Inside our #SOSSkin clinic: tackling an oily t-zone

Watch our tester's verdict on a balancing skincare routine...

Welcome back to our Marie Claire #SOSSkin Clinic! This week, our tester Lucy is trying to balance her skin and reduce the the oiliness that's plagued her since her teens.

When Lucy came into the studio, she'd tried everything from oil-free moisturisers to alcohol-based toners in an attempt to balance her skin, so we decided to try something a little more novel and treat like with like. Lucy therefore left the SOS Clinic with the Sanctuary Spa Therapist’s Secret Facial Oil, which we hoped would trick her skin into producing less oil.

As Lucy’s a new mum, we also charged her with the challenge of grabbing a few minutes to herself in the evenings to apply the oil and the Sanctuary Spa 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask on alternate evenings to give her some much-needed decompression time! Watch the video to see how she got on, and if you have an oily t-zone too, try following the below rules:

1) Don't Overwork Skin. Ploughing on products won’t do your skin any favours if it’s slightly out of sync. Instead, par back to the minimum - cleanse gently, use a good moisturising agent, and apply a mask twice weekly.

2) ... Or Try To Dry It Out. This is a bad idea if you have oily skin - it’ll only overcompensate and start to produce more oil. Instead...

3) Treat Like With Like. Yep - you want to put oil on oil, counterintuitive though it may sound. Once your skin’s recognised that it isn’t being stripped, oil production should slow down.

4) Try A Mask. A detoxifying mask applied twice weekly to oily areas can work wonders. Look for something containing either charcoal or kaolin clay.

5) Cleanse Properly - Not Harshly. Again, if you remove all your skin’s surface oils when cleansing, it’ll respond buy producing more. Use an oil or balm to remove make-up and follow with a wash containing moisturising agents.