VISIBLE PORE REFINEMENT
Pores minimised by up to -44% in 28 days
GENTLE ENZYMATIC RENEWAL
Papain and Bromelain enzymes dissolve the bond holding dead skin cells on — no scrubbing, no micro-tears
TARGETED OIL CONTROL
Kaolin absorbs excess sebum and refines pores
PURIFY & FORTIFY
Australian Pink Clay detoxifies and refines pores, while Niacinamide strengthens the barrier
Jump to
Wild Pandanus Exfoliating Enzyme Cleansing Grains
Lemon Myrtle BHA Refining Organic Cleansing Oil
Ultra Gentle Australian Clay Exfoliating Cleanser for Inflamed Skin
Clear Skin Botanical Cleansing Oil
Centipeda and Manuka Honey B+ Refining Toner
Wild-Harvested Kakadu Plum Vitamin C Serum
Phyto-A+ Australian Native Tobacco Serum
Australian Botanicals Pro-Aging Treatment Concentrate Serum - FORTIFIED with B3, B5 and Hyaluronic Acid
Wild Rosella Hydrating Moisturiser
Centipeda and Snowflower Australian Clay Mask
Post-Workout Australian Clay Detox Mask
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The Essentials
Wild Rosella Hydrating Moisturiser
Lemon Myrtle BHA Refining Organic Cleansing Oil
Centipeda and Manuka Honey B+ Refining Toner
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15% OFF
The Complete Routine
Wild Rosella Hydrating Moisturiser
Phyto-A+ Australian Native Tobacco Serum
Lemon Myrtle BHA Refining Organic Cleansing Oil
Centipeda and Manuka Honey B+ Refining Toner
Ultra Gentle Australian Clay Exfoliating Cleanser for Inflamed Skin
The Full Ritual
Wild-Harvested Kakadu Plum Vitamin C Serum
Wild Rosella Hydrating Moisturiser
Wild Pandanus Exfoliating Enzyme Cleansing Grains
Phyto-A+ Australian Native Tobacco Serum
Lemon Myrtle BHA Refining Organic Cleansing Oil
Centipeda and Manuka Honey B+ Refining Toner
Ultra Gentle Australian Clay Exfoliating Cleanser for Inflamed Skin
Post-Workout Australian Clay Detox Mask
Your clarifying ritual
A balanced morning and evening routine designed to refine congestion, support clearer-looking skin and help regulate excess oil without over-cleansing.
Why stripping oily skin makes it oilier
Your skin has a lipid layer on the surface whose job is to stop water escaping. A foaming cleanser that leaves you squeaky has removed it. Water then evaporates from the layers underneath, the skin registers that it is losing moisture, and it responds the only way it knows how — by producing more oil.
So you wash again. And it produces more. Most people have been running this loop for years, and every step of it feels like the right thing to do.
The way out is counterintuitive: clean less aggressively, hydrate more, and let the barrier settle. Oil production usually calms down within a few weeks once the skin stops thinking it is under attack.
Oily, or dehydrated? A lot of people are both
Skin that is shiny by lunchtime but feels tight after cleansing is not simply oily. It is dehydrated, and over-producing oil to compensate. The tightness is the real problem and the shine is the symptom.
The test is simple. Genuinely oily skin feels comfortable after cleansing, just shiny. Dehydrated-and-oily skin feels tight first, then goes shiny a few hours later. If that is you, adding a stronger cleanser will make it worse every time. Add water instead.
The four things people call breakouts
1. Blackheads
Open pores congested with oil and dead skin cells. Their dark colour comes from oxidation, not dirt, so harsh scrubbing offers little benefit.
What helps: BHA to target congestion within the pore, alongside gentle enzyme exfoliation. Consistency is key.
2. Whiteheads and closed congestion
Oil and dead skin cells trapped beneath the surface, creating small bumps often felt across the forehead or chin.
What helps: gentle, consistent exfoliation and avoiding overly heavy formulas. Improvement takes time.
3. The occasional spot
Congestion that has become inflamed. Red, raised, sore for a few days, then gone. Everyone gets them. The single most useful thing you can do is leave it alone — squeezing turns a spot that would have cleared in a week into a brown mark that stays for six months.
4. Persistent inflammatory breakouts
Deep, painful, recurring, sometimes scarring. This is a medical condition, not a skincare problem, and skincare is not the answer to it. See the note at the end of this section.
