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The 12 best cleansers for oily skin, starting from £4.99
Hello squeaky clean skin
We’d be naive to think acne and breakouts are limited to our teenage years; it can still plague many well into adulthood, especially if you have oilier skin.
Sound familiar? It may be time to take a look at your cleansing routine. We’ve found the best cleansers for oily skin, which are designed to combat greasy T-zones, be kind to blemish-prone skin, and even help calm redness.
Take a look at our top recommendations below, or scroll down to learn more about how to control oily complexions.
What causes oily skin?
It can be hard to pinpoint exactly why some of us have desert-dry skin while others struggle with oiliness. But hormones will always play a part, especially if you’re changing contraception or going through menopause.
‘Hormones in the body — particularly progesterone and testosterone — have a significant effect on sebum production in the skin at different points in the menstrual cycle,’ explains Dr Ejikeme, Founder and Medical Director of Adonia Medical Clinic.
‘This happens most notably in the second half of the cycle when progesterone rises, leading to an increase in sebum,’ she adds. ‘Right before menstruation, oestrogen and progesterone fall and testosterone predominates, which can also increase sebum production in the skin. During menopause, there are also a number of changes to our hormone levels that can lead to breakouts.’
Acne and oily skin can go hand in hand, too. ‘Acne is primarily driven by genetics but there are environmental and lifestyle factors that can precipitate or aggravate it,’ Dr Ejikeme explains. ‘These include over exfoliation, stress, poor sleep, use of occlusive oils and high sugar diets. When spots do occur, touching and squeezing them can make things worse.’
What ingredients help prevent oily skin?
If you suffer from spots at that time of the month, or you can’t seem to mattify your T-zone no matter the weather, chances are you’re going to need a cleanser that caters specifically to oily skin.
If you don’t want to overcomplicate things, there’s one ingredient you should look out for: salicylic acid.
Dr Ejikeme advises choosing a cleanser with this skincare ingredient. ‘Salicylic acid is a key ingredient for acne,’ she explains. ‘Choose 2% cleansers and use throughout the week, ensuring you don't over-strip the skin.’
How often should you cleanse your face if you have oily skin?
It may be tempting to over-wash your face to prevent a greasy T-zone but vigorously scrubbing or washing your skin can lead to stripping, which in turn makes your skin produce even more oil.
More oil ultimately ends up in breakouts, so it’s a chicken and egg situation. ‘Acne is not caused by unclean skin,’ says Dr Ejikeme. ‘If you have an acne-prone complexion, you should cleanse the same way as everyone else – twice a day for 30 seconds. This is important to ensure makeup, sunscreen, sweat, pollution and debris are removed from the skin, reducing the risk of these leading to inflammation or occlusion of a pore.’
How we test
In the Women’s Health Lab, our panel of over 470 testers with mild to extremely oily, blemished skin tried 34 brands of face wash – formulated for all ages and skin types – for four weeks. They assessed the quality of the product, how clean it left their skin, how well it helped control oil and blemishes, and whether it left their complexions feeling dehydrated. They also gave feedback on the packaging and how easy it was to use.
Florence is our Senior Beauty Writer, specialising in expert-tested beauty and grooming reviews — from toothbrushes to the latest skincare launches. She’s committed to sharing recommendations for products that truly work and make people feel confident and healthy. Prior to this she was at Tropic Skincare, where she worked closely with biochemists in the lab, delving into the functions of each fresh, natural ingredient and conveying its efficacy to her audience in easy-to-digest terms.
With over five years’ experience in beauty and health journalism, Florence has written for ELLE, Women’s Fitness, Sister Magazine, National Geographic Traveller and many more, with a strong sustainability angle thread through much of her work.
When she isn’t packing for a trip away, working out, eating out or reading up on retinol serums, you’ll probably find her experimenting with her film camera and building her portfolio of portraits. Florence’s photography can be found at florencereeves-white.com, her Instagram is @florencereeveswhite and her twitter is @floreadsnwrites
Maria is our Beauty and Grooming Testing Manager, and since joining in mid-2022, she has managed the testing for mutiple categories including scalp scrubs, collagen supplements and retinol serums. In addition to her master's degree in chemical engineering and a diploma in cosmetic science, she recently received her MBA from the London College of Fashion, focusing on case studies within the beauty industry. Prior to joining the company, she worked within the global technical team at the Estee Lauder Companies for over six years, collaborating with the chemists and engineers to launch luxury beauty products at scale and to quality. She has also worked as a formulation scientist within the pharmaceutical industry and takes this evidence based approach into all her product testing.
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