Plant Oils vs. Synthetic Oils
“But i have oily skin, won’t oils make it even worse?” “I can’t use oils as my skin breaks out very easily?” “Won’t my skin feel greasy if i’m using oil on it?”
As an aesthetician specialized in natural skin care, these questions pop up more times than i can count. So, i really want to break down the facts in this blog post and help shed some light on this very common confusion about oils and how they affect the skin.
The idea that oils block the skin, make it oily, and cause it to break out is not completely wrong, as certain oils will do exactly this. These are synthetic oils derived and refined from the petrochemical industry and include paraffin, mineral oil, petroleum jelly, liquid petroleum, and baby oil, to mention a few. The World Health Organization classifies untreated or mildly treated mineral oils as Group 1 carcinogens to humans; highly refined oils are classified as Group 3, meaning they are not suspected to be carcinogenic but available information is not sufficient to classify them as harmless. Studies have also found mineral oils to act as endocrine disruptors in the body as they act as xenoestrogens, causing a variety of hormonal imbalances in the body and contributing to conditions associated with estrogen dominance. Needless to say, a substance derived from petroleum should not be consumed or put on the skin under any circumstances. Yet, these substances are extremely common in conventional cosmetics for reasons way beyond comprehension.
So if these oils are so bad, how do they differ from the natural oils i use in my products? All the oils i use in my practice are unrefined, cold-pressed, and plant based, meaning they are nutritious, easily absorbed by the skin, harmless for the body, and contain recognizable components that your skin can utilize to stay balanced and functional. Plant oils, such as hemp seed oil, olive oil, coconut oil or almond oil, to mention a few common ones, are packed with essential fatty acids like omega-3 and -6, vitamin E, and antioxidants, all parts in keeping the skin healthy, moisturized and plump.
3 main reasons to use plant oils for your skin:
Absorbability: Most plant oils are molecularly almost identical in structure to your skin’s own sebum and oils, making them easily absorbed and utilized by your skin. Plant oils do not, unlike common belief, block the skin, make it oily, or cause breakouts.
Protection: Due to the high concentration of essential fatty acids, vitamins, and antioxidants in plant oils, they provide strong protection against free radical damage, environmental pollutants, UV-rays from the sun, and radical temperature changes.
Nourishment: Plant oils balance your skin by improving its functions. They will balance the sebum production in oily, acne prone skin, provide moisture and hydration to dry skin, strengthen and heal damaged skin, and provide elasticity and cell regeneration to mature skin.
If you’ve made it this far, that means you have read my officially very first blog post on my new website, wahooo! Please, don’t hesitate to connect with me if there was anything unclear in this post, or if you have questions i didn’t answer this time. In the future i will be writing many more skin related blog posts along with nutrition, recipes, diy’s and much more.
With love,
