Oil and water are essential when it comes to healthy skin. While we’re all familiar with the old adage about oil and water not mixing well, the two truly complement each other when it comes to healthy skincare.
Water-based products hydrate, and oil-based products nourish. If either is excluded from your daily skincare routine, skin may show signs of imbalance by becoming dull, lackluster, or blemished. At Luzern, we believe it’s essential to incorporate both water and oil into your skincare regimen for hydration and barrier protection in order to maintain healthy, glowing skin.
Benefits of Oil + Water
Facial oils and moisturizers are excellent for nourishing and protecting the surface layer of skin, while sealing in water and moisture. Water-based serums, on the other hand, penetrate deep into the cellular level. Using facial oils in combination with serums ensures maximum delivery of nutrients and moisture to the skin.
Water is essential to healthy skin. In fact, our skin is made up of 64 percent water. Yet throughout the day, skin is likely to dehydrate from water loss unless we create a protective barrier. Oils attract water and absorb gently into the skin to lock in moisture and minimize excess oil production, while creating the protective barrier that results in radiant, nourished skin.
Layering for Balance
Layering clean skincare products delivers benefits to the skin that just water or oil alone can’t provide. Keep these simple layering steps in mind when applying serums and oils:
Step 1: Apply water-based serums after cleansing and exfoliating. Water-based serums are formulated to penetrate deeply into the skin to deliver high concentrations of powerful active ingredients at the cellular level. At Luzern, all of our serums are water-based.
Step 2: Follow up with an oil-based serum. Face oils supplement the skin’s natural oils to provide a protective barrier on the surface. Using facial oils over serums helps skin retain water, moisture and nutrients so it gains the maximum benefit from both products.
Even Acne-Prone Skin Needs Oil + Water
Oils deliver many essential benefits to the skin, but they don’t penetrate into the deepest cellular layers the way water-based serums do. Many who suffer from acne-prone skin can be paranoid about using facial oils and oil-based moisturizers, but failing to do so can lead to dehydrated skin – and when oily skin gets dehydrated, it tends to break out.
Oils don’t actually hydrate the skin. Only water can do this. But oil and water are dependent upon each other to lock in natural moisture and prevent water from evaporating. Instead of skipping hydration all together, which can be detrimental to skin, lightweight serums layered with facial oils can keep skin nourished, luminous and protected.
Healthy skincare tip: Choose a lighter weight facial oil like Luzern Labs The Sublime Oil during warmer weather or if you have acne-prone skin. A heavier oil such as Serum Absolut The Replenishing Oil is beneficial for skin that looks and feels dehydrated, or for skin that needs an overnight boost.
By Noelle Graf
