Dry skin? Struggling to hydrate? Try a thick oil or vegetable butter, not a cream or lotion.

LipoTherapeia: Check our advanced skin tightening, phototherapy and cellulite treatments in London, based on the best technologies in the world and on more than two decades of experience over more than 20,000 sessions

• What causes dry skin

• Why body creams and lotions are not always the solution for dry skin - and they never are for very dry skin

• Dry or very dry skin? Use an oil or vegetable butter.

• Almond oil for dry skin

• Olive oil for dry skin

• Sesame oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil, apricot/plum/peach kernel oil for skin dryness

• Body oil blends

• When to use cream or oil for different body skin types

• Be careful of some body butters - they may contain hydrogenated oils

• That’s all good for dry body skin but what about dry skin on the face?

• Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

• Advanced, infrared / blue / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

• The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening

What causes dry skin

Many people suffer from dry skin in winter - and sometimes throughout the year too.

The causes of dry skin can be internal and/or external, from hormonal issues, dietary patterns and even genetics to dry winter weather, hot showers and tight clothes, such as leggings, that absorb skin moisture.

Most people who suffer from dry skin turn to body creams, either based on vegetable oils or mineral oils.

Mineral oil-based creams (usually mentioning paraffinum liquidum in the ingredient list) are artificial and alien to skin.

On the other hand, some vegetable oil-based creams can contain hydrogenated oils (the worst type of oil you can ingest or apply on your skin), highly processed oils or humectant oil derivatives and oil fractions, which are not very natural either, despite their initially natural origin.

Both types of creams can contain quite bad excipients too.

Why body creams and lotions are not always the solution for dry skin - and they never are for very dry skin

A good, natural oil-based body cream is sufficient for most uses, including mildly dry skin. For dry or very dry skin, however, a cream is not that effective and there are various reasons for that.

A body cream aims to combat dryness:

• Either by covering skin with an oily layer to stop the loss of water through the skin (transepidermal water loss, TEWL)

• And/or by covering skin with a humectant, such as glycerine, propylene glycol, hyaluronic acid etc, that draws and retains water in it

However all creams have limits. A cream is an emulsion, comprising, water, oil and emulsifier to bind the two together (a lotion is a looser, more liquid cream emulsion). A lot of things can go wrong with a cream/lotion, in terms of not preventing / fixing skin dryness:

• Sometimes the emulsifier itself can contributes to skin dryness - or even irritation

• Sometimes the formulation results in all the oil being absorbed into the skin a bit too effectively, with the skin surface getting back to dry in a few minutes or hours

• Using a low molecular weight hyaluronic acid can have the same effect: both hyaluronic acid and water get absorbed into the skin, leaving skin dry

• Using a high molecular weight hyaluronic acid can result in tackiness / sliminess

• Glycerine, propylene glycol and other humectants suffer from the same problem. Glycerine, specifically, is extremely sticky and tacky. Propylene glycol is not much better in this respect.

• A cream emulsion based on thin/dry oils, such as thistle/safflower, sunflower, rosehip, evening primrose, borage, hemp, walnut and grape seed oils, tend to absorb fast and not prevent TEWL that well

• Castor oil is a quite thick oil but also tends to be very sticky (and smelly). Plus a lot of castor oil used in skincare tends to be hydrogenated.

• Despite its legendary status, coconut oil is not very good at preventing skin dryness

• Hazelnut and jojoba oil are neither here nor there, so they can only help with mild skin dryness in a cream

On the other hand, a cream/lotion based on thicker oils, such as cocoa butter, shea butter, macadamia, olive, avocado, sweet almond, apricot, peach or plum are definitely better at preventing TEWL but sometimes they may still not be enough.

The best possible skin dryness fighting cream could have some of the above oils - plus high molecular weight hyaluronic acid but at low levels. But good luck finding a good one, at a decent price to be used for the body and without unwanted additives.

All in all, for very dry skin, creams and lotions are problematic:

• The really good ones tend to be impossible to find and definitely too expensive, especially when applied on large body areas

• And the cheap ones are just not that good for your skin, as they can contain all sorts of junk and artificial ingredients

Dry or very dry skin? Use an oil or vegetable butter.

On the other hand, you can simplify your life from all the above complications and apply a medium or thick oil on your body, which will prevent transepidermal water loss and fix your skin dryness.

Again, cocoa butter, shea butter, macadamia oil, olive oil, avocado oil, sweet almond oil, apricot oil, peach oil, plum oil and perhaps even hazelnut oil, sesame oil or jojoba oil can do a very good job in this respect.

From the above list:

• Cocoa butter and shea butter can be a bit difficult to apply, as they are solid. Plus they can feel quite sticky on the skin.

• Hazelnut oil, sesame oil or jojoba oil may not do a very good job on the driest skins.

• But the rest of the oils mentioned above display a good balance between thickness and promotion of skin hydration: macadamia oil, olive oil, avocado oil, sweet almond oil, apricot oil, peach oil and plum oil are all great for skin dryness and have a good skin feel

Almond oil for dry skin

Of all the above oils, olive oil and almond oil are widely available at a good price to quality ratio.

You can buy a litre of quality cold pressed almond oil, with a subtle almond aroma, at a quite low price and it will last you all winter and beyond. Refined almond oil is almost as good and even better priced.

You should be able to buy a litre of almond oil for £10-40/kg, depending on quality and on how much money you want to splash out and this is the best choice that we recommend for a single-oil solution for dry/very dry skin.

