Oil based skincare is all the rage! This after years of being told oil is bad for your skin. What gives?
Oil is back and there’s no denying oil based skin care is flying off the shelves! Oil can be found in just about every skincare product these days, with good reason. There are countless reviews which attest to the benefits users are experiencing. However, I must admit, somewhere in the back of my mind I can remember hearing how absolutely horrible oil was for skin. Just a few years ago we heard of how oil can cause breakouts, clog pores ...wait, oil attracts dirt and bacteria! Shouldn’t we be using benzoyl peroxide to remove every trace of this evil substance? If left unchecked oil could cause acne and scarring!
The truth is this is the biggest hoax the beauty industry has ever created. After all your skin creates oil and needs oil to be healthy. The oily substance your skin makes, called sebum, is part of the lipid barrier. As a matter of fact it’s the Lipid barrier that protects your skin from bacteria and keeps it strong and beautiful. Women with more oil in their skin have noticeably less lines and wrinkles. So when did we turn our back on this natural skin loving serum and why? In the 80’s and 90’s, the beauty industry discovered it could use mineral oil to replace plant based oils in skin care. This was truly the dark ages of skin care. Mineral oil, while it sounds just lovely, is just a nice name for a petroleum based product that has no restoring benefits for skin. It was, without a doubt, mineral oil that gave all oils a nasty reputation.
Plant based oils are holistic, they contain natural vitamins and amino acids that restore and repair the lipid barrier. The straight chain molecular structure of most natural oils help to carry nutrients deep within the skin to strengthen and support healing. Plant oils such as coconut and avocado plump cells and refine skin texture. Nature has created a whole apothecary of oils, each with their own benefit for skin. Results can be seen in a few days instead of weeks. Your skin easily recognises oil and knows exactly how to use it. Skin does a fantastic job of regulating oil without intervention-it knows exactly how much to produce. Removing the natural sebum from skin starts a vicious cycle. Left defenseless the skin will frantically try to replace the oil with more and vigor. After months or even years of this cycle, abused and weakened by chemicals, the skins surface dries and damage occurs. The same chemicals used to remove oil wreck havoc and allergic rashes like rosacea and eczema appear.
Fortunately for us our Grandmother’s secret skincare is back on the shelves. The fact is, women have been using oil on their skin for hundreds of years. Islanders know that coconut oil filters 20% of the sun’s rays ...all without harmful chemicals! Asian women use seabuckthorn and sesame to heal and beautify their skin. In the mediterranean, woman apply olive squalene to moisturize their beautiful skin. Search the web, the rave reviews are endless, oil has made a comeback and it’s about time for a renaissance in skin care!
