This recipe is ridiculously simple. So simple, in fact, that you might think I just threw it together one day as a bit of a random idea. And you would be right. This project wasn’t supposed to be a blog entry—just an experiment. I figured I’d try it out and see, and it ended up working out so well I couldn’t keep it to myself.
I was doing some reading on problem skin about a month ago and I stumbled upon some information about linoleic acid—a fatty acid that’s present in many plant based oils. Apparently acne prone skin has been found to be deficient/low in linoleic acid, and studies have shown that adding more of it to your skin care routine can decrease acne and boost healing (another source, and another). Ok, call me intrigued.
I reviewed a list of oils with high linoleic acid content, and Evening Primrose popped out at me. Evening Primrose oil is about 72% linoleic acid and around 10% gamma linoleic acid. Other oils in my cupboard had higher percentages of linoleic acid (safflower oil is 78% linoleic acid), but none had both LA and GLA at such high concentrations. Gamma linoleic acid “has been shown to be one of the most effective agents for the treatment of skin disorders and for the maintenance of healthy skin… based on the strong research showing that it is of benefit in the treatment of various skin conditions, including dry skin, eczema, inflammation, wounds, and dermatitis” (Source). Um. Yes. Sign me up, please. And if that’s not enough for you, read this, from the same article:
Disorders and problems such as atopic dermatitis or eczema, dry skin, psoriasis, increased transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and impaired epidermal barrier function is associated with deficiencies in GLA.2,3 Direct dietary supplementation of GLA is often required to ensure that adequate level of GLA and PGE1 occurs. Both oral and topical administration of GLA has been effective in reducing the symptoms of a large number of skin disorders including dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, and acne as well as reducing redness and erythema due to UV radiation and improving healing of wounds. (Source)
So… hey there, Evening Primrose Oil. You’re looking mighty fine 😉
Armed with this knowledge, I topped off the half-full bottle of argan oil (USA / Canada) I keep at my bureau for use on my face with Evening Primrose oil. Evening Primrose oil is quite a heavy oil and has a pretty strong oily scent, so I thought cutting it with my all-time favourite argan oil would improve the experience/decrease the greasies (it does). And then I started applying this blend of oils to my face morning and night, after cleansing. I did this for about two weeks without really thinking about it.
Then, around the two week mark I started thinking about. I realized my skin had been shockingly well behaved for the ten or so days. New zits weren’t really popping up. When they did, they were smaller and healed really quickly. Dry, irritated patches left under my eyes after some very enthusiastic Halloween face paint simmered down and cleared up in no time. What was this magic? Oh yeah… I added Evening Primrose oil to my daily routine. It’s been over a month now, and I can’t believe how good my skin is. I’ve been telling everybody I know about how great my skin is, and how Evening Primrose Oil gets all the credit. I am sold.
Well, that’s my story about this super simple, wasn’t-supposed-to-be-a-recipe recipe. I can’t encourage you to try it enough. It’s definitely a permanent addition to my skin care routine, and with all the things I make and have kicking around my house, I do not say that lightly.
Magical Primrose Argan Serum
7mL | ¼ fl oz argan oil (USA / Canada)
7mL | ¼ fl oz evening primrose oilCombine both oils in a 15mL/half ounce glass bottle with a dropper top (basically, fill the bottle approximately half way with one oil and then top off with the other). Cap and shake to combine.
To use, massage a few drops into your skin as needed—I like morning and night, after washing my face.
Give it a few weeks, and you should notice some pretty wonderful improvements in your skin.
Enjoy!
I was wondering when you’d be posting about this! I’ve been taking daily EPO supplements for a good 6 months now, and while I’m not sure if there’s anything significant going on with acne improvement, my overall skin feels less dry/flaky. I suppose it could be connected! Maybe the results of the supplements on acne aren’t as noticeable as topical treatment? Anyway, I’m fairly certain my EPO is rancid, so I will have to invest in some more and give this a go. Also, I remember reading about this exact topic a year or two ago but I kind of forgot about it. This was the article I had found: http://www.minimalistbeauty.com/oils-specifically-for-acne-prone-skin/
Since it refers to the linoleic/oleic balance being crucial, I wonder if swapping the argan oil for something equally light but even better “balanced” would improve things further? Obviously everyone’s skin is different and argan is amazing for some people, but I haven’t had great success with it. Perhaps my skin is too temperamental to handle it given this information 😛
Hmm, interesting! I’ll be interested to hear how your overall skin health does through the winter, when things get real haha. From my reading camellia seed oil would be great to pair with EPO for a good light/oily balance as well as a good linoleic/oleic rich blend. Hmmm. Of course I just ran out of camellia seed oil 😛
How long do you usually test an oil serum to see its effect on acne? I kind of want to say I’d need to go for a whole menstrual cycle because of my breakout timing.
