Virgin oils VS refined oils: what's the difference?

Vegetable oils, so often found in our food, contains a number of nutrients that play an essential role for the metabolism of our skin. They are at the basis for having lovely skin. This is a good reason why one should make use of the vegetable oil properties, especially by mixing up their skincare uses, but one must first understand the way they should be extracted in order to get the best out of their use! This is where we step in to help you out.

What to know about virgin oils vs. refined oils

Vegetable oils have become a center point in our diets. Nourishing and tasty, they can replace any fatty substance in our bathrooms as well as in our recipes for cooking. Now, there are many different kinds of vegetable oils- virgin and refined. However, which ones should be selected to best preserve essential nutrients for the metabolism for our skin?

What is the difference between virgin oil and refined oil?

Vegetable oil is qualified as virgin or refined according to the way it has been extracted. If the extraction is done by pressing, then it is considered virgin oil. If the extraction is carried out by solvents, then it is called refined oil, which allows one to obtain a “standardized” oil by modifying its fatty acids. But for the case of “virgin” oils, one gets an oil that is pure, without any foreign substances, exclusively purified through physical processes, and cannot have been submitted to any other treatments.

Why refine oils?

The refining process creates oil that is stable, easy to preserve, hardly colored, with no discernable aroma, and with a yield around 97 percent which is much more profitable to the industry. However “pressed” oils preserve all their qualities, are more expensive, and can lose up to 20 percent of its substance when extracted.

Which one is best for my skin?

After refinement, the original composition of the oil has been deeply modified that results in an almost total loss of the high nutritional value elements. Thus we see:

• a destruction of vitamin E, with its antioxidant, regenerative and anti-inflammatory properties

• the disappearance and / or the loss of the biological activity of essential fatty acids which are the base for a hydrated, plump, and dense skin, that is supple and luminous

• the disappearence of beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant element

• even the disappearence of phospholipids and sterols that play a key role in cellular growth and the function of the plasma membrane

You understand, without a doubt, why it is so important to choose virgin oils for a healthy and beautiful skin. This is why L'ODAÏTÈS swears by the exclusive use of virgin oils as its active ingredients in its skincare products!