Oil Is the New Face Cream
Toss your moisturizer in favor of deeply hydrating nectars (no, they won’t make you break out). This is the year of Cleopatra—she’s the subject of Stacy Schiff’s acclaimed new biography and Angelina Jolie is soon to step into her gladiator sandals and scanty tunic. While we’ve all heard that the legendary beauty bathed in milk to keep her skin soft (the effect of lactic acid, as we now know), her other skin secret—massaging her face in olive oil—has proven equally effective.
Massage works to strengthen that ever-illusive, fast-disappearing key to youth and firmness: collagen. Oil saturates the skin, replenishing lost moisture and creating a barrier that locks hydration in and the cold winter wind out. According to Francesca Fusco, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, “People shy away from using oils on the face, assuming they are greasy and pore-clogging, but this is not the case with essential oils, which are a worthy aromatic alternative to standard moisturizing creams.”
She continued, “Before a big night out, take five minutes to massage your face with an oil. Its hydrating properties and the circulation boost that a massage provides will temporarily plump up the skin and give it a youthful vitality.” For those of us who don’t want to smell like an antipasto and insist upon the best of modern science, look no further than these six high-performing oils:
Pratima Raichur: Rejuvenating Essential Oil
Santa Maria Novella: Nourishing Night Oil
Darphin: 8-Flower Nectar
Rodin: Olio Lusso
Sunday Riley: Juno
Nude: Replenishing Oil
Nuxe: Huile Prodigieuse
I can personally recommend Rodin: Olio Lusso because I use it. However, you can get a top quality oil at a health food store for much less money.