Formula Fridays: Rosehip Oil.
Welcome to the newest instalment of this blog, Formula Fridays, where I share beauty, wellness, image, and health products that I am using or have used and have proven to be quite beneficial to my health/beauty/wellness routine. Those that know me know that I am a development fanatic, meaning that I love seeking out ways to improve myself, my appearance, and so on so forth. It was thus only a matter of time that this segment of my blog manifested itself.
[In regards to the frequency of these posts, I would like to start off with every other Friday to avoid my blog being too product focused, as it is still in its inchoate stages]
Also, "Formula Friday" is not really my favourite phrase to use for this segment, so if anyone has suggestions, I am all ears.
The First Formula Friday goes to the all-amazing, yet not really talked about
Rosehip oil.
Whenever I am excited about something, I dread having to write about it, simply because I know not from where to begin, as my thoughts are literally going a thousand miles per hour trying to figure out the best way to encapsulate in sentences how amazing the product is. Alas, these are my exact sentiments towards rosehip oil, and unfortunately there are no words to describe how much of a godsend this product was to me at the time that I found out about it.
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So a little
background information about how I got connected with it (feel free to skip this if you're not a story person):
It was around Spring 2015. I was still in Birmingham, UK finishing up the second term (semester) of my Masters programme, while at the same time STILL trying to get an amazing skincare routine for myself. This was after so much investment in a variety of products. Since I am open to trial-error (at the expense of my bank account), I spent much time researching and going to the two main (huge) beauty supply shops in Birmingham City Centre to get my hands on new products. Boots saw my face a few times as well. Anyway, all in all, despite my skin getting clearer and more cute by the Spring of 2015 (my skin care overhaul had begun in the Fall/winter 2014 - even to the point of me "giving up" wearing makeup for a while because I was more focused on achieving the best skin possible), to my dismay I still could not pinpoint that one product within my routine that was getting my skin to be the best it could possibly be, and the products within my routine were just average in comparison to my established goals for my skin maintenance.
Essentially my goals were to
1. fade my spots
2. prevent acne
3. reduce oiliness
I even tried Clarins "toner" - a 15-20 quid item that turned out to be something close to just water. I became convinced that I was just buying the name.
I was so desperate that I even returned to my staple from a while back, the REN clay cleanser....for some reason, it did not make a difference to my skin this time around.
In addition, my skin is most off-balance when it is that time of the month for me, so imagine being in such a predicament & still not having a skin care routine that could stand against and possibly allay the dire effects of my period. Bad combo, bro. Bad combo.
So after all this 'Google and searching' yet still finding myself at a lacklustre routine, I very much did what any persistent person would do.... research even more. This is one of my more stronger traits. I do not give up when I have a clear goal in mind.
I have since forgotten when and how I stumbled upon this product during my research, but I did... Ah, it is all slowly coming back to me :)! It was around Easter that I found out about rosehip, because I still remember telling my aunt in Luton that I wanted to check the Boots drugstore to see if they had the product in stock. They did not, as this product is only sold at
Holland & Barrett in the UK (as far as I am aware). Anyway, so I finally got my hands on it later the next week, and I have not been able to keep my hands off of it ever since.
My face literally has never been the same since I have been using the oil. The benefits for me were instantly apparent. I mean, from the next day on, there was just something different about my appearance. It glowed, it looked younger, it caught a few eyes. My selfie game literally increased a notch. Let me just end my rant here before I become too incoherent from excitement.
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I will now lay out the
properties & the benefits:
Properties of rosehip seed:
Antioxidants - Omega 3, 6, 9. Fatty acids that rehydrate the skin. Scientifically proven to reduce stretch marks and scars*
Vitamin Rich - Vitamin C, Vitamin A
Linoleic acid - omega 6 fatty acid that prevents acne, allows for acne relief, reverses UV-induced hyperpigmentation.
