Acne-prone skin is oily skin. When you notice that your skin shines or feels oily when you touch it, you may assume that the right course of action is to dry the skin out. One way to do this is to forego using moisturizer. As logical as this may seem, it can be a mistake. When your skin becomes overly dry, the sebaceous glands that produce the oil that holds moisture in place increase their oil-producing activity! The more oil these glands produce, the more your pores may clog, and the cycle continues.
Using a good moisturizer for your acne-prone skin can pay off in a few different ways. First, your moisturizer can help restore the protective barrier on your skin's surface, thereby signaling to the sebaceous glands that they can relax their production of oil. Moisturizers can also attract water molecules from the deeper layers of the skin toward the surface. Finally, emollient ingredients in your moisturizer can be very soothing, reducing further irritation.