Vitamins For Oily Skin: Which Ones Reduce Oiliness?

If you have a naturally oily complexion, most likely you have tried a range of products and solutions to try to eliminate the issue with varying results. If so, you should know that modifying your diet to include plenty of vitamins for oily skin can have a significant impact, as can using skincare products that include some of these key nutrients.

Whatever the cause of your greasy complexion, excess production of sebum from the sebaceous glands can clog the pores and cause acne breakouts. However, some of the nutrients that are available in common foods and high-level skincare can promote a more balanced complexion for optimal skin health. 

In this article, we’ll explain how to reduce the oiliness of your complexion by including key vitamins - and a few important minerals - in your diet and daily skincare regimen.

How to Pick the Right Vitamins For You

There are a number of vitamins that play a key role in reducing an oily complexion by lessening inflammation and providing antioxidants that fix damage to the skin. The repair and decrease in swelling can help prevent excess oil production and breakouts. Antioxidants also protect from damaging UV rays which can lead to excess oil production and make sebum more likely to clog your pores.

In addition, many vitamins stimulate the release of additional collagen, which tightens the skin to smooth lines and acne scars and may also help slow sebum production. This can prevent clogged pores and decrease the chances that acne will develop.

Adding an antioxidant serum with specific vitamins to your twice-daily skincare regimen can significantly reduce oil production for clearer, more balanced skin. For example, Ace Ferulic contains Vitamins C, E, B3, and B5, all of which have powerful healing properties that can protect the skin and prevent the release of added oils.

Vitamins That Reduce Skin Oiliness

While vitamins and nutrients are generally very effective at promoting skin health and reducing the release of extra oil, each has its own specific properties and benefits. Find the right vitamins to reduce sebum production in this section, plus several minerals that you may want to consider too.

Vitamin E

One of the most potent vitamins for skin health, Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that repairs damage to the skin barrier, decreases inflammation, soothes the complexion, and can contribute to decreasing acne breakouts. The repair of damage may help slow oil production to prevent further breakouts.

Vitamin E also strengthens the skin barrier, and it promotes the production of collagen and elastin to tighten the complexion, improve elasticity, and smooth wrinkles and lines. The added collagen makes Vitamin E one of the ingredients which could slow oil production.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A, or retinoids, are easily absorbed by the skin and have powerful benefits including exfoliating the complexion to remove dead skin cells, dirt, and oil and unclog the pores. This prevents excess sebum production from being released from the sebaceous glands and can decrease the risk of developing acne breakouts.

Retinoids also stimulate collagen production, tightening the skin, smoothing wrinkles, lines, and acne scars, shrinking the oil glands and pores, and slowing excess oil production. Vitamin A decreases swelling and inflammation on the skin which can also reduce the effects of acne.

You can find retinoids in many skincare products on the market, and you can also derive them from foods such as fish, eggs, salmon, and beef. 

Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)

Niacinamide is the ultimate vitamin for the health of the skin, and you should use products with this ingredient for a range of purposes including balancing an oily complexion. Vitamin B3 is a powerful antioxidant that repairs cellular damage and destroys damaging free radicals.

It can boost the production of ceramides, which are part of the outer layer of your skin that help form a barrier to keep in moisture. Niacinamide is considered a highly effective treatment for preventing and reducing acne due to its powerful anti-inflammatory properties which decrease swelling and redness. In addition, research indicates that this vitamin can slow the production of sebum to reduce an oily complexion.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is known as the sunshine nutrient, as it is largely produced by exposure to the sun. Considered a great mood booster, did you know that it’s also highly effective at slowing oil production in the skin? This key nutrient prevents insulin resistance, balancing levels in the body. As excess insulin can cause excess sebum production, it has a significant impact on preventing excess oiliness. 

There’s a strong link between Vitamin D and acne, with research showing that low levels may increase its severity. This nutrient has potent anti-inflammatory properties which can significantly decrease swelling and redness on the complexion, and it also includes antimicrobial agents which destroy the harmful microbes that can cause the condition. 

While Vitamin D is often derived from the sun, you should also consider taking a supplement to make sure your levels are adequate. In addition, look for this ingredient in skincare products. You can also derive it from specific foods, such as salmon, sardines, beef liver, and some dairy products.

Vitamin C

The powerful antioxidant Vitamin C has potent benefits for oily skin and for the complexion and in general, repairing the skin barrier, decreasing inflammation and redness to help prevent acne breakouts, and slowing the production of the pigment melanin to reduce age spots and hyperpigmentation. 

Vitamin C also protects the complexion from harmful environmental agents like the sun’s UV rays, which could otherwise cause damage to the skin and may exacerbate excess oil production by dehydrating the complexion. It helps to unclog the pores, removing excess oil, dirt, and dead skin cells to prevent acne breakouts.

Look for skincare products that include Vitamin C, especially if you have an oily complexion. In addition, include Vitamin C-rich foods in your diet to promote clear, glowing skin that shines with good health instead of oil.

Minerals

As mentioned, there are several minerals that can significantly improve skin health including selenium, copper, magnesium, and calcium, and many of them can help slow excess oil production.

Minerals like magnesium, selenium, and copper are high in antioxidants which repair damage to the skin barrier and protect from the damaging UV rays that can dehydrate the complexion and cause excess oil production. 

