THE GOOD OIL
Skincare oils are needed to defend against bacteria and sun damage.
If you’ve ever written off using oils as part of your evening beauty routine after waking up with slightly slippery skin, clogged and angry pores or pillow slips that are stained beyond recovery, it might be time to revisit the approach.
If you decried their benefits for one of the reasons above, it may also be that you first tried using one a decade or so ago. In the intervening time, ingredient and formulation innovation has come a long way.
Although used for the benefit of skin for hundreds of years, many previous iterations were undoubtedly inelegant; they didn’t feel like they achieved much compared with modern high-tech serums and quick-to-sink-in gels – except make you feel like a basted piece of meat, ready to be wrapped in tinfoil and chucked on the barbecue.
Uptake may also have been affected by the fact that oils often feel decidedly counterintuitive. Having spent half our lives trying to minimise the content our faces produce, it’s not surprising that adding more seems a bit mad. What’s worth considering in that case is that as we age, particularly from our forties on, skin generally does a U-turn, halting oil production and ending up drier than it used to be.
To understand why both complex modern options and basic blends alike continue to gain favour, it’s worth considering how oils benefit us.
Our skin naturally makes oils and lipids, including sebum, that are produced in the stratum corneum, the outer layer of skin that functions as its protection against water loss and as a barrier from external challenges such as bacteria and sun damage.
HOW SKIN BENEFITS
Adding extra oil is mostly intended to shore up those defences and strengthen skin, more so than providing additional moisture in the way that a traditional humectant moisturiser does. That’s why using one as the last step in a skincare routine, rather than the only step, is ideal as it acts to lock in the hydration and active ingredients. Apply before moisturiser or serums and they’ll have trouble penetrating.
Dry skin types don’t produce enough oil in that top layer, which is why adding more is helpful. Oily skin types can overproduce because skin is being stripped by over cleansing or damage. Using the right oil can balance that cycle. “Skin is lipophilic,” explains David Letschert, research director and co-owner of Bio-Oil, explaining why the brand’s original mineral oil-based body product has been so successful. “Skin loves oil. It’s hydrophobic – it hates water; it repels water when you go for a swim! Bio-Oil has an amazing balance between absorption of the oils and leaving some oil on the skin to be occlusive.”
THE NEW GENERATION
While there are plenty of fantastic advanced new options, there also remains a plethora of continually emerging local startups proffering simple botanical blends bottled from their home. The simplicity is often driven by a similar story of founders’ fragile skin sensitised by, or reactive to, complex and fragrance-heavy skincare and/or a desire to avoid man-made products because of concerns around their use.
In recent years, much has been made about the use of mineral oil in traditionally popular skin and body products, given it is derived from petrochemicals. Letschert says despite its safe use for decades, many concerns spread like wildfire unchecked, without necessary detail.
The worry springs from the potential contamination of mineral oils by PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) formed when the oil isn’t refined properly. Some PAHs can contain carcinogens. According to Letschert, Bio-Oil uses the highestgrade pharmaceutical mineral oil with no PAHs.
Despite belief in the brand’s product, in the end, the company decided not to fight the tide, and set out to create an equivalent plantbased version. The result, the newly released Bio‑Oil Skincare Oil Natural will sit beside the original on shelves. Made with entirely plant
based oils such as wheatgerm oil (high in vitamin E), rosehip oil (offers retinoic properties), sunflower, safflower and more, the company spent significant time and clinical testing to prove it performs as well as the original.
NATURAL WONDERS
Letschert says one of the challenges the company faced was the lack of information around natural oils for skincare. “A lot of the information is folklore and anecdotal, so the suppliers don’t really go to the level of detail that synthetic-oil manufacturers or active-ingredient manufacturers do, by running their own clinical trials to prove how efficacious the ingredient really is.” It’s something that is swiftly changing, given the industry interest in the area, and means consumers are regularly encountering unfamiliar natural ingredients uncovered as research and trials progress.
Skincare entrepreneur Emma Lewisham is hoping to address the scientific shortfall, working with labs and suppliers to source the highestquality ingredients in her all-natural line, with proven efficacy. Her Supernatural Triple Vitamin A+ Face Oil contains a number of new botanical heroes and she happily rattles off a laundry list of their benefits. “Humans can’t produce Omega 6 naturally within the body,’’ Lewisham explains.
“Kalahari melon seed oil is one of its natural sources. These omegas are important for repairing skin damage, such as scars and blemishes, stimulating cell turnover and keeping skin supple and firm.
“Swertia chirata extract has been found in clinical studies to stimulate epidermis regeneration and thickness, and blur the appearance of vertical wrinkles in as little as seven days.
“Another is L22, which is a patented blend of botanically derived lipids that mimic the skin’s natural lipids, specifically those present in a 22-year-old’s skin. Meadowfoam seed oil has a unique composition similar to skin’s sebum, so it’s good at keeping our skin balanced – that sweet spot between too oily and overly dry.”
Further, less-familiar oils appearing in new releases from big and small brands alike include cannabis sativa, rosehip, prickly pear, jojoba, camellia, sea buckthorn oils and more, each with different properties and benefits. Given their ability to encapsulate other extracts
“LESS IS MORE. GENTLY PAT THE OIL ONTO THE SKIN.”
to ensure their stability, oils are increasingly being used to deliver active ingredients previously susceptible to degradation when exposed to air, such as retinol and vitamin C.
Sensory feel and molecular weight are other areas in which new-gen oils impress. Squalane – traditionally sourced from the livers of sharks – is now derived from olives or sugarcane. It is ideal for oil skeptics: light and ungreasy, it leaves skin soft and plump, offering visible glow without causing spots, even on problem and congested skin.
Jessie Gurunathan is another Kiwi bringing a start-up option to market with fledgling inclusive skincare brand Two Birds Beauty. Initially her single-product approach – a lightweight oil-based serum – seems simple, but in fact, the nonnegotiables she established to produce it were decidedly complex. “I had no idea creating a brand encompassing our four pillars of being ethical, sustainable, eco-friendly and effective, would be so challenging,” she says.
The serum uses just five natural ingredients including cacay oil and bakuchiol, carefully selected with a cosmetic chemist. But the desire to use a sustainable crop – a hot topic in green beauty circles given questions around the comparative depletion of natural resources when held up to lab-made skincare – and packaging meant it was a long process, one she’s ultimately pleased with.
“Cacay oil was one of the only plant oils that offered it all, from wild harvesting and generating income for people on small farms to the fact that all of the fruit can be utilised making it a zero-waste crop,” says Gurunathan. “It has three times more vitamin A than rosehip oil and a higher vitamin E and F content than argan oil. It’s a superstar.”
A reformed beauty junkie, Gurunathan resolved her product would suit everyone and be easy to use, though she’s careful to advise judicious application, a useful approach for any face-oil application. “Less is more. Gently pat the oil onto the skin rather than massaging it in.”
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