PRODUCT REVIEW: MAELOVE LOVE 31 PRECIOUS FACE OIL – BEST FACIAL OIL FOR DRY SKIN, BEST ANTIOXIDANT FACE OIL
MAELOVE | LOVE 31 PRECIOUS FACE OIL
This product review was originally part of my blog article titled, Seasonal Skincare Transitioning: Facial Oils I Love that Make Me Excited for Cold Weather - Part One. You can catch the full piece here.
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This past week was the coldest it’s been since mid-March. I’m nervous that it’s going to be a brutally damp, cold winter.
Every October, at the onset of the cooler months here in New York City, I set out to craft a series of blog articles on cold weather skincare and winterizing the skin to defend against skin-aging dryness and dehydration. This year, I’ve themed the series around Seasonal Skincare Transitioning — an apt characterization of what our skin goes through when the climate changes so drastically.
The first article kicked off a two-part series on the best face creams for dry skin and all skin types in the cold. Titled, Seasonal Skincare Transitioning: Moisturizers I Love That Make Me Excited For Cold Weather, the series features my top picks for all skin types. Each of the articles highlights one cold weather option for each of the four major skin types — dry, oily/acne prone, sensitive, and normal or all skin types.
SEASONAL SKINCARE: MOISTURIZERS I LOVE THAT MAKE ME EXCITED FOR COLD WEATHER
The first article featured one of my favorite cold weather face creams ever, the Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream. With a real focus on skin barrier health, Skinfix is, in my opinion, one of the best clinical skincare brands. And the brand’s Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream is simply among the best moisturizers for dry skin — and just about all skin types in winter except perhaps very oily and blemish prone.
If you haven’t yet tried TLPC, I encourage you to check out my full review of it here!
I also included the Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Boost 360° Eye Cream in my initial collection as the single eye cream recommendation. It’s a near-perfect eye cream that’s got everything the skin around the eyes needs, particularly during the harsh cold months of fall and winter.
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Last week I continued the series on cold weather skincare with my top picks from two of my favorite skincare brand’s — Deciem’s The Ordinary and NIOD brands. Titled, Seasonal Skincare Transitioning: The Best Products From The Ordinary And Niod That Get Me Excited For Cold Weather! the article was a nod to Deciem’s annual Slowvember event in which the company offers a 23% discount off of all skincare from all of its brands for entire month of November — except, notably, on Black Friday.
This year, my Slowvember picks include two products from The Ordinary — the Squalane Cleanser and the 100% Plant-Derived Hemi-Squalane, a personal fave dry facial oil.
From NIOD, I featured three of my favorites. The brand’s Multi-Molecular Hyaluronic Complex (MMHC2) is one of the best Hyaluronic Acid serums I’ve ever come across. I’ve probably been through two dozen bottles of it over the years!
I invite you to explore what I consider some of the best products from The Ordinary and NIOD — and certainly among the best skincare for colder weather. You can catch the article here.
SEASONAL SKINCARE: THE BEST PRODUCTS FROM THE ORDINARY AND NIOD THAT GET ME EXCITED FOR COLD WEATHER!
Which brings me to this week’s feature on Seasonal Skincare Transitioning! Next up is my annual two-part series on facial oils. Each year, I cap off my winter blog series with a piece on the best facial oils for dry skin.
I love facial oils!
A great facial oil is the heaviest moisturizer in your defensive arsenal against the dry, low-humidity air characteristic of the colder months no matter the climate. Most people don’t think of facial oils as a “moisturizer.” What usually comes to mind is a cream. And I know facial oils aren’t popular with everyone — particularly those with oily and acne prone skin. Psst…even an oily skin type can benefit from a facial oil suited for oily skin — like the Blume Meltdown Acne Oil.
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In winter, I prefer facial oils to conventional cream moisturizers, especially the ones that regrettably come in jars. I didn’t always understand facial oils and, like so many, believed they were somehow better for other people, perhaps best for very dry skin types.
