Skincare is phenomenally important. As someone who had relatively low maintenance skin for many years, I learned this later than many people. With the exception of a moisturizer with sunscreen (SPF is SO important on the daily, especially in SoCal), I didn’t do much with my skin for most of my teenage years.
Things began to change when I went to college and added more and more things to my life that affected my skin, like working out and wearing makeup more frequently. One thing that always stayed the same was that my skin is on the more oily side. So when skin oils began to gain popularity in the last couple years, I avoided them like the plague. It wasn’t until I started hearing about how great skin oils can be from multiple bloggers, magazines and friends that I even began to think about using a skin oil.
Recently though, I read on Alicia Lund’s blog, Cheetah is the New Black, about a product she was using daily during her pregnancy, Marula Stretchmark Botanical Body Oil by African Botanics. She raved about it on multiple posts, so when a friend of mine complained about a similar problem, I went online to the African Botanics website and purchased their Regenerating Body Hydroserum as a gift. When I ordered that, I was also sent a few samples of their Fleurs d’Afrique.
Wow. Just wow.
Never did I imagine that a face oil could be what this oil is. When I thought of face oils, I thought of cooking oil, like a nice olive oil. No, that is not what this is.This oil is super light and locks in moisture. It also works at the trouble spots, like evening skin tone, fighting redness, and reducing the appearance of fine lines and blemish spots. The fighting of blemish spots is huge for me. Although I never had really bad skin, I’ve had problem spots where I have scars I’m still self conscious about. The smell is also amazing. It’s light and flowered without being sweet. One of the best things about it, is that there’s nothing artificial in it: no parabens, silicons or synthetic fragrances.
And what a job it does. After I wash my face in the morning and at night, I apply a few drops to my fingers and massage it into my skin with upward strokes. When I say massage, I mean a real massage, it’s so relaxing to smooth onto your skin! I let it sink in a minute or two and add eye cream. In the morning I also follow with an AM moisturizer with sunscreen (of course) and makeup.
I’m now a true believer in face oils! While this one is pretty pricey, because a little goes a long way, I anticipate it will last a long time. I’ll keep you up to date!
What are your thoughts on face oils? Any favorites? Alternatives?
by Breanna Marie 