Oil cleansing method?

Jun 14, 2014

Dawn A.

I've heard a lot about the oil cleansing method when you like wash your face with castor or olive oil and use like a washcloth on top of you face and stuff but what is the right way to do this?
I tried it earlier this week from instructions I was given but it broke me out and I'm not sure I'm doing right and what kind of oil to use...
The method when it was explained to me made sense because oil dissolves oil and such but why didn't it work on my face? What's the right way to use this method?

Jun 14, 2014

Alyx T.

The oil cleansing method is very person to person. I use it, but my sisters skin reacts bad to it. I use the Dior oil (it's mainly castor oil) and I just wash my face with it, and wash it off. I don't use the hot cloth because it irritates my skin. I just cleanse, tone and moisturize and my skin has never looked better. But I react to olive oil badly. It's very trial and error.

Jun 14, 2014

Beth F.

I used this method about a year ago... It worked great for me. I quit doing it because it seemed like a hassle to do everyday. I used extra virgin olive oil and castor oil. Massaged into skin.. Put wet hot wash cloth over my face to steam for about a min until cloth became cold.. Then I'd wipe excess off and be done. It didn't break me out or anything.. Actually cleared up my monthly cystic acne I was getting. You should look up some YouTube video.. Tons or tutorials on this method. I'm sure it doesn't work for everybody.. But it's worth a second try. You made me to switch your oils up to maybe a jojoba oil or sweet almond oil. Goodluck girl.

Jun 14, 2014

Aurora S.

If it broke you out then it may not work for your skin and you're best just not using that method. I personally would gently rub/pat on extra virgin olive oil and let it stay on for about a minute, use a baby wipe or damp wash cloth to remove the makeup and my skin would have some oil still on it, I'd then cleanse my face. The bit of oil on before I cleansed it helped to prevent the cleanser from drying out my skin. I don't use cleanser anymore, just sea salt and it works better for me.

Jun 14, 2014

liz b.

It obviously depends a lot on your skin as well as which oils your using and in what ratio. I have oily skin and have been doing this every night for about 2 months now. I haven't had breakouts or a purging period at all. my skin does feel softer and more even. If you want to give it another go then just do a lot of research about the kinds of oil that sound good for your skin type. I didn't use olive oil because I read it's not great for oily skin. apparently castor oil is essential and you just pick which kinds of oil to add to it and the ratio depends on how oily tour skin is. castor oil can actually be drying so if your very oily use more castor oil and if you have dry skin use more. I use half castor oil and half avocado and macadamia. I'm not an expert haha but it's working for me :)

Jun 14, 2014

Diana T.

For acne prone skin I suggest using acne friendly oils so for me I have sensitive acne prone skin and I do it once a week to deep cleanse my pores so my mix consist of 40% castor oil, 40% jojoba oil, 10% Dior cleansing oil (mainly for the emollients), 5% tea tree oil and 5% maracuja oil - it really helps to get rid of blackheads for me personally as well restore moisture balance to my dry patches from psoriasis - it's true the method is not for everyone esp if you have acne prone skin you really need to be careful which oils you use - olive oil is especially bad for acne prone skin and has been known to clog pores - this method has never broken me out personally but if you are doing it daily then it could just be purging that is going on and you will have to continue use for about 2-4 weeks depending on your skin before you will see results - in any case the way I do mine is I mix the oils in my palm then rub it all over my face for about 5-10 minutes then soak a washcloth in steaming hot water then place that on my face for like a minute to get the steam then rinse the cloth in hot water and put it back on my face 2 more times then finally use the cloth to wipe off all the oil - then I usually take a shower after to make sure I remove all traces of the oil from my face then I use my regular toner, spot treat with tea tree oil and use a few drops of jojoba to moisturize my whole face and that usually works for me - hopefully if you use this method you will have better luck my dear!

Jun 14, 2014

Micheal H.

I do OCM every night. I use 1/5 castor and 4/5 olive oils. I massage about 5 minutes then use a hot wash cloth to remove the oil. I love that it takes ALL my makeup off. After that I wash my face with Cetaphil. I've never had a huge issue with acne tho and my skin on my Tzone is like an oil slick. My makeup goes on by 6 am on work days and I am blotting my nose by 9 am. Well I was... Since doing this my skin is so much better. Fine lines around my eyes are so much less noticeable. I do think I was using too many cleansers that were drying my skin. I'd be oily and flakey. It was a hot mess lol. Now my makeup works so much better. I am using less foundation since my skin looks nicer and my pores seem smaller. I'm 40 years old and wish I had this skin when I was younger. I don't have the healthiest diet but I do take a daily vitamin and love green tea and drink a lot of water. The more I up my water intake the clearer my skin looks. My worst habit is my Coke. I drink 1 12 oz can a day, tho I usually get 3/4

Jun 14, 2014

Micheal H.

Sorry...of a can a day. My point is if it works for you do it. But like Megan said, research and test it out first.

Jun 14, 2014

Mary J.

You break out for the first week because the castor oil is punching all of the bacteria out of your skin. It worked on me. But now my acne has gone down hill so badly I can't you it anymore. You want to wake sure your washcloths are steamy to open your pores

Jun 14, 2014

Diana T.

Well the steam does not open pores actually it just helps to get the oil off your face since if you use cold water then it could seize up and solidify and you don't want that - there is no such thing as opening and closing pores they are always open 24/7 that is why they are called pores because they are porous - in any case I definitely feel your pain Megan I went through a lot of products for my acne as well but It never got bad for me until I started experimenting with new makeup - I started getting horrible cystic acne as well and I realized that I had to be careful about what products I put on my face - it took me a few months to realize that synthetic preservatives were the main cause of my break outs so I found more natural based ingredients that were paraben free really helped me - so I started my personal acne fighting journey with the alba botanica acnedote line and that really cleared up my skin with the willow bark based products - so I explored more natural methods to deal with acne like using witch hazel, tea tree n jojoba oil and that's how I found the OCM and I started doing it once a week just to test it out and found that my mix n that method was working okay n found it really did work for my blackheads as just a weekly deep cleanse so that's my personal experience with the OCM but of course I definitely understand that everyone's skin is different and will react differently to different products so I'm sorry you had that bad experience with the OCM but hopefully you are on a better regiment for your skin - I definitely think skin care is not "one size fits all" and what might work for someone may not work for everyone so whenever you start any new self treatments be sure to pay attention to your skin and if it feels irritated then stop or if you aren't seeing results after a month then stop for sure.