Find the Perfect Summer Serum – with Decléor

Why swapping your heavy winter moisturiser for a lightweight summer serum could improve your skin this season.The arrival of summer calls for some big changes, switching out our winter wardrobe for those lighter options, embracing our natural hair to avoid the extra heat damage and opting for a more minimal approach to makeup, it’s just going to melt off anyway, right? But do we give the same consideration to our skincare?The winter is harsh on our skin, and it calls for rich, heavy moisturisers to protect against the elements, like a nice thick jumper for your face. It is important during those summer months that your skin is able to breathe. Our skin is naturally able to hydrate itself better during the warmer months, meaning that thick coverage from moisturisers can clog up your pores and leaving your skin looking and feeling oily.Essential Oil Serums are the perfect alternative to your winter moisturiser; they are lightweight and easily absorbed into the skin, leaving you feeling fresh and glowing even during hot and humid weather. The uplifting essential oils have more than a skin-deep effect and can help ease stress and restore emotional balance, with the added benefit of being the perfect base for applying your sun cream without multi-product buildup. We caught up with Decléor to discover the science behind each Essential Oil serum and what makes them the perfect summer skin saviour for every skin type.Decléor Skincare Specialist Fiona Brackenbury knows a thing or two about Essential Oils. Having worked in the industry for over 25 years, she is a fountain of knowledge on all things skin! Here she shares with us the lowdown on the best Essential Oils, and which ones to try for your skin type.“Essential Oils are one of the most powerful parts of the plant and can be extracted from the roots, blossoms, leaves and fruits of plants. Mostly famously documented the Egyptians used Essential Oils in the mummification process to preserve the organs. Each has 150 active molecules and is a potent power-packed ingredient."Essential Oils have the same molecular structure as our blood and lymph. Therefore the body recognises them and can absorb them into the skin to the deepest layer – the dermis. They are one of the quickest ingredients to be absorbed into the skin. Essential Oils are effective in addressing skin, body and mind disorders thanks to their rebalancing properties. Impermeable to water but permeable to gases and oils, the epidermis can easily absorb Essential Oils through the hair follicles and sweat glands to allow them to penetrate deep down. The rapid absorption of these oils allows us to turbo boost the effectiveness of other products by acting like a magnet and drawing them deeper in the skin to the dermis. This gives us magnified results and is why they are at the heart of every Decléor product.Essential Oils can enter the body through application to the skin or inhalation.It takes 4 seconds from inhalation for Essential Oils to stimulate the highly sensitive cells at the back of our nostrils and send signals directly to the brain. These signals alert our limbic system which is directly connected to the parts of the brain that controls our memory, stress levels, hormonal and emotional balance. The limbic system in the brain is responsible for controlling all the physical, physiological and emotional responses that the body performs based on stimulus from the outside. This makes Essential Oils a powerful tool in treating our emotional state and can change and recharge your life. Next time you apply one of the Aromessence oil serums, take a deep breath and inhale before applying it to the skin.So you’ve heard all the benefits – now let’s take a look at which ones are right for you.BEST ESSENTIAL OIL FOR MY SKIN TYPEFOR DEHYDRATED SKIN:Neroli Essential Oil is at the heart of many Decléór products. Known for its benefits to increase hydration levels and improve the complexion of the skin it also leaves skin glowing. Neroli is ideal for those who have a dehydrated skin type or find that skin is lacking luster and looking dull. Neroli Essential Oil is obtained from fresh flower buds of the bitter orange tree, cultivated in Tunisia. The fresh flower buds are harvested in late April/early May. Harvesting is delicate due to the risk of frosts before and during the harvest. 1 ton of flowers yields 500g of Neroli Essential Oil. Its composition comprises 120 molecules.FOR SKIN THAT’S LACKING FIRMNESS, WITH SLACKENED SKIN OR WRINKLES:Lavender Essential Oil has 3 main benefits on the skin. Lavender Essential Oil is beneficial to target lines and wrinkles and loss of collagen and is suitable for a mature skin type with a skin age of 40+. It reduces glycation ageing (sugar damage build-up), it increases the quality of the elastin fibers and has a boost on cell proliferation. Lavender Essential Oil takes 6 years to create; 3 years to grow the root of Iris and 3 years to dry the root before distillation.FOR SENSITIVE, FRAGILE, REACTIVE SKIN:Essential Oil of Damascena Rose is the queen of roses and comes from Turkey. It is a large pink potent flower and it is proven to strengthen the skin's protective barrier. This makes it the ideal ingredient to use if your skin is suffering from sensitivity (through hormones, pregnancy, stress or hereditary causes) or if you notice that your skin type needs calming and soothing due to adult acne or rosacea. Damascena Rose helps to relieve sensitivity,  soothe and calm the skin and reduce redness and inflammation whilst building the skin’s tolerance.OILY AND COMBINATION SKIN PRONE TO BREAKOUTS:YlangYlang Essential Oil comes from Malaysia and is clinically proven to help reduce our own oil flow by 20%, limiting surface oiliness and shine. It is 1.5x more effective than salicylic acid to help refine the skin’s texture. YlangYlang Essential Oil is suitable for people suffering from breakouts and acne as it has antibacterial and antiseptic properties to deeply cleanse the skin. Essential Oils are a great treatment for oily skin as oil attracts oil (fight fire with fire).FIRST SIGNS OF AGEING (EXPRESSION LINES, DEHYDRATION):Green Mandarin Essential Oil has a triple-action performance on stimulating the youthfulness of the skin. Green Mandarin Essential Oil helps the skin to repair from damage and protect and repair the skin cells whilst hydrating. It can alter the way that the skin behaves and helps to prevent wrinkles from appearing whilst correcting the appearance of those that have.FOR MATURE SKINS (LOSS OF CONTOUR, LOSS OF DENSITY, LOSS OF COLOUR AND DEFINITION):Magnolia Essential Oil is clinically proven to stimulate your body’s production of collagen and fibrillin (responsible for giving the skin elasticity) and also helps to increase the decorin in the skin. Magnolia Essential Oil acts as a support mattress for more mature skin by helping to hold everything up. Magnolia Essential Oil helps to reshape, re-cushion and re-densify the skin.FOR ANTI-POLLUTION:

Antidote Daily Advanced Concentrate, Hyaluronic Acid Serum strengthens the skin's barrier and protects it from daily aggression's, such as pollution. The Antidote Serum leaves the skin soft and comfortable, immediately after application and all day long. This patented formula combines a powerful blend of Peppermint, Sandalwood and Patchouli Hydrating Essential Oils and Natural Origin, Low Molecular Weight Hyaluronic Acid. Antidote Daily Advanced Concentrate Water-Based Serum is suitable for all skin types: dry skin, uneven skin, oily skin and sensitive skin.

Inspired to make a skincare switch from moisturiser to serum this Summer?  Discover the full Decléor range.