9 Best Face Oils That Come with the Dermatologist’s Stamp of Approval, Hands Down
If you think face oils are limited just to dry skin, guess again. The surge of trendy face oils is one of the skincare industry’s best-kept secrets for achieving supple, hydrated skin with a gorgeous radiance. And unbeknownst to many, adding face oil to your skincare routine won’t leave your pores clogged, instigate acne and breakouts, or cause the skin to take on a greasy or shiny appearance. Instead, this skincare must-have helps lock in moisture, resulting in perfectly dewy-looking skin that doubles as the perfect makeup prep. No matter if you use one daily or just when you’re feeling a little extra, truth be told, some of the best face oils are those that complement the skin, restore the skin barrier, and leave it soft and glowy. Read on to learn which face oils are our favorites and why they are essential in your routine.
Meet the Expert
- Dr. Ashley Magovern - Board-certified dermatologist and member of Dermstore's Medical Advisory Board
Our Top Picks
Best for Anti-Aging: Dr. Barbara Sturm Ceramide Drops Face Oil Best for Glowy Skin: Noble Panacea The Brilliant Glow Hydration Oil Best for Dry Skin: Sisley Black Rose Precious Face Oil Best for Mature Skin: U Beauty The Super Intensive Face Oil Best for Hydration: RéVive Moisturizing Renewal Oil / Triple Defense Hydrator Best to Wear Under Makeup: RMS Beauty Kakadu Beauty Oil Best for Sensitive Skin: Herbivore Botanicals Lapis Facial Oil Best for Instant Plumping: Osmosis Nourish Avocado Facial Oil Best to Protect Against Pollutants: Futurna Skin Biphase Moisturizing Oil
What are Face Oils
Face oils are semi-thick, oil-soluble skin treatments that are rich in nutrients, plant-based actives, and lipids to help lock moisture into the skin. “They also smooth and soften the skin and support the skin’s barrier,” adds board-certified dermatologist Ashley Magovern, M.D. Suitable for all skin types (as long as you use a face oil that complements your skin type), face oils also create a protective layer on the skin, which is why they leave behind a plump, bouncy, glowing complexion.
Face oils are safe to use daily and are often applied as the last step in a skincare routine right before sunscreen. Different from a moisturizer, face oils lack water and therefore can add a layer of nourishment that some moisturizers don’t provide, making them a go-to for revitalizing and soothing the skin. They also double as anti-aging multitaskers, helping to alleviate skin-related concerns, including acne, the common signs of aging, dullness, and rough skin texture.
Best Face Oils
Best for Anti-Aging: Dr. Barbara Sturm Ceramide Drops Face Oil
$160.00
Consider this multi-tasking face oil a shoo-in for all your anti-aging needs. Formulated with a specialized ceramide complex that’s identical to the skin’s ceramide make up, this lightweight oil hydrates, smoothes the skin’s texture, promotes a healthy skin barrier, and boosts radiance from within for increased firmness, elasticity, and an improved overall appearance.
Key Ingredients: Ceramides, argan, evening primrose, sweet almond, macadamia, grape seed, and jojoba oils, astaxanthin, phytosqualene, purslane extract
Skin Type: All
Skin Benefit(s): Helps to strengthen the skin barrier, improves moisture levels while restoring the lipid barrier, provides antioxidant benefits, soothes discomfort and irritations, improves the skin’s overall appearance, boosts antioxidant levels, increases firmness and elasticity
Insider Beauty Tip: Add a few drops of the oil to any moisturizer or serum to boost the effectiveness of the product.
Best for Glowy Skin: Noble Panacea The Brilliant Glow Hydration Oil
$235.00
Bring a natural glow to your skin via the ultimate hydrating face oil. Treating the skin with this ultra-luxurious, non-comedogenic face oil transforms it, making it feel smooth, supple, and balanced, while boasting a gorgeous, healthy glow.
Key Ingredients: OSMV technology, hyaluronic acid, black raspberry, plum oil, sernoa fruit extract
Skin Type: All
Skin Benefit(s): Improves oily skin, reduces fine lines and wrinkles, brightens skin, and hydrates
Insider Beauty Tip: Use the oil as the final step in your skincare routine to lock in the benefits of all other products for maximum hydration and efficacy.
