The DL on Facial Oils

Facial oils have been all the rage lately, and with it came  a slew of misconceptions about their uses, benefits, efficacy etc. so we’re gonna break it down for you here - 

Most of you might be aware that our skin naturally produces oil - or sebum. The main function of oils on the skin is to lock in the hydration in the deeper layers of our skin cells . Water and oil don’t mix, so the oil sits on top of the skin and seals in all the water under the surface, preventing it from escaping, and keeping the skin hydrated and well moisturized. Individuals with dry skin tend to have less sebum production, and those with oily skin tend to have more. 

Now, let’s chat about commercially available facial oils. While the primary use of facial oils is typically to lock in hydration, certain facial oils have added benefits - cbd oil for example helps reduce redness, while tea tree oil helps with blemishes and acne. Moving on to how to use these products!

First things first, applied alone, facial oils do not serve their purpose of hydrating skin. Remember, their job is to seal in hydration. So if applied to completely dry, unmoisturized skin, it just sort of forms a barrier or your face and doesn’t really help with hydration. So always moisturize your face before applying a facial oil in order to really reap its benefits. 

Next, facial oils should not be applied before other skin care products. Once again, it will form an impermeable barrier on your skin and prevent your other skincare from penetrating deep into your skin - rendering them inefficient, and causing all that expensive product to go to waste. Always apply your facial oil as a last step to your skin care routine. 

Moving on to something controversial - Ever heard of oil serums? Well, we’re not too sure about their efficacy. By nature, an oil doesn’t really penetrate the skin very deeply, so an oil serum - essentially an oil that contains actives - doesn’t really make much practical sense to us specifically because the actives in the serum part of “oil-serum” might not be able to penetrate into our skin due to the fact that it’s mixed with an oil base. So do your research on these before making a purchase. 

Here are some of our FAEV facial oils: when used correctly we find that our moisturisers are more hydrating , our skin less dry, and our actives more effective! 

Let us know your thoughts! 

Until next time. 

Stay curious. Stay #freequal