Have you ever woken up and found your face dripping with oil? You can barely see because it’s so oily! All of your products from the night before have left residue on your pillowcase or just smeared around your face, making you look even worse than you feel. This can be incredibly frustrating and embarrassing, but there are some ways to prevent an oily face when you wake up! Here are some tips on how to wake up without an oily face.
An oily morning face can be caused by hormones, stress, or clogged pores. You can help prevent an oily face when you wake up by investing in a high quality pillowcase, cleansing your face, reducing stress, and more.
Why is my face so oily when I wake up?
For many people, waking up with an oil slick on their face isn’t just something to complain about – it’s a sign of a problem. And that problem can be anything from your pillowcase to your stress level. Oily skin causes many of us to breakout in pimples and blackheads, but those issues can also be caused by non-sexy things like hormones and stress.
If you suffer from severe acne or persistent breakouts, consult a dermatologist about what you can do. Keeping your skin clean and clear may help not only with breakouts but with oily skin as well.
Cleanse your skin with gentle, non-irritating, oil-free products. Cleansing too harshly or too often can aggravate acne-prone skin. If you’re looking for an even deeper clean, try exfoliating every two to three days to remove dead cells and reveal clearer pores. Just be sure not to overdo it or you might irritate your skin further.
What causes an oily face when you wake up?
The main culprit behind a greasy, oily face when you first get out of bed in the morning are sebaceous glands. Sebaceous glands are tiny secretory units that produce sebum, an oil that helps keep your skin soft and supple.
The glands are located all over your body — your scalp, forehead, temples, back of your ears and yes, even your nose — but they’re most concentrated in certain areas. Sebaceous glands in your T-zone (forehead, nose and chin) are usually responsible for creating extra oil on these problem spots. Doctors aren’t exactly sure why that happens.
Many different factors come into play that increase sebum production. The causes can be hormonal (especially in women going through menopause), stress, or excessive heat, for example. If you’re waking up with an especially greasy T-zone, chances are one of these triggers is to blame.
Now that you know what causes oily skin, you’re probably wondering how to fix it. Fortunately, there are many ways to reduce greasiness during those first few minutes of consciousness. If changing your pillowcase daily doesn’t do it for you, you can try some of the options we have listed below.
How can you prevent it?
- Drink more water – The body produces oil for many reasons, but there are several things you can do to make your skin less oily and improve its appearance.Think about your diet, including how much water you drink each day and what foods might be causing an imbalance in your skin’s natural oils. If you notice that your skin becomes more oily after eating certain foods, try cutting those out of your diet or switching to a healthier alternative, such as fruit instead of candy or bread instead of pastries.
- Get sleep – Getting more sleep can reduce stress, which in turn helps regulate hormones that may cause your skin to overproduce oil
- Invest in a highquality pillow case – A pillow case made out of silk or satin to can help minimize friction while you sleep, reducing the oil produced by the skin on your face. Consider getting several pillow cases so you can change them frequently. Changing your pillow case every night can help keep your face clean.
- Reduce stress – Simply put, less stress can lead to a healthier, more refreshed you and reducing your stress can also be one of the best ways to reduce your oil production. Find time in your day or at night to unwind with a book or a TV show, take a hot bath with some epsom salts or take time out of each day for some meditative exercises to help keep stress levels down.
- Use skin products labeled “Oil free” – You might think that you need moisturizer to avoid being dry, but actually it is better for your skin if you have an oil free moisturizer rather than one that contains oil. An additional reason for preventing oil build-up on your skin is because it will lead to better anti-aging benefits in the long run.
- Use moisturizer – Use a moisturizer with anti-inflammatory ingredients. While moisturizers often help to keep your skin soft and hydrated, some are better than others at preventing breakouts. Look for creams that contain ingredients like aloe vera, colloidal oatmeal, or lavender oil which have been shown to fight inflammation.
- Don’t sleep in makeup – Wash your face at night before bed to remove oil and makeup, or wash your pillowcase regularly so you aren’t sleeping on top of a layer of dirt and oil.
- Use an oil-absorbing sheet mask – This sheet mask can help absorb excess oil from your skin. It is quick, portable, and can also help clear breakouts faster.
- Wear sunscreen – Wearing sunscreen on a daily basis will help keep oil production under control and reduce acne breakouts, as well as help prevent wrinkles down the road.
- Exfoliate regularly – Exfoliating regularly will help remove dead skin cells, making it easier for your pores to breathe and your oil production to stay under control. Using an exfoliant can reduce blackheads and whiteheads, as well as prevent you from waking up with an oily face.
- Products you can try
- Face Wash/Cleanser – There are several factors which can cause your skin to be oilier than normal, and one of them is overproduction of sebum from excess hormones. Using a cleansing wash that’s specially designed for reducing oil on your skin can help get rid of dirt and oil build-up, as well as prevent further oil production. Washing your face with an oil-free cleanser will help remove excess sebum and stop it from building up.
- Moisturizer – Wearing a moisturizer on a daily basis will help balance out your skin’s natural oils and hydrate your face at the same time. Light non-comedogenic moisturizers are good for reducing oil production as they contain fewer ingredients that can clog pores.
- Face Mask – One of the easiest ways to reduce your skin oil production is by using a skin mask. If you don’t have time for a full facial treatment, but still want smoother, clearer skin then a face mask can help. Using an anti-aging face mask will not only smooth out fine lines and wrinkles and help you look younger, but also make your skin feel soft and supple. A clay or charcoal mask that contains bentonite clay or green tea powder will draw out excess oil while tightening pores at the same time.
Does it help if you cleanse your face in the morning?
It might seem like washing your face in the morning would prevent excess oil production, but it doesn’t solve the issue on its own. Your skin produces more oil in response to a variety of factors, including diet and your body temperature. While you may feel less greasy immediately after cleansing, a bit of time may pass before your skin begins producing excess oil again. In other words, only cleansing your skin in the morning will not likely help with excess oil production there may be some internal factors as well as some external ones.
Using an acne treatment every morning may prevent excess oil production and also treat existing breakouts. However, salicylic acid products are better for treating individual pimples than combating overall oiliness. If you’re dealing with chronic breakouts, you may want to consider using an over-the-counter benzoyl peroxide cream or lotion instead of a salicylic acid product.
An oily face can be caused by internal or external factors, and sometimes more than just one! It may take some trial and error to figure out exactly what is causing your oily skin. You can use this post as a reference to try different ways of handling your oily skin.
