About a month ago, one of my friend’s posted a picture of herself on Facebook, and her skin looked amazing. I asked her what she was doing, and she said she did oil cleansing. I had never heard of it. Now, I had heard of oil pulling, and have even done that myself with great success, but that was different. Oil Cleansing is a process by which you cover your face with oil, leave it there for awhile, and then wash it off. Sounds simple enough, right?
I know it sounds scary. It seems like it would clog your pores and make you break out. But here’s what I discovered in my 1-month trial with oil cleansing:
Oil Cleansing has made my skin so soft!
I did a little research online before I started, and found that castor oil seemed to be the oil of choice for such a venture, since it has a low clogging level and was cheap. So for only about $4.50 I got THIS big bottle of castor oil on Amazon. What a steal! You’ll want to stay away from coconut oil, as it can often clog pores and cause you more problems. Those who need more than just moisturizing the skin may consider botox injections or Facelift in Southlake, TX especially if you want to combat the signs of skin aging. Make sure to choose a spa that has the Best EMR for Dermatology to get the best possible experience.
Note: different types of skin may require different types of oil:
Sensitive
rice bran, grapeseed, apricot kernel, fractionated coconut oil (FCO), jojoba, safflower, sunflower, sweet almond, watermelon, calendula, sea buckthorn, emu oil, mineral oil (purest grade), camellia oil
Dry
extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), macadamia, corn, avocado, sesame, sunflower, wheat germ, coconut oil, shea oil, sweet almond, emu oil, camellia oil
Oily
grapeseed, jojoba, watermelon, hazelnut, safflower, hazelnut, peach kernel, rice bran
Acne
neem, jojoba, grapeseed, watermelon, rice bran, apricot seed, hazelnut, peach kernel, sweet almond, sunflower, safflower, walnut, rosehips seed (tolerance varies), tea tree eo, manuka eo
Normal
sunflower, canola, sweet almond, olive, safflower, avocado, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), camellia oil, mineral oil (purest grade), castor oil
Mature
rosehip seed, borage, carrot, sweet almond, olive, avocado, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), emu oil, red raspberry, camellia oil
How to Oil Cleanse
The first couple days I did it, I did 4 or 5 nights in a row. I washed the makeup off my face, got about a tablespoon of castor oil, rubbed it over my whole face (including eyelids and lips) and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Then, I got hot water onto a washcloth and gently washed the oil off my face. I ended by putting on my regular night cream (P.S.–this is way cheaper at Costco).
My face felt awesome. Seriously, silky.
But by the 5th day, I noticed I was breaking out a bit. I was bummed, because even though my skin felt soft, I didn’t want to have mini volcanoes all over my face. I backed off for 5 or 6 days, and then decided I would max out my fun facial treatment at 3 times per week.
Ladies and gentlemen, I found my sweet spot!
Three times a week seems to be the perfect balance–enough to make my skin softer, more supple looking and just in general, awesome.
I am so impressed with oil cleansing, I’m keeping it as part of my regular routine. Like I said, I’m maxing it out at 3 times per week, though. I challenge you to try it! Worst case scenario, you’ll have a bottle of castor oil leftover. There are tons of uses for it, and you can read some of those HERE.
If you want to see my video on how to oil cleanse, check it out here:
So, are you going to try?
Rachelle says
Cool! What do you use to take off your makeup?
Life Made Full says
I just use the facial cleansing wipes from Costco!
brittny says
So I have sensitive, oily, and acne pronged skin and the safflower oil is the same oil in all those categories that are named so would that be the best one I use or do I use Castro oil?
Life Made Full says
I would say try the safflower oil if it’s best for oily skin–but just try it once, wait 3 or 4 days, and see how your skin is doing. Hope that helps!
Carrie says
Do you wash your face as you normally would on the days in between?
Life Made Full says
Sorry, Carrie! Somehow I missed your comment! Yes, I just wash my face as as normal in between.
Camille Treibel says
I have been using organic cold pressed coconut oil for more than a year now to wash my face because of research I found on using coconut oil to cleanse your face. I am over 50 and acne does not go away when you get older! My chin, around my mouth and upper lip were constantly broken out. It was very frustrating. After using the coconut oil the breakouts have been greatly reduced. Now I do not wash my face first because I don’t want to use chemicals on my face(another reason I switched to coconut oil) I use it to cleanse off my makeup. I whip my coconut oil with my mixer. I use a tsp and melt it on the palms of my hands then massage it all over my face, eyes etc then use a cotton washcloth with hot water to take off the oil. It works great but I do still have minimal breakouts…no where near what I did but am glad to see these other oil choices. I do use it everyday. It took sticking it out 3 months for the toxins to pull from my face for it to start feeling better so hang in there. I wonder if it is because you leave the oil on so long that you have issues breaking out or maybe the oil is reacting with the ingredients in your face cleansing cloths? My 23 year old DIL started using it to cleans her face. She has a lot of acne issues and this process cleared up her acne greatly.
marge201 says
Thank you for your great post. I bought the castor oil and now use it as a makeup remover/face wash. I only use it the days that I wear makeup. The other nights I just rinse my face with a wash cloth (always a new one of course) and moisturize. The days that I wear makeup (face & eye), the castor oil does the trick. I smear it on and then do my water pik and ultrasonic routine and then rinse face good with a wash cloth and warm water, many, many splashes of water (which go into a plastic bowl in the sink which go into a large bucket on the floor for flushes) and then I moisturize damp skin.