When in balance, oily skin is among the most beautiful. It can appear soft, supple, even dewy, and is typically more hydrated than other skin types. Those of us with oily skin seem immune to pre-mature surface wrinkling, and are said to “age” better than others, with all things being equal (i.e.: just because you have oily skin you can’t bake in the sun smoking 3 packs a day and still age well).
That’s the good news on oily skin. The remainder of this article will discuss the downside and how specifically to treat unbalanced skin conditions. Let’s first take a look at a brief history of how oil is produced and its function in regards to the skin.
Each hair follicle on your body has at its base a sac called the sebaceous gland. Oil, also known as sebum, is excreted from this gland and emerges from the follicle opening, or pore. The hormonal balance of your body, along with the size of your pores, will combine to influence how much oil is actually pumped to the skins surface.
As sebum emerges from the pore in optimum conditions, it lightly coats the skin, combining then with intercellular lipids in the corneum layer. This forms a protective barrier that helps seal in the body’s natural water supply, creating a moisture seal. The same process over time creates more dead or dying skin cells being “cemented” to the corneum, making it typically thicker than dry skin. The stratum corneum is made up of 18-25 layers of flattened, dry, dying cells so we may assume oily skin will be towards the top end of that number.
Because of its thickness and superior protective coating, oily skin will hold up and even flourish in cool to cold, windy environments. Place that same skin in hot, humid climate and observe an uncomfortable shiny, greasy film appear, which absolutely wreaks havoc with most makeup foundations.
The real problems, especially with those predisposed to oily skin, but with any skin type for that matter, occur with imbalances in our systems. Hormonal over stimulation, caused by external stressors (job, relationship, tragedy, life in general) or female cycles, including menopausal life changes, can commonly make the sebaceous glands overactive. This produces too much sebum, which in turn mixes with keratinized skin cells in the pore, creating the perfect environment for clogging and bacteria growth.
Please note this can happen to any skin type, but it’s more common in those of us already with a bountiful oil supply. Also, excess sebum is only one of the conditions that contribute to congested or acneic skin. We need to consider fighting bacteria and inflammation, as well as exfoliating to prevent dead skin cell accumulation for a comprehensive approach.
When your body is under stress for any reason, you have adrenaline, ephedrine, cortisol, and DHEA pumping through your system, jacking your muscles and system up to prepare for “fight or flight.” Cortisol, especially over long periods of time, is disastrous to our bodies in general, but is a source of major inflammation to our skin. DHEA, produced by the same glands as adrenaline and ephedrine, directly stimulate the sebaceous glands, in turn producing excess sebum which can lead to breakouts.
In women, when estrogen levels drop and more of the male hormone, androgen is available, our sebaceous glands can be over stimulated to the point of producing too much sebum. This can happen both in pre-menstrual and menopausal times.
So now that we have been reminded of the cause and effect of oily, congested, possibly acneic skin, lets look at some of the best treatment modalities available both individually, and in combination. Lets assume for our sake that most frustrated “problem” skin clients coming through your door have self-treated their skin to the point of dehydration, irritation and sensitivity at a minimum.
With these conditions in mind, our treatments might include:
a) a series of fruit acid/enzyme, the most gentle of all exfoliatiants, facials as a front end to soften the skin, gently remove dead skin cells and actually help hydrate what is most likely over processed, moisture dry skin,
b) a galvanic current based facial especially known for liquefying sebum in the pores to make extractions easier. Galvanic can clean deeper and have longer lasting results that traditional extraction and,
c) oxygen based disinfection and skin recovery to kill bacteria that may come to the surface after the extraction and galvanic process. Thus a complete treatment of oily skin in one treatment.
