1. Aggressive cleansing
Let's start with the classics. The most common mistake with problematic skin is the infamous washing "to squeak".
This seems intuitively correct: the skin gets oily, external pollutants accumulate quickly on it, and this cocktail of sebum and dust creates an ideal environment for pathogen reproduction and the stimulation of inflammatory processes. Additionally, the unpleasant oily sheen and the feeling of a "dirty face" awaken the desire to wash as thoroughly as possible.
Therefore, owners of oily and combination skin love cleansing products that leave a feeling of "squeaky" clean skin, even a slight tightness. It seems that this approach will protect against oily shine and breakouts.
But everything is the exact opposite. Such products (most often in gel form) work thanks to aggressive surfactants that wash away components of the skin's hydrolipid barrier along with impurities.
This barrier consists of sebum (a mixture of sebaceous gland fat and sweat) and keratinized particles of the upper layer of the epidermis. It provides us with several important functions:
- retains internal moisture;
- fights pathogenic microorganisms with fatty acids;
- ensures skin thermoregulation.
After using aggressive cleansing products, we lose this natural protection. The skin becomes tight and dehydrated, more sensitive and defenseless against inflammatory processes.
But at the same time, it becomes oilier! This happens because against a backdrop of constant disruption of the hydrolipid barrier, our sebaceous glands start working even more actively to compensate for lipid deficiency.
As a result, we only exacerbate all the problems we wanted to combat.
Therefore, it is important to choose the right "cleanser":
- We refuse aggressive surfactants in the composition. This includes Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, and Olefin Sulfonate. By the way, these substances often provide mass-market products with a beautiful frothy foam "like in advertisements".
- We choose mild surfactants in the composition. This includes Cocamidopropyl Betaine and Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine and Cocamide DEA, as well as the even more modern cleansing base Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate.
- We use seborregulators. Instead of roughly destroying the hydrolipid barrier, we should choose products with components that regulate healthy sebaceous gland activity: niacinamide, zinc, tea tree extract, retinol, and azelaic acid.
- We focus on sensations. The skin after washing should not "squeak"; it should feel soft and velvety, without tightness.
2. Alcohol-based toners and cotton pads
Another common mistake in "oily care" is popular alcohol-based toners that girls use to wipe their faces with cotton pads, including for quick makeup removal.
Again, it intuitively seems correct: this way we can cleanse our face during the day, giving ourselves a feeling of skin freshness, "drying out" pimples, and also visibly seeing the "accumulated grease and dirt" on the cotton pads. But this also causes more harm than good.
Firstly, alcohol in the composition of toners ruthlessly damages the hydrolipid barrier and dries the skin, provoking increased sebum production and opening the way for inflammatory processes.
Secondly, cotton pads themselves can lead to acne mechanics—mechanical irritation of the skin surface—when used on problematic and sensitive skin. This is often faced by medical professionals, cooks, and other specialists forced to wear masks, while skincare enthusiasts who repeatedly wipe their skin with cotton pads give themselves such a dubious attraction for free.
Everything is good in moderation. In fact, alcohol itself is not necessarily an "enemy"; it all depends on the concentration. It is acceptable if it is part of toners with herbal extracts and is listed AT THE END of the ingredient list. However, if "alcohol" is located in the middle or at the beginning of the ingredients on the packaging, and the product has a strong alcohol smell—then we do not choose it.
The same goes for cotton pads. Gentle and careful wiping of the face during makeup removal (for example, with micellar water and hydrophilic oil) is normal. However, rapidly and roughly rubbing the face with a pad is a mistake.
3. Frequent cleansing masks
Owners of oily and combination skin generally have a traditional love for the phrase "deep cleansing". And cunning marketers in beauty corporations actively exploit this need with various cleansing products.
In recent years, "deep cleansing masks" (especially bubble masks) have been particularly popular. And this is a big problem.
The overwhelming majority of such masks contain a gel base with the aggressive surfactants we are already familiar with. These are what provide the coveted "deep cleansing".
And if even an ordinary gel "cleanser" damages the hydrolipid barrier with short contact with the skin, it’s easy to imagine what a mask worn for 10–15+ minutes does to our natural protection.
Therefore, when choosing cleansing masks, we should examine the composition as carefully as we do when purchasing a cleansing product. We should also avoid using them too frequently; ideally, it’s best to leave them as "treatments for special occasions" before important events.
4. Comedogenic creams
Another frequent risk factor for oily and combination skin is dense textures on the skin.
Most often, this includes foundations (I need to thoroughly hide all breakouts and redness, matting the skin!), as well as moisturizing or anti-aging creams.
The main problem with such products is the comedogenic effect: dense cream expands, stretches, and clogs the pores, stimulates sebum accumulation and blackhead formation, and creates an optimal environment for bacteria multiplication and inflammation development.
Therefore, it is essential to choose skincare and decorative products with light fluid bases or to apply concealer only on imperfections, avoiding covering the entire face with makeup.
5. Mechanical cleansing
First and foremost, there is scrubbing the face—another unhealthy skincare procedure for oily and combination skin that aims to "deeply cleanse" and "renew" the skin through active exfoliation of keratinized particles.
This often presents a "double threat": aggressive surfactants in the composition of scrubbing gels combined with large abrasive particles can mechanically damage the skin's surface, stimulating inflammatory reactions. Therefore, it’s important to completely avoid mechanical scrubs and use alternatives like peeling rolls or enzyme peels instead.
Finally, there are mechanical face cleansings for breakouts—both popping pimples at home and trendy "cleansings" at a cosmetologist’s without serious indications.