There’s just something special about the oil cleansing method, yeah?
The thought of washing your face with oil either attracts or violently repels people. But, in the four years I’ve been immersed in natural living blogging (and the two years since I wrote the following introductory post), I’m not sure there’s a single thing that’s matched the OCM’s wild successes (and occasional trials and failures).
I’m not going to reinvent the wheel, though, so I won’t be writing extensively about HOW to do the oil cleansing method. For that, you want to visit this post right here. If you’re unfamiliar with it, or if you just need a refresher, please (I implore you with my whole crunchy heart) VISIT THIS POST HERE ON THE NITTY GRITTY OF HOW TO DO THE OIL CLEANSING METHOD. And then come back here. We miss you already.
Now, for the rest of you – those who’ve braved the askance looks of doubting friends when you tell them how you’re going to wash your face with oil, those of you who’ve discovered smooth, radiant skin beneath the product residue, and those of you who’ve given up, crestfallen at breakouts, after an attempt to make the oil cleansing method work for you – this post is for you.
Over the last two years, I’ve received numerous emails on and dozens of threads have been posted about the oil cleansing method in the Crunchy Community, and I’ve talked extensively with people about the cleansing oil blends we make and sell.
In all of this, I’ve learned a lot. And I’m going to share some of it with you right now, so perhaps you can give it another try (if you had issues the first time) or you can refine your OWN regimen if you’re still bumping up against some issues.
Five New Troubleshooting Tips For the Oil Cleansing Method
This. This is the biggest thing to remember. For the oil cleansing method, avoid the possibility of heartache (faceache?) and just do not use coconut oil or olive oil – even if it’s extra virgin.
The majority of OCM complaints I’ve seen come from people who’ve started by using olive oil or coconut oil. (“The oil cleansing method SUCKS! I have more pimples than ever!” “What oil did you use?” “Olive oil.” “Ahhh. Yes, you did.”)
Coconut oil is comedogenic (it may clog your pores eventually) and olive oil is … I have no idea. I mean, I really have absolutely no idea why there are SO many complaints about olive oil when using the OCM, but it happens. A lot. Every day. It probably just happened, somewhere, just now.
(You could speculate it may have something to do with this, but I just don’t know.)
And, yes, I’m aware that as soon as I write this, five or ten of you are going to pop out of the woodwork and say, “But wait! Coconut (or olive) oil works for me!” And that’s incredible. But just know, you are a very special minority. Very special. You might want to see if you can fly or something – that’s how special you are.
On the other end of the spectrum, occasionally people have issues with castor oil.
Because it’s drying. Very drying, really.
If you find that no amount of “stepping down” the ratio of your castor oil helps with the dryness, just try getting rid of it all together. If you’re going to ditch the castor oil, though, these are the oils I recommend using as your base oil:
- Hazelnut or sunflower oil (for typically acneic skin)
- Sunflower, grapeseed, or sweet almond oil (for oily to normal skin)
- Jojoba, grapeseed, or apricot kernel oil (for normal to dry skin)
- Avocado or apricot kernel oil (for dry skin)
A note on jojoba oil: A few of you may encounter issues with breaking out after using jojoba oil (not everyone seems to agree, but it is listed in a few places as comedogenic). If you have issues with it, just discontinue use.
And, of course, if you do drop the castor oil, please remember that you can still experiment with oil blends – adding other goodies to your OCM regimen, as well.
Just please remember to wipe your face off very, very, very well if you’re not using castor oil. It’s going to take just a touch more work to get all the previous grime and/or makeup off your face. But it is possible. Yay!
p.s. Of note, I don’t recommend skipping castor oil unless you absolutely HAVE to. It’s quite effective and efficient. Only remove it from your blend if you’re at your wits end and need to try something new.
If you’re using the oil cleansing method and find you still have a few breakout issues – or if you have acne scars, I have one word for you:
Add tamanu oil to your blend.
(Okay, that was more than one word. Addtamanuoiltoyourblend. There. Better.)
Not a lot (that stuff is thick), just a teaspoon will help immensely.
On the other hand, if you’re still a little dry after adjusting your castor oil down a bit, consider adding a yummy ingredient like argan oil or pomegranate seed oil. (Again, in smaller amounts – these are not inexpensive oils.)
And even and especially, don’t shy away from dropping in a few drops (we’re talking about 5-10 drops to about 1-2 oz of oil blend) of beneficial essential oils in there, as well. Even though you’ll be wiping the majority of it off eventually, your skin might still respond in new and amazing ways to the added ingredients.
Here are a few “goodies” you could consider:
- Tamanu oil
- Argan oil
- Pomegranate seed oil
- Borage seed oil
- Neem oil (avoid this if you’re pregnant or attempting to be)
- Sea Buckthorn Oil
- Turmeric oil (for acne/oily skin, especially)
- Essential oils of: Ylang-ylang, thyme, peppermint, geranium, rose, frankincense, or chamomile. (You do have other choices, as well. Here’s a post that might help you find the right essential oil for you. Just remember to avoid using citrus oils if you’re going to be out in the sun right away.)
If you’ve tried the oil cleansing method in the past and you’ve found your face red or irritated, or you’re breaking out in ways you’ve never done before, you may have an allergy to an oil – most probably a nut oil.
And we’re not talking about the extreme allergies that might cause you to puff up and close off your airways. Even a very minimal allergy could lead to untoward reactions.
The best way to find out? Eliminate the nut oil you’ve been using and substitute a non-nut oil in its place (grapeseed oil, apricot kernel oil, and sunflower seed oil would be a good place to start). The nut oils most likely to be the cause: Sweet almond oil, macadamia oil, or hazelnut oil.
This is true for ANYTHING you make at home, but it’s necessary that we emphasize it right now.
Garbage in/garbage out, even with the oil cleansing method.
How do you know if your ingredients are quality? That’s not always easy, but a good rule of thumb is: Never buy anything that isn’t organic and cold or expeller pressed.
If it’s organic, you’re so much closer to not putting synthetics on your face (e.g. synthetic fertilizer or pesticides) that are used to grow commercial crops. And if it’s not cold pressed or expeller pressed, it’s likely refined. Why do you want to avoid refined oils? Because they’re heated to extreme levels, often destroying the beneficial properties of the oils and leaving behind free radicals (which you do NOT want to put on your face).
Personally, we only use Mountain Rose Herbs oils in our oil cleansing blends and they’re magnificent. But Life-Flo Pure, Aura Cacia, Desert Essence, and Heritage also offer decent organic, cold or expeller pressed oils.
If you’re having issues with the oil cleansing method, take a look at the ingredients you’re using and see if you can find somewhere to improve the quality.
Do your laundry, and do it well. Your washcloths will begin to accumulate oil residue (especially if you use them more than once or twice before washing them) which can be difficult to remove.
When you do the load that contains your washcloths (and you may just want to do a separate load), I recommend using – in addition to your usual (homemade?) detergent – an extra 1/2 cup of washing soda or baking soda and a rinse with vinegar used in lieu of fabric softener.
In fact, do not use fabric softener on your oil cleansing washcloths (or on anything if you don’t have to). You want those washcloths to be as free of residue and synthetics as possible, and fabric softener leaves behind both. If you’ve been using it and find that you’ve broken out, now you know what the culprit may be.
BONUS TIP: In the original Nitty Gritty On The Oil Cleansing Method post here, I offered up the recommendation to leave your water running after you put the oil on your face – so that it would heat up to a very, very, very warm temperature (the right temperature to soak your washcloth in), because most people don’t have on-demand, immediate hot running water. A few people had issues with the problem that it’s not very water conserving. Instead of leaving the water running, you could fill a bowl with water you’ve heated in an electric kettle or a teapot (or the microwave) and then allowed to cool to a safe temperature for application on your face. Just dip your washcloth in the bowl and test to absolutely make sure it’s not going to burn you.
OCM Divas – What’s Your Blend?!?
Now that we’ve heard MY tips, it’s your turn!
If you’ve been doing the OCM to much success, please share the blend you’re using and your skin type in the comments. Let’s give all the newbies a great place to start!
And if you’ve had issues with the OCM, post what you’ve used and what your problems have been, and let’s see if we can’t get you in tip-top shape to try again!
(Crunchy Betties … activate!)
Hear Me, For I Am The Nudge
I have been using OCM for about 3 years now and my skin looks great. I use Jojoba and Castor oil. I just a couple of drops of castor since I have dry skin. When I first started I did break out but after about two weeks my skin calmed down. I want to try dropping the castor oil and try just jojoba oil since my skin seems to be getting drier as I age but am afraid because my formula works and I hate to change something that is working. Hormones are driving me crazy but not causing any breakouts..lol.
Please don’t try this. Seriously. I’ve read more bad stories than good. I tried OCM w pumpkin seed oil and my skin looked wonderful!!! Until as time went on (a month in) my face was COVERED in clogged pores. It’s been almost two months of me trying to fix my skin and it’s just not budging. I also tried just moisturizing with hemp oil and the clogs multiplied. And I did everything right. I hand washed my washcloths every single time and then washed them all together with some vinegar and bleach to cut the oil and bacteria. If you insist on doing this please do it on a small spot on your face for at least four weeks to see what happens before you slather it all over your face and end up like me with ruined skin.. my skin has never been this bad. I don’t leave the house much anymore.
Ive been using my bathroom as a skin-healing lab for several years now, and crunchy Betty blog played an important role in my search for wellness. When my husband can’t find an ingredient in the kitchen he knows to check the bathroom! At age 22 I noticed small colorless bumps appearing over the entirety of my face, then started a Roseaca related rash, and add sudden allergies to everThing including my own sweat… Just a nightmare. I never pinpointed one cause, but I did find a solution when I started ocm 4 years later. Oil cleansing completely smoothed out my skin, healed all random breakouts quickly, and lightened hyperpigments from the ones I picked at. I can’t say it went away completely because it’s been a constant trial error journey to get my skin back. The allergic itchy bumps are the persistent problem, and diet and stress is my final culprit to tackle.
My ocm tricks are:
Try to completely steam by doing it in the shower, it doesn’t seem to clean enough dirty oils off with just a sink and cloth. I sometimes even wash my hairline and under jaw/neck with Castile soap afterwards to make sure there’s no residue to cause pimples, if I don’t do this I get them on temples, jaw and neck. But I follow with a moisurizer because the soap strips some natural oils.
Jojoba is one I try to enjoy but I’m suspicious that it’s a clogger, and remember it’s not as hydrating as a oil because it’s a wax, it works mostly as a protectant, so don’t forget to add a moisturizer to a jojoba blend.
Coconut oil is a my face miracle, but It does work better when mixed with ‘softer’ moisturizing oil like sweet almond. Coconut oil’s anti microbial properties are what helps my skin the most, and it dissolves in water to wash off clean better than other oils, despite the fact it’s hard at room temp (in the northeast). It also makes my lashes look so healthy I get asked if they’re fake! Ironically, coconut oil makes the rest of my body feel greasy and irritated. I do think it has been irritating/drying to my cheeks which now makes sense according to some of your comments, so I will stop being lazy and start mixing it with another oil.
Olive oil is too thick for most people’s face skin and doesn’t wash off well enough for my face, despite its calming and repairative qualities, I always get breakouts when I use it, even if I only dab around my eyes. Again, ironically olive oil is my miracle oil for the rest of my body, since it moisturizers and calms like no other and also gives your skin a golden glow! Bottom line, Face skin is not he same as body skin, and all people are not created alike so will respond differently to teqniques and oils.
After Reading some comments about Norwex microfiber, I want to be sure to agree with those reviews to prevent others from damaging thier skin. They advertise to be facial cleansing and antimicroboal but every time I use them I’ve noticed the existence of more irritated bumps, I thought it was because I wasn’t washing the cloths good enough, and It was on my list of things to research. But I did not know they are harsh on skin and can actually cause micro cuts. Who would’ve thought with microfiber being so soft! That makes a lot of sense now and I’m thankful for a community of girls to learn from. I wouldn’t recommend using those cloths at any cost. Washcloths have been too rough for me, and hard to sanitize in an apartment with shared washer, so I use organic cotton rounds to wipe off the oil in the shower (tedious and wasteful I know), but I’d like to find a cloth I can use and a method of washing them. Any suggestions??
I use 2/3 castor and 1/3 olive oil, with a few drops of tea tree oil.
