The Oil Cleansing Method

The Oil Cleansing Method.

I know what you’re thinking. “She’s lost it now! She’s gotta be kidding me!” Mostly because I thought the same thing. Guess what? This life is about taking chances and, really now, what’s the worst that could happen? My skin is in trouble and I need to rescue it!

I am not crazy. Let’s get a little technical here. Acne and breakouts are from dirt, grime, bacteria, stress, hormones and dead skin clogging up your pores. Acne is not from oil because, my friend, your body naturally produces oil. The oil that is produced is meant to protect your skin and keep it supple. It is good! Let me guess, you have oily skin so you use a plethora of products shouting “oil-free” and you use harsh astringents that wipe off all the oils your skin worked so hard on producing for you. Well, she’s angry you didn’t like her gift so she’s producing more to compensate. You will like it, dammit.

Maybe you have dry skin. Oil would be your best friend then, but why is your skin so dry? It could be the weather; cooler seasons can dry up and cause the skin to flake. Do you steam in the shower or after the gym? That heat will evaporate your body’s natural oils. When you finish your shower, do you drip dry or towel off? Toweling off sometimes inhibits your body’s chance to really suck in all that moisture from your soaps. Don’t even get me started on the soap… they are not all created equal. Throw away some of that crap you have and invest in a natural soap where you can pronounce the ingredients. I love Nubian Heritage (especially the Black Bar Soap) and Dr. Bronner’s bar soaps. They are full of natural oils (like coconut oil and jojoba oil) and usually have aloe and shea butter varieties. There is a higher chance it will be hypoallergenic too (especially Dr. Bronner’s Baby Mild).

But back to the face…

Again, your skin naturally produces oil. The Oil Cleansing Method (now shortened to OCM for the rest of the post) is designed to let your skin be herself. Oil dissolves oil. Depending on the type of oil (we’ll get to that in a second), it is mimicking your skin’s natural oil. Now your skin thinks you like her gift and she won’t work so hard at shoving it down your throat. Yes, it will take a short time for your skin to balance out. Seriously, took mine about 4 days. It was that fast. There are so many different types of oil you can use, but I will give you a nice little rundown of the few I am familiar with.

Castor Oil (cold-pressed!): This should be your focus oil. It has incredible cleansing properties and is rich in fatty acids. It is a heavier oil so it is best to combine it with a lighter weight oil for your own personal tweaking and getting some additional benefits. Quick sidebar, too much castor oil can dry out your skin… so please combine it!

 Here is how your formula should look:

If you have oily skin: 30% castor oil to 70% secondary oil

If you have dry skin:  10% castor oil and 90% secondary oil

If you have combination skin: 20% castor oil and 80% secondary oil

Now for the secondary oils…

Almond Oil: Very lightweight and is very moisturizing, making it great for dry and itchy skin.

Grapeseed Oil: Very lightweight and easily absorbed into the skin. Has cell-regenerating properties and can help aging or mature skin.

Argan Oil: Rich in vitamin E, makes a great oil for aging skin as it helps with fine lines and wrinkles.

Tamanu Oil: Has amazing regenerative properties making it ideal for acne and scarred or damaged skin.

Vitamin E Oil: Known as the “healing vitamin,” E helps moisturizing and healing the skin.

Coconut Oil: Very moisturizing, great for dry skin.

Sesame Oil: This is rich in antioxidants and will help draw out the toxins, making it great for acne and blackhead prone skin.

Apricot Kernel Oil: A very lightweight oil great for mature, sensitive, inflamed and dry skin.

Rosehip Oil: This one is strong in retinol (vitamin A) and would be great on sun damaged skin

Sea Buckthorn Oil: Rich in Omega 7 fatty acids and serves as an antioxidant. It helps rejuvenate and heal damaged skin.

Avocado Oil: Incredibly rich in nutrients, especially vitamin A and E. Great for sun damaged and mature skin.

Jojoba Oil:  So closely mimics your skin’s sebum that it acts as the perfect moisturizer. It penetrates the skin easily and can help acne prone, mature, or inflamed skin.

Neem Oil: Very moisturizing and can help battle bacteria. This would be a great choice for acne prone, itchy, sensitive skin as well as psoriasis and eczema.

Olive Oil: Protects skin to not lose internal moisture by creating a moisture shield around it. Closely represents human skin so is not likely to have any allergic properties. This would be a very safe bet if you are not sure where on earth to start.

The list seriously goes on… and on and on…

Once you’ve decided on a great combo for your particular skin type, it comes time to start mixing and letting the magic happen. I like to put mine in a small amber tincture bottle to protect it. I personally started with 30% Castor Oil and 70% Grapeseed Oil. I know I could have gone with a more “acne geared” option, but I do have some aging beginning on my skin (due to stress) and I wanted to start taking care of that.

A really cool point of the OCM is that you don’t need to wash your face or previously remove your makeup beforehand. Your new oil mixture will gently remove your makeup for you and cleanse your skin. Yes, it will really cleanse your skin. Stop fighting me on that.  You only need to do the OCM once a day at night, or whenever you are done for the day. It takes a little longer than traditional face washing, but it is totally worth it.

First things first, steam your face a little bit to open up your pores. I like to just let the water run as hot as I can stand it, wet a washcloth with said hot water, and lay the washcloth on my face for a few seconds. Once that is done, put about a quarter sized amount of your oil mixture in the palm of your hand and rub them together to warm up the oil. Start massaging your face. Treat yourself, it’s the end of the day and you deserve to be pampered before bed. I like to go for about a minute or so, and then start rinsing off. Use the warm water still and start to splash off your skin. Then use the wet washcloth to wipe off all the excess oil and grime and makeup. Voila!

There is pretty much no need to moisturize after the OCM; you’ve just moisturized the crap out of your face. Relax and go to bed.

In the morning, there is no need to use any kind of face wash or oil to wake up. Your skin should already be super clean and feeling soft. Splash yourself with some cool water to wake up and get rid of your sleep crusties (oh yeah, I know they’re there) and then I would apply my moisturizer and start my daily routine once that settles in.

You can still call me crazy all you want. I started noticing by day 4 my makeup was going on smoother and by day 5 my discoloration and scarring and acne was definitely not as noticeable.  These pictures are from days 1 through 7 of the OCM. I am going to do another post for days 7 through 14. You should always give your body a chance to acquaint itself with new regimens, typically 1 to 2 weeks to see if it is really going to work for you. Sometimes your skin has to get a little worse before it can get better. I really haven’t noticed anything negative. My skin is more supple and is feeling like it is much, much younger!

Please be kind, I have my insecurities like the rest of you. My day typically ends around 12am or later… so here is my skin in all its glory. No makeup. No brows (ahh!). Just me.

XOXO Kayla Rae

**UPDATE!!!**

I couldn't help noticing that now week 2 is coming to a close, my eyelashes have been rocking it. Fun fact: Castor oil is fantastic for thickening your lashes!!!  Now, isn't the OCM worth a shot?