a closer look at oily skin & break outs…

Thank you to everyone reading and commenting on the blog – it is fantastic to see so many people interested in truly natural skin care.

We have explored certified organic, logos and a little more about the Sanctum range and in this blog I have some insight in to a common skin question…”is it true that using products with oil in them will cause breakouts on oily skin?”

The information below is from the experience of a well known beauty therapistt. After her comments, i have included the comments from a leading natural skin care chemist.

“It is my belief that it is a myth that oil on the skin will cause break outs, however, there are some considerations that help us understand why breakouts may seem related to oils applied to the skin.

Often people with oily skins use stripping / high alcohol content products and then, when an oil is applied to the skin a break out can occur.  I see this break out as an interim / transitional event only – due to the skin being confused from incorrect treatment initially.  In the long term, certain oils are definitely more beneficial to the health of the skin than stripping products.

In my experience, we successfully use a ‘like treats like’ approach, where the correct oils will actually assist to balance an oily skin.

Importantly, the type of oil must be considered.  Lighter planet based oils (jojoba, rosehip) penetrate the skin and do not sit on the skin. They can assist the skin correct an imbalance of oils.

Heavy, non-botanical oils have been found not to penetrate the skin, and therefore sit on the skin, having a clogging effect and causing break outs.”

And now words from the Chemist:

“I have yet to find a definitive list for comedogenic oils; most lists have different oils on them!

It is also fairly well accepted that despite the possibility of oils in a formulation being comedogenic the formulation itself may not be at all.  Apparently there are cases of formulations being comedogenic even when they contained no oils thought of as poor in this respect.

There is also a wide variance of individual response and I suspect that some breakouts may result from emulsifiers used rather than oil in the product.”

Whilst it makes sense that oil skin needs no more oil added, we can see the inbalance caused by working against the body in an attempt to strip the oil away.

Avoiding chemical based oils and emulsifiers can also be a challenge as these may not be obvious within ingredients lists.  You can make this simpler by selecting Certified Organic products (certified by one of the Australian Government approved bodies).

On behalf of all of the comments we receive from our customers, the best results by far have been achieved by getting to know your skin and working with the skin, using natural and pure ingredients.

If you would like assistance in selecting a product, you are welcome to email news@sanctumaustralia.com

Shortly I will create a post that takes a close look at SENSITIVE skin…what is it, what causes it and how you can treat it…