My normal pimples go away and my face glows, but I start developing cystic acne on my jawline and neck. I now make sure to take extra care to wipe away all the oil, thinking that may be the cause. I’m still getting the cystic acne. But after reading this article, I’m thinking maybe it’s the olive oil.
The only times I’ve ever had cystic acne on my jawline and neck is when I’ve tried to use moisturizers/face creams on my face, so maybe the olive oil is over-moisturizing and clogging my pores (although I don’t know why it’s only happening on my jawline and neck, but the rest of my face looks great…).
I’ll have to substitute jojoba oil for the olive oil to see if that works better.
I need help with OCM. I really want OCM to work.
I have acne prone skin. I already had a bad case of full-face, small & large, painful, disgusting acne back in college. Accutane and rest stopped that after a few months. However, me and my facialist noticed that there are tiny bumps on my face that is neither a pimple or black/whitehead. She tried lancing one just to know what it is–I was curious, too. Turns out that inside those many tiny bumps are oil. I stopped Accutane and started oral contraceptives and it went well–only had one or two pimples during my period. I’m 30 now and I’m still concerned about those tiny bumps filled with oil. They become pimples overtime but atleadt not all at one time unlike before. I also don’t go to the facialist anymore as I don’t like going out much, so there are also those blackhead problems. I tried OCM because I wanted to deep cleanse and remove my blackheads & those little oil-pockets. So Day 1 was okay. I love the dewy look that I got and I felt that I didn’t have to use moisturizers so much anymore. Day 2, I got two pimples on the left side of my mouth. I was using castor oil and olive oil 1:9 for a week & only wiped my face with warm towel. It got worse on Week 1. On Week 2, I changed the ratio of castor oil and olive oil 3:7 and steamed my face before toweling off; I got more pimples. Week 3, I switched olive oil with grapeseed oil but I wasn’t always able to steam my face so I just used warm towel and wiped 3 times at most; It got worse on the left side of my face but the few I got on my right side went away. I’m on my 30th day of OCM. I still use castor oil and grapeseed oil 3:7 and steam my face then towel off twice; it’s still getting worse. I noticed that some pimples dried up and left purple scars but then a lot of new ones popped up. I really want OCM to work and it’s working somehow–in bringing up to the surface my sebum atleast. I love massaging & steaming my face especially since I see how easy it is to remove blackhead and whiteheads with just a few minutes of massage-disgusting but true. I need help. I love grapeseed oil and castor oil but I’m curious about adding tea tree oil. Maybe that would help out with the breakouts that I’m having. I haven’t gone out for a week because of my acne. I’m a freelancer and not going out also means that I haven’t worked in a week. It’s interfering with my life. Please help me. I want OCM to work so bad. I don’t want to go back to commercial cleansers, BP & antibiotics, and Accutane anymore. Any suggestions would help.
Can I use canola oil?
i used coconut oil and it worked fine not just as a cleanser but a moisturizer too in fact after all the research i did this is the only article i came across that’s not raving about coconut oil so i guess there are a lot of special people out there because it seems to be working for them too. Skin care is a trail and error business that oil that you are avoiding might be the perfect one for you.
PLEASE PLEASE HELP! I started OCM with pumpkin seed oil for a month now. My skin immediately looked and felt better and now it’s covered in small clogged pores acne along with red whiteheads. I just recently realized I wasn’t cleansing my jawline well so I made a point to manage the area well and now I have painful acne erupting on my jawline. Thing is I do this usually morning and night but sometimes just night for five minutes and a TON of white and black clogs come out. Is it even possible for an oil to unclog AND clog pores at the same time? My face looks worse than I’ve ever seen in my life right now ?
I have a dry skin,i apply a mixture of argan oil, olive oil and mustard oil. I have been using ocm since last week there r few small white bumps under eye otherwise it’s working. Just want to know whether m using right blend of oils, also suggest me good brands of oils
so ive been using just sweet almond oil on its own and have found that i have this initial breakout mainly on my cheeks i feel like all the crap is being purged out of my system the tiny spots i used to get all over my forehead are basically gone, my skin tone is completely glowing, i feel like what i need to do is cleanse just 3 times a week instead of everyday and that will help, im going to just do it at night like i was in the beginning, my skin just absorbs the oil and feels lovely and soft in the morning, i never get big lumps like i used to and now when i get a spot the head appears the day after rather than staying under the skin. i feel like i want to add in a castor oil as i do have some but i feel like constantly changing oils is not good as your skin needs at least a month or 2 to adjust to a new regime, im only on my second week of doing it ad like i said im breaking out just a little atm but that is no big deal, as im sticking to it and i feel it will definitely clear
hope this helped
The reason that some/most people may have problems with Olive Oil is because, as I just recently learned on a news program 20/20 I think, is that Olive Oil is a huge Black Market industry and that a lot of so called EV Olive Oil products are cut with cheaper oils and passed off as pure olive Oil. I learned that sometimes canola oil or some other type of oil is used. Please google and learn more.
Am I doing something wrong? I’ve been using OCM for almost a month now and I see no difference in my skin since the purging stage. Nothing has changed except for a few pimple of the purging stage have healed. The blackheads, clogged pores, pimples, still there. I use 1/3 castor oil to 2/3 Sweet almond oil since EVOO doesn’t fit well with my skin. I do the method exactly as stated and haven’t used any chemicals since I’ve started this method. I’m really on the verge of giving up but I don’t want to give up because I love this method. But I need it to work for me and decrease the 1000 blackheads I have on my nose and extra large pores on the sides of my nose. Please help and give me any advice.
I’m asian and have sensitive/ oily skin. I have occasional hormonal acne on the chin and the sides of my face and I found out about the oil cleansing method and have only started this method for about a month now. From the reviews that I have read, people usually use castor oil and In the beginning I started with just Grapeseed oil cos its supposed to be good for oily and acne skin and I couldn’t find castor oil in my country, I have ordered it online and Im just waiting for it to arrive. All the reviews that I have read has said that in the earlier stages the method will cause your skin to breakout and after a while your skin will get better. I’m starting to get worried cos I have been breaking out a lot more than usual, I have breakouts on the forehead now and more of the sides of my face. These breakouts are not that bad, they’re just little red spots and it makes my skin grainy and rough. I have switched my oil to sunflower oil cos I read its a high linoleic oil and it is not comedogenic. I’ve been reworking with the sunflower oil for about a few days now and my skin still hasn’t gotten better. I dont know what I should do? Should I continue with the method or just stop? Cos people’s reviews have been saying that to just stick it out for a few months. Help! I need advice!
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another question for cleansing dry and sun damaged facial skin: how about jojoba oil or pomegranate oil, can i mix the two? thanks Deborah
HI, i have mature very dry sun damaged skin on my face. i wonder what the best oil would be to cleanse my face with? the ones I have used (even with all natural ingredients) feel drying/ In your opinion, Why is olive oil not good for this condition? I am wondering if avacado oil is the most lubricating cleanser for me in your opinion. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. thanks. Deborah
Hi there,
I’m new to oil cleansing but have very sensitive, dry, acneic skin.
I’m thinking I should use Avocado Oil. Tamanu Oil and Teatree oil.
I’m just looking for some guidance on the ratios, or if I should add some Castor oil in?
Thank you so much!
Hi everyone.I have a question and I need your advice.I have normal skin type.I had flawless skin till I was 19.But I started having very bad cystic acne at the age of 19.I’m 21 now and tried switching to all natural diet, my cystic acne is gone now.But I still get breakouts here and there but they aren’t very severe.I have acne marks from my cystic acne,so I wanted to try ocm to clear those and help me with the occasional breakouts.I started off with 70% castor and 30% oil oil.Both oils are cold pressed and extra virgin.At first,my skin was very bright and clean but after 3 days I started getting tiny red bumps on my cheek bone area,maybe It was drying my skin so I decided to lower the amount of caster oil and increase the olive oil.I use 80% castor and 20% olive oil now.I’ve been doing it for a week,every night before bed and just today I noticed a minor breakout on my cheeks and chin.Its not very severe but I’m scared now.is it just purging or do I need to change something?My skin feels soft and bright but I’m scared of a very severe reaction and getting more acne scars 🙁 and I clean the oil completely after washing and I moisturize my face with some olive oil.Please help me ☺
Frankincense really helps with scars and cystic acne. I will either dab a drop or two right on my face after oil cleansing, or mix a drop or two into a carrier oil to dab all over my face. It really works wonders!
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I’ve been doing this, sort of, for a while, but much more simply. In the morning I rinse my face with water and then put a small amount of jojoba oil on my hands and rub it into the skin on my face. No rinsing off. I sometimes massage the facial skin for a couple of minutes with the oil–it’s good for sloughing off dead skin cells, but not harshly like an exfoliator. No need to moisturize afterward, although I do apply facial sunscreen. I don’t know if this would work for everyone, but my skin is great (it’s I guess what would be considered normal-to-dry).
I’m just starting out with using OCM and have found your site really helpful! I am still wondering though, what do you use every other day? I’m going to start using OCM every night, so what should i use in the mornings? Just a splash of water? I’ve read that it’s best not to mix it up with a soap cleanser…i just want to have a better idea of what to be using in between OCM times.
Thanks so much!
Mycellar water wipes are good for the morning if you don’t feel clean already. Don’t use soap or scrub your face.
Hi
I have been doing the ocm for a while now, no real issues with it and was doing it am and pm. Also was moisturising with jojoba oil after I cleansed by face. I am 42 and wondering should I be adding more anti aging to my routine such as retinol or vit c serum (which I plan to make up myself)
Any thoughts on retinol?
Do you just use oil and no other moisturiser, eye cream ?
Any thoughts much appreciated.
Sarah
Hey Sarah,
I’d recommend what I’ve found to work: cleanse with your oil mixture at night and when needed (every other day for me usually) moisturize in the morning with a suuuuper lightweight face moisturizer that has SPF in it. Mine is an Arbonne one that has SPF 50 in it and is very lightweight that my skin feels soft and dry after using it and I can put make up on over the top with no problem. Eye cream is just an expensive version of exactly the nutrients/moisture/antioxidants/SPF you’d be getting with this method already so it’s not necessary at all.
Hope that helps!
Hello! I belong to combination skin type.
Is the oil cleansing method suitable for combination skin type?
I am tempted to try this method but afraid of putting oil on my skin.
If I were to try the oil cleansing method, do I have to use soap to remove the oil on my skin?
What kind of oils are suitable for combination skin type?
Is it alright to do oil cleansing method on daily basis？
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I have been trying this for a week and a half using 50:50 Safflower oil and argan oil once at night. In the mornings I use raw honey only to cleanse, and moisturize after with jojoba or argan oil. My skin is combination most of the time. This has left me with Very Dry skin on forhead, cheeks, and chin. What should i do to adjust? Adjust oils used? Adjust how I’m moisturizing? I would love to know if anyone else has had a similar issue.
How many times a week should I do the oil cleansing meathod? And on days when I’m not doing this meathod, what kind of fave wash should I use?
If you’re going to do oil cleansing, then you should stop using face wash altogether. All that will do is confuse your skin and possibly damage it over time since they cleanse in completely different ways. I personally only oil cleanse a couple of times a week and that’s it. I don’t do anything else.
Hi. I have very sensitive skin and have always considered my face face to be oily. Now my cheeks are so dry they are tight. I have dropped all my products for just jojoba oil cleansing and moisturizing. Have only been doing this for 5 days but my cheeks are still extremely tight. Do I need to change oil or continue for a bit longer? Thks
Is there an oil that you’ve found that helps with redness in your skin?? Not acne related, just reddish skin tone?? I’m currently using avo and apricot oil as my skin is dry as well. Thanks!!
Good tip on using water heated in an electric kettle! I was starting to do it this way as I am renting a room in a house and my landlady doesn’t like wastage, I have to be careful not to let the water run while brushing my teeth (I like to rinse the toothbrush as I go!) let alone washing my face, which takes even longer!
At least this way I can make my morning tea with the same hot water I’ve heated up!
