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What is oatmeal?
Oatmeal may refer to oats that have been dehusked, steamed and flattened, or to a rough flour made from oat grains. Oatmeal is popularly served as a porridge. However, there are also topical uses of oatmeal, like in the form of oatmeal face masks.
What is it best for?
A face mask made with oatmeal can be used to soothe dry, irritated skin. You can also use ground oatmeal to exfoliate and remove dirt, oil, and dead skin cells. It can be used for cleansing, moisturizing, and to reduce inflammation. Oatmeal can help in getting rid of excess oil from your skin, which makes it beneficial for those who suffer from acne.
Oatmeal is also a great, mild ingredient that reduces redness and irritation associated with eczema.
It also has antioxidant properties, making it beneficial in anti-aging products to protect the skin from damage caused by free radicals.
What is the drawback?
Oatmeal has few downsides when applied topically, other than the fact that a homemade face mask can be a little messy. Take our skin quiz to find out if you need to add this wonderful ingredient to your skincare regimen.
Oily skin occurs when the sebaceous glands in the pores are producing more oil, or sebum, than necessary. Sebum is natural in all skin as it keeps the skin moist and healthy. Over production of sebum can be caused by hormones, genetics or could even be a result of dry skin over-compensating by producing extra oil, in order to retain some measure of moisture.
Oily skin can also be caused by using the wrong products for your skin type. For example, if you are using overly drying soaps and astringents for your skin type, your skin may respond by over producing oil to compensate, as mentioned above. This can create an unfortunate cycle of using harsh soaps to eliminate oils, but instead exacerbating the problem.
On the other hand, overly oily makeup and products can also cause oily skin.
Ingredients that help exfoliate dead skin cells to keep pores unclogged and increase new skin cell production, such as Vitamin A/Retinol, glycolic acid, and salicylic acid, are good for treating acne as well. Benzoyl peroxide is a topical agent for fighting bacteria and unclogging pores. It is one of the longest-used medications to keep oily pores clean and healthy. Jojoba oil is also good for fighting bacteria trapped in oily skin and maintaining a moisture barrier to prevent over-production of sebum.
Oatmeal may be effective for oily skin, but there are many other factors that may affect whether this ingredient would work on your skin or if there are better ingredients that may work for you. Take this skin quiz to find the best ingredients for your skin and build your skincare routine.
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