Natural Skin Care: Oil Cleansing Method

With a successful experiment of “no-poo,”  I figure the next place to rid myself of harmful chemicals is logically my face.  I have been feverishly researching various natural skin care methods, all claiming to work the best.  I am not sure there can be a “best” type of skin care, everyones skin is very very different and needs to be managed differently.

Along my journey, I found recipes for homemade cleansers and sugar scrubs, but one method really seemed to jump out at me- oil cleansing.  At first I was skeptic, how can slathering your face with oil REMOVE the oil that is already there?  Reach back in your memory banks to high school chemistry, there is a basic principle that like dissolves like, so the oil you put on your face should in fact dissolve the oil that is in your pores.

There are pages and pages of information on OCM, oil cleansing method.  Feel free to google and get lost for days, because I sure did.  If you don’t want to waste the time, here is a BASIC breakdown of the method, again, everyones skin is different so you might have to experiment with oils and technique to find what works for you.

1. Choose your oil.  I have combination skin and eczema, so I went with a simple sweet almond oil. This brand happens to also mix in some vitamin E.

2. With a dry face, squirt a small amount of oil on your finger tips and massage into your skin for a minute or two, the longer the better.

3. Take a super soft washcloth and run it under the hottest water you can stand.

4. Place the cloth on your face and let it steam your skin until it turns cold, run it back under the water and let the other side of the cloth steam your face.

5. Run it back under the water and gently wipe your face free of the oil.

Thats it! Really!  You will not need a moisturizer because the oil both cleanses and moisturizes at the same time. Your skin should NOT feel oily, it should just feel soft and supple.  If it does feel oily, you might have to wipe it off more.  Also, it removes make up while you cleanse, one quick step, saves you time and money.

Here is my face Day 1 of OCM:

Feels great, very soft and not greasy at all.  Some people report a “greasy period” of 1 or 2 weeks as your skin adjusts to the method.  I will update you on my skin condition and what works for me.

Update: 3 weeks later-

So it has been almost a month and OCM has worked so great on my skin! I never really went thru a transition and have only had 1 blemish which is actually less then normal.  I have found that my face is a bit dry right after the wash, so I just smooth a tiny tiny amount of coconut oil into my fingers and pat gently on the dry areas and problem solved!  I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship hehe

Has anyone tried OCM or is currently using it? Is it working for you?

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