Facial oils are the skincare products for luxurious-feeling, smooth skin. Adding this extra step into your skincare routine is certain to make your skin bright and glowy and - the best bit is - face oils are easy to apply and don’t require much effort - yes! Here are our 10 top tips for using facial oils in your skincare regime.
Facial oil top tips
1. Be gentle when applying your facial oils
You should blend your oil into the skin using gentle, upward motions or use a ‘patting’ technique, taking extra care around the eye area (we don’t want to encourage those annoying eye wrinkles by rubbing or pulling too hard!).
2. Add facial oil to your moisturiser or straight to skin
As well as using facial oils directly on the skin (unless it’s an essential oil, in which case never use directly on the skin!), you can also add 2-3 drops of your oil to your moisturiser for enhanced hydration.
3. Don’t mix your facial oil and SPF together
Be careful about adding drops of oil to moisturisers that contain SPF - facial oils can dilute sunscreen and weaken its effects. Not good. So, be sure to always check the label of your moisturiser first or apply a separate sunscreen.
4. Apply face oil sparingly
Don’t use too much - oils are highly concentrated products and a few drops are plenty for one application. Glowing skin is nice, but nobody likes too much of a reflective sheen on the face!
5. Use face oil twice daily, or as needed
Facial oils can take pride of place in your skincare routine in the morning or the evening (or both!), but they can also be used as and when they're needed.
6. Apply your facial oil at the end of your skincare routine
You should apply water-based products before oils, starting with the product thinnest in consistency and ending with the thickest. So, apply your oils as the last step in your skincare routine. This will also seal in the moisture from your preceding skincare and create a protective barrier that stops water leaving the skin and stops pollutants entering.
7. Let other skincare products fully dry before using your face oil
Allow sufficient time for your other products to dry or sink in before finishing up with your oil. Layering products too quickly without giving them time to absorb properly can lead to (very annoying) ‘pilling’. This is when your skincare products form little ‘balls’ on the surface of your skin when you’re rubbing them in (and you have to start all over again). If you’ve experienced this before, you’ll know how frustrating it is!
8. Do a patch test before using face oils
As with lots of skincare products, facial oils can be reactive with the skin. So, it’s recommended that you do a patch test on the inside of your arm 24 hours before use. This is particularly important with essential oils which can be very potent (and which should always be combined with a carrier oil).
9. Don’t replace your moisturiser with facial oil
Can facial oil replace moisturiser? No. Do not completely replace other moisturising products such as serums and moisturisers with facial oils - they often do not contain enough ingredients on their own to keep your skin happy and healthy. Face oil is best for keeping moisture in the skin, rather than adding moisture to it.
10. Make sure you know how to store facial oils correctly
When you’ve finished using your facial oil, it’s important to store it correctly. Otherwise, its great ingredients will start to lose their effectiveness. So, get into the habit of storing your oils away from heat, sunlight and air. Exposure to these three elements can decrease the shelf life of your beloved oils by breaking down and interfering with their ingredients.
And that’s it! Now you know how to use facial oil properly. Following these 10 top tips will help you get the most out of these skincare staples and start you on the road to beautiful, glowing skin. For more know-how, check out this guide and read about some of the best face oils for glowing skin here.