Sorry, I have no idea how my comments keep winding up as replies to other people’s questions from years ago.
I’ve been eyeing evening primrose oil for a few months now, although my high-linoleic oil of choice is rose hip seed oil. I may pick up supplements or some oil to try mixing with my rose hip oil sometime soon now. Thanks!
Rosehip would be a great choice for countering the oiliness of EPO as well—great idea!
Hi Marie!
May I ask where you read about the deficiency, please? (my inner nerd always likes reading research and findings!)
I know that Borage oil is excellent for such skin conditions too – and even higher levels of GLA than evening primrose so an excellent alternative if you’ve run out of evening primrose! 🙂 I didn’t know that it was due to a linoleic deficiency, though, so thanks for sharing this! 🙂
Anna
Hi Anna! I’m pretty sure it was in one of the source links in the article 🙂 They’re up there with the quotes!
I will give this a try. I have horrible psoriasis on my feet and hands. Winter is not my friend. I will let you know if it offers improvement. Thank you for sharing.
I hope it helps! Thanks for reading 🙂
Yay! I’m a huge fan of Evening Primrose Oil.
In fact, just last week I altered your Gentle Argan Silk Milk by replacing the Argan with EVP…love it!
I loved it so much that I decided to use it as the base for my nightly Vitamin A serum. My Vitamin A serum is now more awesome than ever!
So much fun how one thing leads to another 🙂
Yay! We can make a wee EPO fan club 🙂 I just ordered more from NDA, I’m definitely gifting this serum to some of my favourite ladies!
Thank you for sharing this! Do you have any idea if this would work well for the Oil Cleansing Method? That’s how I wash my face but I currently use a blend of oils based on suggestions from various websites (and based on experimentation).
Hi Carleen! This might work in the OCM, but it would be a rather pricey way to wash your face as EPO is quite a bit more expensive than most oils recommended for the OCM. I’d probably stick to applying it after the OCM and leaving it on rather than washing it off 🙂
That’s a good point. I just like very minimal face care. Thanks again for the info!
I got a bit of a laugh out of your remark about minimal face care as I gave up the OCM because I found it to be far too time consuming and labour intensive 😛 Though I was getting quite strong fingers for the month or so I tried it!
Love this post! I read about Linoleic acids and acne prone skin about a year ago from Minimalist Beauty who I adore! I love using Pumpkin seed oil, Rosehip, Grapeseed, Hemp, but haven’t tried EPO yet.
I don’t use Argan anymore after finding that it is extremely difficult to get real, authentic oil in the US from several reputable skincare companies (including Kahina Beauty) and crafters. From what was told, most is foraged buy diluting the oil with lesser quality oil, especially the cheaper oils. They often smell a little sour/nutty which means they came from rotten or crushed nuts on the ground or those passed from goats.. I will be doing some more research on this for sure to find fact from fiction, but I do know that several oils, including rosehip, are becoming incredibly difficult to find in pure form due to shortages and high demand. In the meantime, I really enjoy herbal infused grapeseed oil!
Thanks, Ashlynn! It’s rather concerning to read about true oils becoming hard to come by; I have quite a lot of faith in what I get from NDA as they’re large enough to go straight to the producer, but… eek!
I might suggest looking into Abyssinian oil, which is available from NDA. It’s the best substitute for argan, Canadian-produced (so local), renewable, & sustainable. We don’t use argan at all anymore for multiple reason, and Abyssian is brilliant in all out men’s products.
Interesting—I have a bottle but have never done much with it. Perhaps I’ll have to pull it out and play with it a bit more 🙂
I am new to this blog and have enjoyed many of your recipes. I have a 13-yo daughter who has started breaking out with acne. Will this serum help on such hormonal skin or would you recommend another of your recipes?
Hi Linda! My acne is definitely hormonal, and I’ve noticed great improvements, so I definitely think it’s worth a try. I’d also start doing weekly clay face masks with your daughter—they have done absolute wonders for my skin!
