Why oils are my skin saviour.
I have had a long-term love/hate relationship with my skin.
I have battled with breakouts, sensitivity, hyper pigmentation, dry patches and generally unbalanced skin.
When growing up as a teenager in the 90s and early 00s, finding helpful skincare information was difficult. Product options were limited, many of which would over dry my skin or cause reactions and inflammation. Accessibility of information via the internet and social media that enabled me to research and explore skincare brands and knowledge of their ingredients was also limited.
I would constantly change my skincare routine trying anything and everything.
I would either love it or hate it - there was never an in between.
As I became more obsessed with skincare products and their ingredients, I also became more aware of how these were produced, especially the use of synthetic ingredients. This led me to start researching products made up of ingredients that were as natural as possible to use on my skin.
As time went on, I became more aware of using oils in my skin care routine. I was petrified they would break me out but began to experiment. I stupidly used coconut oil to remove my makeup once. This did the job well, but it also did a wonderful job of giving me some seriously painful spots, so I stuck to using coconut oil for the ends of my hair instead. By now I was information hungry and with further research I began to learn about the fatty acids and antioxidants that make up oils and how they help your skin.
So, with this new information, and by a process of elimination, I got to know what suited my skin and what didn’t.
I started using cleansing oils to remove my makeup and would use oils day and night and there was a noticeable difference in my skin.
For some time, I had wanted to formulate my own skincare range and when I embarked on gaining my formulation certification, I knew that the first product I would ever make would be oil based.
After a few trials with my night oil, I finally cracked it. Using it on myself first of course, I noticed my skin was so much more balanced, my dry patches disappeared, my breakouts became few and far between, in fact, the only ones I would get were the odd “hormonal” ones. The rich content of vitamin A in the ingredients was also clearing up any skin pigmentation I had.
So, for those of you that have been scared to try oils on your skin I would recommend giving them a go. If you’re worried about breakouts then using oils high in omega 6 aka Linoleic acid will help to balance your sebum production, support the reduction of inflammation/redness and prevent water loss.
I don’t know what state my skin would be in now if it wasn’t for natural plant oils. They have been a complete skin saviour to me. I hope you give them a chance to try and rescue yours.
