at the end of the day I am greasy shine bright like my forehead oil is a natural part of the Skin's biology it keeps us waterproof so we don't fall apart when we take a shower or go swimming it stops pathogens and bacteria from getting into our skin which could do us harm and it also transports nutrients but unfortunately it's also a key component of acne so why does oil cause acne if we do have oily skin what can we do to control it and overall if we want to get rid of breakouts what are our options when it comes to oil [Music] oil I like it in my takeout food but not on my face oil in our skin is actually referred to as sebum and sebum is made up of many different things sebum is made of fatty acids triglycerides squealing waxy Esther and even other compounds that are the results of the metabolic breakdown of what's happening within your skin now all of that sounds super confusing but what you really need to know is that seum is the oil in the the skin seum is actually made right here in the oil gland it's part of the phos sebaceous unit which includes the oil gland and the hair follicle within the skin so why does oil cause acne not everybody who has oily skin has acne well for those who are prone to breakouts it's because the bacteria feeds off of the oil if you remember last week we talked about the P acis or SE acus bacteria that's within our skin this oil is basically food for that bacteria and when the bacteria eats it and breaks it down it creates some inflammatory particles not good inflammation that sits around in the skin the skin recruits help from the rest of the body which we learned about in the inflammation episode and it starts to swell up inside of your face thanks biology but why do some people with oily skin get horrible breakouts and others don't there's a myriad of reasons as to what causes acne again acne is caused by these four main pillars the over production of bacteria a clog that happens within the skin the oil is eaten and the inflammation that surrounds all of that it's kind of this perfect storm and when it comes to oil production specifically lots of factors can impact it the weather in your environment can dictate how oily or dry your skin is so can your diet specific foods that have been studied are high glycemic foods usually those with more sugar or dairy products on top of that your genetics can impact your oil production and of course your hormones you ever noticed that teen teenagers are always prone to breakouts why does that happen teenagers go through puberty it's a huge hormonal change within a person's Lifetime and guess what a lot of those hormonal changes can impact the oil production of your skin which is why puberty is often associated with teenage acne as frustrating as oil can be because it ruins our makeup by the end of the day it can actually be beneficial it's the reason that our skin is somewhat waterproof it's why we don't fall apart when we take a shower or when we go swimming it also transports nutrients like antioxidants and Omega fatty acids throughout the skin and it even helps to keep the top of the skin slightly acidic so that pathogens and bacteria can't get into our body and kill us you know infection we want to avoid that but for those of us who do suffer from breakouts and who have super oily skin what can we do about it the first thing I want you to consider is that your skin is smart if you dry out your skin whether it's through products or through the environment or through something else guess what your skin does it says to itself hey guys we're dry in here we better start producing a bunch of oil so that we can rehydrate oursel now that's pretty smart right the problem is when the skin goes overboard it starts to pump out all that oil the bacteria feeds on it a plug forms which causes this nice ripe breakout yum for some people even though your skin appears oily and greasy it might actually be dry on these deeper layers some people experience transepidermal water loss what does that mean remember from skin Science episode 2 that the epidermis is this portion on the top and the dermis is here at the bottom transepidermal water loss the prefix trans you can think of as Transportation or moving epidermal is this area of the skin and water loss is water loss so water is being lost through this area of the skin this normally comes with compromised barrier function barrier is the barrier in your skin and barrier function is how well it works now if that's compromised maybe you have a condition like eczema maybe the products that you're using aren't right for you or maybe it's just your genetics that can cause moisture to be lost from these deeper layers of the skin and be let out where it shouldn't be someone who suffers from this naturally might have skin that overproduces oil and unfortunately the problem just isn't being fixed we're going to talk in a future skin Science episode about how to figure out what your skin type is because there's a really cool shower trick that you can do but at the end of the day remember that some oily skin is actually dry skin in Disguise this is why for some people with acne moisturizers are so essential because they can help give the skin the moisture so it says hey we can relax here we don't have to freak out anymore on top of that a lot of acne products can be drying if you've ever used a drying Spot Treatment something with benzol peroxide or over-the-counter retinols like tretinoin um or if you've been on a prescription such as Accutane