Water-Free Skincare Revolution: Why your daily oil cleansers and moisturisers should be water-free 

Written in collaboration with Lyonsleaf

Have you ever noticed that initially your moisturiser gives your skin a plump, hydrated feel, but that sensation doesn’t last?  This is why 100% natural, water-free products could be the best decision you could make for your skincare routine. Plant oils repair the outer layer of your skin and lock in moisture, giving long-lasting hydration.

Water-free skincare cleansers and moisturisers are packed with 100% active ingredients, each one with a direct benefit for your skin. Plus they’re super concentrated because they’re not watered down, meaning you use less product and get more balm for your buck. But, they’re not quite making waves in the beauty world – yet.  

This is for good reason. High street creams and lotions, including hot cloth cleansers and facial oils, can contain up to 80% water (plus preservatives and petrochemical-derived emollients). The water bulks out the product, making it seem a more substantial purchase. It also means it’s cheaper to produce and much more profitable. So, it’s understandable that this has been a winning formula.

However, they might not be doing your skin quite as much good as you think. This is because the emulsifiers can damage your skin barrier, meaning the water evaporates quickly, and your skin is left feeling tight and parched and needing more.

Lyonsleaf Award Winning Beauty Balms

What is water-free skincare? Preservative-free 

If you’re looking for 100% natural skincare, then water-free is the only way to go. 

When water is introduced to a product, it’s necessary to use preservatives to prevent bacterial growth. This means water-free products can avoid ingredients like parabens, phenoxyethanol, and formaldehyde, of which potential harmful side effects are linked to everything from being skin irritants – having the opposite effect to the one you intended by using it – and to links to cancer.

However, since there are no preservatives in water-free products, you’ll need to be a bit more careful about how you use them. Avoid using preservative-free products on open skin, such as wounds, especially for young kids or immune-compromised adults, to prevent possible infection.

Lyonsleaf

Emulsifier-Free Skincare

Using water in beauty products also typically requires the use of emulsifiers, to help blend water and oil in products. Some emulsifiers can make a product feel thicker or creamier, while others can help to improve the spreadability of a product.

But, emulsifiers can also mess with your skin’s delicate balance of lipids and moisture. Over time, emulsifiers can build up, damaging your skin’s outer layer and increasing moisture loss.

Water-free skincare, in comparison, tends to keep your skin barrier intact. They are made by blending plant oils with shea butter or beeswax in a melting tank. Doing this at the lowest temperature possible preserves beneficial compounds. This process turns them into highly-concentrated balms that are bursting with vitamins and natural antioxidants, a method that has been used in herbal remedies for many years. This innovative approach not only protects your skin but can also mean your beauty products are 100% natural and sustainable, too. 

Simplifying your skincare routine

One of the best parts about water-free skincare is that it can simplify your routine. Instead of the traditional three-step cleanse-tone-moisturise process, you can switch to a one-step oil cleanse. 

Many cleansers contain detergents that strip away your skin’s natural oils. But with an oil-based balm, you’re cleaning without stripping, which is much gentler on your skin.

Lyonsleaf best-sellers:

Zinc and Calendula Cream

£28.99

Lyonsleaf Mum & Baby

Mum and Baby Skincare Survival Kit

£26.99

Lyonsleaf Beauty Balm

Natural Beauty Balm

£15.99

Water-free products for oily skin

Surprisingly, switching to oil-based skincare seems to have benefits for many people with oily skin, too. Traditionally, products for oily skin attempt to strip excess oil, but it is now understood that this causes the skin to overcompensate and produce more oil, exacerbating the problem.

Field of Calendula Flowers

Water-free products for dry skin

Cleansing and moisturising with water-free products can also be really effective for dry skin. While a more-specialised product like a zinc or calendula balm can be a game-changer for those suffering from conditions such as eczema or psoriasis. 

The reason is the same, preservatives and emulsifiers found in most beauty products (as well as heating, air con and the weather), all cause the skin barrier to break down. When cracks appear, moisture is lost and as the skin tries to replace it, the dermis below dries out. 

The dermis should be full of moisture and plumped like a freshly picked grape. Undiluted, concentrated creams and balms repair and maintain the outer skin barrier, sealing in moisture far more effectively – and naturally. And pure plant oils help the skin to regulate itself.

Water-Free Makeup

The benefits of water-free beauty doesn’t stop at skincare products like cleansers and moisturisers. Makeup products like mineral eyeshadows, blushers, and bronzers can also be water-free. 

Water-free skincare is all about giving your skin the most natural care possible while being kind to the environment. By eliminating water, preservatives, and emulsifiers, these products offer effective solutions for healthy skin, healthy bodies and a healthier planet. That’s the truly winning formula.

About the author

Vicky Lyons

Vicky Lyons

Vicky Lyons formed Lyonsleaf with her husband at their family farm in 2010. They had been selling vegetables, salad leaves and edible flowers to restaurants and on winter solstice that year their love of herbs led them to buy 6000 plants from a herb nursery that was going bust. That was the beginning of Lyonsleaf as you see it today. At first they started propagating and selling herb plats at local farmers markets which Vicky loved, as she loves to have her hands in the soil. They soon started making herbal products too. Their 100% Natural Calendula Cream was such an enormous hit at the farmers markets they soon decided to focus on the skincare side and stop selling plants to customers, but they carried on growing the herbs for the skincare products at the farm. In 2012 Vicky built the Lyonsleaf website while she breastfeeding their new daughter. Lyonsleaf went from strength to strength over the next 10 years and scaled up by employing an amazing team of local women. Sadly the couple have now divorced but the team moved with Vicky to new premises in 2023 and Lyonsleaf is now an all-female force to be reckoned with. Having just won Best Brand at the 'free from' skincare awards for the second time, they are the go to brand for sensitive and problem skin or for clean beauty purists.

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