I’ve tested dozens of face oils over the past decade and these are the ones that actually work for dry skin. As someone who tests skincare for a living, I know when something is top tier and delivers results. The best face oil will be made of organic plant ingredients and without any fillers or harmful chemicals.

Benefits of face oil

I was once scared to use oils on my skin. Turns out they’re exactly what I needed! Face oils contain zero filler ingredients and are just pure concentrated plant goodness. They provide sooo many benefits for ALL skin types (even acne prone skin) from nourishment to hydration, and protection to skin barrier support.

• Moisturization: Helps lock in moisture by sealing the skin’s natural hydration, making them especially useful for dry or dehydrated skin.
• Nourishment: They’re rich in essential fatty acids, vitamins (like A, C, and E), and antioxidants that help nourish and protect the skin from environmental damage.
• Skin Barrier Support: protects skin from pollutants, reducing water loss, and improving skin resilience.
• Anti-Aging: help fight free radicals, reducing signs of aging like wrinkles and fine lines.
• Soothing: chamomile or jojoba have anti-inflammatory properties that can calm irritated or sensitive skin.
• Balances oil production: Certain oils are amazing for oily or combination skin ( jojoba and squalane). They mimic the skin’s natural sebum and can help regulate oil production, making them suitable for

How to layer a face oil

Here’s how to properly layer a face oil and incorporate one into your skincare routine. Face oil is the very last step after applying face cream. The general rule of thumb is to go from the lightest more water products to the thickest more oily products. Face oils provide an occlusive layer that seals in all the hydrating products underneath and prevents moisture from escaping. Here’s how to incorporate into both a daytime and nighttime skincare routine:

• Daytime: just one or two drops after moisturizer and before sunscreen.
• Nighttime: Use several drops after moisturizer. I like to use a full dropper to cover my whole face, eyebrow, lips and neck!

Don’t just rub it around! The best way to apply face oil is by patting it gently into the skin. Pat pat pat!

Best Natural Oils According to Skin Type

• Dry Skin: Argan oil, marula oil, rosehip oil, avocado oil
• Oily and Acne-Prone Skin: Use non-comedogenic facial oils that won’t clog pores and are low in oleic acid like squalane oil, jojoba oil, and hemp seed oil.
• Sensitive Skin: Use really soothing oils like chamomile oil, calendula oil, and vening primrose oil
• Mature Skin: Deeply penetrating oils with a high fatty acid profile of oleic acid like emu oil, camellia oil, and almond oil.

I tried Summer Solace Tallow Emanations Nourishing Oil (Andrea’s fave!)

This tallow-based face oil is the most hardworking oil I’ve used and is a godsend when I see lines starting to form. This is truly an oil’s oil and feels sooo unctuous, rich and creamy. The organic, dry-rendered tallow comes from a local small farm where cattle is regeneratively raised (highest standard in the world) and infused with unique ingredients like Ratfish Liver Oil from Norway, Acai Fruit, Emu oil, Calendula CO2, indigenous-owned olive oil, Golden Champaka, phytonutrient-dense Onda Regenerative full-spectrum oil, olive squalene, and rare Indian attars. This is a very hard-working and heavy duty product ideal for anti-aging. My skin feels unbelievably soft and supple the next morning, it sinks in beautifully and I feel like it smoothes out and plumps my skin overnight.

Price: $64 for 1 oz
How it feels: very rich and unctuous
Key ingredients: Organic regenerative tallow, Ratfish liver oil, Emu Oil, Calendula CO2, Acai Fruit, Olive Squalene, Golden Champaka
✔ Organic ✔ Slow Made ✔ Hyper-local ingredients ✔ Indigenous ingredients

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I tried Living Libations Best Skin Ever

Best Skin Ever has the silkiest texture ever out of all the face oils I’ve tried! It’s extremely versatile and can be used in many different ways: oil cleanser, hair oil, etc. It’s perfect for aging, dry and rosacea-prone skin and isn’t too lightweight nor too rich texturally. Best Skin Ever has an amazing grounding and relaxing scent from lavender, vetiver and palmarosa. The main oils are sea buckthorn, tamanu oil and jojoba oil which are high in antioxidants, vitamins, fatty acids. It’s fast absorbing and immediately moisturizes dry skin leaving it soft and supple.

