Use Oil-Free and Water-Based Products

Obviously, you don’t want to put any more oil onto your skin than is already there. Look for “oil-free” on the label, especially for those leave-on products like moisturizers, sunscreen, and makeup.

You may also want to use products labeled noncomedogenic. This means they are less likely to cause pore blockages (comedones), and less likely to trigger acne breakouts.

Water-based products are another great option for oily skin types. Water-based products use a gel base and don’t leave any heavy residue on the skin. They feel virtually weightless on the skin.

You can find water-based moisturizing gels, sunscreens, and makeup foundation. Check the label; many of these are marketed to people with oily and breakout-prone skin.

Your topical acne medications have water-based options too. Differin, Retin-A, Onexon, and more all come in a gel form. If your current acne medication feels too heavy or greasy for your liking, ask your dermatologist if there is a gel option.

Don’t Scrub at Your Skin

Those of us with oily skin seem especially conditioned to scrubbing away, and it can be a hard habit to break. After all, won’t scrubbing at the skin help deep-clean the pores, clear acne and reduce oiliness?

Surprisingly, no. Rubbing the skin with abrasive scrubs, pads, or washcloths won’t make your skin less oily and won’t improve acne. It will irritate the skin, though. Oily or not, be kind to your skin and treat it gently.

Exfoliate and Use Acne Treatments

Acne treatments and exfoliating products reduce excess oil, and can also improve the look of large pores. Oily skin and large pores often go hand in hand and can be just as frustrating as acne itself. While you can’t permanently shrink your pore size, you can make them look smaller.

Many acne medications pull double-duty and reduce enlarged pores while clearing breakouts. Topical retinoids, in particular, are good at minimizing large pores. Over-the-counter salicylic acid is another option.

Caring for acne-prone skin is about more than just slathering on blemish-busting products.

It can involve lifestyle changes, too — the first of which is often a new and improved skin care routine.

Read on for some expert tips on everything from picking and popping to effective clinical treatments.

It depends on the type of acne

The simplest way to split acne is into noninflammatory and inflammatory types.

Noninflammatory

Noninflammatory acne refers to clogged pores that appear as blackheads or whiteheads.

It’s the mildest type and is easy to spot. Blackheads have a dark appearance and can appear somewhat flat against the skin. Whiteheads are small skin-colored bumps.

Inflammatory

Anything with a red or more robust appearance is essentially classified as inflammatory acne.

This can range from papules and pustules to the more severe nodules and cysts.

Papules are small red bumps, while pustules are small bumps that contain pus. Papules often turn into pustules.

Then there’s the deeper, more painful acne.

These inflamed bumps are typically larger than your usual pimple and feel as if they’re underneath the skin.

It also depends on your skin type

It’s common to link oily skin to acne.

But dry skin types can still experience acne for a number of reasons, whether it’s due to environmental factors or a poor skin care routine that irritates the skin and clogs pores.

Knowing which skin type you have can help you care for your acne in the best way possible.

First, wash your face with a mild “baby” soap. Gently pat it dry. Don’t apply any skin care products.

A couple of hours later, examine your skin. If it’s shiny, you have oily skin. If it appears flaky, rough, or red, you have dry skin.

Combination skin will appear dry on the cheeks and shiny on the forehead, nose, and chin (T-zone).

“Normal” skin, meanwhile, will have a healthy glow with no visible issues.

Bear in mind that it’s possible to be acne-prone without having dry or oily skin.