The Beauty Picks: Oils for Hair, Face & Body

I’m back with another The Beauty Picks post! This time, I’ll be outlining all my favorite oils for you, whether it’s for hair, face, body, lips, whatever! I mentioned this on twitter but I was really surprised when I thought of the idea to do this post because growing up, I always equated the word “oil” with “breakouts”. From magazines, I was taught at a young age that oils were a big no-no for those with oily skin, like me. I religiously went oil-free with all my products, from moisturizer to foundation, for years. As I got older, however, and oil treatments became more and more of a “thing”, I realized that even those with the most oily or acneic skin could indulge in these wondrous oils–it was just all about finding the right one for your skin type! So I decided to put together a post highlighting some of my recommendations for each skin type or use. I hope you enjoy!

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1. Face (Oily Skin): Caudalie Vinopure Balancing Concentrate (aka: Vinopure Purifying Concentrate)

This product was unfortunately discontinued in March but it still is available on Beauty.com and a few other sites online. If you can find it, I highly recommend swiping it up! This is a great option for oily skin. With regular use, it leaves your skin calm and less oily overall. It doesn’t leave a shiny, greasy finish, smells wonderfully invigorating, and doesn’t break me out. Sad they discontinued it :/

2. Face (Dry and/or Dehydrated Skin): Nude Skincare Pro-Genius Treatment Oil*

I received this one a little while ago and while I love it, I don’t think it’s ideal for my acne-prone skin as it broke me out after I used it for 3 nights in a row. It did work well when used sparingly though, providing intense hydration and ridding me of any flaky bits overnight. For this reason, I use it as an emergency hydrating product–especially during the winter-but other than that, I’ve relegated its use to the backs of my hands. I think it would be an amazing option for extremely dry and/or dehydrated skin though. I can just imagine dry skin drinking this stuff up in an instant! It really plumps and smooths the skin beautifully. It might be a bit pricey but it truly works!

3. Face (All Skin Types): May Lindstrom The Youth Dew* (review to come)

Ahh…words can’t describe how much I love this oil. I won’t say too much since I have a review for it coming up but I will say that if you haven’t tried this or anything else from May’s line, you need to do so immediately! The well-edited 4-piece line doesn’t leave you feeling confused or overwhelmed–each product is designed to work with all skin types and does what it says it will do. The Youth Dew is SO light and silky smooth, it absorbs into the skin almost immediately and leaves behind the most beautiful, velvety finish. I love this stuff! Again, for my skin type I try not to use it for more than 2 nights in a row but so far, so good–no breakouts!

4. Face (All Skin Types): Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate

This was actually my very first face oil and I couldn’t have made a better choice. It really sinks into the skin quite beautifully and while it does a good job of hydrating, it’s not too rich or heavy–perfect for all skin types! I have never broken out from this but then, I’ve also never used it for longer than 4 consecutive days for fear or breakouts. Still, my oily skin wouldn’t need much more than that anyway–by then, the oil concentrate would’ve already done it’s job and hydrated and conditioned my skin. I would then switch to my stronger skincare products until I needed a little extra TLC again.

What I also love about this one is the lovely calming lavender scent. A trick of mine is to put 3-4 drops on my fingers and slightly warm it up then press into my pillow case. The lavender scent is soothing at night and helps me fall asleep (I used to put it on my girlfriends’ pillows all the time when they couldn’t sleep!). An added bonus: it lightly conditions your skin and hair overnight!

5. Face (Very Dry or Mature Skin Types): REN Bio-Retinoid Anti-Ageing Concentrate*

My apologies–I forgot to photograph this one along with the others. But I have reviewed it before so click on the link above if you’re interested in seeing it.

This oil is very rich and smells so heavenly–like apricots! It also contains natural retinol so it’s a great, natural anti-aging product for mature skin!

6. Hair: Leonor Greyl Huile de Palme*

Hands down the best hair oil I have ever tried. I don’t know if I’ve told you guys this but the smell of a hair product is a huge factor in whether or not I will use it/like it. I am very picky about how my hair smells, which is about 90% of the reason I don’t use hair styling products–I just don’t like how most of them smell. But I loove how this hair oil smells. It works really well as a leave-in hair treatment but I also use it as a styling product of sorts. I find that a few drops applied to the ends of my hair after showering not only keeps my hair soft and shiny but also gives me those gorgeous, slightly peice-y separated ends that everyone loves. It also protects your hair from the sun. I’ve been spending a lot of time outside so I like that it makes my hair look and feel good and helps keep it looking that way!

7. Body: May Lindstrom The Good Stuff* (review to come)

Another winner from May Lindstrom’s beautiful artisanal luxury brand, this body oil is one of the lightest, silkiest oils I have ever tried. Not only is the texture beautiful but it’s wonderfully hydrating, smells amazing, and the little golden shimmer particles really add a luxe feel! Can’t wait to tell you guys more about this one!

8. Body: Bare Love Beauty Luxury Body Fuel*

I received this one recently and have been using it after showering. It leaves my limbs feeling so smooth, silky, and hydrated! But the real winner for me is the smell. I don’t usually like vanilla scents (or any gourmand-type scents, really) but this body oil changed my mind. It’s very sweet but somehow doesn’t enter into “cloying” territory; it almost smells like a creamy vanilla soy latte. The scent supremely delectable without making me nauseous.

9. Nails/Cuticles: CND SolarOil

This is a great cuticle oil–it’s not greasy but it’s really rich and does an amazing job at moisturizing my raggedy cuticles. No matter how cracked and bleeding my cuticles are, one night’s use of CND’s SolarOil is enough to bring them back to life. With regular use, they look great–always in tip-top shape!

I recently tried Essie’s Apricot Oil for cuticles and while I did like it, I went back to CND because it didn’t contain alcohol or a jumble of other chemicals like Essie’s did–it just contains oil and a bit of fragrance. It’s also nice that SolarOil is easily available at the drugstore–I buy mine at CVS.

10. Lips: Hourglass N°28 Lip Treatment Oil*

Another pretty recently reviewed product–click on the link to read more. This is the first oil-type lip treatment I’ve tried and I was blown away. I use this every single night and my lips have never looked better! Love love love this product!

Remember, if you ever purchase an oil that turns out to be too rich for your skin, you can always use the product on the backs of your hands and décolleté. It really makes a difference and will help keep those areas (which are among some of the first to show age) looking plump and youthful! I like to apply an oil treatment to my hands every night and seal it in with a rich hand cream. Try it–it really works!

*these products were provided to The Beauty Sample free of charge for review purposes. Despite this, my opinions are always honest and I only included products in this post that I truly use and love