Price: $41 for 1.69 oz
How it feels: silky
Key ingredients: Sea buckthorn, tamanu oil, jojoba oil, lavender, vetiver and palmarosa
✔ Organic

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I tried Pai Rosehip Concentrate

Pai makes my favorite organic rosehip oil and the highest quality one out there in my experience. If you’re looking for an organic face oil that’s simple, anti-aging, and isn’t wildly expensive, I highly recommend Pai’s Rosehip Concentrate. Keep in mind not all rosehip oils are created equal. The reason this is one of my top organic Rosehip oil product picks because it delivers outstanding ingredient quality. Most oils contain only rosehip seed oil, but Pai’s also contains rosehip fruit extract, which is the key difference maker. It has 700% more antioxidants than competitors. I also love that it’s texturally lightweight, elegant and not at all greasy.

Price: $44 for 1 oz
How it feels: Lightweight
Key ingredients: Rosehip seed and fruit
✔ Organic

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I tried Mara Algae Retinol Oil

This isn’t just a face oil, Mara’s Algae Retinol face oil is also one of the most effective retinol products I’ve tried. This is a STRONG clean retinol product that actually works to improve my skin without irritating it! I’ve been using this product consistently at night over the last few months and feel like it makes a real difference the next morning. My skin seems to love the combination of powerful clean retinol, superfoods, seaweed and botanical oils and experiences zero irritation! I find the consistency to be medium-weight and deeply moisturizing. This would be suitable for mature skin, especially for combating fine lines and wrinkles. The main downside is that it’s very pricey.

Price: $120 for 1 oz
How it feels: Medium weight
Key ingredients: 1.2% Clean, BHT-free retinol, fermented green tea, cacay, proprietary algae, Abyssinian Oil, Meadowfoam seed oil
✔ Natural

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I tried Primally Pure Plumping Serum

Primally Pure Plumping Face Serum is another anti-aging face oil that impressed me. This is a rich (but not heavy!) and vibrant face oil that has so many nutrient-rich botanicals I love. It’s got a very bright orange shade (hello antioxidants!) so I prefer using this at night. There’s no fillers ingredients, just pure organic goodness. The formula contains organic pomegranate seed oil, rosehip oil, prickly pear seed oil, castor oil, passion fruit oil, green coffee oil, goji berry oil and astaxanthin. It’s so healing, I love using it on blemishes and any minor skin wounds to heal faster. My skin loves to drink this up and I wake up to much softer, smoother skin in the morning.

Price: $58 for 0.5 oz
How it feels: Rich and thick
Key ingredients: organic pomegranate seed oil, rosehip oil, prickly pear seed oil, castor oil, passion fruit oil, green coffee oil, goji berry oil, astaxanthin
✔ Organic

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I tried YINA Nourish Botanical Serum

YINA has been making the most beautiful TCM-inspired clean skincare since before TCM became cool. Their organic face oils are so luxurious and rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine, so each one as a unique blend of time-tested ancient herbs. Their Nourish Botanical Serum contains a cmplex of Rhodiola, Angelica Root, Gromwell Root, Bakuchiol, and Asian Knotweed in a base of organic Camellia Seed Oil. My skin reacts so well to these high-quality ingredients and looks luminous, hydrated and bright in the morning. I find the consistency to be medium-rich but not overly heavy.

Price: $85 for 0.5 oz
How it feels: Medium weight
Key ingredients: Rhodiola, Angelica Root, Gromwell Root, Bakuchiol, Asian Knotweed, Camellia Seed Oil
✔ Organic

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I tried Indie Lee Squalane Oil (budget!)

Indie Lee Squalane Oil is my top recommendation if you have oily skin, irritated skin or are scared of using a face oil. To be honest, squalane oil doesn’t even feel like an oil to me. It’s so thin and liquid like it feels like slick water. It absorbs sooo easily and leaves my skin feeling hydrated, soft and smooth . It’s also scentless, colorless and odorless and I love that it doesn’t stain pillows overnight like many of my other face oils. Squalane oil is a lipid that’s naturally found in your skin so it’s really great for a broken skin barrier, irritated skin, or sensitive skin. Super gentle on skin yet it actually works!

Price: $38 for 1 oz
How it feels: Super lightweight and fluid
Key ingredients: 100% olive derived squalane oil
✔ Cosmos Natural

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