Collection: Oil Bases

Base oils — also called carrier oils — are pure plant oils pressed directly from a seed, nut or fruit, with nothing blended into them. They work as the nourishing foundation of a routine: they soften the skin's surface, help reduce water loss, and carry more concentrated actives deeper when layered together. Because they are single-ingredient, they are among the simplest and most transparent products you can put on your face.

A base oil is one pure ingredient. A serum is a formulation — several actives, a delivery system and a texture designed for one specific result. Base oils are the nourishing layer that keeps the barrier comfortable; serums are the corrective layer that targets a concern such as dark spots or fine lines. Most skins do best with both, and in that order: serum first, oil to seal.

It depends on your skin type and its current tendency — dehydration, oxidation or oiliness. As a starting point: jojoba is the closest match to skin's own sebum and suits oily and combination skin; argan is rich and restoring for dry, mature or depleted skin; rosehip is the choice for uneven tone, marks and pigmentation. If you're unsure, our Skin Test takes two minutes and recommends a routine built around your skin, not around a bestseller.

Yes — and it's often the skin type that benefits most. Oily skin is frequently oily because its barrier is compromised and over-producing to compensate. A light, well-chosen oil such as jojoba can help settle that cycle rather than feed it. Use two or three drops at night on slightly damp skin, and give it two weeks before you judge it.

Apply it as the last step of your routine, on slightly damp skin, so it seals in everything underneath. Warm three to five drops between your palms, press — don't rub — into the face and neck, and take a few seconds to massage. Base oils can also be used as a facial massage medium, as a body or hair treatment, or blended with a few drops of essential oil for your own ritual.

Pure, single-ingredient oils are among the gentlest things you can use on reactive skin, because there is so little in them to react to. Every DOS formula is made in our own lab, tested for microbiological safety before it leaves us, and made without parabens, sulfates, PEGs or alcohol. Our fragrances are natural, and every ingredient is published in full on the product page. If your skin is very reactive, patch test on the inner arm for 24 hours first — as you would with anything new.

We are the manufacturer. DOS is a family business with its own lab and its own research, so each oil is sourced, pressed and bottled to our standard in small batches — not bought in and relabelled. Our founder Chrysanthi built this brand out of her own reactive, barrier-compromised skin, after years of finding nothing on the market that was both honest and effective. That is why every ingredient list is published, and why our oils stay pure rather than diluted.