One of my favorite facial oils of all time is the Codex Bia Facial Oil — one of the best organic face oils for dry skin. The Bia Facial Oil is rich, silky, and elegant. It doesn’t feel overly greasy on skin but it does feel like your skin is being treated to something really healthy and nourishing. That’s heaven in winter! If you’re unfamiliar with Codex, it’s a clean, luxurious brand and their products are truly exquisite. You can explore my review of the Codex brand on the Skincarma Blog here.
Oh the misunderstood facial oil. A lot of people dislike them because they tend to sit on the skin, or barely absorb into the skin’s surface. That’s kind of the point. They’re the most occlusive of all skincare products, meaning they’re intended to defend skin against moisture loss. They do that by occluding, or blocking water from escaping through the surface and dehydrating your skin.
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What Does a Facial Oil Do and What Are the Benefits of Face Oil?
There is a really wonderful article from the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team titled, How Facial Oils Help Skin. Here is a glimpse of their insights:
You may have noticed more and more brands are launching pure oils like argan, jojoba, coconut, or blends of oils with all manner of tempting claims. But do these facial oils live up to their potential?
The research-supported facts about what plant oils can do for skin is rather fascinating. They're not miracles, but the right plant oil or a beautiful a blend of beneficial oils can make a remarkable difference for dry, flaky, or dehydrated skin; in fact, non-fragrant facial oils can be suitable even for eczema-prone skin. Facial oils are for anyone whose skin could use a boost of nourishing, smoothing renewal, especially when seasonal cold or drier climates disturb your skin.
What are Facial Oils?
Facial oils can include any fragrant plant oils (often called essential oils, but they are anything but essential—more on that in a moment), non-fragrant plant oils (your skin will love these) or synthetic oils (such as mineral oil—which gets a bad rap in the world of skincare but for the record, the research doesn't support the negative information you find on the Internet).
Despite the name, these oils can be used anywhere on the face or body—there's no research showing that certain oils are better for one part of your skin or another. Such a notion is without logic or science.
So what makes facial oils so uniquely beneficial for your skin health in the cold?
Well, one of the most important benefits of a well-formulated facial oil is to prevent dehydration through trans-epidermal water loss, or TEWL. Dehydration hasn’t traditionally been recognized as one of the main causes of skin aging. In fact, I consider both sun damage and dehydration to be the two key culprits in all signs of aging — including the formation of fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and even sagging.
My own neck is the perfect barometer!
During the colder months, the skin on my neck seems to hollow out as the layers dehydrate and deflate. As hard as I try, it’s often a losing battle. Fortunately, my skin bounces back around March. It’s a fascinating experiment as I struggle to keep my skin optimally hydrated in the cold. I’m much better at it now than I used to be; and that’s because I fully understand the effects of TEWL on skin health.
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What Is Trans-Epidermal Water Loss?
For a deep-dive into trans-epidermal water loss (or TEWL), there’s an excellent article on the health website Skin Better titled, What Is Transepidermal Water Loss and Why Is it Important? It’s available to read here. In the piece, the author explains TEWL as follows:
“The skin is comprised of three primary layers: the epidermis, the outermost layer; the dermis or middle layer; and the hypodermis, the undermost layer. When water passes from the dermis through the epidermis and evaporates from the skin’s surface, this is known as transepidermal water loss (International Journal of Pharmaceutics).
While TEWL is a process that your skin naturally regulates, certain factors that can damage the skin’s barrier function can also affect TEWL levels. Circumstances such as injury, low-humidity weather conditions and topically applied products that dry out the skin can impact TEWL.
To achieve this, combine humectant and occlusive skincare ingredients.
Transepidermal water loss can contribute to a variety of dry skin conditions, and although it is a natural process, there are ways that you can help your skin stay moisturized and hydrated. Hydration refers to the water content of the skin, whereas moisturization is the skin’s ability to retain those water molecules. Therefore, your skin needs both elements to maintain desirable levels of TEWL.
To achieve this, combine humectant and occlusive skincare ingredients. Humectants help to draw moisture to the epidermis, either from the air if it is humid enough, or from the underlying dermis in low-humidity conditions. Because water content that is drawn from the dermis can be lost through TEWL, it’s important to combine the use of humectants with occlusives. Together, these ingredients create a reservoir of moisture in the epidermis and act as a barrier on the skin to help prevent TEWL by sealing in that moisture. The occlusive agents simultaneously keep pollutants, toxins and harmful bacteria out (Skin Therapy Letter).”