Thanks, Marie! I will definitely try both the serum and the mask!
Good luck and thanks for DIYing with me 🙂
Hi Marie,
recently I put epo in some soap I made. I wonder if the benefits of epo hold up through the rigors of cold process soap. I added it at trace. What do you think?
Hi Sarah! The thing I’d be more concerned about would be the concentration of the EPO. The original fatty acids will still be present after saponification, even though they are separated from their glycerol. I’m using EPO at 50% and leaving it on my face indefinitely after application, and I’m assuming neither of these things would apply for a soap. It might help with acne, but I certainly wouldn’t expect the results I’ve seen.
Hi Marie,
Just in time again. One of my grandchildren (21) is complaining about her eczema in her upper eyelids and face. Going to make some Homemade Primrose Argum Serum. Well let you know how it works. PS Still making and using your after-shave cream…..great stuff.
Great timing! I hope it works brilliantly for her 🙂 Thanks for DIYing with me!
Hi Marie! I have a couple of questions about this recipe:
– How do you store the serum? I was looking for EPO in the Netherlands and what I’ve found so far should be kept in the fridge.
– In your research, have you maybe seen any information on EPO’s safety during pregnancy? I read that it’s not safe to take by mouth and I was wondering if applying it to the skin is ok.
Anyway, the recipe looks so simple and seems to be so effective – I’d love to try it! 🙂
Hi Galyna! I store mine in a dark glass bottle and go through it quickly—no fridge, though I do store my bottle of EPO in a very cool, dark cupboard. As for the pregnancy advice, please ask an actual doctor 🙂 Enjoy!
Thanks, Marie! The storing tip sounds reasonable, I think I’ll do the same. Concerning the other question, I obviously didn’t expect doctor’s advice. 🙂 I was hoping you’d found more reserch data on EPO than I had and could possibly share it. Doctors never have answers to questions about DIY self care products safety, so I’ll just wait till I can use various oils without any risk for pregnancy – problem solved. 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever read a warning on a carrier oil re: use in pregnancy; that’s usually EOs. All the same, I really don’t want to give any advice that could be construed as medical advice!
At your recommendation (and others) I made my own Argan oil serum and love it, but was intrigued by the addition of EPO. I’ve been taking EPO internally for my hormones and I feel it’s helped me tremendously. I tried to find EPO locally (not in capsule form) and was told that because it has such a short shelf life, I’d have to order it online. Instead I take one of my capsules, pin prick and add half to my palm with the Argan serum in it. Rub together to mix and then put on my face. Saw and felt a difference within 24 hours. Thank you!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad 😀 Keep at it and I think you’ll be majorly in love with your skin in no time 😉
Does the EPO in capsule form not need to be refrigerated? Because that’s pretty handy!
No – the EPO capsules are “shelf safe” without refrigeration at least until their expiration date. Very easy!
How do you mask the scent? I find the scent horrific! Are there unscented versions?
Thanks for any advice!
I’ve found some versions are stinkier than others, but I’ve never found a totally unscented version. I usually dilute it—you might prefer yours in an emulsion where it will be even more diluted than it is here, or EPO just might not be for you. I know neem oil is supposed to be fantastic and has tons of fans, but I hate the way it smells and have managed just fine without it 🙂
Oil from the Emu bird is amazing
It is! I love it for sore muscles, but it doesn’t have any GLA in it for use in this serum.
I’ve read that prickly pear oil is the ‘new kid on the block’. Can you share your views on this oil
I haven’t tried it, but the articles I just read sure make it sound fantastic (they always do, though, haha). It’s not as rich in LA and GLA as EPO is, so I wouldn’t use it instead of EPO, but I’d definitely play with it if I could find it in Canada!
I’m prone to dry flakey patches on my cheeks in the wintertime, and after about a week of using this oil combo they’ve all but disappeared. Thank you so much for this natural alternative moisturizer!! 🙂 Next stop? Getting my mom to try it. I’ve heard primrose is excellent for “mature” skin as well.
Woohoo! That’s awesome 😀 I have my mom some for Christmas, I look forward to hearing what she thinks of it 🙂
Hi,
This serum looks really simple and like it would be a nice addition to what I already do. Thanks!
I was wondering if you have ever made a Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin C serum? I’ve been using them on my face for a few months, and find that they have made a huge difference in terms of fine lines and wrinkles. I’d like to make my own, but not sure about a recipe, etc.