Best for Dry Skin: Sisley Black Rose Precious Face Oil
$300.00
From Sisley comes this super-powerful face oil, designed specifically to cater to dry and mature skin, dousing it with a dose of much-needed moisture. Perfect for nourishing the skin and restoring a state of youthfulness, this supersilky formula leaves aging skin soft while awakening the senses.
Key Ingredients: Omegas 3 and 6, avocado, tocopherols, black rose extract, Bulgarian rose, magnolia
Skin Type: Dry, Mature
Skin Benefit(s): Nourishes and replenishes the skin, provides anti-aging benefits, rejuvenates, comforts dry, compromised skin
Insider Beauty Tip: To reap the benefits of this luxurious oil, apply three to seven drops to your face and neck in the morning and evening.
Best for Mature Skin: U Beauty The Super Intensive Face Oil
$188.00
This unique oil-hydrator hybrid formula works wonders to restore a sense of dewiness and hydration to mature skin. Packed with emollients that reinforce the skin’s barrier and reduce moisture loss, it revives the skin, leaving it looking plump, glowing, and better hydrated so that the common signs of aging are far less evident.
Key Ingredients: Astaxanthin, botanical extracts, avocado oil, vegan squalene, hyaluronic acid, vitamins C and E, peptides
Skin Type: Mature, Aging, Dry
Skin Benefit(s): Restores hydration to dry, dehydrated skin, creates a 3D moisture shield, visibly improves dull, sluggish-looking skin, promotes deep hydration and nourishment
Insider Beauty Tip: The oil can be worn on its own or layered over other moisturizing products.
Best for Hydration: RéVive Moisturizing Renewal Oil / Triple Defense Hydrator
$195.00
For a dose of extreme hydration, this is the face oil you’ll want to reach for. Thanks to its deep moisturizing properties, the peptide-rich formula helps defend the skin against dryness and dehydration while protecting it from free radical damage. The result? The skin is plump and juicy, allowing you to feel it being restored to a healthy state.
Key Ingredients: Peptides, a blend of sweet almond, meadowfoam, grape, evening primrose, and rosehip seed oils, turmeric, rice germ extract, and vitamin C
Skin Type: All
Skin Benefit(s): Nourishes the skin, improves the skin’s appearance and overall health, protects against environmental damage, softens and smoothes the complexion, hydrates and rejuvenates the skin
Insider Beauty Tip: Always press the oil into the skin using the fingertips rather than rubbing it in, so as not to stretch the skin.
Best to Wear Under Makeup: RMS Beauty Kakadu Beauty Oil
$65.00
Formulated with a blend of rich, nourishing oils, this perfect makeup prep delivers hydration to the skin, improving surface texture for makeup that glides on seamlessly and wears even better. In addition to its delectable scent, this ultralight-weight oil instantly boosts skin radiance while providing long-lasting hydration so that the skin gleams and glows.
Key Ingredients: Jojoba seed oil, Kakadu plum seed oil, rose hip fruit oil, olive fruit oil, sunflower seed oil, lavender oil
Skin Type: All
Skin Benefit(s): Balances the skin’s tone and texture while protecting it from environmental damage, provides long-lasting, rich hydration, absorbs on contact, and brightens the skin
Insider Beauty Tip: Mix a few drops of the face oil and concealer in the palm of your hand for an ethereal yet hydrated makeup look.
Best for Sensitive Skin: Herbivore Botanicals Lapis Facial Oil
$88.00
Sensitive skin often bears the signs of irritation, redness, and dryness, which is why picking the right face oil to calm it is important. This one is rich in blue tansy, which quells common skin irritations and sensitivities, so the skin emerges more balanced.
Key Ingredients: Blue tansy, kukui nut oil, jojoba oil, squalene, jasmine sambac oil
Skin Type: Oily, Acne-Prone, Combination, Sensitive
Skin Benefit(s): Soothes dryness and irritations, reduces redness, leaves skin feeling and looking balanced, deeply moisturizes, and gives the skin a radiant glow
Insider Beauty Tip: Although the oil initially appears blue, it may change to a green hue over time if exposed to light.
