The Face Oil Roundup

The other day I thought I'd put together some of my facial oils for an Instagram photo, and as I was digging through my collection I realized how many of them I had. This is bad, but they're all currently open and in my rotation. I truly do have a different use for each one, so I thought it would be helpful to go through each one and talk about the ingredients as well as when and how I use them.

Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil | When I Use It: Day & Night

This little beauty from Biossance is one of the most lightweight oils I have, but it's also incredibly hydrating, so it's one I like to use both during the day and at night. I pat it on as the last step of my routine. Main ingredients include 100% plant-derived squalane, which prevents moisture loss, Vitamin C, to brighten the skin, and Chios Crystal Oil, to support natural collagen production. Biossance says the Vitamin C is in an oil-soluble form here, so it delivers all its benefits much more efficiently than ascorbic acid. This sinks in quickly and yet leaves my skin hydrated all night/day, and it feels quite gentle. I think this would work well for both oily and dry skins alike.

Clarins Blue Orchid Face Treatment Oil | When I Use It: Night

If I had to choose one word to describe how this Clarins oil makes my skin look and feel, I'd pick "juicy." This oil is targeted towards those with dehydrated skin, which is 100% me. It has a base of hazelnut oil, which is incredibly moisturizing, and also contains blue orchid extract and rosewood and patchouli essential oils to help tone and revitalize. It takes a while to sink in and does have a strong scent, so I prefer to use it at night as the last step of my routine. I wake up absolutely glowing by morning. People with sensitive skin should most likely avoid this one because of the essential oil content, but it's a beautiful oil nonetheless.

Go-To Skincare Face Hero | When I Use It: Day & Night

This is the newest addition to my collection, and it's already one of my favorites. It's a wonderful blend of plant and nut oils that feels lightweight on the skin but continually moisturizes and gives an excellent glow. The oils included are almond, jojoba, macadamia, brazil nut, evening primrose, buriti, arnica, rosehip, calendula, and kiwi fruit seed oils, and it also has added Vitamin E (tocopherol). It has added natural fragrance (orange blossom and rose gardenia) at the very end of the ingredients list. It's a pleasure to use, mixes well with other products (I like mixing it into either Glossier Priming Moisturizer Rich or Go-To Very Useful Face Cream), and doesn't leave me greasy.

Huxley Secret of Sahara Oil Essence | When I Use It: Day

This one is a bit of a hybrid product - part oil, part essence, and I use it as my serum step in the morning. It uses Sahara Cactus Oil, quinoa, and acai berry to intensely hydrate and nourish the skin. Sahara Cactus Oil is meant to quickly absorb and provide lasting hydration, and it also contains high levels of antioxidants to protect the skin. It's super lightweight and has more of a gel-consistency than an oil. I find it behaves similarly to a hyaluronic acid serum and keeps my skin hydrated throughout the day.

Jordan Samuel Skin etOILe Facial Oil | When I Use It: Day & Night

This one is another one of my favorites. It's another oil blend that my skin responds really well to - it contains almond, cranberry seed, argan, marula, evening primrose, rosehip, and seabucktorn oils, as well as Vitamin E and squalane. I find my skin responds extremely well to the cranberry seed oil as it's anti-inflammatory. The etOILe is one of the best oils in my collection for combating redness, and it's always the one I reach for when my skin is feeling stressed. This gives me a glow like no other. It's an amazing oil, and the price point isn't bad either!

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate | When I Use It: Night

This is even more lightweight than the Biossance, and it sinks in the most quickly out of any of the oils here, I think. I use this one at night as my serum step - since it’s so thin, I find it works best under creams rather than over them. This really soothes stressed-out skin, and I always wake up to a more even and clear complexion after using it. It contains squalane (sensing a theme here?), evening primrose oil, and lavender essential oil to soothe, moisturize, and repair the skin. This is one to avoid if you’re sensitive to essential oils. Personally, I find the lavender scent super relaxing.

Mindi Walters Regenerative Oil Complex | When I Use It: Night

This is one of my favorites to use at night - I always wake up with such a dewy glow in the morning. It's another beautiful blend of oils, including grape seed, cranberry seed, rosehip seed, marula, red raspberry seed, sea buckthorn, bulgarian rose, and black currant seed oils. It also contains retinyl palmitate to help combat signs of aging. It takes a bit to sink in, which I prefer in my nighttime oils - I like that it keeps my skin moisturized all night without me having the shove my face in the humidifier.