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The Skincarma “Lock and Block” Prevents Dehydration
To start, preventing dehydration in the first place requires drinking enough water. That differs for each of us based on our weight, the foods we eat, and the climate we live in. It’s even more important during colder periods.
A good rule is to drink one ounce of water each day for every pound of body weight. So, if you weigh 150 lbs., you’ll need to drink 150 ounces of water each and every day to keep your body and your skin optimally hydrated.
Then, employing skincare to treat and prevent dehydration requires what I refer to as a “lock and block” strategy.
It begins with a dedicated humectant serum applied to the skin in both your AM and PM routines that helps to lock water in. Follow with a moisturizer composed of a healthy balance of both humectants and oils to block and prevent the trans-epidermal water loss that can lead to dehydration.
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One of the great things about facial oils is they’re water-free, meaning they last a lot longer. Over the years, I’ve amassed quite the museum-worthy collection of facial oils. And I’m excited to share the first four in my two-part series on my FW21 facial oil picks.
Each stands out for one reason, or several reasons — among them, uniqueness, superior quality, versatility, innovation and, as is the case with so many facial oils, sheer damn pleasure. That really is the gist of it. Facial oils are simply a pleasure to use! If you're not using a facial oil yet — either daily or a couple of times a week — now’s your chance to find one you love.
In part one, the first four FW21 facial oils include Biography’s Golden Ray Glow Drops. While I’ve reviewed it on the blog previously, I’ve simply fallen in love with it all over again this year. It’s perhaps the most luxurious of the FW21 collection.
I’m a huge fan of the clean, democratically priced Naturium brand and have reviewed several of their face serums on the blog over the past several months. They have a number of Vitamin C serums and oils and the brand’s Vitamin C Face Oil is a wonderful formulation. More on it below.
Dr. Elsa Jungman’s Start Over Moisturizing Serum is formulated to fix the microbiome by rebalancing surface bacteria and strengthening the skin barrier. Dr. Elsa is one of the few true experts on the skin microbiome, what makes it tick, and what it needs to tick right.
Lastly, I’m excited to feature the Maelove Love 31 Precious Face Oil — my first product inclusion from the clean beauty brand.
Let’s have a look at one of my FW21 facial oils, which I consider ideal for cold weather in part one of the series…
Maelove | Love 31 Precious Face Oil
I have had my eye on Maelove for a while now and am excited to finally experience something from the brand. And doesn't a facial oil called Love 31 sound like the perfect place to start? The brand’s Glow Maker Vitamin C serum seems to be their most popular product, though I haven’t had the chance to test it out just yet. (Stay tuned!)
Maelove’s new Love 31 Precious Face Oil is a luxurious blend of replenishing plant oils that’s “infused with 31 botanical extracts and vitamins” and “a potent cocktail for your skin”. Like the Biography Golden Ray Glow Drops, the Love 31 facial oil is a truly sensorial experience.
And a cocktail indeed!
Love 31 is a treasure trove of non-fragrant plant oils, among them some of the most potent antioxidant botanical extracts. Interestingly, it’s not a water-free formula, as water is the third ingredient. I’ve rarely seen that in a facial oil. Preceding water are two of the best moisturizing plant oils: Vitis Vinifera (Grapeseed Oil) and Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil.
Of the two dozen or so plant oils in the Love 31 Precious Face Oil formula, Grapeseed Oil is the most intriguing to me. According to the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team, the non-fragrant “plant oil has strong antioxidant properties and its low saturation gives it a thinner texture and less greasy feel compared to highly saturated oils such as coconut.”
What Is Grapeseed Oil for Skin and Is Grapeseed Oil Good for Your Face?
