Jojoba Oil for Face: Benefits for Acne, Wrinkles, and More
We know hydration is an essential part for any good skin care routine, even if we have skin that is particularly oily. A great way to deliver moisture and hydration is by using a skin care oil.
One walk down the skin care aisle at your local big box store can convince you there’s no way to figure out which skin care oil is truly the best for your skin. There are so many options, and if you have particularly blemish prone or sensitive skin, the thought of trying any new product (especially an oil) can seem slightly terrifying.
If there’s one oil that’s truly game-changing for all skin types, it’s jojoba oil. This all-natural, plant based extract is an excellent hydrator, skin soother, and has been used for hundreds of years.
What is Jojoba Oil?
Jojoba oil is a plant-based compound extracted from the seeds of the simmondsia chinensis plant.
Ironically, jojoba oil isn’t actually an oil at all, but rather a wax ester. A wax ester is a mixture of fatty acid and fatty alcohol molecules.
This compound is what the simmondsia chinensis plant produces to protect its own leaves. Because it is not actually an oil, it doesn't contain triglycerides (fats), which are fragile and easily broken down. As a result, pure jojoba oil doesn't oxidize or turn rancid easily.
Certified, organic jojoba oil is closest to your skin’s own natural oil, called sebum, than any other oil available. Because of this similarity, jojoba oil is more bioavailable to your skin than other oils.
Jojoba oil:
- Is easily absorbed by the skin
- Does not leave behind a greasy, oily feel to the skin
- Helps balance skin’s natural moisture levels
In terms of safety, it is one of the safest, gentle compounds available for use. In fact, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) gives jojoba oil a rating of 1, which is the safest rating a compound can receive.
This means there has been little or no evidence that the use of jojoba oil poses any threat to humans in terms of toxicity, reproductive or development issues, skin irritation, or carcinogenic activity.
RMS Beauty sources our jojoba oil directly from the southwestern U.S. where it grows natively, and we use a cold press extraction process that is optimized for quality rather than maximizing yields. The resulting jojoba oil we add to our products is pure, unadulterated, and retains its complete nutrient profile.
Benefits of Jojoba Oil
You can use jojoba oil alone or in jojoba oil infused products. Both will give you noticeable skin results. Here’s what makes jojoba oil so amazing for your skin.
Moisturizing
We already know it isn’t actually an oil, but a compound. This plant based compound acts as a humectant for the skin. Humectants act as a protective barrier, effectively sealing moisture inside your skin.
This makes jojoba oil an excellent addition to any moisturizer. Once the moisturizer penetrates the skin, jojoba oil is able to lock in the moisture so it can deeply penetrate cells and stay hydrated for longer periods of time.
Cleansing and Soothing
There’s been much research on the purported cleansing properties of jojoba oil. This ability to protect the natural, healthy bacteria levels on your skin traces back to the way the extract works to protect the leaves of the plant, defending it from harmful bacteria.
Skin that is particularly irritated, dry, itchy, flaky, red, or rashy can benefit from the soothing properties offered by jojoba oil. In fact, jojoba oil is often praised for its ability to work well for the most sensitive of skin types, and aid in soothing skin conditions like eczema.
Antioxidant
Your skin is in a constant state of fighting off free radicals from external stressors like the sun, smoke and pollution. Free radicals are unbalanced molecules that latch on to the molecules in your skin cells and cause damage. That damage usually looks like premature aging, fine lines, and wrinkles.
To combat free radicals, your skin needs antioxidants. Jojoba oil is a powerful antioxidant and contains a healthy amount of naturally occuring vitamin E. Using jojoba oil can help protect your skin from free radicals, and in turn, help you avoid unnecessary signs of aging.
Non-Comedogenic
Jojoba oil is great for sensitive skin, but it’s also great for blemish-prone skin. If you are prone to blemishes and are considering a new product, especially an oil, can sound risky. Thankfully, jojoba oil is non comedogenic, which means it will not clog your pores.
Jojoba oil should never cause your skin to experience a breakout, but it’s important to note that using high-quality, organic jojoba oil is key. Some companies use highly processed jojoba oil in their products, or mix it with inferior oils that do cause breakouts.
Ensuring you are getting your jojoba oil from a brand you can trust is key to not only getting the best benefits of jojoba but also protecting your skin.
How To Use Jojoba Oil
Jojoba oil is safe to use every day because it is so close to our skin’s natural sebum. It is a truly synergistic product, and works with skin to help balance moisture levels and soothe irritation.
Depending on your specific needs, you can use it daily or every few days as needed. Your skin, how it feels and looks, will be the best indicator of how frequently to use jojoba oil.
Is it Just for the Face?
No! You can use organic, pure jojoba oil all over the body to soften, condition, and strengthen your skin. The natural yellow tint of pure jojoba oil creates a beautiful, healthy glow on the face and body.
In fact, our founder, Rose-Marie Swift, kept jojoba oil in her bag when working with Victoria’s Secret Models to keep their skin looking sunkissed and radiant.
A great way to use jojoba oil on your entire body is by incorporating RMS Beauty's Beauty Body Oil into your daily skin care routine.
This luxurious oil is hydrating, rejuvenating, and restorative. Blended with jojoba, coconut, and rosehip oil, this plant-based skin elixir is an expert at delivering the perfect amount of hydration to every part of your body, including the most stubborn areas like elbows, knees, and the heels of your feet.
It’s great for applying morning and evening, and throughout the day as needed.
For the Face
Obviously, we want the benefits of jojoba oil for our face. RMS Beauty's Kakadu Evening Beauty Elixir is an excellent way to get a highly concentrated dose of jojoba oil to your skin right before your head hits the pillow.
Your skin does most of its repairative, restorative work overnight while you sleep. Applying Kakadu Beauty Elixir before bed gives your skin the right ingredients to deeply hydrate, repair, and restore so you wake up with skin that is radiant, healthy, and glowing.
What About Cosmetics?
You might not find jojoba oil in many color cosmetics, but you will at RMS. We add living, food-grade ingredients to our color cosmetics so what you apply to your skin is as closest to its natural state as possible.
Our “Un” Cover-Up concealer and foundation are both great sources of jojoba oil. While some foundations and concealers may leave your skin feeling dry, inviting the product to settle into fine lines, “Un” Cover-Up’s rich jojoba oil ingredient protects your skin from drying out and keeps your makeup where you want it.
You can also find jojoba oil in our Master Radiance Base, Master Mixer, and Lip2Cheek products.
The Takeaway
Jojoba oil is a plant-based extract that is incredibly beneficial to the skin and is most closely related to our skin’s own natural sebum than any other compound. It helps the skin maintain moisture, fight off free radicals, ban blemishes, and even promotes collagen production.
Using a high-quality, organic jojoba oil is key. RMS Beauty’s jojoba oil is cold pressed so that the nutrient profile of the oil is retained, giving your skin the highest possible level of results.
This information for RMS was fact checked by an expert in the beauty industry: Rose-Marie Swift
Sources:
https://www.jojobanaturals.com/learn/skin-hair/
https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredients/705966.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24772476/