As an oily skinned, shiny faced female, I have always been taught from my beauty peers, to avoid and banish oil at every opportunity and I would have been horrified by the mere suggestion of an `oil cleanse'. I even remember being a teenager and repeatedly washing my face with soap and water (drying my poor skin terribly and then making it EVEN MORE OILY) because I was so disgusted by my spots and shiney face.
It may suprise you then, that I am infact quite an advocate of slathering the stuff all over my thirty something face, but not to make myself oily, in fact the "like attracts like" approach seems to counteract my still oily, volatile complexion, and makes it look much much better (for a tanorexic, former sun bed junky anyway) making my skin clean, supple, more balanced and hydrated.
Some of you will be familiar with the recent hot cloth cleanser trends, like the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, where the creamy, camphor smelling cleanser is buffed off with a muslin cloth which has been soaked in hand hot water, and various other pricey cleansing oils. There are many similar cleansers on the market, and although I can recommend cleanse and polish, I got better results with the home-made oil cleanse.
Shocking.
Bearing in mind how I was constantly in fear of oil, longing for my oil free matt finish over the years, where I'd even toyed with using toilet cleaner as a spot treatment (that was a desperate teenage moment). How could I have been so wrong? How could I have de-greased so excessively, never knowing that grease was in fact - the answer. We live and learn,
Enough of my own experiences, let me give you an idea of the premisce on which it works, what I recommend, and a method too.
There are two oils combined in the oil cleanse method, a mixture of castor and olive oil. The theory is that the castor oil works to dilate the pores and so is good for oily, congested skin, whereby the olive oil is conditioning, healing and moisturising for drier skin. The oilier you are, the higher proportion of castor oil is blended with the cleanser, the drier your skin, the more olive oil. For me, it was two parts castor, to one part olive oil. The oil is massaged over the face and neck, and is then wiped off with a hot cloth or flannel, and repeated. The result, is smooth, clean oil free pores with no residue left, only soft CLEAN skin.
There was a slight downside for me (typically), and having enjoyed this method - it has worked for me well, I was so intrigued by it I wanted to research a bit more. I also love to mix or experiment so I tried it with castor oil on its own. It does work, alone. But, I noticed a few negatives, it actually made my skin quite tight after the cleanse and it also, over time, made my face a bit hairier (!). I later learned that castor oil actually helps to thicken hair and so is good for someone with hair loss, through ill health perhaps or to help grow back over plucked eyebrows or thinning eyelashes from ripping them out with heavy duty eyelash glue. I was heavily put off by that. How dreadful and unfair, to find a solution to my over productive sebum, only to be backhanded with a beard.
So... after more toying and experiments, I found another solution which I can recommend whole heartedly.
Coconut oil.
Coconut oil, may sound tropical and a bit yummy, but in fact it has no smell at all, and is very solid, with no taste - resembling lard actually (I have not tried a lard cleanse.....yet. Joke), so doesn't look all that appealing. But after doing a little research and trying it as the sole ingredient in my oil cleanse, I've found it to be very effective. It is said to have proteins in it, along with vitamin E, is healing and also applied as a moisturiser is good for psoriasis and eczema. The same can be said for olive oil, but the coconut oil seems to have just the right balance of my cleansing needs, having oil balancing and moisturisation benefits. Eureka!
Although it is solid, it has a very low melting point, and so by running the bottle under the hot tap or standing it next to the radiator for a bit, you'll soon find it becomes a fluid again quite quickly. If you are impatient like me, I often grab a knife and scrape a marble sized amount from the bottle and it melts quickly in my hands. Massage a small amount of the melted oil onto your face and neck, and remove it with a hot flannel or muslin cloth - whatever you prefer to use. You soak the flannel/cloth and wring it out so its still got some heat, but is only damp, then rest it over your face. Let the heat open the pours. Then use the flannel to gently work around the nose and wherever might be congested or dry and flakey. I know I love it and thats why I'm recommending it.
My coconut oil cost me £1 at an oriental supermarket. If you want to try the castor oil and olive oil cleanse, go for it. You can even add caster sugar as a really good scrub. These cleanses work, and are so cheap! I'd love some feedback too. Maybe any other oils that may be worth a try? Or your experiences?
Here is a bit more info that you may find useful:-
http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/
http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-oils
Thanks for reading :)
Love Nelly xxx
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