What is Oatmeal Moisturiser? 5 Colloidal Oatmeal Benefits for Skin
If you have dry, sensitive, compromised, or allergy-prone skin, you’ll know the challenges of trying to find skincare products that comfort and protect, while supporting the all-important skin moisture barrier.
Well, we might just have your latest skincare saviour: a colloidal oatmeal moisturiser.
More specifically? The Ultra Facial Meltdown Recovery Cream – a lightweight, medicated oatmeal face cream that targets visible signs of stressed skin.
Admittedly, colloidal oatmeal doesn’t invoke the same level of recognition as other famed skincare ingredients – and oatmeal is something you’d associate more with breakfast than barrier recovery. That’s why it’s time to shine a light on this high-performing, yet under-utilised, moisturising agent.
So read on – below, we’re unveiling five colloidal oatmeal skin benefits and how you can incorporate an oatmeal moisturiser into your reparative skincare routine.
What is colloidal oatmeal?
Colloidal oatmeal is made by finely grinding and boiling oat kernels. This process extracts its beneficial compounds and transforms the oats into an ultra-fine, water-soluble powder that can be easily absorbed into the skin. Kiehl’s colloidal oatmeal, for example, is milled down to 33 microns to help release six efficacious skin-comforting compounds: avenanthramides, beta glucan, proteins, oat lipids, vitamin E, and polysaccharides.
In skincare parlance, colloidal oatmeal is classified as an emollient, which allows it to keep the skin moisturised for longer.
What is an oatmeal moisturiser?
Like the name suggests, an oatmeal moisturiser is formulated with colloidal oatmeal. An oat-based moisturiser is highly effective in hydrating, comforting, and protecting dry, sensitive, or compromised skin. The lightweight nature of colloidal oatmeal allows it to form a flexible – yet effective – protective film over the skin that doesn’t feel sticky or greasy like other emollients can.
Colloidal oatmeal skin benefits
Colloidal oatmeal skincare effectively forms a protective film over the skin while simultaneously supporting moisture retention in the epidermis – which has several knock-on benefits for the skin.
Read on to find out how colloidal oatmeal helps boost skin hydration, nourish the skin moisture barrier, and comfort stressed, sensitive, or compromised skin.
1. Supports the skin moisture barrier
Your skin moisture barrier plays an essential role in keeping your skin well-lubricated and protecting deeper, more vulnerable layers of the skin from external aggressors.
However, there are many factors that can impact your skin’s ability to retain moisture – anything from extreme weather, over-exfoliating, harsh skincare products, stress, and UV exposure. Since it functions as an emollient, colloidal oatmeal skincare helps bind water to your skin moisture barrier and mimic your skin’s natural lipids.
2. Comforts sensitive and allergy-prone skin
One of the best-known colloidal oatmeal skin benefits is its ability to nurture sensitive and allergy-prone skin. Colloidal oatmeal imparts nourishing compounds (including avenanthramides and beta glucan) to skin – helping to alleviate stinging or tingling sensations, while promoting soft, resilient, hydrated skin.
Using a colloidal moisturiser also creates a protective barrier over the skin that helps prevent transepidermal water loss (TEWL) while keeping out allergens and aggressors that can exacerbate feelings of sensitivity.
3. Safe for compromised skin and post-procedure skin
Compromised skin is a skin concern characterised by a damaged skin moisture barrier. Post-procedure skin, on the other hand, refers to the delicate, often sensitive, nature of skin after laser resurfacing, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, or other skin treatments.
The throughline of these skin concerns is the need for gentle, caring ingredients that hydrate and reinforce the skin moisture barrier – and colloidal oatmeal is an ideal fit. A colloidal moisturiser like Ultra Facial Meltdown Recovery Cream is designed to provide relief to vulnerable skin and promote recovery while keeping hydration levels in check.
4. Hydrates dry skin
If you experience recurring dryness, a colloidal oatmeal moisturiser might be the permanent fixture your dry skincare routine needs.
Colloidal oatmeal can naturally hold high amounts of water, so it can impart lasting moisture to parched skin. And, as we touched on earlier, it also prevents transepidermal water loss in the skin, which ensures your complexion stays hydrated, plump, and supple.
5. Helps diminish facial redness
Facial redness can be temporary or ongoing. In many cases, skin redness can be attributed to having naturally sensitive skin, but it can also be the result of exposure to skin stressors – the kind that upset the skin moisture barrier.
We already know about oatmeal skincare’s prowess when it comes to reducing skin discomfort, but it also targets the visible effects of discomfort too – namely, facial redness. Our oatmeal moisturiser, the Ultra Facial Meltdown Recovery Cream, is formulated to reduce visible redness in the skin by up to 71%*, so you can enjoy clearer, more even skin tone.
<small>**cosmeto-clinical study. 65 subjects, after 4 weeks of twice daily usage.</small>
Colloidal oatmeal skin benefits
Colloidal oatmeal skincare effectively forms a protective film over the skin while simultaneously supporting moisture retention in the epidermis – which has several knock-on benefits for the skin.
Read on to find out how colloidal oatmeal helps boost skin hydration, nourish the skin moisture barrier, and comfort stressed, sensitive, or compromised skin.
1. Supports the skin moisture barrier
Your skin moisture barrier plays an essential role in keeping your skin well-lubricated and protecting deeper, more vulnerable layers of the skin from external aggressors.
However, there are many factors that can impact your skin’s ability to retain moisture – anything from extreme weather, over-exfoliating, harsh skincare products, stress, and UV exposure. Since it functions as an emollient, colloidal oatmeal skincare helps bind water to your skin moisture barrier and mimic your skin’s natural lipids.
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2. Tone
Bridging your cleansing and moisturising steps, the Ultra Facial Toner is a gentle, alcohol-free toner ideal for dry, sensitive skin types: removing residual surface debris from the skin, while delivering a hydrating blend of squalane, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil, and vitamin E.
3. Moisturise
And finally, the hero of this routine – your oatmeal moisturiser.
After cleansing and toning, smooth the Ultra Facial Meltdown Recovery Cream onto your skin, massaging into the forehead, cheeks, and chin. Formulated with colloidal oatmeal and α-bisabolol, this lightweight moisturiser comforts skin almost instantly**, diminishes visible redness, and fortifies the skin moisture barrier.
If you’re following your morning skincare routine, be sure to apply SPF after your moisturiser.
**consumers self-assessment, 65 subjects, 5 seconds after application.
Colloidal oatmeal skincare is renowned for its skin-comforting abilities – but it’s not the only powerhouse in Kiehl’s apothecary of natural ingredients for sensitive skin. Next, explore the benefits and uses of calendula for skin.
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Ultra Facial Cleanser
A foaming facial cleanser suitable for all skin types, including dry and sensitive. Gently removes excess oil, dirt and debris without drying or stripping the skin.
Ultra Facial Toner
A gentle, alcohol-free facial toner for all skin types.
Midnight Recovery Concentrate Face Oil
A nighttime anti-ageing face oil that visibly restores skin while you sleep.
Ultra Facial Cream with Squalane
Our #1 squalane moisturiser delivers ultra-lightweight, 24-hour hydration and promotes barrier repair for softer, healthier skin.
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