Our fruit acid/enzyme facial is performed in three easy steps and should be done once per week for one to three consecutive weeks depending on severity of initial skin condition. First we would prepare the face by cleansing and toning, immediately applying a liquid gel onto gauze and placing over the face and neck. The multiple action of fruit acids (lemon, orange and blueberry) and enzymes (pineapple and papaya) give the skin a deep exfoliation while remaining non-irritating. After neutralizing the fruit “enzym-acid” peeling, we do a light effleurage/pressure point (not to stimulating) massage using a regenerating, nourishing, soothing massage lotion containing epaline from corn and phytokin from soya. Next, we apply a serum based mask containing fruit acids with lactic acid to refresh and moisturize the epidermis while adding radiance to the skin.
With the skin now softened, exfoliated and hydrated from our fruit acid/enzyme exfoliating series of treatments, we would follow with a Galvanic/Oxygen treatment addressing all causes and conditions of blemished skin. These include battling oil and karetinized skin cell accumulation, irritation/inflammation and bacteria growth. The first step would consist of preparing the skin with the cleansing exfoliating lotion. In one step, with sorbine (a complex of papaya and lemon) as the active ingredient, we can gently cleanse as well as mildly exfoliate the skin without the normal irritation of aggressive cleansers/exfoliators.
Next we select the appropriate gel to be applied for the ionization process in conjunction with galvanic current. All the gels have a common base consisting of sodium lactate, sodium carbonate, trace elements and glycols. During this ionization process, sodium lactate is penetrated for hydration. Sodium carbonate, in combination with the galvanic current, provides deep cleansing based on the principle of saponification, whereby sebum is liquified, making it then easily eliminated both on the surface, and particularly deep in the pore. And finally the trace elements act as catalysts for penetration.
Additionally, in the oil skin gel, which would be the obvious choice for our purposes, are ingredients specific to it like:
• Enteline 2 – seaweed derived from biotechnology used for anti-inflammatory and disinfectant attributes.
• Burdock Cytobiol – burdock root known for its anti-bacterial ability as well as regulation of oily skin.
• Witch Hazel Extract – used to battle skin
irritation and inflammation and to regenerate over processed skin.
• Karetolite – clarifying agent.
• Encapsulated Vitamin C – delivery of vitamin C (normally unstable) is ensured by encapsulation – anti-inflammatory and immune system booster.
• Mint Essential Oil – cooling , antiseptic and relaxing properties.
With the skin sufficiently coated with the oily skin gel, galvanic current is delivered to the skin via rollers for 7 minutes, delivering the active ingredients to the epidermis for hydration, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and anti-bacterial effect, regeneration, as well as regulation of sebum production. In addition, the sebum present in the pore is liquified for easy removal. The eyes, nose and chin are then gone over with a smaller roller ball device delivering galvanic current to the T-zone for another 7 minutes.
The skin has now been fully desincrusted and is ready for extractions. At this point you’ll marvel at how easily the skin gives up the bacteria present. Remember, only blackheads and blemishes that have a white head should be extracted, and go easy with acneic skin, for it is probably still in an irritated state.
Of course, after extractions, any facial treatment must provide some sort of healing, purifying, and/or anti-bacterial effect. In our service, by lightly massaging in the Oxygen Emulsion cream, all three are achieved. The lavender essential oil in the formulation increases blood flow, removing toxins and stimulating healing through cellular exchange. The other half of Oxygen Emulsion is the active oxygen, changes into ozone to purify the skin and brings an anti-bacterial effect. The light 7 minutes effleurage massage is also very relaxing and begins the process of de-stressing the client.
The final step is the face/neck massage (non-stimulating) using the Face Modeling Massage cream followed by the application of a custom mask suited to the skin type. Finish with appropriate toner, lotion and eye cream.
To review, congested or acneic skin has several common traits: excess oil, mixed with dead skin cells, irritation/inflammation and bacteria growth. By combining different facial treatments, with gentleness the common thread, we clearly deal with all issues on several levels and in multiple steps with out over stimulating the skin. It’s a marvelously developed, wonderfully delivered system of treatments that is encouraged in multiple series for problem skin, followed once or twice a month for skin maintenance. This is one system designed to take the “problem” out of problem skin!
