Bring on the Oils!

I'm going to apologize in advance for this text heavy post...

As someone with very oily skin I was always told to steer clear of oils. "Only use products that are oil-free," they said, "oils will make you break out more," they said, blah, blah, blah. I personally think that's a load of crap. I'll admit that for beginners who know nothing about skincare oil-free is easy and if you go that route you'll be just fine. But for the more crazy, obsessive beauty lovers out there, you're going to be missing out on so many great products if you ONLY go oil-free. I will admit that there are certain oils that you don't want going on your face. For the most part, any type of synthetic oil like mineral oil (AKA paraffin liquidium AKA my skincare nemesis) should be avoided like the plague unless you also want to wrap your face up in plastic wrap and call it a night. Most natural oils are great for the skin, though. I'm honestly not too familiar with the properties of difference types of oil (other than the ones I know to avoid!) so if you're really interested in that you'll have to do your own research.

For those of you with no knowledge of my skin type or past skin issues I'll give you a quick brief. I have very oily skin that's prone to congestion and acne. For a long time I struggled with hormonal acne (and still do but it's mostly under control) and hyper-pigmentation. I also live in an extremely dry climate so on top of being very oily I'm also really dehydrated. This led to a spotty, flaky, shiny faced me and until I learned more about skincare I just didn't know how to deal with it. I wish I would have discovered facial oils earlier! 

I've been using facial oils for almost exactly two years now. The obsession started with the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate. I picked up this oil without knowing a whole lot about it. I had seen some reviews of it on YouTube and decided I would give it a go. I used this oil religiously for about nine months or so and I noticed a major improvement in my dehydrated as well as hyper-pigmentation. I ended up taking a bit of a break from this oil in between my first and second bottle (which happened to be during summer so I didn't really need it) but ended up repurchasing it in the winter when my dehydration came back and it worked just as well the second time around. I still love this oil to this day. For the most part I've moved on to other things but I've still got a half full bottle in my collection for when I want to reminisce.

I'm ashamed to admit I fell off the oil bandwagon during my stint with Clinique. I tried to be a good employee and use mainly Clinique products but they just didn't agree with my skin at all. Now I'm working for Clarins (who are big advocates of oils by the way) and I've fallen in love with their facial oils.

I briefly tried the Clarins Blue Orchid Face Treatment Oil, aimed at dehydrated skin, as I received it at my first training session. I thought it was nice enough, and did help out with my dehydration, but the one I really wanted to try was the Lotus Face Treatment Oil. The lotus oil is geared towards those with combination/oily skin and helps to purify and rebalance the skin. I've only been using this oil for a couple of weeks now but I've already seen a big difference in my skin. I did break out just a little bit for the first two or three days I was using this oil but since then I've been noticing that my pores are much cleaner and it's also been helping with my dehydration. I use this oil every night before bed (you're supposed to use it every night for one month and then just use it as you feel you need it, I'll probably do once or twice a week) and I also love using it underneath facial masks. I pair it with both clay and moisture masks (not at the same time) and it feels so luxurious, like I'm giving myself a mini facial.

Another oil, which if I'm totally honest doesn't belong in this post but I love it so much that I have to mention it, is tea tree oil. I would not recommend applying this oil in the same way as the previous oils (i.e. as a moisturizer). I use this oil solely as a spot treatment, or if I'm breaking out quite badly I'll mix a little bit in with my daily moisturizer and only then will I apply it all over my face. There are loads of companies that sell tea tree oil but my favourite version is from The Body Shop. If you suffer with acne this is a must have. I'm allergic to benzoyl peroxide and so I have issues finding effective spot treatments. This is a great alternative if you're allergic, like me, or just want a more natural option.

Overall I think facial oils are great (I also love cleansing oils but I'll leave that for another post as it really doesn't belong here). I haven't tried that many and I'm sure there are many other great options out there to try but I think anyone can benefit from using a facial oil, especially if you suffer with dehydration. For anyone with oily/acne prone skin I'd highly recommend the Clarins Lotus Oil and tea tree oil as a spot treatment if you need it and for anyone with dehydrated skin I'd recommend either the Clarins Blue Orchid Oil or the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery concentrate. Both Clarins and Kiehl's are really good for giving out samples so if this post still hasn't convinced you see if you can try them out first.

I hope this was helpful and I hope it's convinced you to give facial oils a chance if you were hesitant before!