Friday Faves: Top 5 Face Oils Under $50

07 Nov Friday Faves: Top 5 Face Oils Under $50

Face oils, the latest member of our anti-ageing artillery, promising to hydrate, plump, and balance skin.  Having acne-prone skin (thank you mother-nature) I’ve always felt it counter-intuitive to use a facial oil, however having been advised by my facialist (thank you Jessie) I now understand that these oil potions might actually help reduce my sebum levels.  So below I’ve listed my Top 5 Face Oils Under $50.  Let me first start off by saying I tested each product for at least one month and 2 of these I was so pleased with that I’m actually still using.  I am a tried and true Retin-A user and was first introduced to face oils from one of my favorite beauty blogs Beauty Editor. Using Retin-A in Dallas, summer, spring, winter, fall, was no-problemo. However, when I moved to Denver my skin revolted. My face was red, flaky and broken out partly due to the dryer climate, but also the colder weather, and let’s just say ski season didn’t do me any favors. I apologize I do not have any before and after photos to show for it, but I can tell you I’ve tested at least a dozen oils this year and read countless reviews so you can believe I’ve done the homework for you. 🙂 I love all of these beauty products equally for different reasons and have listed the best thing about each product below. With weddings, holiday parties, and colder temps on the horizon now is the perfect time to get glowing skin! So definitely consider giving one of these face oils a test drive!

1. Sonia Kashuk Radiant Boost Restorative Facial Oil – $14.99

{BEST PACKAGING}

Why it’s a Friday Fave: I’ll have to admit that I was a little iffy on getting facial oil from a grocery store.  Not that we consider Target a mere grocery store, but you know what I mean. With cooler, dryer temperatures sneaking in, this light face oil is ideal.  The packaging is the best of any other product I’ve tried. It’s sleek, the dropper is easy to distribute and you can be certain it’s completely closed as the silver top pops up when open and down when closed. It also makes the list because has a long list of nourishing ingredients (and no yucky ones) including Sweet Almond Oil to soften, Bergamot Essential Oil to purify, BerryFlux Vita to boost skin’s moisture and Black Currant Seed Oil to soothe. The Jasmine Flower Extract is also gives it a hint of fragrance without being to overwhelming.  If you find it’s too heavy for your skin I recommend just adding a drop or two to your night time moisturizer for that extra boost, or your day-time for that perfect glow. Before the end of the week I could already see that my skin was brighter and smoother. I’m still using this one and don’t see myself quitting her anytime soon.

2. Midnight Recovery Concentrate Face Oil : $46.00

{BEST SCENT}

Why it’s a Friday Fave: This overnight elixir claims to replenish your skin with moisture.  And it certainly does. It’s chocked-full of the good stuff with ingredients like Squalane (a signature Kiehl’s ingredient), Omega-6 fatty acids, Evening Primrose Oil, and other essential oils including Lavender which is what also what wins this product Best Scent. Squalane is a highly refined moisturizing oil derived from an olive. It’s very silky and easily absorbed into my skin.  Midnight Recovery is known for mixing well with the natural oils of your skin. It’s a botanical lipid similar in molecular structure to natural skin lipids. It works overnight to help your skin recover radiance, and did make my skin feel smoother. Massage 2-3 drops on cleansed skin before bed and feel oh-so-good about it knowing there are no parabens or mineral oils in this product whatsoever. This felt like a little bit of luxury before bedtime!  

3. Acure Organic Argan Face Oil : $12.99

{BEST PRICE}

Why it’s a Friday Fave:  This one caught my eye because of the price. I wanted to find something with a low price point to test so I could compare with the $30+ brands. However I am pretty cautions with what I test on my skin so the fact that this is USDA Organic and 100% pure argan oil was a major selling point. Also happened to love that Acure is fair trade certified through Fair Trade USA and this little bottle is made of recycled glass. This products wins our Friday Fave list because it had a light scent, absorbed quickly, and did great things for my skin. I woke to incredibly moisturized skin in the morning and noticed fewer fine lines. I must note however that this was my least favorite packaging.  The pump is not as ideal as the drop when distributing oil (remember, less is more here). So here’s what you can do – I took a dropper from my empty Josie Maran Argan Oil (or you can buy one on Amazon) and replace the pump. It was easy breezy and will still make this a great bang for your buck.

4. Josie Maran Argan Face Oil : $48

{BEST WEIGHT}

Why it’s a Friday Fave: So this was the first face oil I tested and thus I applied very cautiously. My skin was so very pissed at me, was red, flaky, inflamed, and maybe was even bleeding due to a serious blemish on my chin. I was so worried when I woke up that it would be worse, but thankfully this was not the case.  There is an orginal argan oil and light version which is the one I tested.  This light oil absorbs very quickly and feels luxurious. Within about a week my angry red face was no longer red or flaky. I did back cut back on my Retin-A cream but was still using every other night. If you are suffering from dry-skin due to Retin-A I highly recommend trying this product. It was very gentle on it and seemed to heal it from the inside out.

5. Mario Badescu Rose Hips Nourishing Oil: $22.00

{BEST ALL-AROUND}