What Causes Oily Skin?

If you have oily skin, you are not alone. Our skin produces oil due to the pores we have on our skin. Under these pores there are sebaceous glands that makes a natural oil. The name of this natural oil our sebaceous gland produce is sebum which aids to maintain our skin hydrated and heathy.
In some people their sebaceous glands produce too much sebum which is why some people may suffer from oily skin. Those who’s sebaceous glands produce too much sebum which causes oily skin can suffer from skin issues such as breakouts and acne.
There are numerous reasons why our sebaceous glands produce too much sebum, and we have oily skin. Let’s now look at a few of them.
Your age
As with other health issues your age plays a role when it comes to having oily skin. When we are young, we tend to have a much oiler skin and as we age, we have a less oily skin. This is because as we age our skin loses proteins such as collagen. Once we lose proteins such as collagens our sebaceous gland also slow-up meaning our skin is less oily.
As our skin produces less oil and our skin becomes drier the appearance of lines and wrinkles is more common. You may be surprised to hear that oily skin is beneficial but yes, it is. It has been observed those who have oily skin show the signs of aging less quickly in comparison to those who have dry skin. This usually means those with oily skin are less likely to need to repair their dry skin.
Your Genetics
Genetics also plays an important role in our health. It also plays an important role when it comes to oily skin. It is much more likely that you may suffer from oily skin if your parents also suffered from oily skin. This means you have inherited your sebaceous glands from your parents, and they are producing too much sebum which leads to oily skin.
Stress
Stress seems to play a negative role in numerous health issues, and it does the same when it comes to oily skin. When we are stressed, our bloodstream is filled with stress hormones. There are some stress hormones that can tie the sebaceous glands which leads them to produce more sebum. We have a great article about what hormones cause oily skin that you must read also.
This is one reason we can observe that that those who suffer from stress also suffer from other issues relates to oily skin such as acne and breakouts.
Climate and humidity
Those who live in humid location seem to suffer more from oily skin. This is because in humid places people tend to sweat more which leads to our skin producing more oil. During the summer when the climate is more humid, we have oiler skin compared to the winter when our skin is drier.
Using incorrect skincare products
In our previous blogs we have written about how to select skincare products. For example, you may be using skincare products for combination skin while you have oily skin. Further examples include using products for the winter months during the hot humid summer months. It is essential that you use the correct skincare products for your skin type accordingly.