What is a Face Oil and Who Can Benefit?
Facial oils are all the rage these days, with promises of reducing fine lines and deeply moisturizing our skin. But what exactly are face oils and who can benefit from them? Let's dive right in.
What is a Face Oil?
A face oil is a mixture of various oils that delivers nutrient-rich ingredients deep into the layers of your skin. Facial oils tend to be solely oil-based, with no water or preservatives added. Face oils can also sometimes include a single ingredient, like pure argan oil, or pure squalene oil.
While it may seem counter-intuitive to apply pure oils to your face, it can result in some amazing benefits. If you apply the right type of oils to your skin, many of these ingredients possess the same chemical composition as your sebum, or, the naturally produced oil from your skin. Because of the similar composition, these ingredients are easily accepted by our skin, and can penetrate deep into the layers of our skin, rather than sitting on top of our skin. It results in a fast-absorbing, non-oily, soft and supple feeling after immediately applying. This creates a wall that traps water within the layers of the skin which ultimately keeps your skin hydrated all day long.
Without natural oils, your skin will be dry. If you have naturally dry skin, it means that your skin is not producing enough natural sebum and lipids, and therefore that wall of protection is allowing water to seep out, causing you dry, irritated, skin. Here is where a great facial oil can help. It can supplement your natural oils, promote the skin to produce the right amount of natural oils, and create that protective barrier that it needs.
Who Can Benefit using a Face Oil?
Truly anyone can benefit from using a face oil. What matters most is the type of oils you apply for your specific skin type.
Oily/Combination/Acne-Prone Skin
If you have oily skin, acne-prone, or even combination skin, look for ingredients like safflower seed oil, sunflower seed oil, hemp seed oil, sea buckthorn oil, evening primorse oil, meadowfoam seed oil, or rosehip oil. These oils are all high in linoleic acid. Oily-prone skin tends to lack linoleic acid but contains plenty of oleic acid.
Dry/Patchy/Sensitive Skin
If you have dry, patchy skin, or sensitive skin, look for ingredients like avocado oil, olive oil, almond oil, marula oil, argan oil, sesame seed oil, or apricot oil. These oils are all high in oleic acid. Dry skin tends to lack oleic acid but contains plenty of linoleic acid.
Oils For Any Skin Type
Jojoba Seed Oil and Olive Squalane Oil are both amazing for any skin type, whether dry or oily.
When and How To Apply a Face Oil
Because face oils contains oils and no water, it is is best applied to the skin immediately after showering, washing your face, or spritzing on a toner, resulting in hydrated skin. Applying an oil at this time will immediately seal in that hydration. This can be either morning or evening, or both. Understanding the proper layering of your products can be tricky, so check out this blog post on how to layer your skincare in the correct order.
We hope this helps. If you found this blog post helpful, follow for more skincare tips.