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I was really hopeful that the OCM might help even out my sensitive, combo skin, but after about a month, I have to say, it’s not for me. I started by cleansing once a day with 1 part almond oil to 1 part jojoba oil to 2 parts castor oil (for a 50/50 overall mixture) + a few drops of tea tree oil. I did have a few breakouts during the first two weeks, but I wrote that off to an adjustment period. By the third week, they’d mostly cleared, but my forehead had become embarrassingly shiny. I read elsewhere that might be due to the jojoba, so I adjusted my mixture to 1 part jojoba to 3 parts almond to 4 parts castor (keeping that 50/50 total ratio), but then my T-zone turned desert dry. After a few days, I tried reducing the castor to two parts (for a 75/25 mixture), but my forehead then turned simultaneously oily and flaky, while my cheeks and chin were breaking out again. Plus, my pores were enlarged, and my complexion was looking very red. Further online sleuthing suggested rosacea could be aggravated by the steam and by traditional (terrycloth, as opposed to muslin) washcloths. I may try the OCM again some time later, with gentler washcloths and oils like hemp or sunflower (which have a 0 comedogenic rating), but at present, the number of variables and the further financial investment just feels too daunting to keep it up, when my skin is being so finicky.
I would consider dropping the tea tree from the equation and seeing if that works for you. Tea tree can be incredibly drying and irritating if not diluted properly, and I found that my skin was just too sensitive for it. Less is more when it comes to trouble shooting! I’ve been mixing jojoba and castor oil prior to washing, about a quarter size amount in my palm with literally just a DROP of the castor oil and it works wonders. I also found that my skin is sensitive to the temp/approach of wiping. DO NOT SCRUB! It’s inherently engrained in our approach to cleansing, but it really causes more irritation. I usually just wet my washcloth in hot water, let it become lukewarm before I put it on my face. I let it cool on my face and then gently pat/wipe. Hope that helps!
Hi! What does everyone mean by ‘parts?’ A drop, a teaspoon, a tablespoon? Can someone please give the specifics? Thank you!
Parts can refer to teaspoons, tablespoons, or drops. It depends on how much you want to make. Start with a small amount to see if you like the oil blend and then go from there. If it’s 1 part castor to 3 parts of another oil, try 1 t castor and 3 t of another oil.
Hello, I have been loving the oil cleansing method but I also love the powder cleanser that I use, that contains soy and coconut milk powder with other grains such as Fenugreek Powder and Besan flour.
My question is can I use them together or would that be to much? or should I alternate? I love both of them but I do not know how to use them correctly. PLEASE HELP! =)
THANK YOU VICTORIA
I did oil cleansing for a year, several years ago. I started doing it as I couldn’t afford cleanser. I found it softened fine lines around my eyes, especially in the winter. You do need to make sure you remove it properly or it will block your skin. I used to dip a cotton disc into the cup of green tea I drink while cleansing (Too lazy to go to the bathroom to wash it off) and the green tea worked perfectly. It has antioxidants too. Oil cleansing is great for removing makeup without drying your skin. I used Sweet almond oil as that was in the house. When that finished, I moved onto regular vegetable oil and it worked just as well. I found I needed less mosituriser as well as my usually dry skin loved the oil.
I first found OCM on this site,tried with olive oil+castor for few weeks, my skin became greasy&breaking out more+blackheads got worse.I kept doing it cos i know skin (esp. the one used to drying store-bought stuff))needs time to adjust&realize that i’m trying to put it back to work&restore natural balance,since it got confused&lazy cos of years of commercial stuff.But skin got worse, i stopped OCM altogether,tried soaps no sulfates&co,made of some minerals or healing dirt,don’t remember,+cosmetic&essential oils.Didn’t help much with acne&blackheads faded but a bit,it just cleaned without drying out,but erased terrible consequences of Olive+castor OCM, took ab.3 odd months.I couldn’t forget OCM cos i love oils&with them i got my skin to do more of it’s natural work of moisturizing itself(now use only instead of night cream,for day only if ran out of my organic brand moisturizer).I decided to try OCM again,this time I researched more.I have a very dry, acne&blackheads-prone skin(Derm got me isotrexin,it dried out my skin, helped with spots, but acne got back when i stopped using),i’m way past puberty,eat fairly clean,my acne are red pimples w.white heads small&middle sized,rarely get a middle-sized one that’s painful to touch,takes time to be popped or doesn’t,it hurts&takes long to go away.So I found a girl who wrote about how OCM helped her with acne&theory that for acne-prone skin it’s best to use oils with high percent of Linoleic Acid,I also learned about choosing oil(for any skin type)that’s non-comedogenic(rating 0) or comedogenic rating 1-2, the higher the rating the more issues may be with clogging&acne,and no Castor oil.For washing off oil the girl uses a soft microfiber cloth(100% polyester or 80%(70,85) polyester and 20%(30,15)polyamide(nylon)-try different types,see what your skin likes more,mine’s fine with 80:20, make sure it’s microfiber,some brands make microfiber cloth&write “3M”on pack,those are thinner&rough,not the one you need).Microfiber in beauty stores are more expensive(marketing!),buy cheaper in usual stores in aisles with clothes for home/car cleaning,also girl said they take off your make up with no problem(i don’t use make up,esp. skin one,so i wouldn’t know).So i chose an oil(grapeseed-linoleic ab.70%, rating 2, then tried rosehip 44%, rat.1).Drop enough oil for the cleansing (for me 16 drops)in clean(!)palm, massage into face for few minutes (2-3 min.enough,if longer i feel like i’m spreading oil&dirt i picked up all over my skin),then thoroughly wet the cloth under very warm water, put it on face for 15-30 seconds, or until you don’t feel steamy&warm then massage oil off the face in circular motions be gentle,microfiber cloth itself is great for removing dirt so don’t rub hard,extra gentle around eye area.Repeat again-wet cloth, steam, rub off.I don’t use tonic,if after OCM skin feels it needs moisture,take few more drops of same oil used for cleansing&apply to moist (not wet!)face, if you’re fine you can skip moisturizing with anything.Done.Oils are often better than store-bought moisturizers cos oils don’t really moisturize as much as lock the moisture you skin produces,store moisturizers do the work FOR your skin&only on superficial level(derm moisturizers are great though but too expensive,imo).With oils you let your skin do it’s natural work of moisturizing from inner sources.I have a v.dry skin,need moisturizing always,when started OCM was summer, used grapeseed oil which is light&even called dry oil(rosehip too),but after OCM i experimented&didn’t apply more oil to moisturize.My skin felt a bit dry, but after about a week i’ve noticed it was fine after OCM&didn’t crave moisturizing,i assume it’s cos my skin was too used to me helping it with moisturizing&when it realized there’s not gonna be moisturizing started getting back to doing it itself.In winter(cold outside/dry air inside)after OCM i do moisturize a bit-a mix of few drops of oil used for cleansing+few of Vitamin E oil,it’s sold in liquid form&cheap,i use for my body after scrubs&sugaring, better than any lotion out there, imo),if i get a pimple or before my period i add to the moisturizing mix a drop of tea-tree or lavender essential oil.First no result,saw them only after about 2,5 months of this OCM(allow your skin time to get used to new cleaning, esp. if like me you didn’t use other cleansers during OCM and before it,for long used store-bought non-organic stuff, it screws your skin’s natural balance off&takes time to restore it).Having failed with OCM previously i didn’t expect much,hoped at least to combat blackheads&some acne.After few months of grapeseed, now a month after rosehip my skin look clearer, i still have ab.2-3 pimples every month (before period i get more,cos hormones),but my blackheads(esp on chin)clean out after OCM&skin looks clearer,for me it’s huge progress&being a realist not idealist i’m happy with that.I wash cloth with soap&water after OCM&put it to dry,after 2-3 uses&soap washes i take a new one&old add to laundry,so it gets “deeper” wash.Also once in 2 months i see 1-2 black heads that don’t go away&become “bumpy”, i sanitize my hands,pop it(not with nails!),sanitize the spot and/or apply tea-tree or lavender oil&that’s it.I think that happens no matter cleansing method,and that’s the only way to get rid of this type of “bumpy” blackheads, i used to have lots of those before.When i wake up(my skin looks the best then) i wash my face warm water¬hing else(i’ve slept all night on clean pillow so no need for serious cleaning&skin cells rejuvenate during night so using store-bought cleansers strips away all the work your skin has done during the night),or use colloidal oatmeal (i grind oatmeal into powder-ish, they say it’s the same thing,”colloidal” costs more cos marketing!) and add to a glass of warm water,wash face with that instead water,colloidal oatmeal&baths are good for acne prone or skin with dermatological issues.Twice a week i scrub with bit of organic honey+sugar (once a month(!) add-squeeze bit of lemon juice(or grapefruit,but lemon helps with post acne spots) or add a drop of lemon essential oil-it’s v.strong scrub&don’t go outside or use good SPF after it!).So OCM i use 5 times a week as evening cleaning,trying to get less lazy&do masks too.Soon will start mixing oils high in linoleic acid&do OCM. Will soon start taking Zinc,heard for some people deficiency of that can be reason for acne&hair loss,maybe my skin would get even better.Sorry for very long post, but I hope this helps somebody;D
OMG this post helps so much!!! This past year I have tried all sorts of combinations of OCM and my skin doesnt seem to like any!!! I have had acne since I was 18-19 (now 26), and that was at the same time I found out I was gluten Intolerant. I have tried every method out there, changed so many dermatologists and prescriptions all these years, I was under control for some year and in good condition, until 2 years ago that the prescription creams my dermatologist gave me suddenly werent working for me anymore! That was when I decided to no all natural and organic on my skincare. Getting back to OCM, it has made me break out so bad around my jawline and now I seem to be getting those big pimples that hurt right below the jawline on my neck!! I am so frustrated!! I have the suspicion that my face doesnt like castor oil and also that when I do the OCM sometimes my BB cream (with color- which I need to change to organic) doesnt come off properly and notice it after Im done with my OCM. That also made my acne worse. I tried grapeseed at some point (I must have read what you are talking about, just dont remember where- would like to find that article again) but cant remember how it went- dont think very well, but the truth is I might have switched to something else too soon, and maybe my grapeseed oil was not too good?
Im currently using Crunchy Betty’s Oil Cleanser for Acneic and Oily Skin but has castor oil in it so maybe that might be one problem, or that I havent given it much time (did it for a month). I need to get a microfiber cloth to see better results.
What is your exact recipe with grapeseed oil?
Thank you! 🙂
Painful acne at the jawline is usually cystic acne, which is caused by irregular hormone fluctuations and is too deep for any acne product to reach.
I think for acne-prone people it’s better to watch the comedogenic rating of the oil used. Coconut oil has a comedogenic rating of 4 (over 5, which is pretty high). Olive oil is 2, a bit better. For really sensitive people, there are a few oils that does not clog pores (comedogenic rating of 0), such as sweet almond, argan oil, hemp seed oil, etc.
I originally started using the Oil Cleansing Method a few months ago. It began with coconut oil as a moisturizer which broke my face out horribly so I went back to washes and cleansers. Then I got put on to sweet almond oil which worked wonderfully for weeks and now my face is breaking out on tiny bumps along my jawline and painful pimples under the skin.
I’m allergic to nuts but I never considered that the SAO would make my face behave like this smh. Now after reading this I’m seeing that my face may just be telling me that it’s time to change up the regimen smh.
So I’m about to walk on over to Whole Foods and hope I can find something that’ll fix the damage that’s going on now smh. My skin is usually dry and can flake up especally on my forehead, cheeks and around my mouth. I’m super discouraged about these breakouts.
I know many sites suggest using different oils but I have been using a combination of Hemp Seed oil and Grape Seed oil for almost a year now and it works great! I use cloth baby diaper rags (regular rags can be too abrasive and excessive exfoliating is not good for the skin) soaked in warm (not hot! hot water is actually bad for your skin, says my dermatologist) water to remove the oil and my pound of makeup. No face wash I have ever used has gotten my face this clean.
