Fashion

Struggles Only People With Oily Skin Will Get

by Miki Hayes
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They say the grass is always greener on the other side, and I'm not one to argue (on occasion). So while, as someone who has had oily skin her whole life, I still wouldn't wish for dry or normal skin, I won't deny that there are some annoying struggles of having oily skin. Of course, there are also plenty of reasons having oily skin is the best — like never needing to buy highlighter. But when we're not in the mood for having that "natural glow," our skin can feel more like an oil slick. Gross.

And when our faces just feel like they're constantly melting off, the drama of it all can make us question what's even the point of wearing makeup or repeatedly trying to blot? Sometimes it seems like having oily skin was the result of our drawing the short, epidermal stick in life. Hey, at least we'll age well without needing to splurge on skincare. But even though I like to think that the positives outweigh the negatives, sometimes the struggle just feels too real. You know what I mean. Here are 10 of them that those of us with oily skin know all too well.

1. Limited Makeup Options

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Want to wear cream products? How about a dewy-finish foundation? If it's humid outside, or if you plan on doing anything other than sitting very still all day, it's usually just out of the question.

2. Having To Layer All The Mattifying Products

Miki Hayes

You have all of the mattifying treatments, moisturizers, sprays, primers, foundations, and powders. And when you use them, it seems like your face should be set to face the day shine-free.... but if you're lucky it'll last for a couple of hours. And you'll probably still have to blot.

3. Remembering To Carry Around A Blotting Arsenal

Miki Hayes

Speaking of blotting: Because it's a necessity, the bottom of your purse is probably littered with blotting papers and powder compacts. You really can never have too many, because you basically need them all. But in case you forget to bring something to blot with, you know that Starbucks napkins and toilet-seat covers are your friends.

4. Baby Hairs And Bangs Sticking To Your Face

They say washing your hair only once a week is good for you, but there's no way your greasy face would ever allow your hair to remain dry enough for that. And if you have bangs? Forget about even trying to go every other day. Any hair that touches your face is stuck. You might as well have applied lip gloss to your entire face.

5. Grease Smears On Your Phone

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Oh yeah, anything your face touches turns to oil. Which is why you usually prefer to text. If you have to take a call though, you know you're going to need to break out the Bounty to wipe off as much oil from your phone as possible afterwards.

6. That Selfie Glare

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Photographers say to find your light, but those of us with oily skin know we need to block as much light as possible. Because on top of those 50 shots it usually takes to find the perfect selfie, oily-skinned gals need an extra 50 to find the perfect angle where our faces aren't just reflecting everything in front of us. What's the point of essentially having a built-in mirror on our faces if we can't even use it?

7. Constant Breakouts And Large Pores

Miki Hayes

Unfortunately, excess oil production usually means having larger pores and more breakouts. So adding to our arsenals of mattifying products are also pore fillers and every acne medication under the sun. Yeah, we know a thing or two about salicylic acid versus benzoyl peroxide.

8. People Touching Your Face

Even if it's endearing or someone you love, most times we just don't want other people to touch our faces. Our face skin isn't like the skin on our bodies, and there's just something about the idea of someone else spreading around the oil on your face and getting your oil all over their hands that is seriously unappetizing.

9. Awkward Combination Skin

One of the worst things though, is when oily skin turns into combination skin. And I don't mean our cheeks become dry and our T-zones stay oily. More like, we still have oil everywhere, only we now also have dry, flaky skin underneath it all. Like, what are we even supposed to do at that point?

10. Oily Eyes

Oily skin is bad enough, but oily eyelids are on a whole other level. Not only does it make wearing eyeshadow more difficult (show of hands: who's still waiting for that miracle eyeshadow primer that actually makes shadows last all day?), but by the end of the day, it feels weird to even blink. And to top it all off, sometimes that oil actually gets in our eyes and burns. Not cool.

Even though it can seem like our oily skin is trying to sabotage us now, just remember that it'll help us out in the long run. I still wouldn't trade it for anything.

Images: Rattleray/Fotolia; Miki Hayes (3); Michael Campanella/Getty Images, Sean Gallup/Getty Images, Leon Neal/Getty Images; Lyuba Burakova/Stocksy, Manu Prats/Stocksy, Milles Studio/Stocksy, ALTO IMAGES/Stocksy