Sunny Spring, but a Shiny Face

Spring is finally here! It has been a long winter filled with wearing sweaters, scarves, and coats, and now you are ready to rock those jean shorts with that cropped tee, and some sandals. You get dressed, fix up your hair, and finish off with your make up. You take one final look in the mirror, smile because you look stunning and Spring ready, and you are ready to go to classes and start your day. Now, the temperature is rising, and the climate is becoming more humid, and while this can make for very pleasant weather, it can also ruin a perfect look. How you ask? Well, after a long day you come back, and look in the mirror, only to notice how your perfectly made face from this morning, now looks like one of Dali’s melting clock paintings. Some people might not be affected by oily skin on the regular, but almost everyone has come face to face with a shiny complexion, melting eye make up, and the gross feeling of oil on your skin. Fortunately, there are tons of remedies available! Here are just three of the my favorite ones:

Using a facial powder:

Face powder is usually a part of everyone’s make up routine. It helps set the makeup, mattify the face, and it keeps your liquid makeup from smudging. When the weather is mild, and the sun isn’t making your face sweat, just using any ordinary powder will probably work. However, for days like these, where it is hot and humid, you might want a mattifying, oily skin specific face powder. I suffer from oily skin, and have tried tons of powders to keep my face from getting oily without getting cakey from adding layers. What I found was that finer and loose powders tend to work best for me. My favorite loose powder is the “Shine Free Oil-Control Loose Powder” by Maybelline.  It is very fine, and even though it only comes in two shades, it isn’t super pigmented and should work with all foundation shades. It also doesn’t get cakey, allowing you to add more throughout the day, as needed. Finally, it is drug store, so it is easy to find and fairly affordable. To use these kinds of powders, just use the powder puff included and pat the powder on, don’t sweep or it will smudge the foundation underneath. You can also use a fluffy brush, for a lighter coverage or to sweep off any excess powder.

Using blotting paper:

Another one of my favorite tricks is using blotting paper. Blotting paper is not very commonly found in every person’s make up bag, and actually I was surprised to learn that not a lot of people know about this product. Blotting paper is essentially a small square piece of paper that feels kind of like parchment or wax paper from the kitchen, but it absorbs oil. There are a lot of different brands of blotting papers, but there are also cheap drugstore brands that have them like elf. To use blotting paper, just take out a little sheet, and dab it on the areas that you feel are shiny. The best part about blotting sheets is that they are small, portable and can be used under and over makeup without ruining it. And, if you want an even cheaper solution, you can use paper towels, as blotting sheets too!

Using an oil-control face mask:

Finally, I often use an oil-control DIY face mask to help minimize shine, and acne on my face. There are a lot of natural face masks you can make from ingredients found in the grocery store making it a very affordable option for college students. Before I use my face mask though, I like to exfoliate my face the day before or even a couple of hours before. I use an aspirin and honey mask to exfoliate, and to make it, you start out with three uncoated tablets of aspirin, some drops of water to dissolve the aspirin, and a teaspoon of honey. Then apply to the face, and rub in circular motions, and leave on for 15 minutes. Follow with a good moisturizer after washing the mask off to lock in moisture. A big misconception about having oily skin is that people start using less moisturizer to prevent their skin from getting shiny, but oily skin actually comes from lack of moisture. The skin isn’t hydrated, so it overproduces oil to accommodate for the lack of moisture. Anyways, onto the facial mask, combine three tablespoons of honey with the juice from half a lemon and apply to the face. Then leave on for 10 minutes, and wash off with cold water to tighten and close your pores. Now your skin should be glowy, NOT oily, and it should feel very refreshed and clean.

2 Comments on Sunny Spring, but a Shiny Face

  1. Katie
    April 4, 2016 at 10:30 am (8 years ago)

    I think this is a really cool blog idea! I love all of these “hacks” you’ve come up with. I actually had no idea that oily skin came from a lack of moisture. I’ll keep that in mind for the future warm months!

  2. ecc5222
    April 1, 2016 at 10:26 am (8 years ago)

    I am really glad I got put into your blog group because I love beauty hacks! I also have oily skin and have not found I powder that I absolutely love, so I will definitely have to try out this Maybelline powder. I also have heard of blotting paper, but I have never bought it because I usually just use paper towels. I had never heard of putting aspirin into an exfoliator until now! I will definitely have to try this face mask because I love face masks! Nice post, its very informative.

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