To this day, here at nomel we believe a good face oil is the secret to achieving healthy, radiant skin—and it also happens to be one of nomel’s founding products! No matter what your skin type (yes, even those of you with oily skin), using the right face oil for your skin delivers amazing results. Face oils generally consist of nutritious ingredients like vitamin C, essential fatty acids and antioxidants, which help to build and boost the lipid barrier of your skin.
For starters, let’s talk about the HOW before we get into the WHAT. I’ll be sharing some tips on how you should be using and applying your facial oils and why! Let’s jump right in:
A Little Goes A Long Way
Since face oils contain a very concentrated amount of nutrients, a little bit goes a long way. Usually, all you need is one to three drops of your preferred oil to cover your entire face and once the product is absorbed, it will begin to perform its magic!
Dab Away
When applying face oils, make sure you aren’t rubbing the oils into your skin like a lotion. Instead, warm the oil in your hands, and dab, pat or press the oils into your skin, pushing them into your pores to help your skin absorb the oil fully and receive its benefits.
Use With Serums and Moisturizers
While face oils can indeed be used as a stand alone product, we highly recommend that they are used in conjunction with or together with other products to get enhanced effects. For best results, combine with serums (helps to treat) or moisturizers (helps to lock in hydration). When used in a full skincare routine, remember that face oils will usually be at the last step!
Listen To Your Skin’s Needs
As is the case with most skincare products, apply the product based on what your skin is telling you. Sometimes, you can simply use oils to spot-treat dry areas instead of applying all over the face. Depending on skin type and environment, you may want to use oils in the morning as a primer or only at night before bed, so that your skin can soak up the oil overnight. Some even prefer using face oils both in the morning and at night, as the last step of a nighttime skin care routine and before sunscreen and makeup in the morning.
Now that we know how to use and apply face oils properly, it’s time to figure out WHAT is the right type of face oil for you. Choosing the right oil is the key to getting all the benefits your skin actually needs. Here we go:
Dry Skin
For those of you with dry skin, face oils are truly a product you should consider incorporating into your daily skin routine: whether your dry skin is due to weather changes or just naturally the way it has been, face oils are here to be the remedy. You want to look for quick-absorbing, nutrient-rich face oils as they will help to deeply moisturize and smoothen out any flaky skin. Look for ingredients such as olive oil, sunflower oil, and coconut oil. Also, we highly recommend you use a hydrating serum first, followed by a moisturizing oil to lock in all of the benefits of the serum! The nomel ‘Supportive Lifting Oil’ is the best pick for people with this skin type.
Oily or Acne-Prone Skin
Your skin is naturally oily, and that’s okay! If you strip your skin of all it’s oils it will have the opposite result of causing your skin to produce more oil to overcompensate. In order to avoid such a vicious cycle, certain oils can actually help balance your skin’s oil production, getting rid of the excess oil on your face and minimizing the appearance of pores. Look for oils containing macadamia, jojoba, or tea tree.
Sensitive/Damaged Skin
Face oils often contain anti-inflammatory properties, meaning they can calm the skin and reduce rashes, so for those with sensitive skin, face oils have a lot of benefits for you as well! Various antioxidants commonly found in face oils can also help fight against free radicals, which can help protect your skin from damage. Look for ingredients such as primrose oil or anything with a vitamin E base, to protect and reduce sun damage. The nomel ‘Sincere Boosting Oil’ is the best pick for people with this skin type.
Aging Skin
As you age, your skin will naturally begin to produce less oil, which will leave your skin feeling and appearing dry more easily. That “dryness” often enhances the look of wrinkles on our faces. And that’s where facial oils come in. By reducing the “dryness” it is also reducing the wrinkles in your skin! As mentioned, most facial oils contain powerful antioxidants, and what they do is prevent water loss and keep the skin plump. That’s because antioxidants boost collagen production and skin elasticity, which reduces the fine lines on your skin. Look for ingredients such as argan oil and rosehip seed oil.
All of the plant oil ingredients recommended above serve to target your skin’s needs. Plant oils in general are rich in antioxidants and replenishing emollients but they don’t contain much skin-restoring ingredients (such as niacinamide, retinol, or peptides) or hydration-boosting ingredients (such as ceramides and hyaluronic acid). Therefore, when shopping for a good face oil, remember to also keep an eye out for those ingredients just mentioned, so you can tell whether you’re buying a good product or not.
Lastly, while certain face oils may have moisturizing properties, they lack the rich mix of hydration-boosting emollients that your skin needs. That’s why we suggest using face oils WITH your moisturizer rather than replacing it. Remember that your skin is the largest organ of your body and it has many complexities: there isn’t a single product or a single magic ingredient that can satisfy all of its needs. So, think of facial oils as the Maraschino cherry on top of the cream cake, the last finishing magic touch, rather than the leading role in a complete skincare routine, and that’s everything you need to know about face oils!