Thanks for any help!
Hey Shari! I’ve dabbled with vitamin C serums before, but further research has taught me that they’re significantly more complicated than I’d initially thought, sadly. The DIY Beauty subreddit has posts on the topic pretty frequently with some good information—you can check those out here 🙂
Hi Marie,
I wse this serum for a while now and it’s great. But I was wonderig if it is a good idea to add some rosehip oil to it. I am at my 40s and my skin gets dry in the winter.
Your recipes are great. If I could I would do all of them ………
Have a nice day.
Hey Ive! I personally don’t find rosehip oil to be at all moisturizing as it’s a “drying” oil, so if you use some here I think you will find it makes the final product less moisturizing. I would stick to the recipe as written, or perhaps use a bit more EPO than argan oil 🙂
Marie, just wanted to say that I’ve been using this serum for a month now and I think it’s been a lifesaver for my skin. I’ve stopped using anything else on my face, because this keeps it sufficiently moisturized and very soft, even in this cold. Thank you for this wonderful recipe !
Yay! I’m so glad 😀 This serum is definitely my all time favourite, too—my skin has never been better!
I FINALLY found myself some good quality Evening primrose oil and made this serum with grapeseed and rosehip. Oh goodness… what a wonderful gem this is! I am in love with this oil. Since adding it my skin has been more clear, toned, even, and so soft! =) Thanks Marie!
Whoohoo! I’m so glad you’re loving it 😀 I am thoroughly addicted.
What brand did you buy and where did you buy it?
I bought some evening primrose in the hopes that it would work as well for me as it did for you and… it has a scent I did not expect. It actually smells like… a chicken dinner.
Do I have a weird batch of EPO or is this actually how it smells? 🙂
Emily,
It’s quite chararistic of evening primrose to smell a bit fishy or chicken dinner like… It’s likely how it actually is supposed to smell! I wouldn’t use it alone, or you could add a couple drops of lavender to an ounce of it. I use mine about half and half with Grapeseed in a 1oz bottle and add some lavender, Roman chamomile, and Heilicrysum to it at no more than 2 drops each and I can’t smell the EPO at all. I have also tried just a couple drops of lavender to it and I wasn’t able to detect the less than desirable scent. I hope this helps!
Thanks, Ashlynn! Perhaps my vegetarian nose just doesn’t recognize meat smells in things anymore haha.
I am definitely going to have to try to add lavender or something to it. I love it, but it definitely smells like chicken dinner haha!
Mine doesn’t smell like chicken (erk), but it does definitely smell quite oily. It’s not a wholly lovely smelling oil, hence the dilution with argan haha. You could also add some EOs to further improve the scent 😉
Has anyone tried adding a natural SPF to this? I love this as a moisturizer, but I put another moisturizer over it during the day for the SPF properties of the other moisturizer.
SPF isn’t something you should try to DIY, unfortunately—read this for more info 🙂
I thought EPO was an essential, it appears to be a carrier oil? Is this correct? You’re mixing EPO with Argan oil? So simple!!
EPO is a carrier oil, pressed from the seeds of the evening primrose flower 🙂
I currently use Rosehip Seed Oil (3-4 drops morning and night), would that have a similar effect?
Thanks!
A similar effect to EPO? Not at all—their fatty acid makeups are completely different. That’s not necessarily good or bad, it’s just that they are completely different oils (rosehip oil is quite rich in linoleic acid, but contains no gamma linoleic acid).
Thanks for clarifying Marie. I read that EPO leaves an oily feel on skin. If that’s the case, maybe I’ll skip this recipe? I’m sure this is carried in a store locally, I’ll test some of it to see what it feels like.
That’s why I blended it with argan oil—to lighten it up 🙂 I don’t find this combo to be oily/greasy feeling, especially if I’m only using three or four drops. The blend also helps with the EPO smell, which is fairly oily (it might be more oily smelling than feeling haha).
Hi, I have always struggled with acne (now I’m 25 and I think it’s mostly hormonal), and I recently started DIYing for all of my face care needs. I use a diluted castille soap/honey face wash, a witch hazel and rose water toner, and some sort of oil afterwards to moisturize and (hopefully) treat acne. I started with jojoba as the base (+ tamanu, tea tree, lavender, etc, etc), but I am thinking of switching to argan oil because I heard it’s less comodogenic.
