The idea behind oil cleaning (OCM for short) is that in chemistry, "like bonds to like," which means that applying the right oils to your skin will cause them to bond to the oils already present and clear your skin without subjecting it to harsh detergents and drying agents. (The Beauty Brains explain this better than I could.) Proponents also point out that oil alone doesn't cause acne: it's a combination of factors like hormones, dirt and dead skin cells that clog the pore, and irritation.
After reading all the glowing testimonials from the posters over at NC.com I decided to give it a try. My oily, breakout-prone skin and I are constantly at war and I've tried all sorts of things to try getting it under control. At the time I was in full-on natural mode (I've since found a middle ground between natural and other products), so the idea appealed to me.
And at first it was great! I made a mixture of castor oil and extra virgin olive oil (sometimes I'd add a drop or two of lavender oil as well) and would massage it into my skin as soon as I got into the shower, leaving it to set in with the shower's steam before rinsing it off with muslin face cloths I got at The Body Shop. (They don't appear to be available anymore, which is a shame because they're fantastic – they're soft but lightly exfoliate, and they rinse much cleaner than traditional washcloths. Glad I still have plenty of them!) At the same time I replaced my moisturizer with a drop or two of pure jojoba oil. (Jojoba oil is closest to skin's natural oils, so it works well as a moisturizer.)
But after a while my skin started feeling greasy again. And I broke out like crazy. I always have blackheads and tend to get larger blemishes on my cheeks and chin, but this was worse. I had large, painful cystic acne pimples, blackheads galore, and clusters of whiteheads. It also bothered me that I wasn't using a sunscreen anymore since I'd switched from my regular moisturizer with SPF to the jojoba oil. (Sunscreen is vital, people. I don't care if you're pale like me or have olive skin or what, if you don't want your face to look like a Birkin bag someday, you need sunscreen.)
Now to be fair, I didn't try changing our the olive oil for a different oil (jojoba and sunflower oils are popular). I also didn't try the traditional method of steaming, which entails laying a hot washcloth over your face and letting it sit until cooled – I never have that kind of time in the morning or patience at night. So maybe if I had tried it a different way it would have worked for me. But if you look at the NC.com thread I posted above, a lot of other people had similar problems to mine. Then again plenty of people continue to oil cleanse and love it. Like anything else it really depends on your skin. Nothing works for everyone.
One thing I can say for sure: if you want to try oil cleansing, you don't have to spend a lot of money to do it. Lots of websites recommend DHC's Deep Cleansing Oil, but at $25 it really doesn't seem worth it to me, especially when you can make your own personalized mixture for so much less.
*That link has a lot of new agey language to it, like telling you to meditate about the skin you want in order to get it. But the information is sound. If you prefer a more empirical take on it, check out this post at acne.org.
Thanks, Tara! This kind of stuff is really interesting.
ReplyDeleteIf you try it, let me know how it works for you!
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