Product watch: Beauty oils for dry skin
Plant oils are so common in moisturisers, serums and even makeup now that you may well wonder why so many brands still offer single oils or oil blends as standalone products.
Massaging oil into the skin has a luxurious, pampering appeal, of course, but it is not an essential part to your skincare regime, especially if your skin produces more than enough oil by itself.
The appearance of normal to dry skin, however, can be greatly enhanced by using an oil cleanser or mixing plant oils with your moisturiser.
Antioxidant-rich ingredients have long-term anti-ageing effects and oils high in fatty acids help maintain and repair skin’s natural moisture barrier.
An oil massage can also give skin a plumped, more velvety look instantly and improve the appearance of makeup applied on top.
Argan, coconut, tamanu…every so often a plant or fruit oil will be hyped as a beauty panacea and sold at a variety of price points.
The benefits are the same whether you buy from a health food shop or a luxury brand.
Moreover, while many of these oils are indeed packed with antioxidants and deeply moisturising, skin needs more than one great ingredient to stay healthy.
Single is definitely not fabulous when it comes to beauty oil.
Concentrated oil-blends are better value, particularly cocktails of proven antioxidant extracts.
Any oil you add to your skincare regime should be free-from or very minimally perfumed.
Fragrance is not skincare. Regular use of scented products is irritating and sensitising over time, no matter what your skin type.
As Wexford-based skincare expert Mariga Sheedy writes in her fabulous new e-book, The Skincare Rules: How to Have Great Skin For Life, €2.58 at www.amazon.co.uk
“You can use fragrant products for a long time before the damage starts to show on the surface.
"Many people blame their age for their deteriorating skin when it is often in fact just the cumulative damage from years of irritant skincare beginning to show on the surface. This is what has been going on under the skin all the time.”
La Roche-Posay Lipikar Huile Lavante Lipid-Replenishing Cleansing Oil, €14
An oil cleanser is the best way to begin a dry skincare regime. La Roche-Posay’s body wash is water and castor-oil based and works quickly to remove dirt without stripping skin of moisture.
The formula also contains soothing niacinamide, coconut-based cleansing agents and shea butter.
Sunday Riley Juno Hydroactive Cellular Face Oil, €80 at Space NK, cultbeauty.co.uk
Named for the Roman protectress, this oil is a superfood-salad of natural extracts. All nine seed-oils within have proven antioxidant benefits and are very easily tolerated by sensitive skin.
Like superfoods, they work best to remedy dry-skin problems as part of a considered diet (of gentle cleansing, rich barrier creams and a broad-spectrum SPF lotion), but as serum substitutes go, this is a star product.
Black cumin seed-extract is one of the more useful ingredients for eczema-prone skin, as a 2012 study published in the Journal of European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology found applications of the oil as useful in improving the condition as the steroid cream Betamethasone.
Black cumin seed oil is redness-reducing and contains the potent skin-replenishers vitamins A, B and C. So do blackberry and blueberry-seed oils, which form generous parts of Juno.
As Sunday Riley promises, the immediate result of an application is plumped and radiant skin.
The brand and several online retailers refer to this as “dry” oil, implying it is swiftly absorbed and leaves no residue. Only the latter is true.
A beauty oil takes a while to absorb when it is high in fatty acids. This is no bad thing, especially for dry skin.
Time lost is moisture-protection gained. The only real flaw in this product is the price point, which is considerable for a 35ml bottle, especially as the brand recommend extracting 5-7 drops per use.
It is a concentrated formula, though, so less galling than the not uncommon luxury practice of asking us to shell out for products with high quantities of silicone or preservatives.
Trilogy Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+, €32.99,
Rosehip oil face-massages were a popular ayurveda-inspired trend in 2012.
While rosehip is a great ingredient, rich in reparative Vitamin C (which the body does not produce and cannot store), it is Trilogy’s generous use of additional antioxidants and plant fats that makes this oil a smart buy.
Tomato, acai and cranberry extracts all offer anti-ageing support. Like Juno, the formula is concentrated.
This product has won five beauty awards and a well-circulated Harper’s Bazaar UK review says it helps fade sun spots.
Daily broad-spectrum sun protection is even more important. Diluting your SPF cream with beauty oil can reduce the filters’ efficacy, so keep applications separate.
Bobbi Brown Beach Body Oil, €33
Beach body oils tend to be perfumed, glitter-riddled affairs, but Bobbi Brown would never produce something so obvious.
In keeping with her less-is-more philosophy, this oil is very delicately fragranced and leaves a clear, flattering sheen.
Best of all, the formula contains a four-oil blend of hydrating jojoba, olive, sesame and avocado, as well as anti-ageing vitamins C and E.
Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil, €21
Clarins tinted lip oil is rich as treacle and super-shiny. The formula contains high concentrations of jojoba, hazel and raspberry-seed oils, which plump lips without leaving them sticky.
Launched for Spring 2015, Clarins adds a new red-berry shade to the line this month.
Each oil is lightly perfumed with its namesake (honey, raspberry or red berry), and while fragrance is not ideal in a product for such a delicate part of the face, you can use Instant Light as a glossy finish for lipstick.
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