Oily skin comes with one big trap: the instinct to scrub it into submission. Strip your skin with harsh cleansers and skip moisturiser, and it usually feels tight for an hour — then shinier than before by mid-afternoon. The smarter approach is lighter and calmer: cleanse gently, hydrate without oil-heavy textures, and let a consistent routine do the work. Here's how to choose each product.
First, confirm your skin type
Oily skin typically means visible shine within a couple of hours of washing, especially on the forehead and nose, and a tendency toward enlarged-looking pores or the occasional blemish. If you're only shiny in the T-zone and dry elsewhere, you're closer to combination skin — you can still follow this guide, just apply richer care only where skin feels dry. Unsure? The OLIRS skin quiz sorts it out in about a minute.
The cleanser: gel or mousse, never a stripper
Your cleanser matters more than any other product. Choose a gel or foaming texture that lifts oil and daily buildup without leaving skin feeling squeaky or tight — that tight feeling is a sign you've removed too much, which skin tends to answer with more oil.
- Daily Clarifying Gel Cleanser — an aloe-based gel built for normal and oily-feeling skin; soft lather, fresh finish, no stripped feeling.
- Daily Foaming Face Mousse — a whipped foam with aloe juice and botanical extracts that lifts excess oil comfortably.
- Radiant Glow Face Wash — a 98% natural-origin gel with blackberry extract for a fresh, balanced feel.
Cleanse twice a day — morning and evening. More than that usually backfires.
The hydrator: water-based, oil-free
Yes, oily skin needs hydration. Dehydrated skin often looks shinier, not less. The trick is choosing humectant-based, oil-free textures — gels with hyaluronic acid, sodium PCA and aloe that add water, not grease.
- Double Hydration Boost Gel — multi-molecular hyaluronic acid plus sodium PCA in a fresh, non-sticky gel. On oily skin it can even stand alone as your moisturiser.
- Ginkgo Defense Gel Booster — an oil-free antioxidant gel with ginkgo, green tea, oak bark and grape seed; wear it solo or mix a pump into another product.
The actives: gentle and occasional
Oily skin often tolerates actives well, but restraint still wins:
- Lactic acid (AHA), 1–2 nights a week — helps lift dead surface cells so skin looks smoother and pores appear less clogged. Try the Overnight AHA Exfoliating Serum, and always wear SPF the next morning.
- Vitamin C in the morning — supports a brighter-looking, more even-looking complexion; the Vitamin C Glow Serum layers cleanly under a gel moisturiser.
What to avoid
- Bar soap and hot water — the fastest route to stripped, reactive-feeling skin.
- Heavy butters and rich creams as daily moisturisers — save those for genuinely dry skin.
- Daily exfoliation — weekly is enough; overdoing it leaves skin uncomfortable.
- Skipping moisturiser entirely — dehydration tends to read as more shine.
A complete oily-skin routine
- AM: Clarifying gel cleanse → vitamin C serum → hydration gel → SPF.
- PM: Mousse or gel cleanse → hydration gel (plus AHA serum 1–2 nights a week).
Four products, two minutes a day. Browse everything built for shine-prone skin in our Oily Skin collection, see gentle options for blemish-prone skin in Blemish-Prone Skin Care, or let the skin quiz assemble your routine for you.
