Beauty Tip: Oil-to-Water Ratio in Moisturisers

Beauty Tip NoteThese tests will help you to determine the ratio of oil to water in a moisturising product.

Apply moisturiser to your skin. If the skin under the moisturiser is warm, there is a greater percentage of oil in the product. If the area is cool, there is a greater percentage of water. The science behind this is that evaporation cools, and water evaporates. Oil does not evaporate and therefore traps heat in the body.

Put a small amount of moisturiser on a tissue, and hold it over a lightbulb. Products with higher oil content will melt. The wider the area of melted oil, the greater the percentage of oil in the moisturiser.

 

I experimented this with Olay’s Complete UV Protection Moisture Lotion SPF15 for combination/oily skin.

20090714 Oil to Water Ratio 1

20090714 Oil to Water Ratio 2

So there you go, a useful beauty tip from the expert herself (I meant Bobbi :P).

Another method to check the oil-to-water ratio was a good tip I picked up from Traclyn, who ran an oiliness test of a BB cream on a piece of facial blotter. I think it is another good way to check if the product is going to be too greasy for you, especially if you suffer from oily skin.

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4 comments… add one
  1. plue

    the oil blotter test is rather accurate i would say. done them quite a while back just cuz i got too much facial blotters around!

    i will try this bulb tip n see! 😀 ahahah! fun stuff to do when i am not working!

  2. Connie

    this is a neat tip! my moisturizers are definitely higher in oil than water. well, I use both types!

  3. Renee

    I was just going to say I’m going to try this because I fear oil in all forms, but then I remembered my moisturizer is an oil free gel, because I’m so panicky about oil. Oops. blonde moment 😛

  4. Tine

    Plue:
    Haha, it’s a good experiment to try out. Just be careful not to burn your hand on the hot bulb, yeah?

    Connie:
    Thankfully, mine contains more water. Skin’s too oily to have it the other way round 🙁

    Renee:
    Hee hee! Nah, don’t worry about it, it happens to the best of us. I get my duh-brain moments too!

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