I love this article I found on the Byrdie website titled, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Grapeseed Oil. It’s full of amazing insights into the unusual anti-aging, antioxidant oil. Here’s what I found most salient…
We all know that wine is basically the stuff of the gods—the fact that it's chock full of antioxidants is an added bonus. But it turns out other grape-derived ingredients are giving vino a run for its money, at least where skin health is concerned. Enter grapeseed oil, an all-natural product extracted from grape seeds after they've been used to make wine. Grapeseed has been a common ingredient in the wellness space for quite some time but in recent years, it's made its way to the skincare aisle, too.
To learn more about its benefits, we enlisted the help of Marisa Plescia, research scientist with clean beauty e-tailer NakedPoppy; as well as New York dermatologists Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of Cosmetic and Clinical Research in Dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York; and Hadley King, MD, clinical instructor of dermatology at Cornell University, to help explain all the benefits of this potent, multi-use oil. The facts don't lie, and as you'll see, this oil has a plethora of skin-aiding and preventative properties that pack a powerful punch.
What is Grapeseed Oil?
“Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, or grapeseed oil, is a lightweight oil that is extracted from the seeds of grapes and penetrates the skin quickly, leaving the skin soft, supple, and moisturized,” says Plescia. In short, it's a jack-of-all-trades ingredient that's light in texture and easily absorbs into the skin.
Largely known for its anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties, grapeseed oil also contains high amounts of omega fatty acids and vitamin E2—which makes it popular when it comes to formulating skincare. But grapeseed oil's real strength lies in its molecular structure.
“Polyphenol compounds in grapeseed oil, such as proanthocyanidins, are especially powerful antioxidants. Studies found that the antioxidant power of grapeseed proanthocyanidins is 20 times greater than that of vitamin E and 50 times greater than that of vitamin C,” says Plescia.
“The strong antioxidant capacities of grapeseed can help reduce the signs of aging, such as sun spots, fine lines, and wrinkles.”
I recently reviewed a superb Vitamin C oil made with Grapeseed Oil, the ALPHA-H Vitamin C With Grape Seed Serum. It’s got such a nice, lightweight texture and feels great on the skin. You can catch my review of it on the blog here. The Maelove Love 31 Precious Face Oil is reminiscent of that.
According to the brand, “Love 31 has a rich, moisturizing finish without the heaviness and the oily residue common in other face oils. Each production run entails 17 precisely executed steps to balance the numerous ingredients in a properly timed blending sequence. From there, only about a third of each production batch is selected for filling due to our stringent quality control.”
For those who love a sensorial, fragrant facial oil, Love 31 might just be your favorite facial oil. It’s both deeply nourishing and aromatherapeutic, with a crisp floral scent that you can’t help but surrender to.
What I like about it: The Maelove Love 31 Precious Face Oil has a wonderfully lightweight texture that dries down on the skin relatively quickly.
What I don’t like about it: I’m not personally a fan of fragrance in the form of fragrant plant oils in my skincare. If you love a light floral aroma, you’ll love Maelove’s Love 31.
Who it’s for: All skin types except perhaps skin that is sensitive to fragrance.
SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Maelove Love 31 Precious Face Oil for $76.95 here.
The Ingredient List of the Maelove Love 31 Precious Face Oil:
aox|emo, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil emo 0 0-2, Aqua (Water) solv, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate amic|pres, Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil emo, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Seed Oil aox|emo, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil aox|emo, Adansonia Digitata (Baobab) Seed Oil emo, Squalane sii|emo 0 1, Oxycoccus Palustris (Arctic Cranberry) Seed Oil aox|emo, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil emo, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil emo 0 0, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil aox|emo 0 0-3, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil emo 0 1-3, Corylus Avellana (Hazelnut) Seed Oil emo, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil aox|emo|perf 0 0-2, Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Seed Oil emo|perf, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil emo 0 1-2, Rosa Damascena Flower Oil 
aox|perf|amic, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil emo, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract so, Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) Oil so|h|perf, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil amic|perf, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil so|emo 2 3, Caprylyl Glycol h|emo, Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil aox|emo|amic, Cucurbita Pepo (Pumpkin) Seed Oil emo, Citrus Limon Peel Oil perf, Tocopherol (D-Alpha) aox 0-3 0-3, Tocotrienols, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Peel Oil perf, Elaeis Guineensis Oil emo
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