5 Best Face Washes For Oily Skin (Reviewed)

The natural oils on your skin help maintain a healthy skin barrier, thus enabling your skin to do what it is supposed to do – protect you from the outside world.

However, it is not uncommon for the sebaceous glands (the glands that produce the natural oil) to go into overdrive and end up producing too much of this oil to the point where it becomes unwanted.

This can also cause clogging of the pores (which can lead to acne breakouts).

One thing that’s the first and most important step in keeping your skin fresh, clean, and free of impurities is regular cleansing.

In this article, I am sharing with you some of my favorite face washes for oily and acne-prone skin. I will also explain why I recommend these to be your go-to cleansers.

The Best Face Washes/Cleansers For Oily Skin (Reviewed Below)

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Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser; $16

The main ingredients of this cleanser are:

• Matcha – One of the most antioxidant-dense sources you could wish for
• Hemp seed oil – High in essential amino acids and extremely hydrating and
• Vitamin B5 – which is going to strengthen your skin barrier and replenish the lost hydration.

This light gel cleanser will lift the daily impurities while providing your skin with a healthy pH balance without irritating it.

COSRX Low pH Good Morning Cleanser; $13

Thi light gel cleanser is actually a product of crowdsourcing feedback from the customers, which I’m not going to lie is the only thing that made me want to give it a try.

After going through their ingredients, I realized why many customers expressed that this is the number one thing they look for in a cleanser.

It has a low pH that almost mimics our skin’s natural state and it contains a healthy dose of the antibacterial tea tree oil along with many other hydrating ingredients.

It works to reduce the appearance of enlarged pores and control excess sebum production while leaving your skin unharmed in the process of doing so.

All I have to say is that you should really expect a complexion that is refined, hydrated, thoroughly cleanser, and ultra-comfortable.

Paula’s Choice Perfectly Balanced Foaming Cleanser; $19

And of course, my list wouldn’t be complete without a product from my favorite skincare brand – Paula’s Choice.

An advanced anti-aging cleanser that is formulated to effectively remove excess oil and impurities from your face without disturbing or harming your skin’s barrier in the process.

It contains vital skin-repairing ingredients such as ceramides and the insanely hydrating hyaluronic acid that will leave your oily skin feeling polished, smooth, soft, and younger-looking.

It’s also good to note Paula’s Choice is a cruelty-free brand.

Elemis Superfood Cleansing Wash; $25

This nutrient-rich cleanser is my go-to whenever my skin craves a deep cleanse and that refreshed and purified feel.

I have oily skin, but I have found this gel cleanser exceptionally gentle and am confident to recommend it to anyone from normal to dry and even acne-prone skin.

The formula utilizes a cocktail of green superfoods, including wheatgrass, kale, and nettle to gently lift impurities and feed the skin with essential nutrients.

In addition, broccoli seed, avocado, and pumpkin seed oils are combined with a natural sugar derivative prebiotic to ensure your skin feels healthy, clean, balanced, and hydrated.

Youth To The People Superfood Cleanser; $36

This gentle daily face wash has a gel texture and is formulated with superfoods such as kale, spinach, and green tea to provide you with the ultimate comfort and above all – clean skin.

It is 100% vegan and cruelty-free as well as free of sulfates and alcohol.

This baby was the winner of the Allure Reader’s Choice Award, 2019. Many customers expressed that it addressed skin concerns such as oiliness, wrinkles, dullness, and the appearance of sallow and dehydrated skin.

It also comes in recyclable, glass packaging.

The only con is that it’s a bit out there with the price, but for the benefits it offers, who can really blame the price?

Why Do You Need a Face Wash for Oily Skin?

Because how else are you going to remove the daily makeup and all the impurities attached to your face at the end of the day?

By using a good face wash, right?

And notice how I said “a good face wash”.

Why?

Because having oily skin isn’t an excuse for using harsh and drying face washes or cleansers because that is what seems to be the right thing to do in order to get rid of all that oil, right?

Wrong!

Using harsh and overdrying face washes may potentially worsen the condition by stripping your skin and leaving it in need of moisture.

The skin will only produce more oil to compensate for what was lost!

So the desired solution is to always go with a mild, gentle cleanser as this will only complement your complexion without irritating your skin further.

How to Control Oily Skin

You might find battling the shiny complexion and enlarged pores caused by excess amounts of sebum to be a real challenge.

Especially when everything seems to be a trigger for your skin to start greasing, but although challenging, it is by no means impossible.

However, while oily skin looks like it is a problem created by the skin, there might be something more to it, so let’s take a look at some of the things that can be the main cause of the overproduction of sebum.

Poor hydration.

The main trigger for this condition may, believe it or not, be poor hydration, and it’s simple:

Low water intake triggers our system into detecting the problem, and the sebaceous glands are immediately thrown into overwork, producing sebum to compensate for the hydration our skin might be missing.

Think of it like this: You are only one big bottle of water away from having well-hydrated skin.

Imbalanced diet.

A poor diet can be the trigger for many serious health-related issues, and while we will by no means count oily skin to be a health issue, our life choices do tend to show on our skin.

Many skin concerns address an imbalanced diet that is bad for eating greasy foods or eating too much sugar, which can lead to not only having oily skin but also acne, sallow skin, dull complexion…etc.

You may want to remember that having your fruits and greens daily will indeed help the overall health of your skin.

In addition, make sure you check out my recent article on the 3 nasty effects of sugar on the skin for more information on how our delicious sweets may be causing harm to our skin and how to prevent it.

Pollution and environmental factors.

A humid climate means that the air is full of water and all that water sits on your skin.

Which is not that big of a deal. But when you imagine all the pollution in the air, and all that polluted, bacteria-filled water sitting on your face, that changes the whole perspective.

This combination is a total nightmare for oily, acne-prone skin and a reason why we should use adequate protection against these daily aggressors.

Using harsh and drying products.

A good skincare regimen will take your skin to a whole different level of looking healthy and absolutely gorgeous.

However, we often tend to fall in the trap of what I like to call “the label phenomena”. 

This is because we often read the labels of what a product says it does and unsurprisingly, this ends up turning against us and causing all hell on our skin.

Having oily skin means higher maintenance, but we often destroy our skin with harsh and drying products to combat unwanted shininess.

Therefore, it is important to get familiar with ingredients that are beneficial for your skin and learn how to recognize these in the ingredients list at the back of the product instead of just reading the labels on the front.

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