Face Oils vs Moisturizers

Face oil vs. moisturizer. Two much loved yet often misunderstood skincare essentials that fulfill different roles in your skincare routine. But understanding their differences, and how they can align with your skincare goals, can support reviving the natural radiance in your complexion. 

Difference between Face Oil and Moisturizer

Face oils and moisturizers serve distinct yet complementary roles, working in harmony to encourage a beautifully nourished, hydrated complexion. 

Face oils, derived from plants, nuts, or seeds, are bursting with essential nutrients and occlusive properties to nourish and protect the skin. Creating a nurturing shield at the skin’s surface, face oils enhance the natural lipid barrier to seal in moisture, while delivering a bounty of active ingredients to the deeper layers of the skin tissues. Face oils are versatile, serving all skin types, and are especially beneficial for dry or mature skin. 

On the other hand, moisturizers are designed to hydrate and moisturize. Hydrating powerhouses, formulated with a blend of water, or floral waters, oils, and hydrating agents that help increase the skin’s water content, soften the skin, and help minimize moisture loss. When infused with active natural ingredients, face creams can offer dual support, addressing various skin concerns while hydrating the skin and improving its texture.

Let’s explore each in more detail.

Facial oil is composed of plant oils derived from seeds, fruits, or nuts, designed to complement your skin's natural oils, helping to fortify and replenish the skin’s lipid barrier.

Brimming with essential fatty acids and antioxidants to repair and protect the skin, many facial oils also offer the benefits of active ingredients to help address specific concerns.

While face oil doesn’t directly hydrate the skin, face oil does a wonderful job of creating a protective barrier to seal in moisture to prevent water loss, keeping skin lusciously nourished.

The secret to face oil success is understanding which oils are supportive of your skin type and concerns. 

Plant oils are the star ingredients in many of our formulas, each bringing their unique benefits to the skin. 

An especially rich skin-soother for those with dry or sensitive skin, apricot kernel oil is rich in Vitamins A, C, and E, infusing skin with vitality, supporting moisture retention, and leaving skin soft and supple. For all these reasons, apricot kernel oil is a key ingredient in ultra-nourishing Quintessential Serum.

If you are seeking to plump fine lines and an even skin tone, rosehip oil is celebrated for its remarkable ability to brighten the complexion and strengthen the skin barrier. It’s one of the potent herbal remedies blended into Intensive Repair Balm.

Meanwhile, jojoba seed oil is a master of balance, helping the skin regulate oil production, and offering a perfect solution for oily or acne prone skin types. Its bioidentical nature works in harmony with skin's natural sebum, providing balance and comfort to even the most sensitive and acne prone skin. 

Exploring further, let’s look at the role of moisturizer. 

Moisturizer serves primarily to deliver moisture to the skin and seal in hydration. 

Creams and water based moisturizers unite the benefit of humectants and emollients—humectants deposit moisture into the deeper layers of the skin, while emollients smooth and plump the surface for a supple finish. 

Beneficial humectant ingredients include hyaluronic acid, with a remarkable ability to hold up to a thousand times its weight in water, which not only deeply hydrates skin cells but also visibly diminishes fine lines. We blend hyaluronic acid into Awakening Eye Gel in order to support hydration for the delicate skin around the eyes.

Glycerin acts as moisture magnet, drawing in hydration from both the atmosphere and the skin's lower layers, encouraging a softly cushioned and dewy complexion. 

Aloe vera, with its calming properties, helps to sustain moisture levels and offers some protection against UV damage.

Meanwhile, honey, a wonderful natural humectant, doesn't only draw moisture; it also brings cleansing properties, a purifying choice to help clear and balance acne-prone or oily skin. It brings its beautiful nutritive benefits and calming care to Celestial Rose Crème.

It is important to consider the order of application when applying face oil and moisturizer. 

First, apply one to two drops of Quintessential Serum, which absorbs deeply to nourish the skin with the pure essence of Rose and Frankincense. Press the serum into the skin with the fingertips or massage this beautiful face oil blend into the skin, relaxing all the musculature and bringing circulation to the deeper layers of the skin. 

Then layer on the crème of your choice, whether Intensive Repair Balm or Celestial Rose Crème, which goes on like a balm, sealing in hydration and strengthening the skin’s natural protective barrier.

The question of whether both are required is one of the most frequently asked questions when discussing face oil vs. moisturizer.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer; it’s a personal journey to finding what makes your skin feel its best. Some environments and skin conditions require more layers. It’s something to be attuned to in your skin care routine.

Applying light layers of both face oil and cream can be beneficial, especially for mature complexions, dry skin or when skin is dehydrated, as together they offer comprehensive moisture promoting and anti-aging benefits. Our best selling face cream, Intensive Repair Balm, helps restore dry or depleted skin, combining many benefits of both moisturizers and face oils by bringing together potent herbal remedies like White Lily and Helichrysum with Rose Hip Seed Oil and Avocado Oil.

Or, you may simply relish the self-care experience of a multi-step routine where layering creams and oils is perfect.

However, another quick solution is to super-boost your moisturizing cream by adding a drop of serum and blending them together in the palm of your hand. 

For some skin types, a lighter face cream may be more agreeable than an oil. Oily, combination, or blemish-prone skin is beautifully supported with Luminous Morning Crème. With a feather weight texture, this lightweight daytime moisturizer helps clarify, illuminate and protect the skin helping to maintain a healthy balance.

Seasonal changes may influence your choice. In colder weather, when the skin's barrier requires extra support and hydrating the skin is paramount, layering both cream and oil can offer increased moisture and protection.

Listen to your skin and nourish it with the most supportive creams or oils, or the perfect combination of both, for a resilient, radiant complexion.