In the morning I use unfiltered organic honey (farmers market) as a morning cleanser. Just wet your fingertips with warm water and use a quarter sized amount of honey and apply to your dry face, then rinse with warm/cool water. It pulls out impurities and is a natural anti-inflammatory. As I said to the comment above… Honey really is the nectar of the gods, it cures so many things. I have had really bad cystic acne all of my adult life and between cleansing with hemp seed and grape seed oil in the evening and honey in the morning… my skin feels amazing! Best of luck to you 🙂
Warm washcloth trick. Wet washcloth, cotton, in water, wring out,microwave on clean plate for 20-30 seconds. It will be hot. Pick up with tongs and wave 2 or 3 times until cool enough to apply to your face. Use as directed with ocm. Sometimes I will use viva towels for subsequent passes to get oil off as they are not abrasive and clean. I recycle wet paper. I wash washcloths and all cleaning rags and mops in bleach on hot wash and the warnest rinse you can get.
dear cruncy betty & follow OCMers,
i am a newbie to the OCM thang, i have only recently stumbled upon it thanx to pinterest (gawd luv pinterest)
i started maybe 2-3 weeks ago using straight up EVOO (only), and i had excellent results, my skin felt rejuvenated, fresh & so clean clean:) was soft & it felt amazing……only in the past few days have i started to break out MASSIVELY on my chin & i mean OMG…never even at my worst (& i didnt have major acne as a teenager at all)…my skin has always been pretty good just a tad dry & a lil breakout here & there if i was going too hard on the junk….but man these things are crazy!!!!!! i think people above are referring to them as clusters (well they may as well be volcanoes) lols…..i know, i know you have said above to stay clear of the olive oil & coconut oil…but after this breakout i thought i might try a new mix (as i was only first using EVOO only…again big newbie here) half evoo & half coconut…i also added ACV to my regime as a toner with some tea tree to hopefully zap these big ones quick smart…….i am really just hoping it’s my skin re-adjusting & having a big detox spew…but some advice would be super awesome, should i push through or try another mix asap?!?? only thing i have on hand atm is evoo & coconut, but might look at getting some castor, hazlenut, jojobo to try some variations – what yall think?? i was sooo happy with just the evoo on its own it was awesome for the first 2 weeks but i dunno whats going on now :(((
cheers & luv the blog xo
I know this is way late, but I would recommend dropping both olive oil and coconut oil as I’ve seen several posts that they can clog pores. It is my understanding that safflower oil is one of the best oils to use on oily skin, because it helps balance out your skin. I’m about to try 4 parts safflower oil with 1 part castor oil.
I did OCM for about 6 months and it worked fabulously. Then it stopped working. I had surgery, had to take a lot of medications, couldn’t tend my skin as thoroughly. Almost three months later, my skin is still a mess. Nothing is working. I really liked the way my skin looked and felt using oil, though it’s either not working anymore, or my body hasn’t resolved the stress from surgery/chaos.
😐
I know many sites suggest using different oils but I have ben using a combination of Hemp Seed oil and Grape Seed oil for almost a year now and it works great! I use cloth baby diaper rags (regular rags can be too abrasive and excessive exfoliating is not good for the skin) soaked in warm (not hot! hot water is actually bad for your skin, says my dermotologist) water to remove the oil and my pound of makeup. No face wash I have ever used has gotten my face this clean.
In the morning I use unfiltered organic honey (farmers market) as a morning cleanser. Just wet your fingertips with warm water and use a quarter sized amount of honey and apply to your dry face. It pulls out impurities and is a natural anti-inflammatory. As I said to the comment above… . Honey really is the nectar of the gods, it cures so many things. I have had really bad cystic acne all of my adult life and between cleansing with hemp seed and grapeseed oil in the evening and honey in the morning… my skin feels amazing! Best of luck to you 🙂
I’ve just started the OCM and I’m pretty excited. I bought the tamanu thyme cleansing oil and I really like how supple it makes my skin feel. One question though. I use the oil at night before bed to remove my makeup, but I shower in the morning. What would I do in the morning to cleanse my face that won’t strip my face of too many oils? I have oily skin normally so when I wake up, my face is already pretty oily. Can anyone offer any suggestions? Thank you!
Crunchy betty has another amazing recipe called no nonsense daily face scrub (or something along those lines) you should definitely check out! I use it every morning and I really enjoy it! It’s literally only half a cup of finely ground oatmeal and half a cup of finely ground almonds. Plus she gives suggestions of what else to use for different skin types.
Check it out!
Awesome! Thanks for the tip! I fell out of the OCM method for a little bit but I’ve recently picked it back up. My skin went nuts, again, and now I’m in a period of my face getting EXTREMELY dry on the sides of my nostrils and my chin. It gets bright red and then peels. So I’m assuming it has to do with the weather changing. I’m going to try the scrub and the OCM and hopefully I can get my face back under control, haha.
I use unfiltered organic honey (farmers market) as a morning cleanser. Just wet your fingertips with warm water and use a quarter sized amount of honey and apply to your dry face. It pulls out impurities and is a natural anti-inflammatory. It really is the nectar of the gods, it cures so many things. I have had really bad cystic acne all of my adult life and between cleansing with hemp seed and grapeseed oil in the evening and honey in the morning… my skin feels amazing! Best of luck to you 🙂
I decided to try this method after weeks of researching. Last night was my first time. I decided to use Castor oil and grapeseed oil as my blend, both cold pressed and organic bought at Whole Foods. (3 parts castor to 1 part grapeseed) I have oily, acne prone skin and from what I have been reading, this sounded like a good blend to start my journey. Hope all goes well and I hope to update on my progress.
HI!
I’m considering trying this method. I’ve been wanting to try it since last year but always back out and buy natural face cleansers. I have oily skin, I don’t have acne but my forehead and my cheeks have skin colored pimples. They’re not whiteheads or blackheads, they’re just there…ALL the times. I’m thinking of using grapeseed oil and almond oil, and I have peppermint, rosemary and tea tree oil since I use them on my hair. Can anyone help me? I currently use jojoba oil as a moisturizer after I clean my face, and a toner made of Apple cider vinegar, water, peppermint and tea tree oil.
Honestly, experimentation and consistency are your best friends. Everybody’s skin is different so it’s kind of hard to tell someone exactly what blend to use.
Those essential oils are all really strong, and can be kind of drying, which can actually make your skin sort of bumpy like you’ve described. I’d say add some castor oil to the base oils you have, and swap out the rosemary and peppermint for something more soothing like calendula or chamomile.
Also avocado oil is another great base oil to consider, my skin loves it. Right now I’m using:
2 parts avocado oil
2 parts apricot seed oil
1 part neem oil
Lavender and tea tree essential oils
(No castor oil for me in the winter, my skin is super prone to eczema and dry patches. In not-winter the neem oil “part” is half castor oil half neem oil))
I use 2 parts castor oil, 5 parts almond oil, 3 parts jojoba oil. Thinking about putting in some tea tree oil just to help fight the breakout I already have. Just started this week and I love it!!
A motivating discussion is definitely worth comment.
There’s no doubt that that you ought to write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally folks
don’t speak about such topics. To the next!
Many thanks!!
If I am not going to use the Oil Cleansing Method every night, what should I use on alternate nights? I ask this because I wear sunscreen and blush, and I want to be sure I’ve gotten all of it off my face. I have combination skin with a tendency toward adult acne. I have never put Castor Oil on my face, but I use it for muscle and joint pain. Ideas? Thank you!!!!!
I used Cerave foaming facial cleanser. It’s really gentle and I think it doesn’t have as many harsh chemicals as other american brands. Asian cleansers are best though. Skin Food is a pretty cheap korean brand
I have really oily skin. I used a blend of castor oil and sunflower seed oil at first and I had a lot of success. The pus would come out of my skin without me having to steam it. After a while it stopped working. I took out castor oil from the blend and only used sunflower seed oil the ocm started to work again. As I didn’t have the right blend while I was traveling, I went sort of crazy when the pure sunflower seed blend started unclogging my pores and did the ocm way too many times. Sometimes I would run the oil on my face two or three times after steaming and I did that every day. It seems when I let my face rest the ocm works like magic. I’m currently in a lull and going to wait a week or two before I start the cleanse again. :\
On off days I usually just use acv or
rose water ad a cleaner/toner before bed. It wipes away the surface grunge (sunscreen, makeup, whatever) without being too drying.
The acv needs to be diluted (I use roughly 1 part acv 2 parts water and keep a ready made jar in the bathroom), but the rose water can be used straight.
Fantastic website you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any discussion boards that cover the
same topics talked about here? I’d really like to be a part of community where I can get advice from other experienced individuals that share the same interest.
If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks a lot!
I’ve not tried OCM before – very interested! I do have rosacea…what is working for others with this problem?
T
Thanks for the info! I’ve just started the OCM in the past week and definitely love it. I’m struggling, however, with dryness. I’m using avocado oil with a bit of hazelnut and sweet almond oils, which from what I’ve read shouldn’t be too harsh for my skin. I have upped the ratio of avocado to the other oils, to ensure I’m getting lots of moisture, but I still have dry patches showing up around my mouth, chin and cheeks. It was great to read in your article that this is normal in the adjustment period, but I’m wondering if there’s anything I could or should be doing until my skin adjusts in a week or two – should I apply a bit of extra oil once my skin is clean, or just leave it? Any thoughts would be great! 🙂
I’m that rare one who uses coconut oil like my auntie used Ponds Cold Cream. I then use witch hazel as a toner and go to bed with coconut oil+lavender/lemon/frankensence
EO blend. I’m 58 and have always had dry, acne free skin. My skin is soft and glowing. Love your blog!
I use a hemp seed, tamanu, and tumeric oil blend. 2x a week I add 1-2 drops of castor oil. I had horrible acne and scarring. My face is now glowing and scars are fading. So glad I didn’t have to take that dreaded road of hatch chemicals and pills.
I use a hemp seed, tamanu, turmeric blend. I started with only hemp seed and gradually add turmeric and then tamanu. I am addicted to tamanau oil. I had cystic acne from 16 years old until about 20. I tried everything and finally got it clear with accurate. One day after hitting 40 I wake up to teenage skin. I refused going down that horrible road of antibiotics and pills and harsh creams. Finally I googled and found OCM. I researched and researched…I was afraid of oil. One day I said heck with it. I never tried the castor oil or coconut or even jojoba…that’s how much research I did before going for it. My luck…mind is not great… But I got a winner with this one. I do add a little bit like a drop or 2 of castor oil 2 times a week. I been doing this for about 2.5 months and my skin is glowing with a few scars that are fading and 1-2 pimples here and there that don’t stay very long. I no longer use any chemical to wash my face and hair and I’m now only wearing tinted moisturizer… Homemade… Things are looking very clear for me. Thank you.
I tried the coconut and EVOO and broke out like crazy. Tried castor oil and EVOO and broke out like crazy. Tried raw honey recipe and still acne. Finally, castile soap, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, and essential oils saved my skin. It was a rough trip, but I finally figured out what my skin loved.
Hi! I have been using the OCM for a week and it is amazing! Most of my acne has cleared up, my face is looking brighter and cleaner, however now I have a lot of blackheads in my nose and forehead, what can I do? Is this normal?
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I want to switch to the OCM. What are your thoughts on still needing to do a scrub/exfoliant 3x a week and a toner or does the OCM cover all of that?
Would you advise adding this to a nightly routine that already uses a Clarisonic?
Hey Crunchy Betty,
Another potential reason why olive oil causes so many to breakout — I do remember reading that most of the ‘olive oil’ we import is actually cut with a gross amount of vegetable oil.
Apparently there aren’t enough olives in Italy to support all the ‘Made in Italy’ claims on all the supposed olive oil in our stores. As long as a product passes through a port in Italy at some point, they can say ‘Made in Italy’ – so what happens is non-italian olive oil is diluted with vegetable oil, then passed through an Italian port, then labeled with a very culturally convincing Italian label!
The result? We cover our faces with vegetable oil 🙁
There are several online articles about this but I mostly know because I have an uncle who owns an olive farm in Italy and makes his own oil. So, insider scoop 😉
Julianna
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What do you think about sesame oil? I have combo skin (dry cheeks, but blackheads in the T-zone). I live in a country where there aren’t that many choices in oils. Have already tried coconut & olive and did not like, and I have an allergic reaction to almond oil. Just found some sesame oil and am wondering if it would be a good option to try. THANK YOU!
Sesame has a very strong smell, does it not? The sesame oil in my stores is quite fragrant! You could try it, but I think you’d wind up smelling like a Chinese salad bar!
Been doing OCM for 8years now, and yeah, I’m one of those special Coconut Oil gals 🙂 I’ve taught several friends OCM using Coconut Oil and none have had any problems. Hmmm. I am one of those who had to end up not having a single drop of Castor Oil, whoa, that stuff does not do my face any good.
