Jojoba and squalane: why they belong in a softening step

Started retinol and now your skin feels tight, rough or flaky? That is the adjustment weeks. Retinoids speed up how fast skin renews its outer layer, and while that layer is being rebuilt faster than usual, many people's skin loses water more easily.

Moisturizer adds water. What helps keep it there, while your skin does its thing, is lipids on top. Soft Landing is two of them: jojoba & squalane. Here is why those two.

The wall and the mortar

Picture the outer layer of your skin as a brick wall. Skin cells are the bricks. Lipids, your skin's own fats and oils, are the mortar that holds water in. When the wall is being rebuilt quickly, the mortar has more work to do, and a little extra on the surface helps.

Jojoba: a wax, not an ordinary oil

Jojoba is called an oil, but it is mostly liquid wax esters, which sets it apart from most plant oils. Wax esters are one of the kinds of lipid your skin's own oil contains. On the skin, jojoba softens the surface and sits light.

Squalane: the stable form of something your skin makes

Your skin's oil also contains squalene. Squalane is its stable form, made by hydrogenating squalene so it keeps well in a bottle. On the skin, it smooths.

Why both in one bottle

They are two different lipids doing two slightly different things: jojoba softens, squalane smooths. Soft Landing gives you both in a few drops, so you do not buy two oils and mix them yourself.

How to use it through the retinol weeks

After cleansing and your usual steps, press a few drops onto your face and neck, last. On the evenings you use retinol, keep your retinoid's own directions, then let the oil go on top as the final step. It is a separate, cosmetic step for dry-feeling skin, and it is most useful during the flaky weeks, not after them.

Sources: CIR assessment of jojoba-derived ingredients; CIR assessment of squalene and squalane; moisturizer ingredient roles.