beauty

The cheap drugstore product that changed my skin.

I like to think I look after my skin. I now wash my face twice, moisturise and use cleanser everyday (although I haven’t quite shaken off the habit of makeup wipes just yet).

Yet despite my good intentions, my skin has not been loving me back.

RELATED: The skin care shake-up you need if you’ve always been mean to your skin

In particular, the skin around my nose, my chin and my forehead between my eyebrows.

As soon as any makeup touched my face (cream, liquid or powder), it was as if my skin was repulsed by it. The result? Peeling, dry reptile-looking skin.

(L) My skin looked and felt dry and flaky. (R) The problem areas.

 

Unsurprisingly, it didn't make me feel very good.

On a whim, I picked up some rosehip oil that had been lurking at the back of my bathroom cupboard.

A friend had recommended it to me a while ago, but I'd disregarded it as a) a bit of a hippie product and b) a no-go, given that my combination skin had enough oil to deal with.

RELATED: Zoe Foster Blake tells us all how to use face oils properly

But with another day threatening reptilian skin, I decided to give it a go.

I sceptically followed the instructions on the bottle, massaging three to four drops into my face and neck, focussing on the problem areas. It felt oily, made my skin look shiny and gave off a strong herbal smell that kind of reminded me of my Grandma. I went to sleep expecting very little.

Was. I. Wrong. I'm a pretty impatient person so was pleasantly surprised to wake up to fairly immediate results that I could actually see. My skin looked brighter, healthier and smoother - those pesky bits of peeling skin were completely gone. I put on my makeup as usual and had a full day of looking like a normal person rather than a shedding snake. It was brilliant.

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No longer looking like a reptile and feeling confident enough to go without makeup. Win.

 

That was almost two weeks ago, and while the results are not so earth shatteringly different as they were the first few days, it's definitely a product that has earned its place in my (admittedly still simple) skincare regimen.

So how does it work so well? We often confuse dry skin with dehydrated skin. Dry skin lacks oil, whereas dehydrated skin is characterised by a lack of water.

So as in my case, what my oily skin was really calling out for was, er, more oil.

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"People with oily skin are terrified of using face oils, but oily skin is often very dehydrated, and face oils are a terrific way to fix that," skincare guru Zoe Foster-Blake told our Beauty Director, Nicky.

"Using face oils will not make your skin oily because the skin's oils are nothing like pure botanical oils, which sink in instantly and leave no residue. The skin needs moisture to function properly and oils act like Glad Wrap, keeping the moisture in, and protecting against dryness."

 Are you an avid rosehip oil fan? What do you use it for?