Benefits:
Of course, from my "rant" above, you can get a grasp of how much this product singlehandedly improved my appearance. I will still go ahead & provide a succint list of what exactly one will essentially gain from consistent use of this oil, based on the above mentioned properties:
acne prevention > The idea that an oil has this benefit may seem counterintuitive, since most persons with acne-prone skin have oily skin in the first place. The oil is considered a "dry" oil that easily absorbs onto your skin and leaves no oily residue. So this classification, coupled with it having 'linoleic acid' as a component makes for this oil's ability to help with acne despite its consistency. On that note, I having combination/oily skin tend to still find the oil to be a bit oily for me, in the sense that it does leave a residue if I am not careful. But I have found a remedy. More on this below (so combo/oily skin ladies, make sure you stay tuned till the end). Anyway, having since used this product, I literally have experienced little to no breakouts. It is only when I get too oil happy with my food consumption and during my periods that my skin tends to have a visitor or two...but even then, it is extremely manageable & I have my bae, rosehip to thank for this.
evens out skin tone > I have oily/acne prone skin (or combination skin, to be more specific). As a young lady that once had bad acne, I have scarring from those pimples that I decided to pop..in fact, "decided to pop" gives no justice as a description to the torture I put my face through when a pimple surfaced. Those were crazy times, but thank God for levels, amen? As a result, I have had to deal with scarring on both sides of my cheeks and on my forehead. I effectively cleared my forehead before using this product, using Ambi Even and Clear products - but one has to be careful with their products, as you might be lightening your whole skin in the process of trying to lighten a few spots. Do not ruin your melanin, ladies (speaking specifically to my darker skinned women). So I wanted to use a more natural product, especially in the face of the persistent scarring on my cheeks. Since having used this product, one has to really come very close to my face to see my scars, and it is only improving by the day! These scars were pretty dark, so the fact that I am able to notice its significant reduction is progress in real time.
fine lines and wrinkles no more! > I'm at the age where I do not necessarily have to worry about wrinkles just yet, but I am mindful of starting to put things in place to ward them off for as long as possible (gosh, I sound like I am in my 40's...I'm only 23, but my mind thinks otherwise). Anyway, this oil helps with really improving the elasticity and firmness of your skin. So even if you are blessed to not have to worry about acne/ uneven skin yet you want to preserve, maintain, and/or attain a youthful look - please look into this product.
This product is very much a "miracle" oil as it has so many great benefits confined into a serum/bottle:
anti-aging + dark spot corrector + even skin serum + glowing skin enactor
+ bonus!:
I have seen a difference in the thickness of my eyebrows and have longer eyelashes since having used this product. This is my own observation though, and may very well be a result of other products combined. But if anyone else sees growth in these two areas, let me know!
With all this said, I cannot impress enough the importance of using this in combination with other products that you feel gets your skin as cleansed, purified, and as healthy as possible. So I also attribute the current positive state of my skin to having a good consistent routine with the use of amazing products that work for me.
but First Lady Funmi, how do I get my hands on this product?
Where to Buy:
I use
Trilogy, but there are a host of other brands that produce and supply the oil as well! There are suppliers that sell via Amazon, Ebay, etc. even if you cannot seem to find one in-store near where you live.
When I lived in England, Holland and Barrett was my go-to store. When I went home to the U.S.A over the summer, I found that the
Vitamin Shoppe sold the same product at a much more affordable price *devastation emoji*. In Germany, it is called Hagenbuetten oel & it is just as affordable as the ones for sale in stores in USA.
I will be following this up with a skincare routine post over the holidays. The simple reason that I am unable to do so now is that I unfortunately do not have access to about three products that are staples in my routine, given my current location. Over the Christmas period, I will finally have access to them, and thus cannot wait to share with you all a full list of products that work for me.
For my combo/oily skin ladies: As I said before, I hope you were able to stay tuned to this point, as I have a tip that will effectively help with lessening the oiliness of your skin after using this product. Keep in mind as well that the oiliness will not inform acne! It just has the likelihood of sitting on your skin and not necessarily absorbing properly. So here is my technique: After exfoliating and cleansing my skin, I make sure to use a toner that will really dry out my face. Very much dry to the point of ashiness, even. This dryness will really allow for the rosehip to act as the moisturiser that it wants to act as, reducing the oiliness that could come as a side effect. If all else fails, feel free to blot your face a bit after a good 7-8 minutes of having applied the oil onto your skin.
OluFun
Firstladyfunmi
bolaxbijou
*keep in mind that the antioxidant content of the oil depends on the amount of rosehip that a rosehip oil manufacturer decides to put in their oil. So make sure you read the ingredients. The rosehip oil I use has about 80% antioxidants and the more fatty acids the better! Terms such as "cold-pressed", "organic", and "certified" will also help in identifying its genuineness.
