Amp Up Your Skin Moisture with Healthy Dose of Oil

Having a mother and sister with dry skin is somewhat a blessing. My mother, being an extremely busy woman who is as a well known professional in law and financial industry, takes a good care of her skin as she believes that being smart and beautiful are powerful attributes to have in her line of work. While my younger sister is obsessed with discovering ways to moisturize every inch or her skin with natural products from the reasonably priced moisturizers to insanely priced elixirs that is probably too expensive for daily use.

They said that I am fortunate to have my father's oily skin as our skin tends to age slower than those with dry skin. But before I turned 30, I started to notice the result of years of neglect to my skin. My feet, knees, and elbows are rough and darker than the rest of my body. I can also see dry patches on my legs and arms that are enough to cause a panic! So, I called my sister and she came over with her arsenal of tried and tested body oils.

I have used extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) as part of my beauty routine that I shared here, but I don't do it often enough because EVOO is harder to be absorbed if you don't apply it right after shower when your skin is soft and pores are open. As drying time can take about 1 hour, I was worried that it will stain my clothes and bed sheets. So I was hesitant to try the pile of bottles containing body oil brought by my sister, until she explained about dry oil.

I swear I was listening closely to my sister's explanation of what a dry oil is. But all I can remember from her looong scientific explanation is that dry oil does not sit on top of your skin. Its texture is lightweight so it sinks into your skin. Thus, I should not pour out her 'expensive' dry oil on to my palm, but just put a couple of drops directly on to my arms and legs. The result if soft and moisturized skin with subtly glowing skin. I've came a long way since that SOS phone call with my sister and have tried and tested various body oils. Some are great and some are not so great. Here are a quick run through of some of the body oils that I currently have on rotation.

Body Oil Collection
Row 1, L-R: NUXE Huile Prodigieu, Fresh Rice Dry Oil, Josie Maran Argan Oil
Row 2, L-R: Caudalie Divine Oil, Origins Ginger Gloss Smoothing Body Oil, Sheer Miracle Organic Argan Oil

1. NUXE Huile Prodigieu
My first dry oil given by my sister when I visited her in London. The smell It smells like sweet floral on a summer day. The ingredients are 98% natural and consisting of Borage, St. John's Wort, Sweet Almond, Camellia, Hazelnut, Macadamia and Vitamin E. Its very light weight and doesn't leave your skin sticky at all. It's doesn't feel as moisturizing as EVOO, but the key is regular application. If you apply it daily after shower, you will see improvements on your skin condition. And since I love the smell and texture, I find myself keep reaching for it after the shower.

2. Fresh Rice Dry Oil
To be honest, I purchased this dry oil during my time of 'obsession' with all thing rice. It's all started with SK II Facial Treatment Essence. But we'll keep that for another time. The ingredients contain Jojoba oil, Borage, Grapeseed oil, Sunflower oil, and of course Rice bran. It smells fruity which makes it a fresher option. I find myself reaching for it when I need a morning pick me up (and when a cold shower just isn't enough). What I hate about it is that the bottle does not have a spout or any sort of lid, so I kept spilling more oil than what I need. At the end, I re-bottle the oil into an old glass bottle with spray to avoid spillage.

3. Josie Maran Argan Oil
I purchased this oil due to its rave review and the bottle reminds me of an old favourite skincare of mine, Aesop. It was difficult to find in Jakarta, so I stopped using Aesop when I moved back from Melbourne. Anyway, back to Josie Maran! Another reason of purchasing this is because I wanted to try different type of oil. Argan oil is native to Morocco and well known for its cosmetic and medicinal properties. High consumption of argan oil and the slow rate of growth of the tree have made it an endangered species. Thus, argan oil is quite pricey. I love the fact that this product contains 100% argan oil and no additional fragrance or other type of oil mixed in. For me, it's best to be used as a once a week hot oil treatment for your hair. Make sure to apply on hair length only. It helps tame my damaged ends due to chemical perming.

4. Caudalie Divine Oil
A cocktail of four potent products, grape oil, argan oil, sesame oil, and grape seed polyphenols. Its texture is light and it has a light scent of rose. Too be completely honest, I purchased this product a couple of months ago but rarely use it. Most of the time, it just sit there on my dressing table. Bottom line, it's moisturizing, it smells great, its light in texture and and doesn't leave my skin feeling sticky. I guess I'll start to use it more once I finish my NUXE dry oil.


5. Origins Ginger Gloss Smoothing Body Oil
This was purchased on a whim, which I don't usually do. I tend to find out everything I can about a skincare product and only purchase shoes and bags on a whim, but I was visiting Melbourne in April while the weather is cold and I just can't resist the smell of Ginger. Just like its name, the main benefit of this product is for putting a bit of shine on your skin. It doesn't feel all that moisturizing and even though the oil texture is light, it takes quite a bit of time to dry. It's good, but not my favorite.

6. Sheer Miracle Organic Argan Oil
This was purchased on ebay as an attempt to find a cheaper alternative to Josie Maran Argan Oil. The seller stated that it contains 100% organic argan oil. I really can't verify that, but it feels moisturizing enough for me. At $21.50 for 50ml, much cheaper than its counterpart ($48 for 50ml). So I'm not complaining :)

I will try to do a more thorough review on each of these oils (or a few of my favorites) soon. Do you have a favorite dry oil or body/hair oil products that you can't live without?