There is a lot we can do to help our skin look and feel its best. The good news is all we do to help our skin will also improve our general health as well, so we look and feel better in ourselves. Some changes can have an immediate effect. However, we may have not been supporting our skin for some time so the changes we make can take a while to show on our skins. If the problem you have with your skin is of a more serious nature such as acne, dry skin that has cracked or bled or eczema or psoriasis, even moles or skin discolouration you may be unsure about it is best to seek professional advice.

What to do to help?

By reading the guidelines below and working out a plan for how you could improve your health and therefore the health of your skin. If there are a number of changes to be made, start off slowly and make small steps towards changing your lifestyle. Making too big a promises to yourself and taking on too much change at once can set yourself up to fail. For example, if you think alcohol consumption is a problem –rather than saying you’ll never drink again – try having alcohol free days or having a glass of water for every glass of alcohol you drink. Choose mocktails over cocktails, experiment with drinks at the bar that look the part but have no alcohol. Enlist the support of a friend that wants to improve their skin too.

Every small step in the list below will help you on the way to having skin that is less of a problem.

• A well balanced diet with fresh, unrefined foods, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Avoid greasy, fried and fatty foods.
• Avoid overly processed and refined foods including sugar.
• Choose water over fizzy drinks and keep well hydrated.
• Avoid excessive alcohol, smoking and drugs.
• Get plenty of sleep at night.
• Avoid sun tanning and use sunscreen to avoid skin damage.
• Avoid heavy makeup.
• Exercise regularly, walking is fine to increase blood circulation.
• Use  effective skin care products with a gentle but effective  cleanser both morning and night to remove daily grime build up that clogs pores.
• Use lukewarm water to rinse the skin and pat gently dry.
• Use an effective moisturiser that will help support skin function with no harmful ingredients.

Oily skin is caused by overactive oil glands which produce a natural lubricant for the skin called sebum. Natural healthy skin has a normal amount of oil produced in order to keep it supple and give it a healthy glow – we call this normal skin. Oily skin produces too much oil and the skin becomes thick and heavy in texture and can look greasy and dull. Excess oil also means the pores are more likely to become blocked and therefore more susceptible to pimple, acne and blackheads. Excess oil production has links with our diet which we can do something about and hormone production which we can’t.

How to test for oily skin

If you look in the mirror you will probably see a greasy, shiny look to the skin, often with a coarse texture and large pores which can sometimes have an orange peel texture. Your skin may look dull and sallow and you may also be prone to blackheads and outbreaks of pimples. There is also  a combination skin type which will mean you have oily areas to deal with as well as dry patches. You may like to have your skin type diagnosed by a professional or take the simple tissue test and see what results you get.

Tissue skin type test:

• Wash your face with a gentle cleanser and lukewarm water

• Do not moisturise afterwards

• Wait for 30 mins

• Place a tissue over the entire face and pat all over the face keeping the tissue in one place.

• Look at the tissue – if you can see oily patches on the tissue you have oily skin.

• If the oily patches are only on the chin, nose and forehead only, you may have combination skin so only the oily areas will need to be treated as an oily skin type.

Oily skin treatment

• Treat it gently – harsh treatment and products can cause increased oil production.

• Don’t try to dry up the skin with ingredients containing alcohol and harsh astringents as this can also cause more oil to be produced.

• Avoid cleansers with harsh soaps and detergents, they can worsen the problem in the long term.

• Use lukewarm water to wash and pat dry gently, this will be enough to remove excess oil without stripping the skin of its natural oils.

• Blot the excess during the day with blotting tissues or plain tissues; this will gently remove the excess shine rather than was your face excessively causing more oil production.

• Use a moisturiser that will absorb well to help treat and protect the skin without blocking the pores and looking greasy.

• Avoid too many greasy and fried foods in the diet.