Searching for the best face wash for oily skin? Who can blame you – especially after what you go through on a daily basis. You wash your face and it feels blissfully, wonderfully matte and clean…for a few minutes. And then your skin goes right back to its oily habits.
Sound familiar? If you’re an oily skinned beauty, you deal with this several times a day.
And in an attempt to feel less greasy, you’ll resort to washing your face every few hours. Often with a face wash for oily skin that contains ingredients that dry out and irritate your skin, thereby triggering more oil production!
If you’ve been washing and cleansing to try to get rid of the excess oil on your face only to find that your skin is oilier than ever before – it’s not you, it’s your face wash.
Many of the facial cleansers claiming to reduce oil and eliminate shine actually make matters worse because they contain harsh ingredients like astringents, alcohols and sulfates that may make your face feel oil free and “clean” for a few minutes but end up drying out and irritating the skin.
The result? Your skin tries to compensate for the dryness by producing more oil. And so you wash some more, your skin produces more oil and it’s a vicious cycle that needs to stop.
So how do you opt out of this oily cycle? Start by changing your face wash.
It’s extremely tempting to go nuclear on all the oils your pores are producing and wipe them out with some harsh drugstore cleansers that promise to banish oil. Many of these facial cleansers contain harsh ingredients like alcohol, sulfates and fragrance that dry out, irritate your skin and will only lead to more oil in the long run.
Avoid those ingredients and instead look for a gentle, water-soluble cleanser, preferably one that uses natural oil-zapping ingredients like activated charcoal, essential oils, and plant extracts that boost overall skin health and keep your skin’s precious acid mantle barrier intact.
Your skin will thank you for it by naturally producing less oil in the long run.
Curious which facial cleansers actually fit the bill? We’ve done the work for you and simplified it down to a handful of the best face washes for oily skin. Yes, the price tag on some of these can be a little…much. But it’s worth it. These cleansers are concentrated and a little goes a long way.
Plus, the gentle yet effective ingredients will gradually repair and balance your skin’s oil production, which in and of itself makes it totally worth it!
Organic Activated Charcoal Cleanser
This is hands down the best face wash for oily skin. Why? It’s simply the best combination of really strong and really gentle. Activated charcoal is one of the best deep cleansing ingredients ever – it gets deep into your pores and soaks up excess sebum, impurities and other gunk that’s been taking up precious real estate in your skin.
But it’s also 100% natural and does its job without stripping your skin of its natural oils. The result? Less oily skin and a deep cleansing in the short-run as well as balanced, healthy sebum production in the long run. Win win.
We also love that this cleanser is chock full of skin-loving, skin-soothing ingredients that protect and boost your overall skin health all while cutting down on the excess oil!
Christina Moss Organic Face Wash
- ESPECIALLY GREAT FOR THOSE WITH VERY SENSITIVE SKIN: NO harmful chemicals of any kind...
- OUR PRODUCTS ARE CONCENTRATED AND EFFECTIVE: Gently and thoroughly cleanses your skin...
- MADE WITH CERTIFIED ORGANIC ALOE VERA: We only use de-colorized Aloe Vera in our...
Got oily, acne-prone skin? This is the only facial cleanser you’ll ever need. It’s totally gentle and mild with no harsh, irritating ingredients and absolutely no harmful chemicals like sulfates, parabens, dyes, or fragrance that can upset your skin’s pH balance and wreak havoc on your skin in the long run.
Instead, this organic face wash will leave your face feeling super clean while cutting down on oiliness and blemishes – all without drying out your skin.
The sort of cleanser that reduces oiliness and helps your skin grow naturally less oily gradually and gently. Perfect for those with sensitive skin!
La Roche-Posay Effaclar Deep Cleansing Foaming Cream Cleanser for Oily Skin
- Helps deeply cleanse, unclog and shrink pores without over-drying skin
- Transforms into a soft, rich foam which rinses off easily
- Formulated with coco-glucoside, a gentle surfactant
Oily skin and large pores go hand in hand, don’t they. Well, with La Roche-Posay’s Deep Cleansing Foaming Cream they can go hand in hand…to their extermination. This cleanser for oily skin is brilliant for fighting even the heaviest of oils that accumulate on your skin and does a great job providing a thorough cleanse – and pore tightening – without over drying or stripping the skin.
It’s formulated with salicylic acid to break down sebum and gunk within your pores as well as clear and prevent blemishes. Overall, a great cleanser for those with oily acne prone skin!
Beauty by Earth Facial Cleanser
- Fresh face: If dirt, oil, makeup or acne has you down, it's time to try something...
- Take back your complexion: Who says you’ve got to put up with acne, blackheads, and...
- Nix the nasties: Take a look at the leading facial cleansers out there, then look...
Another supremely gentle, natural face wash for oily skin, Beauty by Earth’s facial cleanser is full of ingredients that are hydrate and replenish your skin to reduce oil production in the long run. Each time you wash, you’ll be nourishing your skin with skin soothing ingredients like aloe vera, green tea and calendula as well as rejuvenating ingredients like acai oil and seabuckthorn extract.
Our favorite thing about this cleanser is that it also contains a gentle mix of natural oils like argan oil, which is great for helping your skin cut down on excess sebum production. Overall, this cleanser is packed with a lot of good stuff that targets oily skin in multiple ways!
Desert Essence Thorough Clean Face Wash
- 100% natural skincare - this pure and organic face wash cleans thoroughly and works...
- Healthy skin care - packed with rich, natural extracts of goldenseal, hawaiian white...
- Soothe skin irritations - this skin smoothening organic face wash with mineral-rich...
This one is a cult favorite among folks with oily skin and frequent blemishes. Which is little surprise when you consider that this face wash is a wonderfully natural and fairly gentle cleanser that combines ingredients like castile soap so you can get that squeaky clean feeling without sulfates, tea tree leaf oil to combat blemishes, chamomile and lavender to soothe skin, and bitter orange peel oil and goldenseal root extract to imrpove the texture and clarity of your skin.
The only downside is that the combination of castile soap and tea tree oil can be a little harsher for sensitive skinned beauties. So if that’s you, stay away. But if your skin can handle a bit of tingles and tightness, this just may become your favorite face wash for oily skin!
Best I have ever used is Monsia