Oils are a recent ‘newcomer’ to the hair and skin industry, but lets fac(ial) it- lots of people from vastly different cultures all over the world have know this for thousands of years.
You can find added oils in almost every natural skin and hair product on the market nowadays making wild claims about moisturizing, hydrating, glowing, buffing- hell claims fall just short of giving you a massage and bringing you a milk alternative organic latte.
So let’s do a deep dive! We will cover:
- History of oil use
- Moisturization vs Hydration
- Comedogenic rating of oils
- See related posts:
- How to use hair oils
- Spelunking into the weird world of OIL CLEANSING (cue spooky 60s movie soundtrack) and SERUMS
HISTORY OF OIL USE:
The use of oils dates back to at least ancient Egypt where it was used for body and beauty uses, and one can only imagine it was to help protect the skin against the harsh, dry desert environment. As we all know, history has a much larger timeline than we currently recognize, so the use of oils most likely predates ancient Egyptian civilization, but some examples of its sacred use can be found in ancient tombs and texts. The Bible mentions women anointing Jesus with oil and then wiping it off with their hair on several occasions. Olive oil was used in Greco-Roman times, and Aristotle recommended a mix of olive oil with cedar oil, lead, or frankincense applied to the cervix as a contraceptive. (Maybe he could have left the lead out of the equation; olive oil can reduce sperm mobility by 42%, sesame oil by 30%, and saliva can reduce to nearly 0% mobility within 15 minutes of exposure according to https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9886513/ ) Lubricants for contraception and conception might be a topic worthy of a whole other post…..
I would also like to pay homage to the beauty mavens of cultures all around the world that have known these amazing secrets of oil, and for many, that is the only way to manage their hair or skin type effectively.
Moisturizing vs. Hydrating :
To begin, let us actually define what these terms mean, because they are not actually interchangeable. The following definitions are according to a beauty chemist Krupa Koestline.
“Moisturization means lubricating the skin with emollients, thereby reducing dryness and transepidermal water loss” (where emollient means ‘something that softens or soothing the skin’)
“Hydration in skincare means applying water or water-binding ingredients to you your skin” (Think Hyluronic acid or gycerine) This can also be known as a humectant, or something that draws water from the air and attracts it to the skin.
Further, when we think about oil, let us travel back to chemistry class. Oil and water don’t mix! Think about covering your hands with olive oil and running them under the tap. The water beads up and rolls off your skin, because oil as a rule is hydrophobic- afraid of water.
This is where it get sticky with some newer types of hair and body oils. If you apply hair oil to a dry hair or skin, you are essentially locking moisture (water) OUT of the skin and hair- if you are using it as a moisturizer. (More on facial cleansing oils later- those are applied to dry skin). I have seen so many people hate hair and skin oils because they feel it just sits on the surface, making a greasy mess and never sinking in.
The goal of a moisturizer or other skin protectant is to seal moisture in and block environmental stressors that would otherwise strip, dry out, burn, or stress our skin and hair. If we are hydrating properly, our skin will be happy and hydrated, and have a healthy supported skin barrier. Think again about running your oily hands under the tap. If you have healthy, hydrated from within skin, any environmental stressors (wind, dirt, dust, dry environment) can be warded with a nice oil or even a waxier protectant (think a heavy, waxy lip balm with staying power)
Some of our products that are meant to be a magical forcefield against inclement weather (and energy!) include our Hair Oil Spray, Face Balm, Tattoo Balm, Lip Balm, and Barnacle Balm. These are all generally multipurpose formulas (yea, you can use the lip balm on your face!)
PUT THAT ON MY FACE?! What about clogging my pores?! Are you CRAZY?
So now that we have gotten some cool science out of the way, let’s talk about the COMEDOGENIC SCALE!
Before we get into some eye popping, color coded, totally engrossing and mind blowing info graphics worthy of a mediocre powerpoint presentation, I feel we need to dedicate entirely separate posts about serums and oil cleansers for face and skin. A brief looks at these:
Oil Cleanser: an oil that you put on your face to combat oil. (weird. I know. More science to that, so keep your lab coat handy for part two)
Serum: a fancy big-kid name for an oil or a mix of oils that are used as a moisturizer and skin protectant.
So what is the COMEDOGENIC SCALE you say??
All oils are rated in several ways, but what we are going to focus on here is comedogenic ratings of oils. According to skinlibrary.co.uk, “Comedogenic means the tendency for an ingredient to clog our pores. ANything that disrupts the sebum outflow on our skin can lead to the formation of comedones (whiteheads). Comedone is a type of non-inflammatory acne and can further lead to the formation of inflammatory acne.” It is ranked on a scale of 0-5, as follows:
0: Excellent for acne-prone skin
1: normal to oily types, can be tolerated by acne
2:Tolerated by normal-dry skin types
3:dry skin types MAY tolerate these
4:tolerated by very few, will cause breakouts
5: Step 1: Apply. Step 2: Schedule a visit to the dermatologist
As with everything, there are always exceptions to the rule. For example, Jojoba oil is ranked 0-2 on the comedogenic scale, depending on how frisky it is feeling that day. But Jojoba is hailed as one of the best oils out there for skin because it will not clog pores and it most closely matches the sebum our skin naturally produces. So this oil is excellent for managing acne and supporting healthy skin.
So…. with your new color coded knowledge, you can see why our formulas specifically for facial skin are formulated with oils low on the comedogenic scale. Our face serum is a blend of jojoba, argan, and a touch of rosehip seed oil- an amazing oil that is incredibly supportive of the skin, especially delicate tissues around the eyes.
So this probably is enough to wrap up part ONE of the OIL EXTRAVAGANZA! Please take a walk, give your eyes a break from the still very impressive color coded comedogenic scale and ponder the possibilities of oil.
https://www.allure.com/story/do-oils-hydrate-skin-hair