ANYWAY, my question is, is there a danger of putting too much stuff into a face oil? I still haven’t found something that really works for me, so I have a tendency to want to put in everything that I hear is good for acne (tea tree oil, neem oil, tamanu, lavender, frankincence, peppermint, lemon …). Could this be making my skin worse? Should I try to cut back on what I’m putting in? Or is there no harm in adding in these different essential oils.
I’d love to get your advice! I recently found your blog and I love how knowledgeable you seem and I love that you are always linking to scientific studies with evidence for these things. I am a scientist, so I love data, but I also am getting desperate about my skin so I’ve start turning to the internet, where it’s a bit harder to find solutions backed by science and not just anecdotes (no research funding, I assume).
Thanks!!V
Hey Victoria! Welcome to the wonderful world of DIY skincare 😀 I totally get where you’re coming from with the face oil thing; when I first started getting into this I had this wonderful cupboard full of new ingredients with magical properties and I wanted to try everything all at once. This resulted in some gigantic batches (“a little bit of this” x 10 = a lot!) of some very questionable products that ended up being really unimpressive/borderline wastes of ingredients.
What I would recommend is changing one thing at a time and going with that for a few weeks to see if it helps before changing anything else. I know that goes completely against what you want to do right now, but you’re making it impossible to figure out what is actually working for you (if anything). Is it ingredient A? Ingredient A + C? Ingredient D, but B is making your skin so much worse that you can’t tell that ingredient D would be helpful if you were using it on its own? Hopefully you can see where I’m coming from 🙂
Honestly, I would just try this serum straight up. This one is AMAZING (and there’s scientific studies to back up the GLA!). My skin improved so much that it’s flat out astonishing. Seriously. Try this one for 4 weeks or so and see what you think.
As a fellow scientist (more an experimental one than anything, so DIY is like a candy store for me) I completely agree. I have inflammation-induced acne alongside the hormonal stuff. I’ve found that sea buckthorn (but again, not much evidence to back it up) really helps keep the inflammation at bay for me personally, and I love a Argan. In fact, I’m not using any EOs until I find out what base/carrier oils I like the most. Currently, I’m using a blend of Argan, primrose, rosehip, and a touch of pomegranate and sea buckthorn. I’m expecting this formula will change with the seasons and as I find out how I like this blend more over time. I agree with Marie, test it out step by step. Perhaps try removing the EOs for right now until you find a good baseline for your face oils — if for no other reason than to not waste EOs on products you end up not liking.
Anyways, good luck on the path to happier skin!
I have been using EPO with Rosehip oil, it does cut out the greasiness but not the smell. 🙂 Thinking of adding Ylang Ylang to assist with that.
Good call! I love being able to add whatever essential oils I’m currently obsessing over to my daily serums 😀
I must admit I’m confused about serums. Are they meant to replace moisturizers for the face? I’ve been looking for a face moisturizer that is lighter than the pure oils I’ve been using. Do you have a suggestion from your collection, or is that what serums are about?
Love your site. Finally got a big order in of DIY supplies and oils (was like Christmas in my house unwrapping all those EO bottles!) and now I can make your cardamom rose hand lotion. So excited!
Hey Kathy! I use serums instead of moisturizers—well, as a moisturizer. They do such a great job that I don’t need to follow up with a lotion afterwards 🙂 If you’re looking for a lighter all-oil serum/moisturizer, this one is great, but the other half of keeping it light is applying fairly little—3 or 4 drops should be more than enough! If you apply too much of anything it’ll be heavy, but it’s harder with lotions because they are usually at least 70% water 🙂 I like to apply a couple drops of oil when my skin is still damp from washing as the bit of water on my skin makes it easy to spread out those few drops of oil into a very thin film for faster absorption.
Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me! Enjoy that new lotion 🙂
After reading your raving reviews of Argan oil (and sadly having never tried it before myself) and seeing how and what you paired it with for face oils, I decided to try for myself. So I made a nice mix of Argan, primrose, Rosehip, sea buckthorn, and pomegranate. I washed my face and put it on 2 hours ago and I can’t stop touching my face. I’m already loving the way my skin feels! Once I finish this mix (which will be in time for winter) I’ll probably mix up a heavier version but right now I’m in love with it and it’s only $5 an ounce! (As opposed to Badger co. $15 an ounce) Drooooooling! Thanks for all of your DIY brilliance and inspiration!
