If water and oils repel, how come oils moisturize the skin?
In: Biology
The fact is that without an emulsifier, oil does not actually hydrate the skin past a surface level. That’s the thing with dry skin issues–you have to penetrate the layers, and there are certain health conditions that will alter the absorbency and texture of the skin, not including the fact that some oils will obliterate your natural oils and barriers, which causes skin damage and more drying out. I can make a suggestion to a fantastic skin scientist if you’re interested, because she *frequently* breaks stuff like this down in very simple terms. I’ve learned a lot, and even though she knows not everyone can afford what her lab creates, she *will* give you free advice, look at ingredients lists for you, give you tips on what DIY stuff you can actually do…she’s amazing.
So I’ve been told: Our bodies and cells contain water. When exposed to air, this water evaporates somewhat. Especially when the air is very dry, this can dry out the skin. However, if some barrier were to exist between our cells and the air, this evaporation could be significantly reduced. Normally we think of barriers as needing to be solid, but in this case there is no reason why it has to be solid, as long as neither gas nor water passes through.
As you noted, water doesn’t mix with oil, so the water does not pass through, and gas similarly does not, so the water is contained in the skin.
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