Basic skin care is actually very simple – you need to cleanse, tone, moisturise and in the day apply suncream. Finished. And even if you go through the famous 10 steps of a Korean routine, you top it all off with a moisturiser. Moisturisers are skin care products that you use to add moisture to your skin. Did you know that they can largely be thrown into 3 categories: humectants, emollients, and occlusives?
Moisturiser is an umbrella term for all kinds of creams, milk, gels, lotions, emulsions, and ointments. All of these are formulated with humectants, emollients, or occlusives in different combinations among other ingredients.
Emollients
As one of the components that make up a moisturiser, emollients soften and condition dry, rough, flakey skin, making it look and feel better but without adding moisture. That’s all there is to it.
But wait, there’s more: The term emollient can mean a particular ingredient, product, as well as describe the property of an ingredient or product. And this is to smooth and soften skin.
An emollient is a soft, lubricating, thickening, fatty or waxy substances. These can be butters, oils, esters (waxes), fatty acids, or silicones.
How do they work
When you look at your skin, it’s made up of the layers of epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis. The outermost layer of the epidermis, the stratum corneum, acts as a barrier between your body and the external environment. That’s why it’s also called your skin’s natural barrier or skin barrier.
Its function is to prevent water from “leaking out” and protect your skin from bacterial infection, microbes – in short, any kind of environmental stressors to enter. If your skin barrier function can be disrupted and compromised. As a result, it leaves you and your skin exposed to external threats and water can evaporate from your skin.
When that happens, the top layer of your skin doesn’t contain enough water and your skin dries out. It’ll start to crack and flake. Cracked skin says it all: Your skin has open spaces and gaps between the cells.
An emollient goes in between the cracks and little fissures and occupies the empty space between the cells with greasy (lipids) or waxy substances (esters), all while helping to flatten the curled edges of the cells. This makes a smoother and softer surface. And when the surface of your skin is smoother, it allows the light to reflect better making it look brighter.
Emollients alone only fill out the cracks of flaky skin – temporarily. They don’t add water into the skin. But certain emollients can also work as humectants and occlusives. It means, as a humectant, it will introduce water into your skin. Or, as an occlusive, it will form a protective barrier on your skin and prevent water from evaporating.
Types of emollients
Not every emollient works in the same way. Some do double duty as emollient and humectant or emollient and occlusive. Some supply your skin with vitamins and minerals that can help reduce inflammation, slow down the ageing process, and more.
Some are plant-derived others are animal-derived and the last group is made in the lab.
Plant derived emollients
Oils obtained by cold-pressing nuts, seeds, or kernels are natural, plant-derived emollients. They can contain a combination of lipids and nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, polyphenols. These add secondary benefits, a wide variety of biochemical activities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and more. The oils have different overall skin benefits. They vary in colour, degree of viscosity, and smell.
Animal derived emollients
Animal fats such as butter, tallow, lard, egg yolk, and lanolin were used throughout history as emollients. Animal derived emollients also contain a combination of lipids and nutrients so that they provide secondary skin benefits such as cleansing, removing dirt and sebum, warding off microbes, and more.
Lab made emollients
Lab made emollients are exactly what it sounds like: They’re man made emollients. They can be derived from mineral oil such as liquid paraffin, silicone oils, and more.
How to choose
Choosing an emollient depends on several factors such as
- Skin type
- use
- properties of the emollient
- your personal preferences such as vegan sources
You then weigh up the effects of each oil or other kinds of emollient and pick the one that will satisfy your skin’s specific needs.
Nature emollients by skin type
Each skin type has different needs. If your skin is balanced – you don’t see shine nor does your skin feel papery – that’s the easiest to take care of. You’ll want a light oil with a well balanced fatty acid profile. On the other hand, if your skin is dry, you’ll want an oil that does double duty as an emollient and an occlusive.
Normal and combination skin
Most people have normal skin. It’s balanced, not producing too much or too little oil as well as in terms of the water and oil mix in the skin. This means you won’t see shine in the morning or are prone to spots.
If you got combination skin, you’ll see patches of oily skin while other areas are dry. This type of skin responds well to emollients that are balanced, not too heavy yet not too light. They’ll condition your skin without clogging your pores.
For both skin types, the easiest oil to work with is jojoba oil.
Dry skin
From time to time, we all see dry skin, especially during the cold season. It’s when you see your skin split and chip off. It’s when it needs emollients to protect and reinforce your skin’s natural barrier. Oils that work well for dry skin have a higher oleic to linoleic acid ratio such as buriti, marula, macadamia nut, or rice bran oil.
Oily skin and acne prone skin
Typically, oily skin is overzealous with producing sebum. Your skin is typically shiny with enlarged pores. This can lead to congested skin resulting to zits blooming. Oils that work well contain a higher linoleic to oleic acid ratio, ideally it also has gamma linoleic acid thrown into the mix.
Acne prone skin can be the result of oily skin but it can also just happen due to the overgrowth of bacteria on the skin. You’ll want oils that have both a higher linoleic to oleic acid ratio as well as secondary benefits such as acting as anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial. The same oils that work for oily skin are also suitable for spotty skin.
Oils rich in linoleic and gamma linoleic acids help balance sebum production, don’t block pores, and can act as an anti-inflammatory. Oils with a higher linoleic to oleic ratios include evening primrose, sea buckthorn, and sunflower oil.
Sensitive skin
If your skin is sensitive, it easily reacts to external factors such as environmental factors. You’ll want emollients that not only soften but also act as anti-inflammatories such as evening primrose oil.
Nature emollients by properties
You may want to address certain concerns such as slow signs of ageing and therefore look for oils with vitamin A or E.
Oils rich in vitamin A are
- buriti oil
- rosehip oil
Oils rich in vitamin E are
- hazelnut oil
- macadamia nut oil
Conclusion
A moisturiser isn’t complete without emollients to help soften, soothe, and replenish skin. Some emollients can multitask and act also as humectants, occlusives, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, antioxidant, and anti-ageing agents. All of these properties are important if you want to maintain an overall good skin condition.