Woohoo! Welcome to the argan oil fan club 😉
Just made a variation of this of Argan, Primrose and Rosehip and it’s AMAZING. It’s 2:1:1 ratio and it’s infinitely better than the mix I made of primrose, Argan, sea buckthorn, pomegranate, and rosehip (and much easier and simpler!). Something about the simplicity of having 3 or less oils behaves a lot better for my face than something with more than 3 oils — even when they’re all great oils! One this is for sure, I’m LOVING Argan oil (I just wish rosehip was a little bit cheaper!)
Woohoo! Argan oil FTW 😀 Prepare for a life-long love affair 😉
I’ve been using this serum for a couple of weeks now and I love it! It does soak in quite well and a little goes a long way. I don’t have many skin problems (except the occasional hormonal pimple), I know, I’m blessed. But I always use moisturizer day and night and find this one is a good balance. I’m going to be giving out some of this for Christmas so I hope all the ladies in my life love this as much as I do!
Now if only you had a recipe for those annoying bumps I have on the back of my arms – my friend was just complaining about it to me today and showed me this recipe (http://www.justnaturalskincare.com/9/acne/rough-bumpy-smoothing-skin-lotion.html?pp=0) and I think you could totally remake it!
Thanks Marie!
Hey Margaret! Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me 🙂 I’m so glad you’re enjoying this serum! It is still one of my favourites and I use it nearly every day.
I’ve gotta say… that recipe you shared is scary. The first ingredient is water (well, mostly water, with a bit of aloe vera) and yet it contains NO preservatives at all. I can’t believe they are selling that! By the time it arrived in the mail it would be a hot bed of bacterial and microbial growth (especially because aloe is super delicious bacteria food!). Agggghhhh. Other than that… it honestly doesn’t look that special. It’s basically just lotion. From reading the reviews it sounds like a lot of the success is just from people regularly hydrating the area, so you might try something like this, and apply it diligently, and see what happens 🙂
Hi, I’m new to using oils for cleansing my face. I recently tried Kiehl’s Cleansing oil but its a tad expensive for long term usage. What would you recommend for make up removal? Would this work? Kiehl’s ingredient list states evening primrose oil, squalane oil and a blend of other oils. Can argan oil itself work to remove make up?
Hey Melissa! You COULD use this for facial cleansing, just like you could use damask silk for dish rags… but it would be needlessly posh. This is designed to be a luxury facial serum, not something you effectively just pour down the drain, and the price of the ingredients reflect that. This would actually make a pretty darn good facial cleansing oil. All you really need is any kind of lipid based oil (any carrier oil or butter—not essential oils) and an emulsifier—the oil picks up the oils and grit on your skin, and the emulsifier helps it rinse off. There is no need to choose oils as expensive as the ones here or the ones you mentioned! Save those for leave-on applications 🙂
Hi Marie, I know this is an older post but I have saved so many of yours for future reading 🙂 I like the two oils you use here and wonder your thoughts on adding a little Vitamin B3. Also, waiting on my first order from Voyageur – thanks for the referral!
Hey Michelle! Vitamin B3 is water soluble, so it’s a no-go in anhydrous serums. It’s a nice idea in theory, but would just be gritty and unpleasant in reality 🙂
Hi Marie, thank you for your wonderful blog and for being so generous in sharing all your recipes and ideas!
A little question about potential evening primrose oil substitutes – how about grape seed oil – its nearly as high in terms of Omega 6 and even higher in Omega 9 & 7, and it’s a lot lighter on the purse… What do you think? Also Hemp seed oil is high in Omega 6…
Many thanks
Dany
Hey! The component we want—gamma linoleic acid—is not present in high amounts in grapeseed oil (the sources I was able to find list it as extremely low, if any). So, no—it is not a good alternative. Gamma linoleic acid is an omega 6, but remember that there is more than one omega 6 and they are not all the same 🙂
I want to make a little roller bottle of this to keep in my bag for those moments I am out and about and experience flakiness. Is this oil blend too thick for a stainless roller bottle?
That should work well! If I were you I’d also carry around a mister bottle with a bit of water (or even hydrosol!) to mist my face with before topping off with a bit of oil—that way you get some water and some oil 🙂 Happy making!
This has become a favorite of mine together with your book’s bentonite mask when my skin breakouts. I absolutely love them.
Hooray! ❤️