- Blackheads are not dirt. They are oxidised sebum. No amount of scrubbing, steaming or pore-stripping removes them properly, and all three damage the skin around them.
- Oily skin still needs moisturiser. Skipping it is the single most common reason oily skin stays oily. Hydration and oil are not the same thing.
- Oil cleansers do not cause breakouts. Oil dissolves oil. A well-formulated cleansing oil lifts sebum out of a pore far more effectively than a foaming cleanser that only works on the surface.
- Swap the foaming cleanser. This one change does more than anything else on the list. If your skin squeaks, the cleanser is the problem.
- Cleanse once a day with product, not twice. At night, properly, with a double cleanse. In the morning, water.
- BHA, because it is oil-soluble. It can travel into a pore filled with sebum in a way that water-soluble acids cannot.
- Enzymes instead of scrubs. Papain and Bromelain dissolve the bond holding dead cells on. Grit tears the skin and inflames it, which is how congestion becomes a mark.
- Clay, weekly, not daily. Kaolin absorbs genuinely excess sebum. Used every day it strips, and you are back in the loop.
- Niacinamide. Strengthens the barrier, which is the thing that is actually broken.
- Hands off. Every squeeze costs you months. This is the cheapest advice on the page and the hardest to follow.
- Foaming cleansers and anything that leaves skin squeaky. The cause, not the cure.
- Alcohol-based astringents. They degrease the surface for an hour and trigger more oil for the rest of the day.
- Scrubs, pore strips and steaming. None of them remove blackheads. All of them damage skin.
- Skipping moisturiser. Covered above, and worth repeating because almost everyone does it.
- Spot treatments used across the whole face. They are formulated to be aggressive on a small area for a few days. Used all over, they strip the barrier.
- Squeezing and picking. Inflammation stimulates pigment. A week-long spot becomes a six-month mark.
- Changing everything at once when it flares. Congestion takes six to eight weeks to clear because that is how long the pore takes to turn over. Most people abandon a working routine at week three.
Skincare can improve congestion, blackheads, excess oil and the look of the occasional blemish. It is not a treatment for acne, and we will not pretend otherwise.
If your breakouts are deep, painful, cystic, leaving scars, or simply not improving after a couple of months of a consistent gentle routine, please see a GP or a dermatologist. That is a medical condition with medical treatments that work, and no cosmetic product is a substitute for it. A gentle supporting routine alongside prescribed treatment is usually the best of both.
Founder-led skin guidance
Need a more tailored approach?
Book a complimentary 1:1 consultation with Ann Donnarumma to refine a ritual thoughtfully tailored to your skin, concerns and long-term goals.
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Founder, Founder’s Formula
FAQs
Dehydrated, almost certainly — and over-producing oil to compensate for it. The tightness is the real problem, the shine is the symptom. A stronger cleanser will make it worse. Start with the Essentials routine and do not skip the moisturiser.
No — oil dissolves oil. A cleansing oil lifts sebum out of a pore far more effectively than a foaming cleanser, which only works on the surface. It is one of the most useful products for congested skin and one of the most commonly avoided.
Yes, and it is the step that changes things most. Skipping it leaves the barrier short of water, and the skin answers by making more oil. Wild Rosella is hydrating without being heavy.
Consistently, not quickly. They are oxidised sebum, not dirt, so scrubbing and pore strips do not remove them — they just damage the skin around them. BHA to get into the pore and gentle enzyme exfoliation to clear the surface, used regularly. Expect six to eight weeks.
Once a day with product is usually right. A proper double cleanse at night, and water in the morning. Cleansing twice a day with product is one of the main reasons oily skin stays oily.
No. Once or twice a week. Clay absorbs genuinely excess sebum, but used daily it strips the barrier and you end up oilier than you started.
Phyto-A+ Native Tobacco Serum does both jobs — pores minimised by up to -44% and wrinkle count down up to 42%, both in 28 days. It is the one product on this page that also sits on our Fine Lines page, and for good reason.
Oil production usually settles within two to three weeks of stopping the stripping. Congestion and blackheads take six to eight weeks, because that is how long a pore takes to clear and turn over. Most people give up at week three.
If you have given a gentle, consistent routine a couple of months and it has not shifted — or if your breakouts are deep, painful or scarring — please see a GP or dermatologist. That is a medical condition and there are medical treatments that work. Skincare is not a substitute, and we would rather say so.