Know how to manage your Sebum Production

What is a Sebum?

It is an oily, waxy substance produced by your body’s sebaceous glands. It coats, moisturizes, and protects your skin. It is a complex mixture of fatty acids, waxes, sugars, and other natural chemicals and is essential for skin health.

What can cause excess sebum?

There are different causes which are hormonal imbalance, heat, exercise, genetics, and it is also because of dehydrated skin or irritated skin because of products that are not suitable for your skin

Your face and scalp contain the most number of sebaceous glands. Your face has 900 sebaceous glands per square centimeter of your skin and each gland secretes sebum.

Now, what are the ways that you can do to manage sebum production? We have listed simple and easy ways for you!

Cleanse your face regularly

It is best to wash your face twice a day with a gentle cleanser that is a non-soap cleanser and can maintain the pH balance on your skin. Remember, strong and harsh products can trigger sebum production.

Also, do not over-cleanse your skin as it may strip the needed moisture out of your skin, and as a solution, your sebaceous gland will produce more sebum to keep your skin moisture.

Try to avoid products that minimize oil production

You read it right, stripping the oils from your skin can worsen the situation because many contain harsh ingredients that can strip every last drop of sebum from your skin which is not really good. When the skin has been dried out it solves the problem by over-producing oils on your skin.

Apply Moisturizer

Do not believe when someone says that you don’t need any moisturizers, you still need a moisturizer to keep your skin hydrated. As you have read it's really important to keep your skin hydrated to avoid overproduction of oil just don’t use thick and heavy creams because it can cause congestions.

Use products with Salicylic Acid and Clay Mask

Salicylic can help remove dead skin cells, excess oil, and other debris from the skin’s surface while using a clay mask with French green or bentonite clay are fantastic allies when targeting oiliness as they act like sponges, absorbing excess oil.

Change your Diet

Remember the blog we wrote about a healthy gut? Oily skin issues could actually lie in your gut because of the foods you eat. You might want to lessen eating sugar and dairy foods because it feeds and increases oil production. Try to eat foods rich in zinc as they help to regulate oil production, examples of these foods are shellfish, legumes, and nuts.

 

The bottom line, sebum is a necessary component of healthy skin because it moisturizes and protects the surface of almost your entire body. Most people will experience oily skin at some point in their lives so don’t worry about it!