or another isotretinoin product those can be very beneficial but they can also really dry out the skin this is why moisturizer can be super helpful now there's also retinol and retinol which you might have heard of before these are derivatives of vitamin A and they can be super powerful within the skin we're going to talk about retinol in a future skin Science episode as well but what you need to know is that retinoic acid is the most powerful usually by prescription only retin aldhy is a step down retinol is a step down from that and all of these are a derivative of vitamin A there are also synthetic products which mimic retinoids such as adapalene gel you might have seen it in differin any of these products can be super helpful they can dry out the skin so you probably want to use a moisturizer if it's recommended by an aesthetician or a dermatologist and you do want to be careful but these actually work by going into the skin they go into the deep layers of the dermis and they actually coat this follicle when they go inside here they stop the skin from overproducing oil isot troid which is the generic name for acutane is also a derivative from vitamin A and it can be helpful for people who suffer with acne and extremely oily skin the way it works is by actually changing the DNA inside of this sebaceous unit stopping your skin from having the ability to produce so much oil for some people this is life-changing other people have had issues such as headaches possible depression and drying of joints but at the same time this is a strong prescription medication that can help many people you should talk to your doctor about it and you should subscribe and hit the notification Bell because a future skin Science episode on Accutane is going to be here soon outside of products and prescriptions there are dietary factors two of the most commonly studied are the high glycemic index Foods mainly sugar and simple carbohydrates but also Dairy things like milk and compounds like whey and cian so what is this igf-1 it's essentially a protein and it's made up of 70 amino acids if you remember amino acids assemble into peptides which assemble into proteins and this igf-1 protein looks a lot like insulin and sometimes your body gets confused igf-1 is naturally made in the liver and guess what it's really good for your body it has mechanisms in protein synthesis for your body's overall health and well-being although this is a great compound unfortunately as with other things in our body stuff can go wrong and for those who are super sensitive to igf-1 or other hormones within the body they can be a trigger for breakouts if igf-1 levels get too high they can actually cause changes in your genes if these igf levels are too high and if your body is sensitive to it it can cause increased oil production it can cause disruptions or disturbances within your hormones and of course it can cause acne lesions and breakouts the two food groups that have been most studied when it comes to igf-1 our Dairy and again those high glycemic foods now what is high glycemic that gets a little bit more into nutrition but essentially it's a group of foods that raises your blood sugar level very quickly this includes processed sugars and processed grains things like cakes cookies french fries and even something like a baked potato or a really sugary Starbucks latte another group that has been shown to raise igf-1 levels is dairy specifically milk milk has many different compounds such as whey cian and ques Morphin quom morphine kind of sounds like morphine doesn't it it's because they're related either way these compounds within milk can start to raise that igf-1 and for sensitive individuals can cause things like oil production and acne breakouts now that to say that not everybody who eats these Foods is going to get acne breakouts these foods are not necessarily causational but they can be related and in my personal acne journey I found that cutting out Dairy was huge for me and when I eat sugars I like to do them in the form of fresh fruits if you feel that certain foods might be breaking you out you might want to try an elimination diet or talk to a doctor or a physician about what your options are lastly genetics can cause this some people are just naturally oily and in General Studies have shown that it helps people age better because it leaves the skin more elastic and fresh looking and some people say it even makes you look younger so yay and as frustrating as it can be there are prescription and over-the-counter products we've talked about that can help mitigate this at the end of the day a knowledge is power and in skin science that's what we try to do in the next coming weeks we have some really exciting posts such as how to mix your skincare ingredients are you wasting money and ruining your skin because of the order of products you're using that video will help you find out we're also going to dive into ingredients such as retinol and acutane and of course talk about the main skin types and how to figure out what yours really is in the meantime here is a refresher on the four main building blocks of acne and here's a really fun one on the bacteria what this oil eats so remember that skin science is every Saturday at 11:00 a.m. use your motor neurons to tickle that like button and hit subscribe and the notification Bell so you don't miss it and always remember to be beautiful inside and out stay hydrated and I'll see you next Saturday 8 11 on skin science [Music]