Full disclaimer: Everyone's face is different, this might not work for you, etc etc. I had the exact problems in the title and for years was using benzoyl. Face was ultra-greasy, especially if I had to travel or something, my body would be producing so much oil that it would start generating whiteheads and mostly ingrowns at an astonishing rate. The biggest indicator is if you can wipe your finger across your forehead or cheek and feel a thick coat of oil, then this may apply to you.

Step 1: This will require you to shower right before bed. You can also shower in the mornings if you want. Don't use anything on your face but COLD water, hot or even warm water will make things worse. Don't keep your face under water for more than 10 seconds or so for the entire shower. I shower at night and in the morning in ultra-hot water, but I keep my face clear and only blast it with cold water for 10 seconds at the very end of my shower.

Step 2: ditch (or pause) all your salicylic acid/benzoyl peroxide/tretinoid cream products. I know benzoyl peroxide can really help, but it's just a band-aid at this point and it's making the issue worse. If my guide doesn't work then you can go back to it. For girls who use makeup: I am a young MAN and so I have no clue if it will impact this regimen, but my guide doesn't prevent you from wearing makeup if you must. Knowing what I know about skin, I don't think foundation and makeup is helpful for skin repair, but I get that some people don't have a choice and must use it.

Step 3: Go to your local pharmacy and buy one of those hug tubs of off-brand petroleum jelly. You can get the Vaseline brand, but the big tubs are usually store-brands. There is no functional difference in the contents of the petroleum jelly, only that the large tubs tend to be more watery and the small tiny name-brand travel-size ones tend to be more sticky. I had success with the tub, so there you go.

Step 4: Before you head to bed, jump in the shower and give your face that 10-second cold water rinse down. Just enough for your face to feel taught and dry, like all the oil's been temporarily washed off. Remember, no soap or cleaner or scrubber or EXFOLIATOR. Especially exfoliation will be your worst enemy and in my case, it was never necessary (I haven't exfoliated since 2019)

Step 5: As SOON as you hop out of the shower, go to your newly-purchased tub of petroleum jelly and dip your finger in. Take a MASSIVE glob of petroleum jelly and smear it all around your T-area, cheeks, crevices of your nose, area beneath the mouth, but NOT your forehead. Just smear that goop everywhere really well. Take a second dip in the tub if you want. When you're done, you should have a thick layer of petroleum jelly all over. Your hands will have a slight coat of petroleum jelly from applying it, mixed with the ambient shower water - you should see tiny little droplets of water not mixing with the PJ. Use your hands to quickly wipe your forehead, so that your forehead only gets the tiniest hint of petroleum jelly.

Step 6: Let everything "dry" for 15 minutes. Yes, PJ doesn't evaporate, but the rest of the water that's on your face will.

Step 7: Use your clean hands to feel your face and smear the areas that still feel particularly thick. You want to start working it again so that the PJ settles into a uniform, thin layer and any excess is smeared off and redistributed. Don't work it so hard that the PJ gets wiped off and disappears.

Step 8: After 5 or 10 minutes, you should actually feel that your face isn't as greasy from the petroleum jelly. Now you can go to sleep. Don't bother about not touching your pillow, it won't matter. Just sleep normally and try not to touch your face.

Step 9: When you wake up, your face should feel non-oily, non-greasy, and with a tiny remnant of the petroleum jelly coat.

Step 10: Rinse off your face (I recommend hopping in the shower and doing the 10-second cold water thing). Remember, COLD water only, no warm/hot water. The 5 or 10 seconds should be enough to wash off any remaining PJ.

Step 11: Go about your day and repeat the process that evening.

Result: After about a week or two, your face will start slowing down oil production. This is because the petroleum jelly is trapping moisture in your CLEAN post-shower face. Without the PJ, your moisture barrier is so shot that your face dries out and your body freaks out and dumps oil into the pores, causing the acne. Just using the petroleum jelly at night should be enough to start re-training your body.

You can use petroleum jelly in the same way in the morning if your day will be full of high-stress situations. For some reason, high-stress situations like travel always seem to dry out my face even more and cause more acne production. To counteract this, you could put a tiny bit of petroleum jelly on your face after you rinse off and make sure that it's only a very thin layer.

After a month or so, you should be able to run your finger on your face during the day and feel very little oil. The lack of constant oil and grease on your face will cause you to stop producing whiteheads and ingrowns.