Oil Cleansing
I’m going to now tell you a story. This story may be very scary for some of you, so please be prepared. This is the story of how and why I stopped washing my face with soap and started washing my face with…
Oil.
Yes, oil.
About 2 months ago, I was doing some research on facial cleansing for acne-prone skin. For the most part, since my mid-20s, my skin has been pretty good. After we moved to Houston and before I became pregnant, I noticed my skin started breaking out at the temples with these patches of hundreds of tiny little whitish blemishes…they weren’t deep, but they were persistent and itchy. I couldn’t make them go away, either. Then, I got pregnant, and they went away. I figured it was hormonal.
About a year after I had my daughter, they came back…except this time, they were all over my face–forehead, temples, cheeks, jaw…everywhere. The interesting part about this is that anytime I leave Houston for a few days, they start to clear up, so it’s something about living in Houston. I was wrong about it being hormonal after all…there is some bacteria in Houston that doesn’t get along with my skin.
Anyways, I was doing this research and came across a site that says basically the only way to get rid of chronic acne is to slather your skin with concentrated doses of benzoyl peroxide. Since I’ve tried a lot of products/methods to treat my acne (the latest being Proactiv, but over the years I’ve used just about everything and don’t want to start that over again) and am unwilling to take oral medicine to kill it (such as Accutane), I thought I’d give it a go. I mentioned it to my husband and he just looked devastated. “Really? Are you sure? That much benozyl peroxide can cause cancer.” I had no idea about this, so I did some more research. As it turns out, benzoyl peroxide is quite toxic. Sigh.
After some moping around, I decided to do something radical and go in a completely different direction. I found a site with an article about cleansing your skin with a blend of oil. I know–sounds nuts–because I’ve been using all these products for the past year trying to get RID of the oil, but that was my own misunderstanding. But because my skin was already broken out, I thought I’d give it a shot.
In one of my old Dermalogica containers I blended 1:1 olive oil to castor oil, and added a few drops of tea tree oil. I slathered it on my face, used a washcloth to steam for a few minutes, then wiped it off.
After doing this twice a day, then once a day, and now once every 3 days or so (I just clean with water and/or steam at morning and night)for a few months now I can confidently say that while I still have acne, my breakouts have neither intensified nor lessened. BUT, the quality of my skin is much better and I haven’t had a dry patch in weeks. In other words, benzoyl peroxide was hurting me more than it was helping me after all.
The moral of the story is this: there are so many mainstream ingredients and products that we use all the time that are actually completely toxic. These products are so mainstream that we don’t even know what to do without them, what the alternatives are. Think about how humanity has survived this long without these chemicals and ask yourself if there’s some simpler way to get the job done. Then do it. 
I too pondered the acne.org cleansing method but decided against it. Good to know the oil cleansing is going well for you!
Also, I love what you’re doing here with this site!
I’ve also wanted to try the oil method. Maybe when school is out I’ll get it together. It makes total sense to me. You have natural oils, you wash them off, and your skin produces more and more and more to make up for all the protective oils you wash away. Same thing with hair. The more you shampoo, the oilier your hair is going to be in a shorter amount of time. It’s trying to stay in balance, and you’re just washing away all the oil. I actually have pretty dry hair, so I only wash about twice a week. I’m going to have to try the oil on face thing, though. Do you just put a warm washcloth on your face for a few seconds? And, do you do this once in the morning and once at night?
So true, Kristy. It’s so funny how we get coerced (by marketing, peer pressure, whatever) into these patterns of hygiene that are totally unnecessary and in some cases, harmful.
At first, I did this twice a day like I would have with soap. I soon realized that was excessive, as the non-broken-out parts of my face were starting to get a little clogged. I eventually brought it down to once every 2 or 3 days with just splashing with water or steaming in between. I don’t wear heavy makeup so I don’t feel like my face is dirty, even if I wear makeup and only wash with water at the end of the day.
This website does a really good job of explaining the “method” (sounds so much more of a thing than it really is!). To make steaming manageable, I just put really hot water on the washcloth, wring it out, and lay it over my face for a few seconds until the steam starts to lose…well, steam.
http://www.highonhealth.org/why-you-need-to-start-using-the-oil-cleansing-method-ocm/
Oh Suz–I’m really glad you didn’t go with the acne.org solution either. I have been doing research and have decided that I’d really like to try cryotreatments for acne (I had it done in high school by a Dr. in Nashville. Basically, they spray you with liquid nitrogen. It’s just a chilly mist when it hits your face but it kills the bacteria)–it seems pretty non-invasive and “natural.” I have an appointment at Baylor in a couple of weeks–we’ll see if they go for that
And thank you! I am totally open to ideas and suggestions.
This sounds like a acidic vs alkaline balance issue? Depending on a variety of factors, different people would have different levels and a different ideal state.
I’ve tried it all too…
I’ll give it a go and let you know how it works.
In Houston, I’ll wager the issue is more fungal than bacterial, and could also be the particulate pollution which is FULL of oil refinery volatile organics and free radical generating smog particles. I’m glad you’ve found a sustainable management plan and I look forward to hearing about the the cryotreatments.
By the way, I steam my face even when I’m not breaking out because I think it makes my skin glow for hours afterward and feel so much cleaner. It’s like a mini facial.
I once had acne, but no longer! I used some of my own tips!