It’s completely understandable that, based on the pizza-grease look you’ve been sporting, you’d want to utilize a moisturizer that’s oil-free. Your skin is producing sufficient oil already, so why add more, right? The reality is that when it comes to keeping the skin on your face fit, it’s all about balance. Your efforts to reduce the grease might actually be making things worse!

Your face secretes a defensive barrier of oil called the acid mantle. When the acid mantle is exposed away through cleansing, your skin’s response is to produce extra oil to compensate for the defeat. So if you’re washing your face and then putting on an oil-free moisturizer, you’re not replenishing the oil washed absent by cleansing, causing your skin to boot out more oil to make up for the loss. The effect? A greasy-feeling face.

Now that you know your skin wishes a certain amount of oil, the trick is to find the right equilibrium. Although it seems counterintuitive, one of the greatest ways to help bring your skin into balance is to use straight-up oil as a moisturizer. I can hear the group gasp of horror from all you oily-skinned, oil-free moisturizer-loving readers not in there, but trust me! A pair drop of facial oil smoothed onto damp skin will absorb speedily and give your skin what it needs to maintain its acid mantle intact. Since it’s already good and moist, your skin won’t sense the need to produce a bunch of additional oil. Over time, this moisture-delivery technique will help your skin control its oil production so well that you can lastly look in the mirror without being blinded by the glare off your forehead.