Copper also boosts collagen production, which firms the skin, smooths fine lines and wrinkles, and could slow the release of sebum. Calcium plays a key role in keeping sebum levels in optimal balance and there is research indicating that it may decrease acne breakouts. 

Zinc

However, if you had to choose just one mineral to use when combating oily skin, it would be zinc. 

Supplementing with zinc, consuming zinc-rich foods like beef and chicken, or using products that include this key nutrient can help reduce oil production by decreasing levels of male hormones like androgens. This may slow the release of sebum from the glands, for less oily skin and a lower likelihood of developing clogged pores.

Zinc also has powerful sun protection properties which prevent harmful UV rays from causing further damage to the complexion. The sun’s rays may also dehydrate the skin leading to excess oil production, and zinc helps prevent this. It also has anti-inflammatory benefits which can reduce redness and inflammation, and anti-bacterial properties that can kill harmful acne-causing bacteria on the skin.

Alternative Tips To Avoid Oily Skin

In addition to including a healthy dose of vitamins and minerals in your diet and skincare products, there are several other tips you can follow to decrease excess oil production in your skin. A few simple modifications to your daily care can make a huge difference in promoting a clear complexion with a healthy balance of oils.

Follow a Proper Skincare Routine

No matter what your skin type, you should always follow a twice-daily skincare routine to promote optimal health. If you have an oily complexion, a daily skincare regimen can do a lot to slow the production of excess oil, unclog the pores, and prevent breakouts.

In the morning and evening, cleanse and tone your skin to remove excess oil, sweat, dead skin cells, and oils from the complexion and unclog the pores. Follow up with a vitamin-rich serum and a hydrating moisturizer, as dry skin could lead to excess oil production.

Once or twice a week you should exfoliate, to deeply unclog pores and prevent excess sebum production. During the day, always add a strong SPF sunscreen to protect your complexion from the effects of damaging UV rays which could damage the skin, lead to dryness, and promote the release of excess oil.

Cleanse Daily 

Cleansing your skin twice daily with a gentle, non-comedogenic natural formula free of harmful preservatives and additives is an excellent way to keep excess oil production in check. It removes dirt and dead cells from the pores and the skin’s surface and soothes the complexion.

If you have oily skin make sure to cleanse gently, without excess rubbing or scrubbing which could strip the complexion of key oils and lead to the overproduction of sebum. Do not make the mistake of over-cleansing, which could have the same effect. Once first thing in the morning and again before you go to sleep is more than enough to balance oil production.

Utilize Oil-free Skin Products

If you have oily skin, it’s especially important to choose your skincare products and cosmetics carefully, making sure they are oil-free. Select water-based instead of oil-based formulas which won’t clog your pores with excess grease and exacerbate the condition. This pertains to both skincare and makeup, as foundations, primers, and other products are often high in oils that could lead to breakouts.

FAQs

Question #1 - Which vitamin is good for oily skin?

Some vitamins for oily skin control can repair skin damage, decrease inflammation, destroy damaging bacteria on the complexion, and help slow sebum production in the skin to prevent and reduce acne breakouts. Some of the best vitamins for this purpose include Vitamins A, C, D, and B3, as well as several minerals such as zinc, copper, calcium, and selenium.

Question #2 - Do multivitamins help oily skin?

While some multivitamins may be effective as an oily skin supplement to slow sebum production as well as promote general skin health, however, you have to choose your supplement very carefully to ensure that it only includes certain key vitamins like A, C, E, B3, and D and avoids nutrients like Vitamins B6, B12, iodine, and biotin. These vitamins and minerals may increase the production of sebum, leading to oily skin and elevating your chances of developing acne breakouts. 

Question #3 - Can certain vitamins cause oily skin?

Not every vitamin or mineral reduces sebum production and prevents oily skin, and in fact, some can have the opposite effect. Vitamins B6 and B12 are particularly problematic in this way, as they may lead to excess oil production and create breakouts. In fact, there’s evidence to suggest that B12 could feed acne-producing bacteria to exacerbate the condition. 

Other nutrients you should avoid if you have oily skin include iodine and biotin, which can lead directly to sebum release, contributing to clogging the pores and exacerbating or creating acne.

Question #4 - What vitamin deficiency causes oily skin?

The research shows that a deficiency in specific key vitamins can lead to an overproduction of sebum, including a lack of certain B vitamins like B2 and B3. Low levels of these nutrients can cause tremendous damage to the complexion, including dry, cracked skin which could lead to added oil production, acne and breakouts, redness, and inflammation. It can also make your skin more sensitive to environmental threats such as UV rays.

In addition, Vitamins C and D help control sebum production, so low levels can cause excess oil and increase the chances of developing clogged pores and acne breakouts.

Conclusion

When it comes to skincare in general, many vitamins and minerals have properties that help boost the health of the complexion, repair damage to the skin barrier, reduce inflammation, and promote collagen production for a tighter complexion with fewer wrinkles and fine lines. 

Many of these nutrients help slow the release of excess sebum from the sebaceous glands for less oil production and more balanced skin. You can derive these vitamins and minerals from the foods that you eat or from supplements, and many of them are also included in skincare products that you should include in your daily regimen to promote a clear, acne-free complexion.

The Solvaderm collection contains a high-quality selection of skincare products that are rich in vitamins and minerals. These nutrients boost the health of the complexion and can also slow excess oil production and prevent greasy skin and breakouts. If your complexion is oily, browse our products to put together your new power routine for healthy, clear, balanced skin.