PSA: You Can Change The Oil Composition In Your Skin — Here's How

This might come as a surprise, but you can't actually change your skin type with products. Sure, your skin's texture and tone may fluctuate throughout the seasons (i.e., you can expect some dryness during a cold, brittle winter), as does your skin evolve as you age or with hormone fluctuations. But your true, foundational skin type? It's fairly locked in.

Especially for those with oily skin: The skin type largely depends on genetics—sometimes people simply have larger sebaceous glands (a fancy word for pores) that can easily produce oil on overdrive. 

First things first: Oily skin isn't a bad thing. Those healthy lipids on the surface of your skin contain ceramides, fatty acids, and other crucial elements to retain moisture and protect your skin barrier. When it's balanced, you might find the oil is totally manageable—reminiscent of a healthy glow—even though your skin is still technically "oilier" than others'. 

So how do you change your oil composition back to the glowy, healthy lipids you love? When you hydrate your skin, it actually produces different kinds of oils, says Yoon—the lipids that make your skin look supple and dewy, never greasy. What's more, supplying your skin with some much-needed hydration can even reduce some of that excess sebum (read: dehydrated skin can respond with even more oil production, in a twisted turn of events).

But the real kicker here is the change in composition—instead of thick, yellowish, and greasy, it's clear and makes your skin look plump. "It's not just less," Yoon explains. "The oil composition feels different. Some of my clients will say, 'I still have oily skin. It just feels better.'"