If your skin is feeling particularly parched or you’re wondering how to achieve that coveted healthy glow, face oils could be your answer. These potent elixirs are packed with nourishing ingredients that can seriously transform your skin, offering benefits that extend far beyond simple hydration. From enhancing your skin's barrier to providing a boost of antioxidants, face oils are a necessary addition to any skincare routine. Keep reading as we reveal everything there is to know about face oils, from their multitude of benefits that moisturisers and serums alone may not provide, to the best ones for your skin type. Whether your skin is dry, oily, sensitive, or mature, there's a face oil out there for you!

Firstly, exactly what are face oils?

Face oils are typically formulated with botanical and essential oils as well as plant extracts and antioxidants. They are designed to soften, nourish and balance your complexion, locking in hydration and providing skin with the additional moisture it needs for a truly glowing complexion. Non-comedogenic, they won’t clog pores and cause breakouts either!

Why use a face oil

Adding a face oil to your skincare routine can be a transformative step towards achieving healthier, more radiant skin. Face oils are packed with nourishing ingredients that penetrate deeply into the skin, providing intense hydration and locking in moisture. They can help balance oil production, making them suitable for various skin types, including oily and acne-prone skin. Face oils also contain antioxidants that combat free radicals, reducing signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles. Whether used alone or mixed with your moisturiser or foundation, face oils will leave your skin feeling soft, supple, and glowing.

The Benefits of Face Oils

Adding a face oil to your skincare routine can be beneficial for several reasons

1. Deep Hydration

Face oils are incredible for deep hydration. Unlike moisturisers that may evaporate quickly, or often sit on the surface of your skin, oils penetrate deeply into the skin, locking in moisture and keeping your skin soft and supple.

2. Enhanced Skin Barrier

Our skin barrier is essential for keeping out pollutants and retaining moisture. Face oils contain essential fatty acids that strengthen this barrier, making your skin more resilient and less prone to irritation.

3. Rich in Antioxidants

Many face oils are packed with antioxidants, which help combat free radicals and prevent premature aging. Oils like argan are rich in vitamins A and E, promoting skin elasticity and reducing fine lines.

4. Skin plumping

In your 40s wrinkles can start to look more obvious because the skin’s natural oils decrease, the moisture barrier breaks down, and the skin dries out. Because oils are lipophilic, or fat loving, they pass through the lipid layer of the skin faster, preventing water loss and plumping skin with moisture more effectively.

5. Balancing Properties

It might seem counterintuitive, but oils can help balance oily and acne-prone skin. Oils like tea tree and grapeseed have antimicrobial properties and can regulate sebum production, reducing breakouts and giving you a clearer complexion.

6. Soothing and Calming

For those with sensitive or irritated skin, oils such as chamomile and calendula can provide soothing relief. Their anti-inflammatory properties help reduce redness and calm irritated skin, promoting a more even and calm complexion.

The best oil for your skin type

The most nurturing oil for sensitive skin

Naturys Sensitive Hydra Oil

If you suffer from sensitive skin and are prone to redness and irritation, this oil really can help transform your complexion! Its deeply nurturing formulation of blueberry oil, bisabolol, and lycopene, not only soothes skin and calms redness, but it also nourishes and protects skin from environmental and blue light damage! “I love this oil, it’s really helped my sensitive skin. I wear it at night and it instantly calms my skin. I highly recommend it.” Sarah

The most coveted oil for dry Skin

Pevonia Vitaminic Concentrate

Fast-absorbing, this soothing, silky anti-oxidant oil radically combats premature ageing, dehydration, and excessive dryness by locking in hydration and delivering moisture that stays! So you’ll wake up to smooth, supple, and seriously glowy skin every morning. We are obsessed! “This product has literally saved my skin especially during the colder months. You put it on after cleansing and it is absorbed right away. It is a dry oil and is just wonderful.” Amelia

The best oil for dull, devitalised skin

Phytomer Rosee Soin Radiance Replenishing Oil

This is one of those silky, soothing oils with a heavenly rose petal scent that quite literally makes you go ahhhhh” as it melts into your skin. It’s a lightweight dry oil so it absorbs immediately creating a velvety finish without the greasy residue of many an oil. Nourishing marine extracts and botanical oils work together to eliminate impurities while brightening, hydrating, and restoring your skin’s natural luster! So while you sleep, your skin repairs and you wake up with a baby soft, radiant complexion that strengthens and firms with every application. “I love this product it makes my skin feel soft and subtle and gives it a beautiful glow. I suffer from redness and this helps to soothe my skin. Amazing product.” Jenni

The oil you need if you are concerned of dark spots and wrinkles

Phytomer Oligoforce Advanced Wrinkle and Dark Spot Correction Serum

This micro-emulsion contains two active breakthrough ingredients; OLIGOMER concentrated seawater and Marine Ethernal blue micro-algae to specifically target dark spots and wrinkles. Its dewy texture, combining all the comfort of an oil and the effectiveness of a serum, envelops the skin in light and delivers intense hydration. Day after day your skin will become more radiant and dark spots will diminish and fine lines smoothed away! Sound good? “This is a beautiful product. I have only been using it all for about 1 week but already I see a big improvement. I will definitely buy this again and highly recommend it.” Leanore A

The multi-tasking face oil

Pevonia De-stress Escape Aromatic Oil

barrier warrior features a blend of premium and delicate natural oils including safflower, squalane, lavender, chamomile, grapefruit and rose to instantaneously deliver intense hydration while soothing, calming, relaxing, brightening and protecting the skin barrier for ongoing optimal skin health! “This product is wonderful. With its incredible scent and silky texture, it leaves skin feeling ultra soft and hydrated. Its great for my combination skin. I use this product in the morning before my Lumafirm Repair Cream. My skin has never looked better. The De-Stress Escape Oil is my new favourite product!” Anne

When to use a face oil

It’s best to incorporate your facial oils in the night-time skincare routine, as when kept overnight, skin can best absorb the oil, which in turn helps to nurture and repair the cells. However, you can also add it to your foundation or moisturiser especially during the winter to get an extra level of nourishment.

Myths About Face Oils

• Oils Will Make My Skin Oily: The right oil can actually help balance oil production and reduce greasiness.
• Oils Cause Breakouts: Non-comedogenic oils are designed not to clog pores and can actually help prevent acne.
• Oils Are Only for Dry Skin: There’s a suitable oil for every skin type, each offering unique benefits.

Face oils are a powerful addition to any skincare routine, providing hydration, protection, and nourishment. Whether you are looking to hydrate, balance or rejuvenate your complexion, with the right oil tailored to your skin type, you can achieve a healthier, more radiant skin.