You know how you’re never supposed to pour water on an oil fire? When it comes to skincare for oily skin, the same principal holds… almost.

The media, a few dermatologists and your aunt love to tell everyone how oil-free cleansers, moisturizers, everything are the best way to go for people with oily skin. Not true. As someone who has had oily skin from literally day 1 of life, I can attest that this is just not true.

In fact, the renaissance of my skincare routine began the moment I added an oil cleanser, facial oil, oil-based moisturizers, a weekly oil hair mask and oil serum before styling my hair. Here’s how it’s done:

• Adopt a 2-step face cleansing routine. Start with an oil cleanser and end with a foam cleanser. Your skin will thank you. (Oil cleansers are magic because only oil removes oil… from your face.)
• Use an oil-based moisturizer during the day. It sounds intimidating and probably not the best idea if you live in a hot/humid climate but this is a total win for the winter/colder climates. I really believe that too little moisturizer makes my skin over-secrete oil thus making it look wayyy oilier than it is. The key to keeping your oily skin at bay is to make sure that your skin is nice & dewy (counter-intuitive, I know).
• !SKINCARE GAME CHANGER ALERT! A wonderful, aromatherapy inspired, soothing cocktail of face oils for the night. Almond oil + rosehip oil + argan oil = THE BEST your skin will ever look in the morning. Puffiness be gone! Acne be gone! Dark circle be gone! I can’t even begin to tell you just how amazing this blend is — try it and let me know how it works for you! (Any face oil at night is great – lots of options out there!)
• Weekly oil mask – I usually massage some warm coconut oil into my scalp on Saturday night while I’m binge watching something on Netflix. Coconut oil is my fav and it smeels soooo good that I sleep with it on and wake up to lightly scented, moisturized hair. The coconut hair dreams must end so I wash it off and then let my glossy locks air-dry. If coconut oil isn’t your thang, a cult-favorite (and mine) is the Bringadi hair oil by Kama Ayurveda.
• Oil on wet hair + before styling. I love love love Ouai Hair Oil. It is seriously da bomb. I can rub it on wet hair, dry hair, semi-dry hair — it just always works.