Myth: Oil is bad for your face and it’s what causes acne.
Truth: The cause of acne and skin blemishes is much more complex, and not all oil is created equal. Acne and blemishes are primarily caused by unbalanced oil production, clogged pores, and bacteria. If you constantly work to remove oil from your skin using oil-free cleansers and scrubs, your skin responds by overproducing sebum to compensate. In combination with other factors, this leads to worse acne and blemishes. I can talk in more detail about skin physiology and causes of acne in another post, but here I’m going to focus on what oils you can use to improve your skin.
What matters for an oil to be beneficial for acne prevention is the ratio of essential fatty acids, specifically the levels of linoleic acid versus oleic acid. If your skin doesn’t have enough linoleic acid, the sebum produced becomes thick and clogs pores. Studies have shown individuals with acne tend to be deficient in linoleic acid. So, oils that are higher in linoleic acid and lower in oleic acid tend to be helpful in balancing your oil production, adding moisture, and preventing blemishes.
Using the right types of oils on your face after cleansing can improve your skin a lot. You need to base what you use on your own needs and how your skin reacts. Understanding the properties of different oils will allow you to do this. I prefer using a DIY face oil after I wash my face, rather than using a store bought lotion for this reason, it’s tailored to my needs. The mixture I tend to make includes:
- Grapeseed oil, tamanu oil, rosehip seed oil, and jojoba oil
I recommend looking at the Complete List of Comedogenic Oils blog post from the Holistic Health Herbalist, which provides good detail on different oils.
This table shows a subset of oils and their composition of oleic and linoleic acids. These percentages don’t show the full story, since there are other fatty acids in oils (like pamitic acid and stearic acid for example).
| Oil | Oleic Acid | Linoleic Acid |
| Higher in oleic acid | ||
| Macadamia oil | 55-67% | 1-5% |
| Marula oil | 70-78% | 4-7% |
| Sea Buckthorn oil | 29% | 7% |
| Palm fruit oil | 41% | 10% |
| Hazelnut oil | 79% | 12% |
| Neem oil | 50% | 13% |
| Shea nut oil | 73% | 14% |
| Avocado oil | 65% | 15% |
| Olive oil | 63-80% | 5-15% |
| Almond oil | 62-86% | 20-30% |
| Apricot Kernel oil | 70% | 23% |
| Balanced, but higher in oleic acid | ||
| Coconut oil (refined) | 4.4% | 0.95% |
| Coconut oil (unrefined) | 5-10% | 1-2% |
| Jojoba oil | 5-15% | 5% |
| Flaxseed oil | 21% | 16% |
| Tamanu oil | 34-41% | 29-38% |
| Argan oil | 43% | 37% |
| Balanced, but higher in linoleic acid | ||
| Castor oil | 4% | 4% |
| Pomegranate oil | 5% | 10% |
| Kukui nut oil | 25% | 40% |
| Sesame oil | 39% | 46% |
| Higher in linoleic acid | ||
| Rosehip seed oil | 14% | 44% |
| Soybean oil | 24% | 50% |
| Black cumin seed oil | 22% | 56% |
| Hemp seed oil | 11% | 56% |
| Pumpkin seed oil | 23% | 57% |
| Sunflower oil | 30% | 59% |
| Safflower oil | 10-20% | 70-80% |
| Grape seed oil | 21% | 63-72% |
| Evening primrose oil | 8% | 73% |
A few notes on some of these oils:
- Neem oil should be mixed with a carrier oil; while it’s high in oleic acid, it can be a good spot treatment due to its great antibacterial properties.
- Jojoba oil is actually a plant wax and is compositionally very similar to human skin oil.
- Some of my favorites for my face include rosehip seed oil, tamanu oil, argan oil, jojoba oil, and grapeseed oil.
References:
http://www.minimalistbeauty.com/oils-specifically-for-acne-prone-skin/
http://www.thehippyhomemaker.com/moisturize-foxy-face-find-carrier-oil-thats-right-skin-type/
http://www.holistichealthherbalist.com/complete-list-of-comedogenic-oils/
This, Not That 