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In evry summer,i got pimple.in winter nd rainy i m nt had any single pimple.i hv tried ocm method a month b4 nd stil continu ,bt stil der r some pimple.wht to do? Plz gv soln.nd cn i use rosewater as toner after ocm
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I have been using OCM for almost 3 weeks now. I’ve been using 1/3 castor, 1/3 jojoba and 1/3 grapeseed. I’ve have been dealing with break outs on my face for a while and was hoping that this would clear it up. For the first few days it appeared as if it was clearing up but now I have a huge breakout on my cheek and black heads on my forehead and around my nose. Should I stick it out and see if it gets better or change my blend? What would be a recommended blend for acne and dry skin?
Letting,
Hello. I don’t know if you are still OCMing. If you had any breakouts within 2-3 weeks of starting this regimen it was going to happen. I wanted to throw in the towel. Remember it takes 2 weeks for skin cells to overturn. All you did was purge it. It was going to happen with or without OCM. I would most definitely take out the castor oil and only use 1-2 drops in your blend 2x a week. I also went with hemp seed oil and tamanu oil. Hemp seed is 0 on comedogenic scale. I also use microfiber clothes to wash and rinse and spa towels to pat dry …you can find some great ones in packs of 12-24 at your auto parts store. Use a new cloth and towel every time. Wash them in hot water with vinegar and baking soda. If you have a washer with the sanitize setting use that. I hope this helps. Good luck.
HELP!! So I accidentally stumbled upon ocm, and did it with much success for about a week just using sweet almond oil – then my nose started getting VERY dry so I switched to using avocado oil, again lots of dryness on my nose and a few other places, mixed it with jojoba oil as I have acne probe skin, now I’m breaking out and still have terrible dry patches, I’m really unsure as to what’s causing the dryness as I’ve not used an oil which causes drying out – unless I’m doing it too often which is every night!! I am being very gentle though, I’ve also given up all my acne routine (which was Dan’s regime acne.org) which I’m wondering if is contributing to the break outs?? Bottom line I really don’t want to give ocm up – despite the problems underneath them something amazing has happened to my skin…it’s more even and my pores are a lot smaller and without the breakouts is really clear!! So what am I doing wrong?? Please help I didn’t want to leave the house today 🙁
Hi Rachel,
I used Dan’s regime for 2 years and then the hormonal acne came and the regimen didn’t help me out too much. So I researched for months and came across OCM. I started the last week of February and it’s now early May and my skin is a lot better in terms of irritation, redness,and frequency of breakouts. At night, I wash my face with Aldi’s coconut oil. It is organic, cold-pressed and virgin. I leave the oil sit on my face for 3-5 minutes to let the oil sink in and get the dirt out. Then I take a very warm/hot microfiber cloth(from the automotive dept. of Dollar Tree)and apply it to my face. I leave it there for 60 seconds, then wash off the oil with warm water. When I have done a good wash all around my face, I rinse with cold water. Then I use my apple cider and water toner to bring my face back to a normal ph. I use 3 parts water for 1 part ACV. Use Bragg’s Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. Then if my face feels dry, I put a SMALL amoount of coconut oil back on my face, rub in completely so you don’t break out. Very important step. Make sure too much oil is not left on your face or you could have major breakout issues. Then in the morning, I apply my apple cider vinegar toner again, wait a few minutes, and rinse off with cold water, then apply coconut oil for moisture as needed. If you let your skin dry out to much from cleansing, it will overproduce more oil. So I found a light touch of oil prevents the shiny face because oil dissolves oil. Anyway, For me rinsing off the ACV helped prevent any redness and irritation later on. However, after cleansin with oil for a couple months, my sink was clogged up, so now I have to use a bowl of water and rinse the cloth in there and dump the water outside so no oil goes down the sink. Anyway, coconut oil and ACV done like I stated above has helped the severity and frequency of my breakouts. My face is much clearer now and when I get the ovulation chin breakout, it’s not as red and inflamed as they used to be. Hope this helps someone!
Sprinkling some bicarb soda down the drain followed by white vinegar regularly should stop your sink from clogging up. It is amazingly effective.
I just start OCM. I used a 1:1 ratio of olive oil and Grapeseed oil. I have normal to combination skin. I also added some lavender and peppermint oil. After 2 days my face is dry! I read to skip the olive oil so I am looking to switch – maybe avocado and Grapeseed 3:1 ratio? Thanks!
Not sure if you ever figured out how to put a stop to the dryness, but my personal suggestion is to cut out the peppermint oil. I’ve tried it before & it dried out my skin like nothing else! Also, I’d avoid using grapeseed as it can possibly clog pores as well. After much trial & error with OCM, the best blend I’ve come up with for my combo skin is almond oil (much lighter than grapeseed), tea tree for antibacterial, lavander for healing/ soothing & rosemary for fine lines & acne scars. Hope this helps 🙂
Do you have an opinion of this method being used in conjunction with a derma roller? What were the effects?
Hello i was just wondering you’re thoughts on using Hemp oil? I’m desperate to get rid of my acne and iv tried everything dam thing i can get my hands on 🙁
Hi! I was wondering if instead of using a washcloth in the OCM, it was possible to use cotton pads?
I’ve been using the OCM for about a week now and my skin has never been better. I have dry, EXTREMEMLY sensitive skin and have always had redness/swelling irritation from every cleanser and moisturizer Ive used. Ive been using 1/3 Castor to 2/3 EVOO every night. I do wear a sunblock with a dab of foundation mixed in on my face every day as well. My skin is a bit dry still, but doing a lot better than before.. and Ive stopped using my moisturizer.. just a quick rub of more oil after cleansing.
Going to try Avocado oil next to see if it helps with the drying.. but want to do 1 full month with the olive oil just to see how my skin is doing.
Your site is fabulously interesting and informative – thank you. I have recently embarked on the OCM. I have been using hemp seed oil with either jojoba or castor oil. What are your thoughts on hemp seed oil? I think it is helpful for acne but it’s still early days… on the whole my skin looks and feels better but spots still popping up here n there!
Can you infuse tea or flower powders into the oil to use for oil cleasing?
18 weeks pregnant with #3 (boy #3) and broken out worse than with the other 2. I’ve had acne since 11, and done everything since to clear it up: antibiotics, over the counter and expensive store brands, and accutane twice. I started OCM with coconut oil with baking soda, and homemade toner from Apple cider vinegar and witch hazel. It’s cleared up a little (mostly because of the toner. I’m going to try the castor oil with jojoba. I was just wondering if anyone uses a toner in addition to the OCM.
Hi Joanie,
I just wanted to let you know that baking soda is alkaline and our skin’s ph is naturally a bit acidic; the baking soda may not be doing you any favors. Also, since you are using baking soda, your toner is essential! I use toner, but I use lemon juice and water (1 tsp lemon juice to 1/2 cup water) and I stay away from baking soda on my face since it freaks my skin out. As for jojoba, it has been breaking me out a bit, so I am about to switch to a castor/sunflower mix and see how that goes. But in short, yes, toner is great.
I started this a week ago, I only have olive oil and coconut oil in the house so I am meaning to go get me some other oils and now it’s Easter weekend I have to wait till the shops open again! I know coconut oil is comedogenic so I went with the olive oil. So far, no problems with break outs. But even without any castor oil I still have slight dryness. I have oily skin all over my face and neck on top of that I also have dry flaky skin if I don’t moisturise and exfoliate gently on a regular basis.
To help this, and I don’t think it’s quite enough, I have been using jojoba oil mixed with aloe vera gel after I oil cleanse then spritzing a little rose water over that. On an especially dry day I’ll apply a little organic skin cream before bed.
My skin looks the best it has since I was 11 when my acne started. Less sebum production, yay! It’s unclogging pores already to the point that they are noticeably less visible. My skin is glowy and firm and no new break outs!
FU SOAP!
I think I have mixed/normal skin. Slightly sensitive T-zone, prone to blackheads and outbreaks. I use 2 parts castor 1 part jojoba, and I use it every two days, usually. My skin feels soft and looks clean, but sometimes I add a little moisturizer on my cheeks. I’m amazed how good it works, even on spots and damaged skin. Wow.
On the days you do not OCM – with what do you wash you face Sanne? I’ve been occasionally using ‘Amie’ products which are plant based with no sulphates nor other nasties. Do you use similar
.?
Hi Mel, I usually just use water in the morning and evening, hot and cold. The less nasties the better :-). I’ve got lots of Kiehl’s products, but I don’t use them as often anymore. Never heard of Amie, is it any good? How does the combo suit you?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about oil cleansing method.
Regards
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I’m looking to clean up my skin. I had 2 back to back pregnancies which resulted in breakouts and hyperpigmentation; also known as pregnancy mask. 8 months later and my skin is looking terrible, and I do mean terrible. It is so oily because of overcompensating due to the overuse of heavy make-up to cover my spots. I have read so many different posts, different opinions, different mixtures, etc. What would you recommend that I use? What ratio should I use for mixing? Do I use morning and night? I’ve read a lot of great things about rosehip seed oil and fading scars/hyperpigmentation. I would like to try that out, but really need some guidance on what is best for me. Thanks so much!
I would like to know after you had done the OCM, at night, the next morning what would you recommend such as… toner, sunscreen lotion, and perhaps moisturizer after washing your face in the morning
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I am going to make an oil cleanser that will contain castor oil, grapeseed oil, tamanu oil, and argan oil. Can I use this to wash off eye makeup or should I be avoiding my eyes with this combination?
Thanks for finally talking about > Trying and Troubleshooting
the Oil Cleansing Method: Tips For Flawless, Oil-Cleansed Skin | Crunchy Betty < Liked it!
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Perhaps this might explain …?
I have been using my own homemade foaming face wash (based on filtered water and liquid Castile soap) and homemade serum (based on a combination of 85% argan oil and 15% sweet almond oil) to great success. I am interested in switching to oil cleansing. Does this mean my serum will now not be necessary as the OCM is oil based, like my serum?? Would using both mean oil overload?
I have been using oil cleansing for a couple of months. I wasn’t liking how my skin looked with the olive oil/caster oil blend I was using (it was much better on the olive oil/coconut oil blend I started with, actually). I felt that I looked dried out and much older. After reading this post, I decided to try a more dry skin combination. I went with 1 1/2 tsps each avocado and apricot kernal oil, half a teaspoon of castor oil, an eyedropper full of argan oil, and about ten drops of essential oils. I’ve been using this blend since Sunday, and my skin looks much better overall. That old look is definitely going away, but I have about 7 pimples under the surface of my skin that weren’t there before. Could this just be transition, or is this mixture too rich for my skin? Any thoughts?
I use a Grapeseed and Jojoba oil OCM. I also put a few drops of tea tree oil in it. I have acne prone skin but it’s dry, not oily, so I have to be very particular with what oils I use. Grapeseed oil is wonderful for acne prone skin. Jojoba oil has a Comedogenic Rating of “2”, but is great as a moisturizer, so I do a 2:1 ratio so that I have more Grapeseed oil than Jojoba oil. I really love the way this combination makes my skin feel and my acne is clearing up and I actually like my skin now.
I’ve been trying the oil-cleansing method for a couple of weeks now. I never really cleaned my face with proactive or store bought cleansers, so my skin did not have a transition time.
I’m having a hard time figuring out how to manage my acne. At 23, I should have outgrown it. I’ve been using castor + sunflower, and the acne has just exploded. Whiteheads, everywhere, like little white daisies.
I transitioned out of Tea Tree Oil as an additive for a repairitive, in case that was causing anything. So far, no change. It is only making it worse.
ATM, I am going back to just castor oil to see if that helps to clear the acne. It became worse when I added sunflower, though my face is far dryer (coconut and olive obviously do not help). What will help? Is this an allergy? Sunflower was supposed to help with acne. Also I have a severe budget as a recent grad…..
See a full list of comedogenic ratings of oils on beneficialbotanical.com
Hello! Does anyone have experiences from using sweet almond oil in OCM even though you have mild allergy when eating uncooked almonds? My throat itches badly if I eat almonds, but I love the smell of almond perfumed products, and like what I’m reading about the oil.
Second question: Concerning the wash cloths… – I admit that I’m a bit lazy when it comes to for example laundry. I don’t want to make too much fuzz like a unique wash for the cloths. I want every advice you have that can ease the cloth business! I use the same cloth for about three days, but wash it a bit with regular handsoap before using it.
