SMOOTH OPERATORS

FACE OILS ARE the Trojan horse of skincare: they can sneak past the skin’s defence barrier, because your complexion catalogues them as innocent. Once through the gates, oils will let loose any active ingredients and potent antioxidants that have come along for the ride to the dermis. “Pure plant oils are pretty much the same size as the natural oils our skin produces, so are the perfect size to be absorbed,” says Arabella Preston, founder of Votary skincare. “And they are so close to our skin’s natural lipids that there is no residue or stickiness.”

That may sound like an oxymoron – oils are, after all, oily – but