The leaves are turning flaming golden and orange and we’re pulling out our woolen garments to keep ourselves warm. Autumn with its cold and wet weather is here to stay. Drastic changes in temperature and humidity can be taxing for your skin. The sudden changes can upset your skin’s natural barrier function and leave you with dry, itchy, scaly skin.
Disrupted skin barrier function needs extra care to stay healthy and keep functioning well. And you can take care of it with occlusives such as cocoa butter or vaseline. They can not only relieve dry and irritated skin by preventing moisture loss but also protect it from cold weather and cutting winds.
Why are occlusives important
When it comes to basic skincare, you’ll probably often hear that you need to keep your skin well hydrated and moisturised. And for that, you slather on a moisturiser. Occlusives are one of the three components of a moisturiser. Along with humectants and emollients, they keep your skin hydrated, feeling soft, and protected.
An occlusive is a moisturising agent that forms a barrier between your skin and the air. It creates a protective layer on the surface of your skin to prevent water from evaporating your skin. It only forms a seal and doesn’t increase the moisture levels of the skin.
Apart from keeping the water levels up, an occlusive protects your skin from things such as a dry environment, extreme weather changes, friction and external irritants, such as dust, microorganisms, pollution, and pollens.
Think of occlusive as “cling film” for your skin. Just like cling film forms a protective barrier between your food and the environment, an occlusive prevents harmful particles from entering our skin and keeping the water reserves sealed in.
Some occlusive work better than others. The reason is the size of the molecule. The type of fatty acids also plays a large role in determining the effectiveness of the occlusive.
As a rule of thumb, the larger the molecules, the more effective an occlusive. The smaller molecule can more readily penetrate the stratum corneum while the larger ones sit on the skin’s surface for longer. Ingredients with larger occlusive molecules tend to thicker and less spreadable and hence might not be so pleasant and convenient to apply.
Occlusive ingredients can be sourced from plants such as cocoa and shea butter, tamanu and olive oil, and candelilla wax. Occlusives including mineral oil, petrolatum, paraffin are byproducts of gasoline production and you may be concerned about their impact on the environment. Others are beeswax and lanolin but these may not be an option if you follow the vegan way of life.
Natural occlusives
Occlusives are found in quite a number of products. It seems evident that lip and facial balms are formulated with them. But they’re also in lotions and creams, and even scrubs.
Beeswax
Beeswax, also vera alba, is a natural wax produced by honey bees. This yellowish substance with its typical fragrance has been used since time immemorial as a waterproofing agent and a moisturiser with added benefits (it’s also soothing).
Lanolin
Lanolin is a greasy waxy yellow substance made from secretions from the skin glands of sheep to condition its skin and wool properly. Think of it as the sebum of sheep (and not of humans).
Plant waxes
If you don’t like to use ingredients sourced from animals, there are vegetable wax alternatives. Candelilla wax (as the name already suggests) is a hard brittle wax source from the leaves of the candelilla plant.
Carnauba wax, also Brazil wax or palm wax, is sourced from the leaves of Carnauba palm. It’s a hard wax that is an occlusive with emulsifying and emollient qualities.
Although called oil, Jojoba is a wax. It’s an occlusive with added benefits such as being anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial.
Plant oils and butters
Plant oils and butters aren’t all occlusive. It depends on their ratio linoleic acid to oleic acid. Plant oils and butters higher in oleic acid are more occlusive. And you can feel it: they tend to be heavier and thicker. Cocoa and shea butter, tamanu and olive oil have more oleic acids so that they can do wonders for dry skin.
Cocoa butter is approved by the US FDA as an active ingredient for skin protection.
Lecithin
Lecithin is a group of yellow brownish fatty substances found in animal and plant tissues. It also occurs naturally in our bodies and is essential in our cells because they consist mainly of fatty substances called phospholipids which are the building material of cell membranes (the skin of a cell).
It’s soluble in water as well as in fat. It’s a versatile ingredient as it functions as an emollient, emulsifier, and penetration enhancer, and boosts your skin’s barrier function.
It can be obtained by many plant sources, including soy, chickpeas, and sunflower seeds.
Non-natural occlusives
Plant-based oils and waxes aren’t as occlusives as we may think. The most effective occlusive agents are petrolatum and mineral oil.
Dimethicone is a popular synthetic occlusive because it’s easy to produce and it doesn’t feel greasy on your skin.
List of common occlusives
Probably you already know and use products high in occlusive agents without even knowing it. Just think of how it feels when you use something like vaseline. Isn’t it a tad difficult to spread? Doesn’t it feel heavy and greasy on your skin?
- Hydrocarbons – vaseline, paraffin, mineral oil
- Fatty acids – lanolin acid, oleic acid
- Fatty alcohols – cetyl alcohol, lanolin alcohol, oleyl alcohol
- Sterols – cholesterol
- Plant waxes – candelilla, carnauba
- Wax esters – beeswax, lanolin
- Lecithin
Why use them
If you find your skin feels taut, looks scaly and flaky, it struggles to keep its moisture levels. On a normal day, you may lose about 300ml of water through your skin. And besides water evaporating through your skin, it may also need protection against free radicals generated by the skin or against harsh winds and external irritants.
Occlusives are not suitable for all skin types. As its name says, it’ll sit on your skin and so can block your pores and trigger zits. Hence they’re great if you’re living in a dry environment, have dry skin, or need more protection against the weather and pollution.
Conclusion
Occlusives are often paired with humectants as they work hand in hand. Humectants alone won’t keep moisture locked in the skin. Occlusive alone won’t plump up your skin and increase its moisture levels. Therefore they work hand in hand to keep your skin properly conditioned.
They’re great as the last step of your routine since they’ll act like a cling film and seal in all the previously applied products into your skin. Occlusive ingredients are a blessing for dry skin but can be an issue if your skin tends to be oily are is acne-prone. In such cases, you may want to “spot-treat” dry areas instead of covering all of your face or body.
