Using oil to clean your face sound like an oxymoron to you?
Just like a lot of other people, I thought that putting oil on your face will make your face oily.
So I was very hesitant to try oil cleansing. In my younger days I put baby oil on my face to get my face tan. I know, how dumb was that? Especially now that I’m older and I’m doing everything I can to avoid skin damage and minimize wrinkles.
Baby oil is definitely not an oil you should use to oil cleanse your face.
My number one mistake was trying to tan my face. Mistake number two was putting mineral oil on my skin, pop, pop, pop. That’s the sound of pimples and blackheads coming to join the sunshine party.
PROVEN STRATEGIES FOR GAINING MORE ENERGY THROUGHOUT THE DAY
Fast forward and I was willing to give it a try and learn how to oil cleanse my face.
I’ve learned that some natural oils cleanse and balance the skin with the natural oils already in and on your face. This revelation is almost as perspective changing as finding out that eating fat doesn’t create fat. Whaaaaaat?
Given this information and I was ready to learn how to oil cleanse and am very happy with the results.
HOW DOES OIL CLEANSING WORK?
The basic premise of using oil to cleanse is that oil dissolves oil.
I can attest to this from a totally different perspective of fuel spills on asphalt. Asphalt is made of petroleum oil so it deteriorates when diesel oil is spilled on it.
Your face produces oil called sebum from sebaceous glands. One of the reasons it does this is to protect your skin, but this is also the same oil that can clog your pores.
When you add the right type(s) of oil to cleanse your face it dissolves the hardened oil. It then gets dissolved with the impurities on your face that are stuck in your pores. The sebum is then replaced with clean nourishing oil.
This is so much better than regular soap that can strip away your natural facial oil.
PROVEN STRATEGIES FOR GAINING MORE ENERGY THROUGHOUT THE DAY
TRADITIONAL SOAPS
Traditional soaps including cleansers are corrosive (alkaline) which ends up stripping your skin of sebum. Your skin then over compensates by producing more oil. This results in clogged pores, acne and irritation.
RECOMMENDED CLEANSING OILS
There are a lot of cleansing oil blends that you can purchase, but I recommend making your own using ingredients that you may already have in your kitchen. This not only enables you to save money, but it lets you experiment and make the perfect blend for your skin.
I recommend using only organic cleansing oils including organic unrefined (virgin, cold pressed or raw) such as coconut oil. This is because it contains all the naturally occurring plant nutrients (phytonutrients) and micronutrients which help plants protect them from danger (polyphenols).
PROVEN STRATEGIES FOR GAINING MORE ENERGY THROUGHOUT THE DAY
Hazelnut Oil
- Natural astringent that pulls out impurities and cleans
- Rich in Vitamin E which helps you look younger
- Packed with antioxidants that combat free radicals
- Contains flavonoids along with antioxidants that stimulate skin cell regeneration
Olive Oil
- Nourishing
- Rich in Vitamin E which is an antioxidant that helps restore skins smoothness (anti-aging) and protects against damaging UV
- Contains Polyphenols that are antioxidants
- Contains Phytosterols-skin saving nutrients that protects the skin from premature aging
- Hydroxytyrosol prevents free radical damage to the skin
- Contains Oleic acid, a skin saving nutrient that protects the skin from premature aging
- Doesn’t clog pores which makes it great for an oil cleanse
Coconut Oil
- Anti-microbial
- Full of antioxidants
- Super moisturizing
- Shown to work for all skin types
- May improve collagen production and reduce fine lines and wrinkles
- Perfect for oily prone skin because because it won’t clog pores
Avocado Oil
- Good for sensitive skin types
- Nourishing
- Rich in essential fatty acids that lubricate and protect your skin
NOT RECOMMENDED
Castor Oil
I don’t recommend using Castor oil, not because of the end product that the consumer purchases. But because of a byproduct in harvesting castor seed meal called Ricin.
Ricin has been used in the past for chemical warfare (I know that’s a bit “heavy” for a post of this type) because of its toxic and allergenic compounds. It can cause permanent nerve damage to the workers harvesting it if they’re not using the proper personal protective equipment (PPE). It’s been documented that PPE is not always provided in some countries.
If you decide to purchase Castor Oil, do a little research on the company’s harvesting process that you’re purchasing it from.
Essential Oils
Essential oils can be highly concentrated and can result is chemical burns, rashes and other adverse effects.
If you do choose to use them make sure you do your “homework” first.
CLEANSING OIL RECIPES
You’ll have to test out different blends to see what works best for you.
Here are some oil cleansing combinations to try:
- 25% Hazelnut Oil (astringent), 75% Avocado Oil
- 30% Hazelnut Oil (astringent), 70% Sunflower Oil
- 25% Hazelnut Oil (astringent), 75% Avocado Oil
- 50% Coconut Oil and 50% Olive Oil
- 30% Hazelnut Oil (astringent), 70% Sunflower Oil
They’re many different oils that you can use, but hazelnut, olive, coconut, sunflower and avocado oils are the ones that I recommend for older skin (I’m not a big fan of the term aging skin).
You can also mix and match or try your own. I highly recommend playing mad scientist in your kitchen and come up with your perfect blend.
READY, SET, WASH
How to Oil Cleanse:
- Pour a quarter size amount into your hand and massage into your dry (no need to wash makeup off first because the oil will remove it). Use a smooth circular motion to gently massage your face for 1-2 minutes until it’s saturated into skin. Some people leave it on for up to 10 minutes (for the first time I recommend the 1-2 minutes
- Place a clean hot washcloth (wet and wring out) over your entire face, the steam opens your pores and removes the oils and impurities.
- Leave it on until it cools. Repeat if needed and then with the corners of the washcloth gently remove any remaining oil. A thin layer of oil will remain on your face, but this is a great thing!
You can use the same blend on your damp skin to add additional lubrication to keep your skin from overcompensating oil production.
Some people don’t even use moisturizer after their skin adjusts to the new cleaning protocol. But you’ll probably want to use some moisturizer during this adjustment. Make sure your moisturizer doesn’t have any impurities.
AFFORDABLE SKIN CARE THAT HELPS YOU LOOK YOUNGER
So what do you think about oil cleansing now? Hopefully it doesn’t sound like such an enigma now.
Here’s the recap.
We have natural oils in our skin called sebum that is made by the sebaceous glands. Old sebum hardens and traps dirt and other impurities in your pores. Oil dissolves oil so applying nourishing (inside and out) edible oils on your face dissolves the hardened natural oils and lets you remove them with a washcloth.
Not only is this better for your skin than traditional alkaline soap, it uses ingredients that you may already have in your kitchen. These ingredients are significantly cheaper (per oz) than commercial skin care products that make a lot of promises to make your skin look younger and in my experience usually don’t “deliver.”
Who’s ready? I absolutely love the way the 50% Coconut Oil and 50% Olive Oil blend works on my skin. I hope one of the recipes mentioned works for you, and if not I hope that you find your perfect blend.
Please comment below if you have a favorite blend and how the oil cleansing method has worked for you.
