You’re at the store in the skin care aisle, and you’re reading the ingredients on the label. The active ingredients may be easy enough to understand, but what does the rest of it mean? Most of the other ingredients are preservatives or maintain the product’s texture or scent. What you need to focus on is the overall base. Ultimately, there are two things that make up most bases of skin care products: water and oil. While this is relatively simple to understand on its own, you may have difficulty determining whether to choose oil- or water-based skin care products.
What’s the Word on Water?
As the name not-so-subtly suggests, water-based products mainly contain water, but the keyword here is mainly. Don’t get shocked if you see some oils in the mix. If you’re looking for a product with absolutely zero oils, you’ll have to look for products specifically labeled as oil free. But why would anyone want to use water-based products in the first place? Won’t these products just evaporate into nothing? Not quite.
Water-based products have plenty of other ingredients to stabilize their formulation. You should use a water-based product if you want an extra shot of hydration directly into your skin. If you want to walk away from your skin care routine feeling refreshed without the greasy, sticky residue of oil-based products, water-based ones may be your best bet.
Coconut, Shea, and Almond–Oh My!
There are so many different types of oil bases in cosmetics that if we were to try and review them all, we’d be here for quite some time. Argon, coconut, jojoba, shea, and sweet almond are some of the most popular oil bases. But for the most part, they do the same thing. Oils provide your skin with lots of moisture, and you can be sure that your skin will absorb any water on your face if you place an oil-based product on top. If you want to soften, moisturize, and hydrate your skin simultaneously, oil will do the job. The oils in these products have natural fatty acids that are essential to your skin’s health. And in general, oils are great at lifting dirt out of your pores without soap.
What’s Right for Your Skin?
You should know that whether oil- or water-based skin care products are right for you boils down to your skin type and what you’re trying to achieve. If you have oily or sensitive skin and are looking for something that’ll work gently while also clearing your skin and providing it with moisture, water-based products are for you. If you have dry or mature skin and are looking to revitalize, plump up, and moisturize, oil-based products are your best bet.
But this doesn’t mean you can’t use both oil- and water-based products! Using products with different bases is totally fine, especially if you’re trying to meet your skin’s specific needs. Just make sure you’re layering your skin care products in the right order. Generally, water-based products should go before oil-based products if you’re using them in the same routine. Ultimately, what works for everyone else may not work for you, so feel free to mix and match to formulate the best skin care routine for you.