Monastery Gold Botanical Healing Serum | When I Use It: Night

My other favorite nighttime pick is this absolutely gorgeous product from Monastery. This is to help rebuild and restore the skin, and it truly does feel healing. It contains a blend of oils including red raspberry seed, evening primrose, rosehip seed, camellia seed, kukui nut, avocado, cranberry seed, tamanu, carrot seed, and macadamia nut oils. This feels quite rich at first but sinks in quickly. I love using this one when I do my nighttime routine earlier in the evening and continually patting on a few more drops every couple hours. It makes my skin so smooth, even, and clear. At the moment, I think this is my favorite for night.

MUN Skincare Aknari Brightening Youth Serum | When I Use It: Day

MUN is definitely a brand I need to try everything from. This is a simple yet effective blend of prickly pear seed oil, argan oil, and rose flower essential oil. It's super lightweight and sinks into the skin easily, and yet leaves it fully nourished and juicy. When using this consistently I really do notice a change in the brightness of my skin, and I even notice that my dark circles aren't as dark. I love using this during the day under a heavier cream - it keeps my skin so moisturized and glowy throughout the whole day. This is definitely healthly-looking skin in a bottle.

Pixi Beauty Rose Oil Blend | When I Use It: Night

This is a product that definitely feels a lot more luxurious than its price point - in fact, I could say the same for much of Pixi's skincare. The Rose Oil Blend is probably best suited to drier skin types, as it does feel quite thick and takes a while to sink into the skin. That's why I love using it at night - it keeps my skin enveloped in moisture all night. It's a lovely blend of various rose oils (rosa canina fruit and rosa damascena flower oils), mixed with sweet almond and jojoba oils. If you have dry skin and are looking to start using an oil, the price point and beautiful formula make this the perfect place to start.

Plant Apothecary Superfacial Organic Oil Moisturizer | When I Use It: When I Use It: Day

This is a new addition to my collection, but it's already been keeping my skin nourished during the day very well. It's also a blend of oils (as pretty much all of the oils in my collection are), containing white tea seed, hazelnut, avocado, apricot kernel, sea buckthorn, juniper, and geranium oils. This oil makes my skin so soft, so it's a great one to use pre-makeup. Everything just glides on afterward. I'm still getting used to the smell of this one, but I do like that there's no added fragrance/essential oils. Juniper and geranium oils are meant to help restore the skin, and it really does make my skin feel rejuvenated, even at the end of a long day. They also have a version for oily skin.

Sunday Riley Juno Hydroactive Cellular Face Oil | When I Use It: Day

I am in LOVE with this oil - it gives my skin such a nice glow. Sunday Riley Juno contains a blend of blackberry, blueberry, cranberry, and red raspberry seed oils, as well as carrot and broccoli seed oils. It's basically all the fruits and vegetables you should be eating, but for your face. It works to restore the skin's natural moisture barrier, so it's been once I've reached for quite a bit all winter. I especially love this one mixed into my moisturizer during the day for a nice kick of nourishment. This works beautifully under makeup, too.

Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil | When I Use It: Night

Last but not least, we have the oil that I'm pretty sure got me into oils. Remember when everyone was raving about this a few years ago? I fell for the hype, and it's still one of my favorites. Luna is a blend of oils like avocado, grape seed, chia seed, and blackberry seed oils, and it also contains blue tansy and chamomile to calm the skin and trans-retinoic acid ester to encourage exfoliation and smooth the skin without the traditional irritation of retinoids. This is still one I reach for as the last step of my evening skincare routine when my skin is freaking out, and it always is calmer by morning. I feel like it makes my pores appear smaller, smooths out my skin's texture, and reduces redness over time, too. I'm just about at the end of this bottle and my wallet is weeping at the prospect of having to repurchase - but it's worth it.

If you made it all the way to the end - thank you! What's your favorite facial oil?

