Plant oils contain skin building blocks including ceramides, cholesterol, triglycerides (fatty acids attached to glycerol), tocopherols, phytosterols, stanols, phospholipids, waxes, squalene, and polyphenolic compounds. When topically applied they nourish the skin and act as a protective barrier that decreases trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL).1
Certain plant oils can be the solution, not the enemy!
Certain non-comedogenic plant oils also have the ability to repair the skin barrier2 by:
This means that some non-comedogenic plant oils are natural remedies for acne, oily skin, and dry skin! They help a damaged skin barrier repair itself so that it behaves the way it was designed to behave.
Plant oils are typically cold-pressed from the plant. These are “fixed” oils that are not volatile, meaning they do not readily evaporate at room temperature. Examples of natural plant oils include apricot oil, coconut oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, and many others.
Synthetic oils are typically derived and refined from petrochemicals and include ingredients such as paraffin, mineral oil, petroleum jelly, and baby oil. Synthetic oils can help to hold moisture in the skin, but they don’t feed the skin and protect against free-radical damage the way natural plant oils can.
Essential oils are extracted from plants, but they are highly concentrated volatile compounds and not really oils. If left exposed to the air, essential oils will quickly evaporate at room temperature.
Not always! Plant oils can nourish and protect all skin types: acne-prone, oily, normal, or dry skin. But plant oils SHOULD NOT BE USED on Malassezia-affected skin. Sometimes Malassezia yeast, which lives on normal skin, can multiply abnormally and take over the skin microbiome. This can cause Malassezia Folliculitis (“fungal acne”), eczema (atopic dermatitis), Pityriasis Versicolor (discolors the skin), seborrheic dermatitis (inflamed, scaly scalp with dandruff), razor bumps, hot tub rash, barber’s itch, and other usually itchy skin conditions.
Malassezia feeds on the fatty acids in natural plant oils. So, if you have a Malassezia-related skin condition, you need to choose only Malassezia-safe products that will not feed the yeast until the skin barrier returns to normal. That means most fixed plant oils should be avoided until the skin barrier returns to normal.
