A skin that looks like an oil slick is quite a challenge to live with.
Dirt and pollution stick to it like a magnet clogging pores and making it susceptible to acne, blackheads and whiteheads. To keep oiliness under control we keep using strong cleansers to dry out our skin and then don't follow it up with a moisturizer.
Because, who needs more oil, right? Or sometimes, when we feel an extra kindness towards our skin, we use a water based serum. So much love!
But after a while the skin begins to feel itchy and dry. But we don't bother. Maybe we like to punish it like that because it has been so difficult to live with.
Our Skin is the largest organ in our body and a complex one as well. Its main purpose is protection from foreign particles and minimizing moisture loss from the body.
To achieve this, it has a layer of lipids or oil soluble molecules on its surface.
In the deeper layers of our skin lie the sebaceous glands which secrete an oily substance called sebum. The sebum travels to the outer layer of the skin through the hair shaft to form this protective film.
When our skin produces too much sebum, our appearance becomes dull, greasy and prone to acne. This is the world of Oily Skin.
If you ponder deeper, you must surely realize that the skin is trying to protect you, with some extra love! By not replenishing the oily layer, you let a lot more water evaporate from your skin than needed. So your skin goes into hyper drive to produce more oils to rebuild that protective barrier.
Now a good chemist knows that water alone cannot maintain skin's moisture level. It needs oil. And a good marketer knows that oily skin fears the word 'oil '!
So how do you make a moisturizer with no oil?
You just eliminate the ingredients that read 'oil ' in the ingredient list like coconut oil, sunflower oil..you get the drift.
Instead you use esters, silicones and fatty acids which are alike to oils but do not sound like oils. For example: caprylic/capric triglycerides, dimethicones and squalane. They serve the same purpose too. Forming a thin protective film on the surface.
This is being 'Oil Free '.
But don't feel cheated. Oily skin needs this protection. It helps keep environmental aggressors at bay while the epidermis heals and strengthens its barrier. And then your brain signals it to produce less oil. And that's really being oil free!
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