Oil Cleansing

I don’t consider myself an ‘all-natural’ type of girl at all- I believe the term is “crunchy.”  It’s just not me.  I shop at a regular supermarket, I use disposable diapers, and I’ve never made my own butter!

However, several months ago, I came across this thing called the “Oil Cleansing Method.”  We’re talking about cleaning your face with oil!  When I first read about it, I thought, “Well, how nice for you, weirdo, but there ain’t no way.”

I have a love/hate relationship with my skin- I hate it because I’ve been plagued with some sort of malady since I was a teen.  I had some serious acne back then, and I still get breakouts today.  However, my ‘grown-up’ skin is incredibly dry, tight, and flaky, until about 3 in the afternoon when the oil kicks in. 

On the other hand, I love my skin because it keeps my insides in where they belong :)

I’ve tried many different products, some better than others, nothing overly expensive because, well, I have a family of eight, and they like to eat.  In the end, none of these solved the problem, but some helped a bit to mask it.

Well, I kept coming across this oil cleansing stuff, and I began to consider it.  I finally bought the stuff a couple weeks ago, but it sat on my counter for those couple weeks because I was too nervous to actually put oil on my face!

Here’s the basic idea:  despite what we’ve been told, oil is not the enemy.  Oil dissolves oil.  There are really only two products to use.

Castor Oil:  This is your ‘cleansing oil.’  It draws away the dirt and oil from your pores.

EVOO:  This is your ‘moisturizing oil.’  In fact, there are many oils you could use for this purpose- Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Sunflower Seed Oil seem to be the most common.  Since I don’t have any health food stores near me (where you would be able to find these other oils), I stuck with EVOO.

BTW (Mom, that means By The Way), this method supposedly works great for all types of skin and is a miracle worker for acne-prone skin.  But, don’t hold me to that claim!

Here are some sites with more info (because I don’t feel like typing it all out!):

http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/OIL-CLEANSING-METHOD-Hi-t141871.html

http://simplemom.net/oil-cleansing-method/

I finally did it last night!  The results?

My skin still felt a little dry- but not nearly as much as usual, and it wasn’t flaky.  I did not use any moisturizer afterward, although you could use a bit of your oil mixture as a moisturizer (I’m still too paranoid to actually leave oil on my face).  I also think I overdid my efforts to wipe my face clean- again, the paranoia!

Despite the slight dryness (which I think I caused), my skin felt soo smooth.  But the real test for me came this morning.  When I took my shower, I just wiped my face with a washcloth.  Normally when I get out of the shower, my face would be a dry, flaky mess, and I would slather on moisturizer in an effort to hide it- but today…nothing.  I don’t feel dry, I don’t feel oily.  Just smooth.

I like it.

Maybe I’m becoming slightly crunchy.  If these results continue (I’ll keep you all updated), I may even try skipping my shampoo! 

Maybe.