Dry Oil: The New Way To Moisturise
Skincare Spotlight: Dry Oil
Ours is a bittersweet relationship with oils. We love the nourishment oils provide to our skin and hair ~ but the sticky-icky feeling ~ not so much. We enjoy their fragrance and ability to deeply moisturise but not the sheen. I’ve always hoped that someone could come up with a plan to eliminate what we don’t like about oils while retaining all of their good qualities.
Enter: Dry Oil {Your skin’s new BFF}
What comes to mind when you think of oil? A slick and viscous liquid? Include the word dry before it, and it sounds like a paradoxical expression, doesn’t it? In what manner would a substance be able to be both wet and dry?
I wanted to find out, so I ordered a bottle of dry oil for myself. This oil is meant to nourish your skin and hair while adding a bit of shine but without leaving it sticky or greasy. Intrigued by the promise, I used it on my hair a few times, and realised that it was truly effective!
Now that I knew it could be great for my hair {and perhaps my skin}, I had a lot of questions about how it was actually possible for oil to work in this manner.
Solving the Mystery: What Is Dry Oil? {My findings}
As it turns out, dry oils are essentially oils ~ but the magic is in the texture. Although I am sure it is the job of a playful marketer to have clubbed the words dry and oil together, the truth is that the word ‘dry’ does not describe the oil itself. Instead, it is meant to describe the way your skin and hair absorb the oil allowing them to be nourished and moisturised without the sticky feeling.
Traditional oils are laced with waxes and emulsifiers that make them heavy and leave a residue after your skin absorbs nourishment from them {thereby clogging your pores}. Dry oils, on the other hand, are free of these heavier ingredients making them non-greasy and lightweight, and easier to absorb.
Why I love them!
There is no hiding the fact that we all love well-nourished skin and hair. And, while skin oils and hair are known for being nourishing and moisturising, those benefits sometimes come with some undesirable slip and shine. And to tell you the truth, I feel that we were somehow settling for them only because the perfect solution wasn’t available yet.
Dry oils are quick to work. And with a shorter rundown of ingredients than a potent serum, they deliver an equal measure of nourishment as your favourite body lotion or hair oil, without the additional weight. Furthermore, in case you’re one for heaping on moisturiser, dry oils don’t require a lot of massaging in and will not leave your skin parched before your day comes to an end.
Using Dry Oil
Depending on the brand you use, dry oils will usually come in a variety of blends catering to a specific set of uses. If one works great on your hair, the other may be great for very dry skin and yet another would be suitable for overnight oiling. The main objective of all these oils is to provide you with adequate nourishment effortlessly, and to help you enjoy glowing skin and lustrous hair without the ~ yes ~ greasy feel.
I would recommend using your dry oil right after you shower, when your skin is still damp and able to absorb more nutrients. Lightly mist the parts of your body that could use a little extra love, and then gently work the oil into your skin. You will need a very small amount of oil for your face. Rub it on the palms of your hands before massaging it in.
My hair loves the nourishment it gets through my regular use of dry oil as an overnight treatment. I apply dry oil to my hair at night and wash it out in the morning for soft and sleek hair.
While moisturisers are great, Dry Oil aces the skin nourishment game!
What do you think of dry oils ~ love it or leave it? Share in the comments below or tweet me.