Some products mentioned have been sent to me for consideration, but all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Skin Focus | Products for Glowing, Luminous Skin

If you've read any posts on the blog before, you'll know what a broken record I am when it comes to how I like my skin to look. My skin is quite dry, dehydrated, and dull naturally, so anything I can do to add a glow, I'm in. Lately I've been taking extra care to really prep my skin to make it look its best when it comes time for makeup, and today I'm rounding up some of my favorite products to get that super luminous, dewy base.

Skin Prep

Prepping the skin for makeup is probably the most important step here. A painter wouldn't paint a masterpiece without properly preparing their canvas, so why should you apply your makeup without preparing your skin first? When I have time in the morning or for a special occasion, I love using the Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask as a pre-makeup step. It has instant results, giving you that just-got-a-facial glow. It gently exfoliates the skin, leaving it super smooth but never red or irritated. Because of my skin type, I love loading up on moisturizers before makeup to ensure my base goes on as smoothly as possible - you would think this would decrease a foundation's longevity, but it actually helps keep my skin from drinking up the foundation, making it last longer. My favorite moisturizers for underneath makeup are both from Glossier - the original Priming Moisturizer and the Priming Moisturizer Rich. I've been using the Rich version all winter to help with my dry skin, but the lighter original version is my go-to in the warmer months. Right now I've actually been loving using both - the Rich version has a bit more of a velvety finish on my skin, so I apply that all over and then apply the original, which has a dewier finish, on the high points of my face. Another way to make skin really glow is to apply a facial oil underneath your makeup - Rosehip Oil is my favorite, as it's lightweight and sinks in quickly. As a finishing touch, a face mist is perfect - it locks everything in and helps amp up that glow. I've been using the Pixi Glow Mist* a lot since I received it last week, and it's already becoming a staple in my routine.

The Base

Once your skin is all prepped and primed, picking the right base product is next. I usually go for really lightweight, glowy bases, like the Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint, for a natural, glossy-skin look. When I want slightly higher coverage I've fallen back in love with the Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Foundation - it's the glowiest, most beautiful foundation ever and will give you Victoria's-Secret-model skin. On special occasions when I want my makeup to last a long time, or if I just need even more coverage, my holy grail is the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. This really is worth all the hype it gets - it's absolutely stunning on the skin. To make it a little less "makeup-y" looking for everyday, it is beautiful when mixed with the Glossier Skin Tint. Concealer is also important - I like using a light layer of foundation all over and then going in with concealer where I need more coverage, rather than wearing full coverage all over my face. The NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer is still my number one at the moment, and despite having "matte" in the name, it really lends itself well to this look. It isn't overly matte on me, but rather has more of a skinlike finish. The areas of redness that I usually need to conceal tend to be in oilier areas of my face as well, so something more matte is perfect. A 2-in-1 product like the Wander Beauty Dualist Matte and Illuminating Concealer* is perfect, too - one end is a matte stick concealer, while the other is a brightening, illuminating concealer. It's so convenient to have both products in one, so you're covered whenever.

Finishing Touches

You can't talk about luminous skin without mentioning highlighters, right? I think creams work best for this look, as they're usually more toned down and mesh well with the skin, making it look like you're just glowing from within. I can't go a minute without proclaiming my love for the Glossier Haloscope in Quartz - it's just the best in my opinion. It adds just the perfect amount of dewiness to the skin, but can still look quite intensely glowy. If you're looking for something with no shimmer whatsoever, take a look at the new Ciate London Dewy Stix. This is literally just a skin gloss/balm in a stick. It adds a glossy sheen to the skin that looks like you've been eating right and sleeping well your entire life. I prefer to dab it on with my fingers rather than striping it on straight from the tube, and it looks beautiful dabbed on the eyelids as well. Adding a bit of a flush to the skin is important, too - it adds to the healthy look we've been building here. My favorite is the Glossier Cloud Paints* - they're the most natural-looking blushes I've tried. They blend effortlessly into the skin and look just like a natural flush. My favorites for my skin tone are Puff and Dusk, especially mixed - they make the perfect neutral pink. If you haven't tried at least one of these yet, you need to.

What are your necessities for a glowing skin look?

I mentioned a lot of Glossier products in this post, and you can get 20% off your first Glossier order here. I do make a small commission on orders placed through my rep page, but all that money earned gets invested back into this space on equipment and products to review!

*Products mentioned have been sent to me for consideration, but all opinions are my own. Please see my disclaimer for more information.