I always feel that men are greasy, but why are men's faces more oily?

Sometimes I have to sigh that it is not easy for men. It is okay to have a lot of acne during adolescence, but after finally reaching adulthood, they are labeled as "greasy". It is too heartbreaking, so men need more skin care. So why do men's faces get oilier? Let's talk about this issue today.

01 Why do men’s faces tend to become oily?

As shown below, when the sebum content of men and women's faces was tested, it can be seen that there are significant differences in the content, with men's sebum content being significantly higher than women's [1].

Speaking of sebum secretion, it is one of the basic characteristics of skin metabolism. It is mainly produced by sebaceous glands distributed between hair follicles and arrector pili muscles. It contains many components such as wax, triglycerides, free fatty acids, phospholipids, sterols, etc. Sebum secretion itself is a kind of protection for the skin. It is used to moisturize the skin and can also serve as a certain source of nutrition for skin microorganisms.

However, if sebum is secreted excessively, it may cause skin pores to become clogged. In addition, sebum itself can also secrete fat-soluble metabolic waste that the body does not need. At this time, if there is too much sebum, it may be harmful to the skin itself. Both acne during puberty and oily skin later are related to it.

02 Men seem to have thicker skin than women? ?

Skin thickness itself has a certain impact on skin physiology and skin care. When caring for the skin, skin care products need to penetrate into the skin to work. Therefore, skin thickness will pose a challenge to the skin care products themselves. It is not just a matter of dosage, but also includes the physical and chemical properties of the skin care products themselves.

However, the study found that there is still a significant difference in skin thickness between men and women.

For example, the figure below shows the results of measuring the skin thickness of different parts of men and women using high frequency ultrasonography (HFUS) with different frequencies (50 and 20 MHz) [2].

It can be seen that, in general, men's skin is thicker than women's skin, which also makes it more difficult to clean and care for men's skin.

However, many boys are not used to skin care and always think that it is enough to just clean it casually. Those who are more delicate use facial cleansers, while those who want to save trouble directly use soap or sulfur soap, or just wash with water and forget about it. As for skin care, many people don't care about it at all. As a result, the proportion of men with skin problems is quite high.

03 What characteristics should men’s skin care products have?

In fact, in recent years, many companies have realized the importance of men's skin care and have developed some skin care products specifically for men. So what functions do men's skin care products need to have?

1. Moisturizing. Moisturizing is very familiar to many people, and for men, moisturizing is more important because men's skin is more prone to water loss. Experiments have confirmed that the transepidermal water loss rate of men is significantly higher than that of women.

As a result, the water content of men's stratum corneum is significantly lower than that of women. As shown in the following study, the water content of men's stratum corneum is lower than that of women, whether on the cheeks or forehead. Therefore, moisturizing is the first factor, and a healthier barrier can better lock in moisture.

2. Brightening. After basic cleansing and deep hydration, brightening is an indispensable part of skin care. In terms of skin glossiness, men's glossiness is generally lower than that of women.

Because of this, many times we feel that men have darker and duller skin than women, and this is not just a personal opinion, but has a basis in reality.

Therefore, men should pay more attention to brightening their skin.

Therefore, fellow males, you cannot always ignore common male skin characteristics such as oily skin and "rough skin". Otherwise, if it continues for a long time, it will cause skin problems and the result will be counterproductive.

1. Yang Yanfang. Research and application of physiological parameters of male facial skin[D]. Shanghai University of Technology, 2020.DOI:10.27801/d.cnki.gshyy.2020.000373.

2. Firooz, A., A. Rajabi‐Estarabadi, H. Zartab, N. Pazhohi, F. Fanian, and L. Janani. "The influence of gender and age on the thickness and echo‐density of skin." Skin Research and Technology 23, no. 1 (2017): 13-20.

3. Mahé, YF, R. Martin, L. Aubert, N. Billoni, C. Collin, F. Pruche, P. Bastien, SS Drost, AT Lane, and A. Meybeck. "Induction of the skin endogenous protective mitochondrial MnSOD by Vitreoscilla filiformis extract." International journal of cosmetic science 28, no. 4 (2006): 277-287.

4. Li Li, Huang Jun, Zhang Dawei, O. Jammayrac, P. Bastien, M. Carpentier, L. Aubert. Evaluation of the efficacy and tolerance of 1% Vitreoscilla linearis cream on sensitive skin of Chinese women[J]. Chinese Journal of Medical Aesthetics and Cosmetology, 2006(04):195-197.