OIL CLEANSING

My newest obsession. I will admit, I am guilty of becoming a typical mom and have tapped into my inner “hippie”. My fears of “what could be” by using unnatural products has shoved me into a world of eating mostly organic and staying away from processed foods. I am suddenly obsessed with ignoring products with parabens, sulfates or anything else that has scientific evidence in hurting your health. However, I’m not looking to get into a debate about organic vs. non-organic. My organic, non-paraben life-style has nothing to do with how I feel about oil cleansing. Oil Cleansing is truly an incredible way to solve skin problems involving moderate acne, oily skin, dry skin or sensitive skin.

A little about my skin to help give you some theatre of the mind…..

I’m Italian American and am blessed with “good skin”. I have always felt that I have an over-abundance of oil. I am prone to hormonal break-outs and do get cystic acne on my chin, if I am not careful with products I use on my face. As a makeup artist, the extra oil drove me insane. It’s difficult to use water-base foundations (which are the best, in my opinion) if you are oily. No matter what primer I used, oil blotters, or setting powder, within 45 minutes the oil on my face graced every single picture I took. So, my solution was using harsh medications to soak the oil slicks up. I’ve used Proactive, Clean & Clear, Kiehls. You name it, I’ve used it. Anything with salicylic was my bestie.

Why I started oil cleansing….

I went to get a facial 4 months ago. After my relaxing 60 minutes (Nirvana Studio in Montville is AH-MAZING), the woman who did my facial stopped me and gave me a pep talk, “ You’re still young, but you’re near 30 (thanks for the reminder). Your skin is stripped from harsh products and it’s causing you fine lines.” Fine Lines?! She said more, but I blacked out after I heard fine lines. She kept talking, while I had a panic attack. It’s happened. I’m there. I’m at the point where I have to be careful about my skin.

I told her that I have super sensitive skin, and am prone to cystic breakouts on my chin, along with my oil issues. She, who I now hold to the standard of my own personal god, told me about Oil Cleansing.

Let’s get to the point…..

Essentially, you use organic oils to wash your face and nothing else. It balances dry, oily, and even normal skin. The oils are anti-fungal and anti-bacterial while they nourish the skin and tell it that it has produced enough oil…so that it doesn’t produce more. I know, It sounds ridiculous. Oil to STOP oil, made NO sense to me. She was so passionate about it, that she didn’t force her products on me. She gave me the advice of looking on-line for other claims and then even recommended making it myself. In the end it would have been a lot cheaper to buy it from her, but I’m a control freak and I bought the products myself. In total it cost me about $50.00 to buy all organic ingredients and a bottle to store it in.

January 29th I made my “potion”. Here’s the formula I used:

¼ cup organic coconut oil

¼ cup organic jojoba oil

1 tablespoon organic sugar

10 drops of organic lavender oil

DIRECTIONS

CLEANSING

-Quarter size amount on your hand (no sugar)

-Rub into your skin for 1-2 minutes. Makeup should melt right off.

-Take hot towel and place over your face for 1 minute to extract dirt, oil and makeup.

- AND DONE.

EXFOLIATE

-Exfoliate once a week by swirling formula and catching sugar in your quarter size amount.

- Use instructions above

This formula is for normal skin. If you have oily skin, you adjust to increase the jojoba and decrease the coconut. Dry skin, you do the opposite and so on.

I started with normal because I wanted to see if naturally, I was still in fact oily, or if I was creating my own problems by stripping my skin. Turns out my skin is balanced and I was creating oil by stripping my skin, and telling it that I needed to create more.

Before I started telling anyone I waited 2 weeks. My skin was GLOWING. No blemishes, no oil, just perfectly balanced skin. Nearly anyone who saw me commented on my skin. It was working….

I tested it out on my sister who is prone to acne. I changed her formula to add oil, because she is dry. Two weeks passed, and she is a happy camper. Blemishes nearly gone, healthy glowing skin.

I tried a few of my friends and mother. Same incredible results! Totally blog worthy!

In addition to my new skin care routine, there are a few other tricks I did to help my skin. For instance, drinking at least 64 ounces of water a day is a HUGE factor in clear, hydrated skin. Sunscreen is another biggy. Overnight serum (I have a homemade serum I can share too!) is a huge help once you are in your preventative years.

I cannot speak highly enough about this method. I am so happy with my own skin that I had to share!!! This is my personal experience and am in no way a dermatologist (or claim to be). I simply wanted to share a positive experience I’ve have had tested on others, where I’ve had the same progressive results!

If you have any questions please message me! I’m happy to help in any way!