The Oil Cleansing Method | Week 1 (& a half)

Hi y'all!

Today I wanna chat about The Oil Cleansing Method. 

'Cleansing with oil?!' I hear you say! - Yes cleansing with oil.

About a month back I got my daily/weekly email from MichellePhan.com with a post on oil cleansing. This piqued my interest, so I clicked the link and went and had a READ. 

The How To:

The general gist is using a mixture of 2 oils, the main oil being Castor Oil.

You mix this with your chosen carrier oil and massage in to the skin for a few minutes, allow to sit for 30 seconds to a minute, then run a face cloth under the hot tap, wring and place on your face to cool.

Once cool wipe over the face and repeat another 2-3 times.

Make sure all traces of the now 'dirty' oil has been removed.

I started using this on/off after reading it then stopped. But decided I would give it a proper go a week and a half ago.

My chosen carrier oil was olive oil (not the best to use I'll tell you why).

What I did was mix about 3 teaspoons of castor oil to 6 teaspoons of olive oil and stored in a little tub.

Castor oil, although amazingly fabulous is incredibly drying so you will always want to use less than your carrier oil. I used slightly more castor oil because I have very oily skin.

The castor oil is the main component that draws out the dirt and impurities that have snuggled themselves into your pores. Some people have even said that while they are massaging the oils in they can feel little gritty balls of dirt - I however have not.

So for week 1(& a half) what have I noticed?

Believe it or not but my oil levels have reduced a huge amount. Before I would put on my make up and an hour to 2 hours later my face would become a massive oily mess capable of frying an egg.

But over the last few days my skin's oilyness has reduced to more of a dewy glow.

The down side however is that I have broken out :(

My battle with acne started when I was 11 hitting its peak at 13-17.  

Between 18-21 my acne reduced to a less scary stage - I wouldn't of said I had sever acne at any point but definitely mild - moderate at times.

Now I'm in my mid twenties my acne has reduced to mere pimples and blocked pores/blackheads.

A total win if I may say so.

But these last few days I have had more pimples than normal - nothing grotesque but red, lumpy and visible.

Fresh from the shower with moisturised skin.

Not the worst breakout in the world but the worst I've had in years

And the reason for this break out?

Olive Oil!

I didn't know this but olive oil is a Comedogenic which means it blocks pores.

I found this article that is of great use for those of you who are planning to try out this oil cleansing method.

It lists other oils to use and what skin type each oil is best for. Its defiantly worth a read.

So today I bought some Jojoba oil to use as my carrier oil, which is what KL uses from SecretLifeOfaBioNerd.

 CLICK HERE!

I also bought a face steamer too from Argos for £11.99 to help relax and open my pores and clean more dirt away. Yay!

So, so far ignoring my break out I am loving this way of cleansing my skin in the evenings. It removes all of my makeup no problem and my skin feels clean and soft.

I'll keep you all updated and let you know how this little skin-journey is going.

I hope you found this helpful!

Jeni x