cell turnover of the skin in between the pores, the surface epidermis. And that will give you a more even skin so that you're not again getting these patches of what ends up being dry, flaky, red, irritated skin of seabriic dermatitis often in the brows around the nose where we have a lot of oil glands. And as I pointed out earlier, that inflammation from sebriic dermatitis in a deeper skin tone will often take away the background color and they'll get these white spots. That's not permanent, but it will take time for your background skin color to
11:31 return. and you need to control the underlying condition which is sebriic dermatitis. So outside of washing your face twice a day leaning into salicylic acid. What else can you do that can help with the oiliness? Well anecdotally azelleic acid appears to help people of course with acne breakouts, pore clogging, redness, skin inflammation, skin pigmentation issues. But a lot of people who use it just report that they find that their skin is less greasy, less oily. It doesn't appear to directly impact the oil gland itself, but like I said, I think things that help your skin cells turn over more efficiently, smooth out the skin surface, I think that has a downstream effect of reducing shine overall. So, it makes some sense. This has been reported with the prescription
12:16 strength azelleic acid, but as you guys know, there are many cosmetic formulas that contain a lower percentage of azelleic acid. It's hard to say if the lower percentages achieve that outcome, but they can help reduce some inflammation, gently exfoliate the skin. So, maybe worth considering. You can try a clay mask. Clays help absorb excess oil. So, you put it on like especially if you're very shiny in the T-zone. You put it on, let it sit on there as directed for the amount of time, usually like five to 10 minutes, depending on the mask. It absorbs some of that excess sebum off the surface of the skin and from within the pore. You rinse it off and it has a good degreasing effect. Now, that's not permanent. Your oil glands will, you know, keep going and doing what they do, but it can definitely help. But don't shy away from moisturizers. Like I said, look for moisturizers and moisturizing sunscreens
13:02 that have dimeamethylone and maybe some of these starches that we mentioned, aluminum starch to absorb some of the excess oil. But those are your friends, okay? So, the sunscreen is going to be your friend because it's moisturizing. It helps reduce water loss, helping reduce inflammation. It protects the skin from those damaging UV rays that will oxidize your seum and cause a lot more inflammation. It helps improve water content because it's a moisturizer. So, with long-term consistent use, ultimately you have a better chance of getting things to naturally turn over more efficiently. And the other thing about ultraviolet radiation exposure to the skin is that it compromises barrier integrity, which can worsen skin barrier function. So, it's it's hitting multiple angles for you. So, don't shy away from that. Plus, hello skin cancer prevention. uh premature aging prevention. Your
13:48 moisturizer at night time is still very important and very helpful. You may not need a thick rich night cream if you have very oily skin. You may find that a lightweight hydrating serum actually achieves what you're looking for and that is all you really need or whatever topical medications you might be needing say to manage a skin condition like seabriic dermatitis or acne which often go along with having oily skin. Some of those topical medications while they can be drying they also can be in vehicles that are well moisturizing. So it may depend on what all you are using. Topical retinoids help normalize skin cell turnover. That's how they work to address acne. But they don't actually influence the outflow of sebum per se. Although they can improve the differentiation the maturation of the
14:33 sebocytes themselves they don't directly influence oil production. On the flip side, oral retinoids like isotininoan, brand name Accutane, definitely do shrink abnormally enlarged oil glands and significantly reduce sebum output. Isotreninoan is an established acne treatment, but it also can be helpful for seabriic dermatitis and it can be helpful for oiliness in general. It does have side effects that need to be monitored. It's not something that you'd want to take indefinitely long term, but I do have videos here about isotrininoone if you want to learn more. Here's something that might come as a surprise to you, maybe not. If you get uh Botox, any neurom modulator, I just say Botox because that's, you know, people know what that is, but there are others, right? Other neurom modulators. If you get that in your face, like in
15:20 your forehead, um, have you noticed that your forehead is less shiny? Because it definitely works to reduce oiliness. How does it work? Well, remember what I said? There is signaling to the oil gland that influences oil production. and Botox might normalize that. You can see actually I'll show you some before and after photos here of the of people's foreheads before and after Botox. You can see a reduction in shine. So, it definitely can reduce oiliness. And not only the oiliness, but if you are inclined towards acne breakouts, it may again help address some of the abnormal cell turnover because those uh keratinocytes lining the pore, they also are affected by signaling. So people do appreciate a reduction in acne spots, reduced pore clogging essentially from
16:05 getting Botox or other neurom modulator treatments. Now there are newer laser treatments that actually target the sebaceous oil gland. They are used for acne. For example, Abby clear. Now I do have a video all about this treatment modality. So I want you to watch that if you are interested. I'll put it on the ends slate. But that about wraps up what I wanted to talk about with regards to oily skin. a lot of myths and misconceptions out there. If you guys like this video, give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends, and as always, don't forget sunscreen and subscribe. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. Bye. [Music]
