I had a really great conversation with a customer the other day about why I moved away from making moisturisers and changed the range to facial oils instead. So much so I thought it would make a good blog post.
In terms of facial moisturisers, most are made up of oil-in-water emulsions consisting of tiny droplets of oil held in a water base. To prevent the oil and water from separating or deteriorating, manufacturers add stabilising ingredients, such as emulsifiers and thickeners.
Think of how your skin turns prune-y after a long bath or shower, the excessive water is not hydrating your skin externally. Your skin needs oil to be healthy (yes even if you have naturally oily skin), it benefits from the nutrients and vitamins in the oils and extracts.
Cosmetic moisturising products which have a water base need preservatives, to stop them being contaminated by micro-organisms. Without preservatives, bacteria would rapidly spoil the product, and can even cause it to become a risk to health. So with a completely oil based product we do not need a preservative, we do add vitamin E to add to the shelf life of the product.
Finally packaging! We all have the best intentions in the world but how many of us actually thoroughly wash our hands, and thoroughly dry them before popping your hand into the moisturiser jar? When moving to facial oils I specially opted for a pump so your fingers cannot go into the jar meaning this is no longer an issue. And I felt a pump was a better choice than a pipette as there is nothing more devastating that product spillage!