Best Gel Cleansers for Oily Skin 2022
Gel cleansers are popular cleansing agents for facial skin for people of all skin types. However, many gel cleansers are chock-full of synthetic chemicals or additives that are harmful to your skin or that may cause long-term side effects.
Because of this, it can be tough to find the best gel cleansers for oily skin in 2022. We’re here to break down some of the best natural ingredients to look for.
While these natural ingredients may not guarantee that a given gel cleanser will work for your skin, they’ll be better picks than gel cleansers with chemical additives that could cause skin dryness, allergic reactions, and more.
What Makes a Good Gel Cleanser for Oily Skin?
Oily skin is one of the four major types of skin; the other three are dry, combination, and acne-prone. Millions of people have oily skin, which means that their skin produces more natural skin oil called sebum.
Normally, sebum helps to moisturize and hydrate the skin and prevents your skin from drying out too much, even in a dry environment or during a cold winter day. But too much skin oil can also lead to an unpleasant skin texture or other effects like blemishes, which may occur when the skin's pores are clogged by sebum, dirt, and bacteria.
Gel cleansers are often used to clear away excess skin oil without getting rid of so much sebum that the skin dries out as a result. Many gel cleansers can also clear away dirt and bacteria from within the skin’s pores.
While all gel cleansers may accomplish these basic objectives, only those using specific ingredients are overall healthy for your skin and the environment. The best gel cleansers will use:
- Natural, safe ingredients
- Ingredients that don’t stand a risk of drying out your skin too quickly
Natural Ingredients to Watch For
With that in mind, let’s take a look at six natural ingredients you should check for in the next gel cleanser you pick up.
Salicylic Acid
First up is salicylic acid, which you may recognize from other skin cleansing products. Salicylic acid is one of the best skin cleansing elements and is particularly great for getting rid of excess oil from your skin.
That’s because it’s a beta hydroxy acid, which means it can clear away the top layer of skin (including dead skin cells) without affecting the skin layers underneath. In this way, it’s both cleansing and refreshing without being so abrasive or dangerous that you run the risk of irritating your skin.
As a plus, salicylic acid is generally safe for the skin barrier when used in moderate amounts.
Glycolic Acid
Next is glycolic acid, which is another common skin cleansing acid. But unlike salicylic acid, glycolic acid is an alpha hydroxy acid, which means it has slightly different properties. Glycolic acid is typically derived from sugarcane, so it’s usually organic (when used in a gel cleanser from a reputable company, of course).
You can find glycolic acid in moisturizers, toners, and cleansers because of its penetrating effects. In this way, glycolic acid can help clear oil from your skin and penetrate deep into the pores.
In many cases, glycolic acid could be the best natural ingredient if you have acne-prone skin, as it may reduce the likelihood of sebum build-up in the pores and act as a suitable exfoliator at the same time.
Hope Health’s Cleanse gel cleanser contains glycolic acid alongside lycopene and algae to help improve the overall texture and appearance of the skin.
Benzoyl Peroxide
You may wish to look for benzoyl peroxide, which is a common and effective exfoliating agent. As an exfoliating agent, benzoyl peroxide scrapes away dead skin cells, top-layer dirt and debris, and excess sebum from the skin.
However, benzoyl peroxide has to be used sparingly and in small amounts because it’s an exfoliating agent. If you use too much benzyl peroxide, you could experience skin dryness or redness.
It might be a good idea to speak to a dermatologist before using a gel cleanser with benzoyl peroxide, as they'll be able to tell you whether your skin is too sensitive or not to use this ingredient. If you do have a mild reaction, it could be due to discomfort, at which point you’ll need to use another topical skin cream or take a supplement with soothing effects.
Niacinamide
Niacinamide is a form of vitamin B3, which is vital for skin health overall. Naturally, niacinamide helps to control how much sebum your skin produces. It’s easy to imagine how this could affect your skin’s overall oil levels over time.
If you already have blemishes on oily skin, gel cleansers with niacinamide could help to reduce acne flare ups or their severity. Some niacinamide applied to the skin may also calm down your skin’s pores, preventing them from producing as much sebum as before.
Note, however, that niacinamide can cause allergic reactions if you are vulnerable to this compound. Because of this, it’s recommended to only apply a little bit of any gel cleanser with niacinamide on your skin at first to see if you have a negative reaction before spreading it around.
Retinol
Then there's retinol: a skincare compound frequently mentioned for its ability to help you age gracefully. Retinol is a derivative of vitamin A.
More importantly, it may help reduce dead skin cell buildup on the skin. This doesn’t directly contribute to lower levels of skin oil, but it may stop your skin from producing access sebum to get rid of those extra skin cells.
Put another way; retinol could be a good anti-oil choice for long-term treatment, not for getting rid of facial oil in the short term.
Hyaluronic Acid
Last but not least, there’s hyaluronic acid. This compound also doesn’t remove oil directly, but it does moisturize your skin.
This is effective because many people with oily skin actually have naturally dry skin, and then their skin cells compensate by producing access sebum. If you properly moisturize your skin, you might not experience oily skin in the first place.
As a plus side, hyaluronic acid is beneficial to the skin for long-term moisturization and great for improving your skin’s feel and look as well. This could be especially important during the winter months, as winter usually brings less humidity to the air and could exacerbate any dry skin issues you are vulnerable to.
Summary
Gel cleansers are an important part of skin health if you have overly oily skin, but they’re only part of the solution. You also need to make sure your body has all the vitamins and minerals it needs for overall wellness – which means you may need some natural, organic supplements to meet your nutritional benchmarks.
Fortunately, Hope Health has just the online store for you. We offer several well-rounded, healthy supplements for long-term health, and each offering is made with your health in mind from the get-go. Check out our supplements today!
Sources:
Salicylic acid | HOC6H4COOH | NCBI