I have oily, acne-prone skin with beginning fine lines. I use a blend of castor oil, jojoba oil and either pomegranate or rose hip seed oil. I also used coconut oil for a while and had no bad issues with that before I read it was comedogenic and freaked.
I can’t breathe right when I hold the washcloth over my face, so I use it more to wipe off with lots of warm water. So in other words, I don’t really respect the steaming process 🙁 I feel like the world’s naughtiest OCM-usernow.
Bye!! 😀
Do not use any oil on your face from anything you’re allergic to, you will eventually break out or worse! As for the steaming, you could always use it before showering, then wash your face a the end of your shower.
hi crunchy betty,
thought i’d go in the bath and try this as i’ve been meaning to for some time now. what i mixed was: 1T castor ~ 1T apricot kernel ~ 1T evoo. just wanted to keep it simple because it is my 1st formula { so i’ll be making changes from here if needed }. after i used my rosehip seed oil and my aloe based matrixol syrum that i’ve made. My skin feels calm and like it wants to be a “good girl” ~ so i’m happy i ran into your space and made the time to do this. LOVE your crunchy style!
I have combination skin and sometimes my skin breaks out in acne. I used to use bar soap to wash my face (yes, I know – my girlfriend has told me thats bad”. . I now use her Citrus Clear Face Wash which smells great and and it takes off so much dirt and oil off my face and leaves it not too dry-not too oily.
Ok here is my question. I am so excited to try the oil cleanse but I am confused. If I wash at night do I need to wash again in the morning? Also if I put oils on at night to moisturize do I need to repeat in the morning before applying makeup?
Has anyone tried using a facial steamer instead of the washcloth? It takes so long for my tap water to heat up and I don’t like the idea of all that wasted water. A steamer also seems like it would be more convenient and relaxing. They’re about $20 online but before I buy I wanted to see if anyone else had tried it. I think I’d still want to put a warm washcloth over my face during steaming. Any thoughts?
Funny – I was wondering the same thing last night. Have you purchased it?
I’ve been doing the OCM for about 3 weeks now and I think I finally have my ratio/method for my skin figured out. I have combination skin with a particularly oily nose and chin and drier around my hairline. My ratio is 60% grapeseed, 30% castor and 10% avocado. After cleansing with this mixture, I made a toner with 25% raw apple cider vinegar, 75% water and a few drops of tea tree oil. When my skin is feeling a little drier than normal, I use a bit of avocado oil as moisturizer.
I cannot recommend this method enough!! My skin used to go through phases of extreme oiliness to extreme dryness, and I could never predict when it would do what. Now my skin is consistently moisturized, and it just looks better all around.
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Hi there I am truly converted. and few months back I started a “cleanse” removed all chemical based cleansers, soaps, shampoos, conditioners. You name it, all natural now. Even my make-up. And your recommendations for OCM are great. I have sensitive combo skin and I live near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and winter is COLD and dry. My holy grail mix in a 4oz pump is about 50/50 castor oil to sweet almond oil with about 15 drops to Tea tree EO. And I dont usually need facial moisturizer, which is a miracle for me. Thanks So much. I’ve even converted my bestie!
I first started OCM a little over a year ago and used strictly organic extra virgin coconut oil. I also used it as an all over moisturizer for face and body. My skin looked and felt fantastic, with just an occasional breakout here and there. Then after a year, I inexplicably started breaking out all over (face and body) really badly. I have always been prone to body acne (chest, back, shoulders) but have always had a clear face (weird, I know). But I started to get blackheads and pustules EVERYWHERE, even my thighs and stomach. I did research and discovered how coconut oil is comodegenic, so I switched to jojoba oil. My skin felt better at first and stopped breaking out as much. Recently I have added sweet almond oil and use a combination of the two (I dont measure out just eyeball in my hand), but over the past few weeks I have been experiencing severely dry, flaking skin on my face. It also looks very dull and I have little red bumps around my eyes and mouth. I was told using a lot of oil on your skin can cause it to stop producing its own natural oil and dry up. Am I using too much oil by oil cleansing every day and using it as a moisturizer as well? Does anyone have suggestions for what to do to restore my skin’s natural moisture?
Hi,
I have been using oil to cleanse and it has been working great. (Im one of the lucky few who have no skin issues with olive oil) I do have an issue with my eyes burning. I am very careful about keeping the oil away, but they still burn. Have you heard of any one else having this issue?
Hey there! I just wanted to let you know I loved your account on cleaning your face with oil. Thank you!
Hi
So I started OCM a year ago with coconut oil and after visiting your website decided to switch my oil because of breakouts. Im currently using 70% avocado and 30% jojoba oil. Its working great for the breakouts! But my face is extremely dry now! U should know too that I usually take a hot shower and then soak a flat cotton ball pad with the oil and remove any makeup that way, and then leave any oil thats left on my skin to soak in. Any suggestions? Was thinking of adding another oil such as argan?
I’ve been using the OCM for a little over a week. I’ve been using 1/3 each of castor, tamanu, avocado for my skin that has moderate (but persistent) acne, dryness, redness, scarring, and really dirty visible pores. My skin was really damaged from using BareMinerals (allergy) and I had been using Cerave, which helped somewhat. My skin is still purging a bit on OCM, but I’m loving the results. The pores on my nose are starting to look smaller, and my skin is looking more even. I bought a little steamer to use instead of the warm washcloth which feels cleaner to me. I’m wondering though if I need to splash my face with cold water to close my pores once I wipe the oil off. This seems normal to me, but I just want to make sure that’s what I should be doing. Anyone? Thanks!
Hello, Sarah! I consider buying a steamer as well. May I ask what you use to wipe the oil off (as you said – and I agree – the washcloth can be problematic) afterwards? Cotton? Paper?
I once read you didn’t have to close pores by using a toner before going to bed, so I suppose that goes for cold water as well.
I recently started the oil cleansing method, about a month ago, and originally loved it. I started out with a 1:3 ratio of castor to sunflower oil. The castor dried my skin out, even though I’m oily, so I eliminated it and have continued the sunflower oil alone. However, recently I’ve been getting small red pimples, not whiteheads or blackheads. Could it be the oil itself? Or something else? Any help or tips? Thanks!
If I were you I would stop! I tried this whole thing and it destroyed my face. Ended up having to take 3 months worth of antibiotics which created the most horrible side effects, but my face was completely broke out and painful. I stayed on OCM for 3 months hoping things would get better, but they never did. This method does not work for everyone.
I have been using the OCM method of cleansing for a little over a month. I am experiencing great results, however, within the past week, am getting little red spots on the tender area below the eye. I am trying to not get oils in this area, but proves impossible when washing my face. Any thoughts or suggestions? – My current blend consists of jojoba and castor oil and jojoba with essential lemon oil as moisturizer.
What type of washcloth do you recommend we use? What does the fabric have to be and does it have to be a natural/an organic fiber?
I think I made the mistake of mixing too many oils together at first. I think it is wise to start with castor and just one other oil at first, and then remove/add one oil until you find what works. I have combination acne prone sensitive skin, and I cannot use grapeseed oil. I have tried it with castor oil and as a moisturizer. It made my skin too dry and gave me a lot of pimples. Jojoba oil was decent, it made my skin really smooth and soft but it didn’t really get rid of my pimples/bumps. I am now using Hemp oil and it is my favorite so far. It is the only oil that is getting rid of my acne (slowly, but still). I also added a few drops of Frankincense oil and I think that is helping a lot also (supposed to be great for acne scars). I always finish with Sweet Almond Oil as a moisturizer as it seems to work best for my skin–super light and absorbent. I have just ordered Safflower oil from Mountain Rose Herbs and will give that a try soon.
Plain organic coconut oil has been working for me for about 6 months. I use it every night. I steam my skin several times before wiping off the excess oil. I typically have dry skin, especially now that winter is approaching. I apply a tiny bit of regular Aveeno lotion on dry spots in the morning to keep flaky skin at bay all day.
My trouble shoot is no matter what oil I use (co, jojoba, avocado oil), my face starts to really dry out. Mainly on the brow of my nose, under my eyes, and eye kids. What am I doing wrong?
Reply
Im a Unicorn! lol… I use EVOO with lavendar and tea tree. I have been thinking of trying Avacodo Oil, and after reading this I definitely will.
I’ve been using the OCM for 4 weeks now and my skin is worse! I used a combo of castor oil and jojoba, and was really frustrated it wasn’t working. I have oily, acne prone skin. Thanks for this post! I’m going to try sunflower seed oil instead of jojoba now.
I have sensitive skin n acne problems n scars too.i use almond oil before bed daily.is it good for skin?
I have oily skin having acne problems n acne scars. I use almond oil before bed daily.is it good for face?
I use a blend of 80% Pure Avocado Oil, 20% Castor Oil and Lavender. I have been using this for two years and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!! I got my recipe from your site and have spread the word.
I haven’t had to use moisturizer at all during that time nor have I had to buy any commercial products. I have even been asked if I use Mary Kay or other products and have been happy to say “No”.
I have added a natural bristle face brush to my regimen. It’s amazing how it makes my skin feel! I highly recommend it (although it shouldn’t be used everyday).
I’ve been using extra virgin Siberian pine nut oil and it has been working perfectly and I’m really glad I read this post because I was about to try olive oil with the pine nut oil. I’m really glad I didn’t because my skin is very acne prone.
I have read your blog post “the nitty gritty on OCM” and then came to this post. I am going to be giving this a try! I had a question.. On another post you talk about using honey as a mask. Have you done the OCM and also used a honey mask? Maybe not on the same day, but perhaps sometime in the week? This question may have been asked already, I just did not find it yet. Thanks! love your blog btw!
It’s very good to see all this useful information on dog training.
I have a concern however. How do you train a
younger dog?
I use the oil cleansong method and I love it but I want to know what type of oil to add if I’m prone to black black heads
So I’ve been doing the oil cleansing method for almost a year now and it was doing pretty great. When summer came around I had to switch oil composition due to the warmer weather. But recently I switched back to my fall combo and it just wasn’t working for me and I’ve still been breaking out so I changed to a whole different combo I found and my face has gotten REALLY bad. I’m trying to figure out if this is one of those “it’ll get worse before it gets better” things or if this combo just is not working for my skin at all.
Help!
Truly, I was skeptical! At 50-yrs. old with oily/acne-prone skin, I’d heard about the OCM but was not a believer. Read so many opinions against this…but stumbling across Crunchy Betty, I decided to give this a real try. Purchased her Tamanu Thyme Cleansing Oil for oily/acne-prone skin (she really DOES provide the recipe!). SUCCESS!!! After only a week, the congestion on my forehead, cheeks and chin is already better…much better! Not only am I religious about using this cleansing product and method, I am also adding a drop each of Tamanu, Tumeric and Thyme essentials oils into my daytime and nighttime facial moisturizers! UNBELIEVABLE!!! I am really blown away!
I need help with my oil combinations and help in genera please!! I bought CB’s tamanu thyme. It was leaving my skin dry so I bought argan oil to moisturize… my skin was still dry so I bought jojoba oil like her directions say and added it to the Tamanu oil. After almost a month, I am still breaking out (more so than when I used face wash) and my skin is still a little dry. I don’t want to give up on OCM but I am not sure what to do. A lot of people say you have to get the right oil combination, but that seems expensive considering the 3 oils I have already bought, especially if they don’t work. I would say I have an oily t-zone, but overall dry and sensitive skin and prone to break-outs and blemishes. Does anyone have any suggestions on oil combinations I could try and the ratios to use?
Also, can I do OCM every night? I have just been washing with water in the morning but can’t imagine not cleansing with something every night as I wear makeup everyday and more so to cover my many breakouts now! Also I have read you do OCM on a dry face and a wet face. Which one is it? I start with a dry face but is that right?
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!!
Heather
Hi Heath! I have a suggestion – try oils with a higher linoleic to oleic acid profile. Apparently acne proned skin responds well because our sebum is higher in oleic and the linoleic oil balances it out. All 3 oils you named are higher in oleic acid. Some that might work are safflower, grapeseed, hemp, pumpkin seed, castor, and rosehip. I’m going to start trying with hemp and castor. Hope this helps!!
