Oils: 100% Natural Face Moisturizer

When I ditched my commercial facial cleanser a few months ago and started washing my face with olive oil, I also said good-bye to my Mary Kay moisturizing cream that I loved and had been using for years. Now I'm using pure oils to hydrate my skin. Do I miss mainstream moisturizer? I sure don't miss the ingredients. Like many commercial moisturizers, the main ingredients are mineral oil and petrolatum. Both are a by-product of crude oil and lack any nutrients. Pure oils, on the other hand, are loaded with naturally occurring vitamins and minerals that your skin will love.


Here is a list of oils that make a great moisturizer. Each is quickly absorbed so your face won't feel greasy. Go with cold pressed, unrefined oils when you can. They are less processed so there will be more nutrients to benefit your skin. You should be able to find these oils at your local health food store, Amazon, or Mountain Rose Herbs. If you have a tight budget, less expensive refined oils are still way better than the garbage in commercial moisturizers.

I use avocado oil at night before I go to bed and jojoba or sweet almond oil in the morning. But you don't need multiple oils. Just start with one. A little goes a long way. I use about 3 drops on my face and 2 drops on my neck. I've hardly made a dent in my bottles of oil and I've been doing this for three months now.

Moisturizing Oils

• Jojoba (pronounced ho-ho-ba)
  
  Skin Type: all skin types; especially acne-prone, oily, sensitive, aging, or normal skin
  
  Properties: lightweight, rapidly absorbed, penetrates skin easily, non-greasy, rich in vitamin E, very similar to the skin's natural oils, odorless, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, helps prevent excessive oil production making it ideal for oily skin, good for scars and stretch marks, indefinite shelf life
• Sweet Almond
  
  Skin Type: all skin types; especially dry, itchy, or normal skin or those suffering from eczema
  
  Properties: medium-lightweight, absorbs semi-quickly, slightly greasy until absorbed, rich in vitamins A, B, & E, has been found to reduce dark circles under eyes, 12-month shelf life
• Avocado
  
  Skin Type: all skin types; especially dry, itchy, sensitive, or aging skin or those suffering from psoriasis or eczema
  
  Properties: medium weight, able to penetrate deep into skin for better absorption of nutrients, slightly greasy until absorbed, rich in proteins and vitamins A, D, & E, anti-inflammatory, 12-month shelf life
• Apricot Kernel
  
  Skin Type: all skin types; especially dry, sensitive, aging, or normal skin
  
  Properties: very lightweight, easily absorbed, able to penetrate deep into the skin, non-greasy, heavier than sweet almond oil but more easily absorbed into skin, high in vitamins A, D, & E, used as a base in most baby care products, 6-12 month shelf life
• Grapeseed
  
  Skin Type: all skin types; especially acne-prone or oily skin
  
  Properties: lightweight, quickly absorbed, non-greasy, high in antioxidants like vitamin E, possesses astringent and antiseptic properties, chemically extracted so not my top choice, 12-month shelf life
• Kukui Nut
  
  Skin Type: all skin types; especially dry skin or those dealing with psoriasis or eczema
  
  Properties: lightweight, easily absorbed, high in vitamins A, C, & E, excellent relief for sunburn, fairly expensive oil, good for scars and stretch marks, 12-month shelf life

Customize with Essential Oils

You can make your moisturizing oil even more luxurious and customized to your individual skin type by adding essential oils. Essential oils are natural compounds extracted from parts of plants, flowers, and trees. They have been used throughout history for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits. They are extremely concentrated so you only need to add a few drops to your bottle of oil. Never use undiluted essential oils on your skin, except lavender and tea tree oil. Click here for more essential oil safety. You can find essential oils at your local health food store, Amazon, or Mountain Rose Herbs.

• Mature Skin/Wrinkles: frankincense, helichrysum, geranium, lavender, myrrh, sandalwood, carrot seed
• Dry Skin: rose, lavender, geranium, sandalwood, rosewood, ylang-ylang, chamomile
• Oily Skin: lemon, cedarwood, cypress, juniper, lavender, lemongrass, grapefruit
• Acne-Prone Skin: tea tree, lemongrass, lavender, geranium, peppermint, rosemary, sandalwood

Saves Money

By switching to oils, I save money AND stop worrying about all the chemicals in commercial moisturizer. I use less oil per application than I did the Mary Kay cream, so the cost savings is even better than the numbers below.

$11.11/oz. Mary Kay Moisturizing Cream ($20/1.8 ounce container on eBay)
$1.21/oz. Mountain Rose Herbs unrefined sweet almond oil ($10.25/8.5 oz. bottle)

Do you use oil to moisturize? Which oils are your favorites?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**UPDATE**Jan 15, 2013**
I've been using pure oils (avocado oil, sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, jojoba oil, etc.) as moisturizer for almost a year now. At first the oils worked great but as time went on I noticed the oil was clogging my pores and causing bumps on my forehead. It was also causing me to break out when normally I don't break out. Unfortunately, I don't know which oil was clogging my pores since I was using multiple oils. Once I stopped using oil as moisturizer, the bumps went away and I haven't had a bad break out since. So unfortunately, I'm not able to recommend using oil as moisturizer anymore. Boo.

I do, however, still recommend using oils to wash your face. Because the oil is washed off, it doesn't clog my pores. The oil dissolves make up and dirty oil from my face, without stripping all the natural protective oils like soap does. It's very gentle and moisturizing and I LOVE it. You can read more about it here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**UPDATE**Feb 8, 2013**
I had given up on using oils as facial moisturizer, but then I came across this article. Maybe I've just been using the WRONG oils! I've been hearing some buzz about grapeseed oil, which is one oil I have never tried on my face. According to this article, actress Emma Stone uses grapeseed oil as moisturizer and loves it. Also, 100% Pure sells a facial oil that is made with mostly grapeseed oil. So I am going to try grapeseed oil as a facial moisturizer and will report back in a few months with the results. Other celebrities swear by rosehip seed oil. So I'll try that one next if grapeseed oil doesn't pan out. Here's hoping . . .

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**UPDATE**May 29, 2013**
So I've been using grapeseed oil since February but it's causing bumps on my forehead like other oils have. I will try rosehip seed oil next but I'm expecting it will do the same thing. I'm thinking about trying this recipe next from Potholes & Pantyhose. It's 4 Tbsp pure aloe vera (drinkable kind from juice section), 1 tsp vegetable glycerin, 6 drops jojoba oil, and 1/4 tsp sweet almond oil. I would probably replace the sweet almond oil with more jojoba oil since jojoba oil is very similar to our natural facial oil. I'll keep you posted.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This post was proudly featured at:

This post is linked to: Simple Lives Thursday, Natural Living Link-Up, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Monday Mania, Tip Me Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, The Morristribe's Homesteader Blog Carnival, Homestead Barn Hop, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works for Me Wednesday, A Glimpse Inside, Piece O' Cake Thursday, Raising Homemakers, Life as Mom Frugal Friday, The Country Homemaker Hop, Little House in the Suburbs

Tweet