Egyptians used them to enhance beauty boosting treatments. Greeks used them in therapeutic massages and aromatherapy. Makeup artists have had them on their top shelves for decades. We’re talking about natural, clean, botanical face oils—the essential key for healthy, youthful, elastic & glowing skin.
The outermost layer of our epidermis is mainly composed of lipids responsible for retaining moisture, preventing dehydration, and helping to provide a barrier against toxins. Just as our bodies require essential fatty acids to stay healthy, skin needs a thick lipid barrier to look young and glowing. As we age, we produce less of the oils that compose that lipid layer, causing it to become thinner and lose its suppleness.
All natural botanical ayurvedic face oils pack in nutrients and essential fatty acids to help nourish and maintain a well-balanced lipid barrier. This helps to effectively maintain healthy levels of water and ions, keep out toxins and infectious agents, and stop UV rays from damaging DNA. Because oils, specifically essential oils, have a high concentration of oxygen and are of a lipophilic—or fat-loving—nature, they quickly pass through the skin’s lipid barrier, plumping it with active ingredients more effectively, while also preventing water loss. This rush of active compounds immediately delivers a healthy glow through increased blood flow and oxygenation, simultaneously working at the cellular level to balance, heal, and stimulate cell renewal.
Face oils are also the better alternative to other facial products. Most conventional facial lotions and creams are made up of waxes, water, and synthetic fragrances with only a little beneficial oil mixed in. Wax is used to create a layer over skin to help lock in moisture. Over time, that wax can build up and clog pores, preventing active ingredients from penetrating the skin and delivering nutrients. All the while the water quickly evaporates upon contact, and the synthetic fragrances are commonly irritating and may contain potentially toxic chemicals, which aren’t explicitly listed on the label.
But if you’re still a skeptic and perhaps are concerned face oils won’t work for your skin type, consider this: Face oils are the ideal, nourishing option for all skin types. A healthy complexion requires a thick lipid barrier to effectively hold on to moisture and protect the skin compounds that absorb water from the atmosphere—which is why skin that is prone to dryness drinks up these oils. Since these compounds are water-soluble, they are easily removed from cells with repeated water contact. Adding oil into your skincare helps strengthen the lipid barrier, sealing the skin and preventing water loss.
It’s common to be skeptic about face oils for acne-prone skin or oily skin types. But this a great misconception, as the right oils can actually help to balance skin. Many acne treatment products focus on stripping, when in reality our skin loves oils as they respond to its natural composition. In fact, recent research has found that lack of lipids in the epidermis impairs the water barrier function, resulting in bumps and rough skin texture due to excessive sebum formation in the hair follicle. Essential oils such as Juniper Berry, Tea Tree and Clove found in UMA’s Deeply Clarifying Face Oil can help to regulate your skin’s pH balance, heal existing damage, and stimulate cell renewal, ridding your complexion of unwanted toxins while maintaining a healthy lipid barrier.
Now let’s consider sensitive skin. Pure essentials oils found in high quality face oils can help to function as the skin’s immune system by helping to fight inflammation and toxic external agents. When applied topically, these oils respond to our skin’s familiar formulation, working on healing and detoxifying as they would in a plant. In other words, they allow our immune system to do a better job. Sensitive skin types will benefit from using Sandalwood essential oil and Clary Sage oil—found in our Absolute Anti Aging Face Oil—because of their potent anti-inflammatory properties. When used in combination with anti-aging ingredients, these oils trick the skin into letting other active ingredients deeper into the skin and closer to the collagen-producing fibroblasts, all without irritating the surface.
As we age, our skin produces fewer oils causing the epidermis to become thinner and our lipid barrier to weaken. Thinner, more mature skin can’t recover from water loss as quickly, making it more vulnerable to inflammatory diseases and less effective at blocking damaging UV rays and balancing pH levels. Adding oils back into the skin is the best way to combat early signs of aging and maintain an effective barrier. Rose oil, abundant in our Total Rejuvenation Night Face Oil, is excellent at hydrating and nurturing maturing skin, while Frankincense essential oil works at the cellular level to promote renewal and collagen production.
Face oils are, in essence, the absolute key element in keeping skin glowing and supremely healthy.