Hey Heather, like you I have purchased Argan and Jojoba. Jojoba to clean out sebum and Argan to moisturize, but I don’t have Tamanu…. since you’re still breaking out when adding the Argan and Jojoba, have you considered removing the Tamanu? Caster is really drying, so if you’re already dry you may not want to incorporate that, but I did read that both Jojoba and Argan can be used as your base oil, so maybe just using those two and see what your skin does? This is the combo I’m trying right now…. It hasn’t been long so I can’t give feedback on it yet. Stay away from Coconut and Olive Oil if your prone to breakouts – Coconut gave me small hard pimples all over; very frustrating. This too shall pass. 😉
HELP!!! My teenaged daughters (13 and 15) and I all started using OCM about 3 months ago. My eldest and I were using a 50/50% sunflower/castor blend, and my younger daughter, who has terrible acne, was using a 30/70% blend. For the first several weeks, we loved it! All 3 of us found our faces weren’t oily in the morning anymore, and never got terribly oily even by night time. We used OCM every evining because we all wear makeup (natural mineral, although if anyone has recommendations on that, I’d love it!). After about a month, and this was after the initial breakouts from changing methods, we all found our skin was getting worse. My eldest and I now have bumps and clogged pores all over our face and onto our chins and necks, and my 13 year old’s acne is worse than ever! I also found my face was getting oily in the afternoon, and in the morning again. For the last several weeks, we’ve been using homemade colloidal oatmeal and milk, and um, not good! Breakouts as bad as ever, and dry skin. I’m trying so hard to find something that is good for us, that is financially viable (have you SEEN the price of organic skincare?!), and that works. At the moment I am seriously considering going back to Dermalogica to clear my skin to start again (gasp! I can’t believe I’ve admitted that!) Help, help, help! Please! Btw, the oils we used were organic and cold pressed. I look forward to all the wonderful advice you all may be able to give me. I’m not sure how much longer my girls will buy the, “honestly, this is better for you” school of thought!
Have you tried Manuka honey or apple cider vinegar? I use Braggs apple cider vinegar with water as a toner on my face and have found Manuka honey to be a great facial cleanser and mask. Both help fight bacteria and are a natural antiseptic.
No, I haven’t. I have some raw local honey that I could try, I just find that if I use anything on my face, even just water, without some sort of moisturizer afterwards, I get very dry. As I’m in my 40’s, I can’t afford to have dry skin!
I have terrible skin and I use 1/2 castor oil, 1/4 tamanu oil, 1/4 argan oil. The argan oil helps with dryness and the tamanu oil helps with the spots and scars! If you’re used to using a scrub you can add sugar a couple of times a week. Hope that helps!
My initial thought when I heard this was a food allergy. Maybe try cutting dairy out for a month and see if it improves. 🙂
I really believe the reason why this occurred to you and your daughters is because of your mixture. You used castor oil too much i suppose,1/2 castor oil? 3/4 castol oil?! That is just too much! If you’re the oily skin type the maximum measurement of castor oil youre goin to mix with your carrier oils should be 20-30% because CASTOR OIL DRIES OUT YOUR SKIN if taken advabtage of.I think the reason why your daugher’s acne got even worse than before is because the skin was dried too much because of the castor oil, stripping away all the natural oils which in case, made the skin produce more oil than it usually does which causes acne. Ive been there too, and i made a lot of research about it thats why im sayin this. Hope you find a solution
Hi Cristie,
I’ve been having the same weird reaction as you and I’m desperate for answers. I’m in my early 30’s and started using the OCM about 2.5 months ago. I’ve gone through weeks of the best skin of my life, to some of the worst – but the thing that caught my attention about your post was the “bumps and clogged pores”. This is a kind of acne that I never experienced until I was doing the OCM – what gives!?!?! I’m really glad to be “off chemicals” and not be spending so much money on products – but I’m really frustrated and don’t understand. I think I’ve read every article on the matter that is out there- tried so many different oils, used clay masks, honey masks, apple cider vinegar… I’m also Paleo so I don’t eat any sugar or grains, or any dairy, so it’s not anything I’m eating that’s causing it….
Just wondering if you have an update to share? Have you discovered anything in the last month?
Maybe Crunchy Betty has some more ideas for us?
Thanks,
Katie
Katie! I am in the exact same boat! I have been using the method for about 2.5 months now. I am Paleo, use ACV, and use a local organic product (jojoba oil and REAL salt with Sandalwood) and am having more breakouts than I have ever had. I have also added Baking soda and clay masks and tried grapeseed oil and teatree oil mixed to try to get rid of the acne. It seems to be getting worse! Especially during my period. Did you ever find a solution? If so, please share 🙂
I am also having the same issue! I started out with OCM and everything was fine for the first month besides being a little too dry. I have always had very dry skin and at 35 have never had acne or breakouts in my life (besides a small blemish on the rare occasion)-until now. I cut out sugar, dairy, gluten and corn thinking that was the problem. Been using ACV/water mix as a toner, baking soda scrubs, honey masks, clay masks, tea tree oil and various other essential oils-you name it. Have tried so many different mixes and finally gave up on OCM. Started using a diy natural moisturizer and foaming face wash (found the recipes on other blogs) and still not any better. I too am about to go back to my chemical laden products. 🙁 I have been scouring the internet looking for any advice about this issue and this is the first time I’ve seen anyone else have this problem. Have had the worst skin of my life for two months and no one seems to have answers. Please, if anyone has advice, share!
Ladies,
I know this all was a while ago but hopefully you read this…
I have the driest and most sensitive skin. I have tried every beauty product out there…well almost. I watch what I eat, workout and all that good stuff. I am a mom with 3 kids and a teenage son with acne. I hate to tell you this but my son started using the acne line from Dermalogica and he loves it! He has oily prone and dry skin.
I however, use 3 things on my face and I swear by it. I wash with Philosophy face wash “Purity Made Simple”. After that, I uses Mario Bedascu Rose Water, but the one product which changed my skin and I have been using it for 6 months now, is Peter Thomas Roth, Squalane Oil. Squalene comes from shark livers but PTR (Squalane) comes from sugar cane. Cold pressed. I use it in the AM and PM after I wash. Sometimes I emulsify with rose water depending on the dryness of my skin It even helps clear up break outs which have erupted. For whatever reason, they heal much faster.
Why or how all of this works I have no idea but it does. A simple trip to Ulta and the lady there told me about PTR and I’ve never been so happy with my skin in my entire life. I’ve used Dermalogica, Proactive, you name it….
I also use the Loreal face brush every couple days and an defoliator from Loreal as well.
GOOD LUCK!!!
The Philosophy face wash you use has some very bad things in it. sorry! 🙁 Please read this review by Paula’s Choice. She tells you exactly why you should not use it. It does work (i used it a couple times), but it causes problems you won’t see till later, underneath the skin. It’s also a great reference/guide to many products out there. They do give them a rating too.
http://www.paulaschoice.com/beautypedia-skin-care-reviews/by-brand/philosophy/_/purity-made-simple-facial-cleansing-gel-eye-makeup-remover
the other products you listed that you use are great!
yI am 50 yrs old and was still getting zits and having to buy pimple cream for my teenager and for myself. I was picturing having pimples into my old age. Crazy. Then i discovered the joys of OCM!! Now my skin looks and acts like it should. My blend is 1/3 castor oil and 2/3 avocado/flaxseed/evoo organic blend. I do not go to all the trouble of steaming my face, then wiping some oil off and then repeating. I simply wash my face with the oil, leave it on for a minute while using oil to remove eye makeup, then i remove the oil from my face with microfiber dish cloths dipped in almost-hot water. I just cannot believe the difference OCM makes! I haven’t had one single zit in the 6 months I’ve been using it. I do this at night only; in the morning when getting ready i simply run a damp washcloth over my face and I’m good to go! If you’ve been looking for something new to try for your skin OCM can’t be beat.
Ok I’m totally with you, but I’m 34 and getting acne. Never had it has a teen or in my 20’s…. this is so frustrating. I’ve used coconut oil to moisturize for the past month or two and still breakout after breakout. Just cut out the coconut. Tonight I just washed with Jojoba and Argan…keeping my fingers crossed. Here’s my question, do you use an oil blend to moisturize? If so, what? And, have you ever tried jojoba for your acne?
just wondering what brand of oils you use.
I have been using the OCM for two weeks. I have oily skin and use castor oil, extra virgin olive and jojoba oil in my first batch (eventually added lavender). My face seemed a little dry the first couple to uses until my face adjusted. I was surprised to have that effect using oils, but it proves the castor oil is working. I used tea tree oil directly on a pimple and it reduced the size by the end of the day.
I will continue to use different oils for oily/acne prone skin. My skin is looking better and my pores are too.
Well, just started the ocm, bought your products form your website! 🙂 I have an oily face along with the glorius acne prone skin to follow. blah! Ive only been using the ocm at night and the Tamanu oil cleanse in the am but ive noticed a few breakouts on my lower chin area along with some white heads 🙁 Maybe and hopefully its just my face adapting to these products.
Discouraging a bit, but these are organic so its best, right?
I believe this method and steaming the face attracts and pulls out oil/impurities from the skin hang in there for a while. Read more articles about the benefits and effects.
One ounce of Castor oil with a few drop of tea tree oil is a good spot treatments.
This actually works for me! I was surprised because everything out there tells you not to use oil on your face, especially for black folks. Thanks to your advice, I selected *real* virgin oil (Lucini) and did a 70/30 mixture with Castor. My skin has never been this beautiful. My acne is completely gone. Sometimes it does get a little dry though, so I started using Rose Hemp Seed Oil,and that seems to do the trick. Thanks so much for saving me tons of money and making me feel better about my face.
I’ve noticed that a lot of folks seem to be using the same oil mix over and over and over again. I tend to look at my skin on cleansing day and see what it needs. If I’m close to my period and starting to break out, I use hazelnut oil with a couple of drops of tea tree oil. If I’m feeling particularly dry, I use coconut oil with a couple of drops of argan oil. Castor oil always seems to be a no-no for me.
The beauty of these natural treatments is to be able to give one’s skin exactly what it needs exactly when it needs it. I no longer break out like I did when I tried to use the same oil blend for different skin conditions. Every day I wake up, I’m a whole new person (inside and out), so that requires a whole new oil blend.
I’ve even been oil cleansing my whole body for the past few months. I feel like my skin is a coating of satin and I never break out; of course, I mix my oils the day of my shower and try to use what my skin is asking for.
Don’t expect your skin to react the same way to the same mixture all the time. Your skin changes daily.
Great idea! The day of your shower, so does that mean you don’t do daily showers. I’ve never heard of whole body oil cleansing, are there times when you would use a soap? I have very dry skin and eczema and trying to figure out a beneficial regimen. Thanks.
My trouble shoot is no matter what oil I use (co, jojoba, avocado oil), my face starts to really dry out. Mainly on the brow of my nose, under my eyes, and eye kids. What am I doing wrong?
i have the same thing, except my dryness is pretty much everywhere, mainly on the nose, forehead and eyebrow area(i cant even do my eyebrows without flaking) i thought it might be due to the apple cider vinegar toner i was using but my skin is still crazy dry! granted, it has always been crazy dry but i was hoping for some improvement 🙁
Are you using castor oil? If so you might want to stop because that’s the same thing that happened to me. I am also a rare someone that uses olive oil because it’s very moisturizing and has never broken me out. Like ever. It scares me.
Pls I based in lagos in nigeria how I get coconut oil,
Help!! I’ve just been doing the oil cleansing method for 4 days and my skin has become a disaster!! 🙁 I’m using 1 part castor oil and 3 parts jojoba oil. I’ve always had some acne but nothing like this! Should I call it quits or is this part of the process?? Really wasn’t expecting my skin to get worse 🙁
What are some suggestions for a morning skin care routine? I have oily, sensitive, acne-prone skin (all the fun stuff, right?). Right now I am using Boscia facial cleanser but want to switch to the OCM at night. Should I keep using the Boscia cleanser or is there something else that will work better?
Also, if I end up needing to moisturize at night, what should I use? I feel like my heavy duty moisturizer will be overkill.
you guys should try using a microfiber cloth for this, it works great.
OCM makes a mess out of my sink!!!! I feel like I have to clean it daily. Anyone else have similar problems?