Best for Instant Plumping: Osmosis Nourish Avocado Facial Oil
$59.00
This fast-acting, quick-absorbing face oil relies on virgin cold-pressed oil to increase skin elasticity making it plumper. Additionally, the skin will radiate with a naturally beautiful glow.
Key Ingredients: Blackberry seed oil, tocopherol, cold-pressed avocado oil
Skin Type: All
Skin Benefit(s): Boosts skin plumpness, improves skin elasticity, absorbs instantly to enhance the skin’s integrity and suppleness, leaves behind a luminous glow and radiance
Insider Beauty Tip: The oil doubles as an anti-itch remedy when used on areas that are red, irritated, or itchy
Best to Protect Against Pollutants: Futurna Skin Biphase Moisturizing Oil
$125.00
While all face oils add moisture to the skin to some degree, not all of them protect the skin from daily pollutant exposure and the damage that can ensue, like this one. Infused with olive oil and olive leaf water, it works hard to protect the skin while replenishing the skin barrier, leaving the skin looking healthy and glowing.
Key Ingredients: Vitamin C, magnolia oil, organic olive oil
Skin Type: All
Skin Benefit(s): Fills in lines and creases with moisture to re-volumize the skin, helps mend surface damage and supports the skin’s moisture barrier, replenishes skin’s water supply and helps skin retain that new moisture, shields against damage and dehydration from atmospheric stress, extreme weather, and even late-night indulgences
Insider Beauty Tip: Turn the oil into a tinted moisturizer by adding three drops of your favorite foundation and mixing it together with a makeup brush.
FAQs
Do dermatologists recommend face oils?
Most dermatologists recommend using face oils as a way to support the skin barrier and lock in moisture, but not as a replacement for a traditional moisturizer. “I like ones with squalane oil because it’s lightweight, non-comedogenic, and well tolerated by most skin types,” says Dr. Magovern. Since face oils are both emollient and occlusive, they’re often a go-to for seriously dry, aging skin that lacks moisture, but they also work wonders for other skin types, too. Some face oils are packed with antioxidants, while others have anti-inflammatory or sebum-regulating properties, so be sure to consult your dermatologist about the best one to use for your skin.
How to use a face oil in your routine?
Adding a face oil to your skincare routine isn’t complicated or difficult. Dr. Magovern suggests applying a face oil after serums and moisturizer as the final step to lock in all your skincare. “You can also mix a drop into your moisturizer. They’re best used at night or whenever your skin feels extra dry.” Face oils are not meant to replace traditional moisturizers, but rather work in tandem to help create a barrier on the skin and lock in moisture.
Do face oils cause acne?
While it may seem like applying oil to the face would clog pores and instigate breakouts, that’s not necessarily the case. Dr. Magover says a common misconception is that face oils will cause breakouts. “In reality, the key is choosing the right oil for your skin type.” In fact, face oils that contain anti-inflammatory and antibacterial ingredients, such as tea tree oil and jojoba oil, which help regulate oil production, can even improve the signs of acne and breakouts, while also helping to regulate the skin.
Can you use face oils on oily skin?
While it may seem counterintuitive to apply oil on oily skin and expect improvement, the truth of the matter is that face oils work well on oily skin. Of course, lightweight, non-comedogenic oils are best. Look for ones formulated specifically for oily skin that contain argan oil, jojoba, and squalene, which are small-sized oil molecules that won’t clog the pores.
The Bottom Line
If you’re not using a face oil to help hydrate, nourish, and rejuvenate your skin, consider this your sign to start. While the idea of layering on an oil may sound a little intimidating and may immediately conjure up ideas of clogged pores, greasy-looking skin, and makeup that slips right off, it’s the opposite. The right type of face oil can make all the difference in skin that looks dull and lackluster and one that boasts a healthy glow. So if your skin is in need of a little pick-me-up—especially if you can’t seem to quench its dryness no matter what you do—then it’s time to start using a face oil.
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