But in the name of God don’t be a victim and buy one of those pathetic £30 for a 30ml bottle body oils (i.e. £1,000/kg), which are sold to people with more money than sense.

Olive oil for dry skin

Regarding olive oil, many people would not like to slather themselves with the very healthful and nutritious extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), due to its herbal and earthy aroma.

But a quality refined olive oil is almost as good for skin application and even better priced than almond oil. So if you are on a budget, this is the oil to buy.

(Nevertheless, for a little bit more money, extra virgin almond oil is purer (as it is not refined), has a nice, faint aroma and its cost is still very reasonable.)

Sesame oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil, apricot/plum/peach kernel oil for skin dryness

Sesame oil, sunflower oil and avocado oil are all great for skin dryness but, just like EVOO, they just smell too much to be used unrefined / cold pressed.

The refined versions are fine but not better in any way than good old cold pressed or refined almond oil, which is much more affordable and of still very high quality.

Refined apricot, plum and peach kernel oil are almost identical to almond oil, but more difficult to source and usually a bit more expensive.

Body oil blends

If you wish to make your almond oil thicker, buy some shea butter or cocoa butter, add them in a bain-marie (double boiler) at a ratio of 1:10 to 5:10, gently heat them until they melt and let them mix naturally.

That will make a thicker, more moisturising oil, which is easy to apply and still not sticky. If you wish, you can also buy some pure vitamin E and add 0.5-1% in your mix, to help your oil keep for a really long time and reap some of the benefits of vitamin E.

Adding more oil-soluble active ingredients, though, will not be that helpful, as they will not absorb as well as when added into a cream. So keep your oil or oil mix with no active ingredients for the surface of your skin; and apply a body cream with active ingredients separately at a different time, for good skin absorption* (e.g. night for oil, day for cream or vice versa) .

(* Sure, you can use a thin oil with active ingredients and that will absorb faster than a thick oil with actives, but it will never absorb as well as a properly formulated cream or lotion.)

Another benefit of using a body oil is cost: with an oil a little goes a long way, so that one litre of almond oil or even oil blend can last you for up to a year.

When to use cream/lotion or oil for different body skin types

So, in summary:

• If your body skin is not too dry, use a cream or lotion

• If body skin is oily don’t use anything

• If your body skin is dry, follow the above advice and use an oil or an oil blend

It’s simple.

Be careful of some body butters - they may contain hydrogenated oils

Some oils are solid at room temperature and are therefore called butters. Cocoa butter and shea butter are a good example. You don’t ever hear about cocoa oil or shea oil because those fatty extracts have a buttery appearance.

On the other hand, coconut oil can be solid at cooler temperatures and liquid at warmer temperatures. As a result it is variously called coconut butter or coconut oil.

All other commonly available oils are liquid (unless when put in the fridge) and are called oils.

However, the last few years you can find “olive butter”, “avocado butter”, “almond butter” and similar products. Those oils become “butters” simply by hydrogenation of the actual oil or by adding a hydrogenated oil together with olive/avocado/almond/other oils to create a so called “luxurious” butter. However, there is nothing luxurious about trans fatty acids.

Most consumers are aware of trans / hydrogenated fatty acids in food but the vast majority do not even stop to think what could possibly be in the skincare products.

Well, things are simple: look at the label. If you see the term “hydrogenated XYZ oil” just don’t buy that product, exactly as you would do with a food item with the same ingredient.

And definitely don’t think that there is such a thing as natural avocado butter, olive butter, almond butter etc.

(In some cases the “avocado butter” is avocado with lots of mineral oils instead of hydrogenated fat. These are almost as bad as the hydrogenated fat version. Stick to natural, nutritious for your skin oils.)

That’s all good for dry body skin but what about dry skin on the face?

First off, do not bother with face oils, get a good face cream.

As mentioned above, creams are way better for active absorption than any oil. Plus facial skin almost never gets as dry as body skin. So, compared to creams, those silly £30/30ml oils (i.e. £1,000/kg) are a waste of money down the drain*.

Use a good face cream for dry, medium or oily skin - never a facial oil - and reap the benefits of active ingredients contained in those creams.

And if you really, really want to use a facial oil, don’t spend a fortune on an oil with benefits (i.e. with actives in the oil), because those oils do not absorb.

(* Did you know that the actual manufacturing value of those 15-50ml facial oils, sold for £50-£250, is not more than £1-£3 per bottle? The rest of the cost is fancy bottles, excessive packaging, wholesale distribution, retail space, marketing, PR brainwash, “influencing” (lots of influencing these days) and profits (lots of profits), not benefits for your skin. But that’s another story…)

Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening and cellulite reduction for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.

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We will be pleased to see you, assess your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.

Learn more, check prices and book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our London clinic.

Advanced, infrared / blue / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia

At LipoTherapeia we are passionate about phototherapy (also known as photobiomodulation/PBM, red light therapy, infrared light therapy, blue light therapy, LED light therapy etc) and we use the most powerful equipment available today (up to 200mW/cm2), for best results and treatment of large body areas.

We use specialised therapy protocols for skin rejuvenation / anti-ageing, pigmentation / post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), moderate/severe acne, skin redness, sensitive/inflamed/irritated skin, wound healing, sports injuries / musculoskeletal pain and overall wellness / well-being.

Our LED phototherapy sessions are comfortable, deeply relaxing and super-safe and are great to enhance our radiofrequency/ultrasound treatments for skin tightening / cellulite reduction.

On our booking page you can book stand-alone phototherapy sessions or combine them with our other treatments, as an add-on.

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The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening

Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, LED phototherapy, cellulite and skin tightening?

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