12 Transformative Face Oils That Hydrate and Protect

While I always love a super-rich face oil, I also find that sometimes, depending on the time of year and the changing needs of my skin, one that is a bit lighter and absorbs quickly is more effective for me. As the weather heats up, and my skin is naturally oilier, this, light, dry oil is a perfect solution. Thanks to the combo of emollient and occlusive oils, this fast-absorbing formula is still ultra-hydrating without leaving a heavy residue.

I’m a big fan of CBD in skincare, and I also appreciate Color Up’s thoughtful approach to formulation and the company’s focus on training, so I was excited to try this oil. I was not disappointed. While it didn’t necessarily have the same floral and fruit fragrances as some of the other oils due to the naturally earthy scent of CBD, it packed a powerful treatment punch. An ideal soother for dry skin, the luxurious blend of ingredients worked well together to smooth, brighten, and restore my skin.

Elevé was created by two Austin, TX-based sisters who are committed to creating clean beauty products that help enhance natural beauty. This oil, the brand’s best-selling product, does this with a unique combination of 15 active botanical oils and extracts. Along with being nourishing, the oil is also ideal for stimulating collagen production, so it also helps create firmer, tighter skin. A true multi-correctional product, it’s great for all skin types and ages.

This award-winning oil has a light texture and absorbs quickly. It’s also got two specific ingredients, clary sage oil and ylang ylang, that calm. I always trust Eminence for its clean, safe ingredients, so I even used this one to help heal a scar on my son’s upper lip. After just a couple weeks of use, his scar is significantly lighter, so I can vouch for its healing power. As for my own use, it deeply hydrates and makes my skin look healthier and refreshed.

I first discovered this beauty oil as the brand was launching a few years ago at an Indie Beauty Expo. I loved the story of three sisters banding together to honor their family’s multi-generational, sustainable, organic plum farming heritage while also discovering the powerful beauty benefits of this super fruit. The result is a gorgeous, antioxidant-rich face oil that heals, nourishes, and hydrates using oil culled from the seeds of a blend of proprietary plum varietals. I was an immediate fan, and it quickly became one of my favorite face oils. I love its light texture, quick absorption, and immediate brightening results. Fast forward to today, and I’m clearly not alone. This oil is consistently sold out and has garnered the attention of celebrity influencers like Chrissy Teigen, further cementing the success of this sweet, sustainable brand.

I love Colorado, but whenever I visit, the elevation completely dehydrates my skin. So, when I learned the MIG products are handcrafted in Colorado using local herbs, I figured, who better to tackle dry skin than experts who live there and know what works? Turns out, they know what they are talking about. I really liked the texture of this oil, which didn’t leave my skin feeling greasy and was created to balance skintone, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, and soften and smooth skin. The botanicals, which are sourced from farms in France, blend perfectly with the herbs to create a truly compelling scent and a nourishing treatment.

This face oil, designed to renew and repair, has a soft, velvety texture that provides moisture and absorbs easily into the skin without feeling greasy. Less floral than some of the other oils, it has more of a green, woodsy aroma. I also like the use of olive oil for its antimicrobial, repairing, and renewing properties, while the other oils in the formulation are ideal for treating inflammation, reducing the effects of free radicals, nourishing the skin, and encouraging cell turnover and collagen production.

Packed with organic and vegan ingredients to care for skin in crisis, this soothing oil contains schisandra plant extract to reduce the visible signs of irritation, cocoa to de-stress skin, and the company’s Ceramide Complex, rich in omegas 3, 6, and 9, to protect the skin’s barrier. The lightweight texture calmed, soothed, and strengthened my sensitive skin, leaving it plumped and nourished. Fast absorbing, it’s ideal for reactive and irritated skin. I especially love that it works to rebuild the skin’s moisture barrier, leaving skin soft and hydrated.  (Reviewed by Heather Mikesell)

I absolutely love the scent of this aromatic oil—it immediately puts me in a Zen state of mind. Its formulation, which involves base oils of safflower and squalene blended with fragrant and effective oils of lavender, chamomile, grapefruit, and rose, works perfectly to sooth, calm, relax, and brighten. This is one of my favorites to use when my skin feels particularly tight and itchy, and it lives up to its promise to deeply moisturize, reduce irritation, restore the skin barrier, and help skin feel smooth and supple.

Even before I tried this product, I was already in love with its creation story. A mother-daughter duo had experienced the incredible benefits of the hearty pili tree in the Philippines, and they decided to work together to create products concocted from its resilient fruit and sap. The harvesting of the ingredients then benefits more than 200 families in the Bicol region of the country. Turns out, the product as effective as it is socially responsible. The luxurious, lightweight elixir is made from a truly effective blend of pili oil, found in the fruit of the tree, and elemi oil, found in the sap of the tree. Together, they deeply moisturize and protect the skin against environmental pollutants and also provide antibacterial and anti-aging benefits. Plus, beetroot helps increase the skin’s Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMFO), further adding to its intense hydrating appeal, something that certainly stood out for my skin.

This oil was created by the brand founder when a friend was undergoing chemo and went into early menopause and needed help treating her skin. As such, it was very thoughtfully created using natural, nourishing ingredients that replenish, fortify, and protect the skin. Also, this oil is interesting because it is most effective when a few drops are added to moisturizer and blended before applying. Though I normally like to slather my face oil directly to my skin, I tried this approach and it, indeed, worked well. It also stands out for being unscented and for containing the antioxidant coenzyme Q10, which can help protect the skin from the effects of UV.