Harsh surfactants clear oil for about two hours and then prompt the skin to produce more of it, which is the loop most oily skin is stuck in. The best face wash for oily skin interrupts that instead of feeding it. Gel and foaming formulas do this better than bar soap. The astringent era did real damage to a generation of oily skin and the category is still apologising for it. Stripping as a strategy has been discredited for years and still sells.

Salicylic acid works inside the pore, niacinamide moderates output over weeks, and clay absorbs on contact. None of them need to sting to be working. Any face wash that leaves skin tight has overshot. Niacinamide moved from a specialist ingredient to a supermarket one in about five years, which is unusually fast for something with actual evidence behind it. Oil regulation is the claim it best supports.

Wash twice a day and resist the urge to add a third. A third face wash is the most common self-inflicted skin problem there is. Steady beats aggressive. Over-cleansing is the most common self-inflicted skin problem in the category. Two is the number.