Here at ES Best, we love getting a big bang for our buck.
We’ve looked into multifunctional furniture and space-saving hacks, but we’ve not yet ventured into the world of multi-purpose, multi-tasking beauty products. Until now.
Our bathroom cabinets are full of clutter. There’s lotions and potions passed their sell-by date, oils that have solidified, creams that are so close to being finished and yet their time never seems to come? While this is your cue to have a clear out, it also provides the perfect opportunity to take stock of your product line-up and consider whether the steps can be combined to be more efficient.
The Korean 12-steps beauty regime has taken on a life of its own in recent years, elongating our skincare practices and taking the rudimentary trio of cleansing, toning and moisturising to extensive heights. While there’s something to be said for carving out time for self-care, it can be challenging to slip this into a fast-paced lifestyle. That’s where these muti-use oils come in.
While you’re treating your complexion to the nourishing benefits of the likes of argan or macadamia oil, you can make these products work harder for you by applying all over your body and hair too while you’re at it. These nutrient, vitamin and antioxidant-rich ingredients give your skin, hair and body a movie-star sheen, moisturise and leave a radiant finish. In short: minimal effort, maximum effect.
Thirsty skin will lap up the hydration of coconut oil, almond and even plum, while shimmery finishes provide that luminosity, soft skin feel and silky smooth strands. This is all while leaving a fresh scent in your wake.
These oils are practical too when it comes to packing for your next trip: one product to care from tip to toe. As long as it’s under 100ml, you’re golden.
Without further ado, see our pick of the best multi-use oils below
Le Prunier Plum Beauty Oil
On launch, this product was met with a waitlist of 25,000 people. It is considered a holy grail by those in the know. Le Prunier’s collection harnesses the power of plum, taking inspiration from Asian culture where the superfood ingredient is believed to have healing properties. It is harvested using sustainable and organic practices and cold-pressed to maintain the nutrients that make this oil a cult buy. The formula is brimming with vitamins A and E, antioxidants and omega fatty acids that absorb quickly into the skin and hair, imparting its radiance and leaving them both silky soft.
Buy now £102.00, Browns
NUXE Huile Prodigieuse Multi-Purpose Dry Oil 50ml
This is the jewel in Nuxe’s crown. The luxury French label has many iterations of its cult Huile Prodigieuse, each of which demonstrates why it is so popular. One is infused with Néroli, the Floral has the scent of grapefruit, magnolia and musk and the Golden Shimmer is a statement-making oil with illuminating glitter particles that leave a satin finish.
We’ve chosen to spotlight the original that has been a stalwart in our beauty cabinet for many years. The multi-tasking product is packed with nourishing vitamin E as well as oils of the camellia, hazelnut, borage, St John’s wort, sweet almond and macadamia nature that combine to provide hydration and give our hair a silky sheen. It’s an oil, yes, but is light, non-greasy and best of all, leaves the delicious aroma of orangle blossom, rose, lily and vanilla. Summer, bottled.
Buy now £13.33, lookfantastic
Alpha-H Golden Haze
This is the first face oil in Alpha-H’s collection. The clean Aussie brand that is known for its efficacious line-up for sensitive skin types has created this “golden elixir” to be the ultimate multi-tasker, boasting not one but eight uses to make your beauty cabinet’s contents work harder for you.
Whether you choose to coat your complexion in the vitamin-rich and fatty acid goodness, opt for a facial massage, reduce irritation during dermaplaning, lock in hydration, apply to cuticles, tame hair flyaways, counteract dryness or impart a glow, well that’s up to you - or you can do all the above.
Buy now £39.95, Cult Beauty
Diptyque Satin oil for body and hair 100ml
A testament to its quality, this is a bestseller in the Diptyque offering in a line-up that includes so many sought-after products. The Satin Oil takes inspiration from Rhodes from its ingredient line-up with jasmine scented oil taking a starring role. It combines it with ylang ylang and saffron as well as the kind-to-skin-and-strands cocktail of avocado oil and urucum oil for that healthy sheen from head to toe.
Buy now £45.00, Selfridges
CHANEL Healthy Glow Illuminating Oil Travel Size 50ml
This is a travel-sized version of the beloved Chanel Healthy Glow Illuminating Oil that you can slip into your wash bag for a treat for the complexion and your locks while you’re in some far flung tropical destination.
Hand luggage-approved, it’s ideal for when airport security will only allow one of those clear plastic bag through security. This is the only thing you’ll beed for a subtle shimmery finish for the skin and hair. It’s moisturising and gives that lit-from-within appearance.
Buy now £48.00, Selfridges
BREAD BEAUTY SUPPLY Macadamia Oil 46ml
So here’s something that we love about this brand: BREAD provides what it considers to be the bare essentials in your beauty collection, much like its gluten namesake. The label specialises in nourishing products for curly hair types but can be used on all textures, whether braided or afro, thick or fine.
As the product’s name suggests, macadamia oil is the one and only ingredient and has been chosen for its satiny sheen giving and reparative properties. It is a natural source of squalene, a moisturising component found naturally in the skin and is a powerful antioxidant. The cold-pressed nature ensures its efficacy and it can be applied onto the hair as well as the body.
Buy now £25.00, Cult Beauty
OUAI Rose Hair and Body Oil
Restore the sheen of your precious locks with this oil from hair stylist to the stars Jen Atkin’s OUAI label. While leaving your mane silky smooth, it also offers a veil of light for the neck down, leaving in its wake a beautifully scented rose aroma. Not a case of fragrance over function, it combines absinthium, shea and rosehip oils that will be soaked up by stressed-out skin and hair by hydrating, sealing in moisture and leaving behind a welcomed shine.
Buy now £28.00, Cult Beauty
The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold-Pressed Moroccan Argan Oil
Argan oil is an ingredient that you’ll find in many nourishing and protective haircare products and for good reason, it offers an incomparable shine. This oil from The Ordinary is a summer essential. Coat your mane in the vegetable-based ingredient to soften, hydrate and care for overly processed strands - be it from environmental (pollution and sun), chemical (bleach or dye) or thermal reasons (heated tools).
Beyond the strands, this fatty acid-rich ingredient can be swept across limbs for a boost in radiance. The Ordinary opts for unrefined argan oil to maintain all the naturally occuring goodness.
Buy now £6.70, Selfridges
LIHA Beauty Idan Oil
Thirsty skin will delight in the LIHA Beauty Idan Oil, a beloved product from the natural skincare label.
The cocktail of tuberose flower that has been submerged in cold-pressed coconut oil creates a product brimming with floral scenting that offers aromatherapty benefits for the mood - it has even been considered an aphrodisiac.
The formula doubles up as a body oil as well as a leave-in conditioner but you can really apply it anywhere you like to feel enveloped in the fragrance and silky soft skin feel.
The glass bottle packaging is a bit of a pain to eke the formula out of, so try placing it in warm water to loosen it up.
Buy now £42.00, Sephora
Frédéric Malle Musc Ravageur Hair and Body Oil 200ml
If you’re familiar with luxury fragrance house Frédéric Malle, we bet you will have caught a whiff of the signature Portrait of a Lady aroma that’s every bit as expressive in scent as it is expensive in price.
This oil spotlights another of the heady collection, Musc Ravageur, where you can truly get immersed into the addictive notes by adorning the multi-use oil all over the body - and the hair too. It’s a sophisticated scent with fresh and zesty notes of bergamot and tangerine, the spice of cinnamon, sweetness of vanilla and a warm base of musk and amber. Cue the compliments when you walk down the street.
Buy now £135.00, Liberty