Hi, I am on my second day of OCM and I was wondering if you could givens your opinion on whether my skin is “purging” or am I breaking out from the oils? First off, I’m using 1/3 castor oil and 2/3 sunflower oil. My skin is dry and I mostly get hormonal acne on my chin only. I have a lot of clogged pores on my chin. I’m currently suffering from a pretty bad breakout on my chin and it’s been trying to heal for about a week now. Today, I noticed what seemed like those clogged pores coming to a white head. They are pretty easily extracted with not much redness or inflammation like the usual pimples in this area. I haven’t had any of this happen anywhere else on my face though. In fact, the rest of my skin is glowing and looks beautiful. But my chin just looks so horrible right now from the current breakout which causes a lot of dryness and flaking from the lesions healing. Does this sound normal? I just want this chin breakout to clear up, iot looks awful user makeup and no amount of moisturizer helps.
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It seems there is a lot of acne out there. Really, you guys, this condition is caused by DIET….too much cooked food will not be that great for the skin either. Focus more on fresh food, and your skin will glow, and all those pimps will disappear. And how come there is no mention of doing this OCM with hemp oil??? It’s the best, as it does
not clog pores. Visit the Practicalbohemianbeauty website, she has some great tips…and she tells you exACTly how to do it with hemp oil….
Does anyone know how to moisturise with the oil cleansing method? I have read a lot on cleansing and not a lot on moisturising.
I use almost no castor to most sweet almond oil to cleanse, and that seems to work- any more sweet almond will cause pimples…however I moisturise with coconut oil at night and a than during the day before putting on makeup and have such dry skin, I can’t seem to keep it moisturised! I’ve tried aloe juice abs gel but they don’t seem to solve the dryness problem.
I have also tried jojoba to no avail. Has anyone else had this problem?
Hey, I’ve tried the OCM for 25 days now, and my skin is getting worse than it was before.
I have bumps all over my forehead, side of nose, and chin, the texture is frankly disgusting.
I’ve been using 1/5 castor + 4/5 safflower, and I’ve been doing it every other day, using 2 wash cloths to wipe my face every time I do it. I’m thinking about stopping the OCM and just let my skin rest (and hopefully these awful bumps will “fade” away. I’m not sure if that’s even possible).
Maybe I’ll just do the OCM once per week or something, once my skin has rested.
PLEASE HELP!!! I don’t want to give up ….I stared using the ocm about a month ago I was in love i had no need to wear foundation at all! I couldn’t believe it best first week ever and others complimented me as my skin looked radiant!…well after the second week I started breaking out (I have dry skin and only get one underground painful zit when it’s that time of the month) needless to say my skin looks awful as I’m trying this I have a major underground zit middle of forehead and one right below my cheek bone with three small red tiny breakouts around it I can’t believe it. Why did it go from 10 radiant skin to weird looking and breaking out skin? I’ve been using castor oil / jojoba oil / avocado oil mix ….any thoughts? I use reg towels.
Skin type: dry skin/fair with freckles/lines around eyes and forehand/29 years old.
PLEASE HELP!!! I don’t want to give up ….
I stared using the ocm about a month ago I was in love i had no need to wear foundation at all! I couldn’t believe it best first week ever and others complimented me as my skin looked radiant!…well after the second week I started breaking out (I have dry skin and only get one underground painful zit when it’s that time of the month) needless to say my skin looks awful as I’m trying this I have a major underground zit middle of forehead and one right below my cheek bone with three small red tiny breakouts around it I can’t believe it. Why did it go from 10 radiant skin to weird looking and breaking out skin? I’ve been using castor oil / jojoba oil / avocado oil mix ….any thoughts?
I tried the oil cleansing method twice. Once with spectacularly bad results and once with mixed results. I have what I call ‘low burning’ acne. It doesn’t really burst up into a large pimple, it’s more like every pore is slightly infected. It makes my face look generally red and unhealthy. I read an article about oleic vs. linoleic acid on the face. Basically it said that oleic acid causes blocked pores and pimples and people who have skin problems naturally have skin high in oleic acid. Linoleic acid, however, cleanses acne-prone skin. It gave a huge list of oils high in linoleic acid, and another which was more like half-and-half linoleic and oleic. I chose one for cleansing (borage)and one for moisturizing (oil of evening primrose. I’m 35 and my skin is better than it’s been since I was 12. I think for people with really bad skin, you don’t need castor at all, and you should look for something very ligh in linoleic acid. Even the sunflower oil you list is actually more balanced between the two- not high in linoleic. I really think I’ve found what works for me. Wish I’d known about this 20 years earlier.
I’m not trolling, I swear.
After reading your post I very eagerly want to try OCM. I was very happy to see that you suggested brands to use. Even happier was I when you provided a link to Mountain Rose Herbs, which you mention is what you use.
I went on their site in search of castor oil and noticed that theirs says it’s “Expeller Pressed/Refined”…is their refined version okay to use?
Please help. Thank you in advance.
You say to take out the coconut or olive oil, but you don’t say what to replace it with. Any help please? There are a lot of comments with not enough time to go through them all :/
Hi! I’ve started OCM 15 days ago (I keep a journal to keep track of my skin’s progress), and at first I used 1/3 castor + 1/3 jojoba + 1/3 safflower.
My skin was dewy and looked fresh for the first few days. Then last Saturday on Day 12 I got rash-like bumps all over my skin (they don’t have puss or anything, just small bumps). That freaked me out, so I changed my blend to 1/5 castor and 4/5 jojoba (omitting the safflower because I thought the jojoba should be “good” to my skin). I also used baking soda for exfoliation on Day 13 just because my skin texture felt rough (don’t plan on doing it more than once a week).
Now it’s Day 15 and I’m starting to see small pimple-like, red bumps appearing on my cheeks (areas that usually don’t have pimples and are usually clear).
I tend to have more pimples/hyperpigmentation on my forehead and chin (hormonal acne).
So… Maybe I’ll wait until the end of the week with the castor + jojoba oil blend?
If not, I’m planning on using 1/5 castor + 4/5 safflower, since safflower oil should be a 0…
Still troubleshooting my OCM. I really hope this will work.
Hi, I have VERY sensitive skin and most soap gives me a bad rash and itchy/burning skin all day. I was wondering if you could use the oil cleansing method on your entire body, not just your face. It seems like a perfect idea but Ive never seen a thread on it and was wondering if it was safe.
I use a combination of castor oil and jojoba oil and add essential oils. I think I have just lavendar and tea tree in the mix I’m using now. If you’re breaking out, adding tea tree oil should help.
Also, I’ve been using coconut oil as a moisturizer for my body and face for months and haven’t had a problem. Until reading this post I hadn’t read or heard that it could clog pores.
I use jojoba oil with tea tree oil every evening. I don’t wash it off with a washcloth. I either jump in the shower and rinse it off or splash water on my face over the sink until it feels like I’ve rinsed off the excess oil. My face is not *nearly* as oily as it was a couple months ago when I started and it’s not nearly as red either!
Has anyone used the oil cleansing method on their whole body? And what about using baby wipes instead of a wash cloth??
Thanks!
Has anyone washed there whole body with oil cleansing?
I’ve recently decided to try the OCM for a second time after a failed attempt about two years ago (which failed I think partly because I was incredibly fed up with my skin and trying way too many things, and also because I was using EVOO). I know a lot of it is trial and error, and each person’s skin will react differently, but I wanted to get some advice/suggestions, particularly on using tamanu oil.
I have castor oil and sunflower oil for my main blend, and I wanted to either add in the tamanu oil to that or use it separately as a moisturizer.
I have combination skin, so at times it can be really oily and at other times incredibly dry. Super annoying. I’ve been using a prescription acne medication (after washing with Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash – which I actually think dries my skin out quite a bit), and while I feel like it’s been keeping the acne mostly under control, I really don’t like using something so strong on my face. It leaves a white reside on my skin, pulls it tight and can be slightly uncomfortable, and it bleaches out pillowcases and clothes (I’m also pretty sure the random highlights in my hair are because of it, haha). I also wake up with my face feeling pretty dry and flaky in areas.
I used the OCM combo for the first time last night (I just mixed it in my palm, did about half and half castor and sunflower oil and then added a little bit of the tamanu) and my face felt a little oily when I woke up this morning (maybe I should do more castor oil and less sunflower?). I can feel several pimples coming in, but this was from before last night. According to my old routine I would normally start applying more frequent and heavier layers of my prescription on those emerging pimples, but I’m not sure how to approach it with the OCM. Do I spot treat with the tamanu? Do I need to just accept that it’s going to happen? I know there’s an adjustment period to using the OCM, but once it’s established is there any kind of damage control you can do if you feel yourself starting to break out?
And regarding the tamanu, if I mix up a slightly larger bottle of the castor/sunflower mix, how much tamanu should I add? Should it be a third of the mixture? (I’m hoping not since it’s more expensive.) Or I should I use it as a moisturizer after? I feel weird about leaving oil on my face without washing it off, but I know some people have said that works for them.
I also have a bottle of tea tree oil, should I add a few drops of that? How many different ingredients are too many? I don’t want to freak my skin out anymore than necessary.
Any help or suggestions would be so appreciated! I really want this method to work for me because I remember when I used it 2 years ago my skin felt SO soft and wonderful, other than all the pimples. And I much prefer the idea of cleaning with something gentle and natural.
Thank you!!
I have tried many cleaners in my life time and the method that
Works amazing for me is the OCM and then I follow with a quick suds up of
Face soap, on a day I may feel more oily than usual.
I found a simple natural and all vegan brand at wholefoods,by forest nymphs
Bath and body company. It works great for me. Another good one is by Loreal, but not
As natural.
I cannot get the washcloths clean! I’ve been doing OCM for about 6 weeks now. So far, so good. But my washcloths are smelling like rancid oil. Any tips to get the oil out of my washcloths?
I tried OCM for a little over a month before giving up on it – I’ve had acnegenic skin my entire life and now in my late 20′s, am suffering from it again after childbirth and thought OCM would be my night in shining armor. I was so pleased with the results during the first few weeks but now almost 2 months later, I am left with awful patches of flakey, dry, irritated skin on my eyelids (both sides, upper and lower lids) and upper lip. Nothing helps the dryness, anything I put on it is sucked up like a sponge within minutes. The most unfortunate part about all this is the acne that was there, that actually went away because of OCM, are now coming back because I had to stop. I am so discouraged to try it again, I’m not sure what my next step should be besides going to a dermatologist.
I am fairly new to the oil cleansing method. I just started using it three weeks ago, and my skin has been improving so much!! I have less redness, less blackheads, and less acne! I could actually see my pimples getting smaller! I used the oil I already had at home, which was almond oil, that I used for my hair. I was planning on getting coconut oil after it finishes, but after reading this I’m reconsidering that!
Hi. I just wanted to share my experience with the oil cleansing method. I started the OCM in Jan. 2014, hoping to control the occasional breakout. I read every single review, website, ect and was completely convinced this would work for me. I also bought Liz Wolfe’s guide Skintervention, and felt completely educated and equipped for this transformation to natural skin care. I tried the OCM for about 2 months, making suggested adjustments during this time, and to make a long, painful, story short, it was the worst experience I have ever had, as far as skin care goes. It is now 6 months later and I’m on antibiotics, gone to the derm numerous times for extractions and cortisone shots, and just now is my skin getting under control. Please, please, be very careful trying this method. I felt almost brainwashed by all of the reviews and success stories, but remember this DOES NOT WORK FOR EVERYONE. I had the worst breakouts of my life during and AFTER this. I am all about all natural, but this is a very “different” type of skin care that just does not work for everyone.
Wow, I must’ve been real lucky. The first time I tried the OCM, I didn’t know what I was doing. I used pure grapeseed oil and I didn’t properly rinse off the oil. This time, I blended a 20% castor oil and 80% grapeseed oil mix and it worked pretty perfectly. I just massaged my dry face with the oil and then I heated up my washcloth by running it under the shower head and when it was warm, I wiped the oil off, rinsed the towel, wiped my face again, rinsed the towel multiple times until my skin felt like it had no more residue. After I showered the rest of me, most of my itty bitty whiteheads and blackheads were gone. I’m trying a 25% castor oil blend this time to see if I can get a slightly less oily finish. Though, my homemade alcohol-free tea tree oil toner is working great with the OCM.
I have been doing the OCM for about 3 months now (I’m following this daily routine from empowered sustenance – http://empoweredsustenance.com/7-secrets-to-cure-acne-without-chemicals/) , and your tips have helped tremendously, but I’m still not seeing good results from this process. I had hoped by now I would have at least seen some improvement, but I’m left with more acne, and really painful acne. My skin is so sensitive to the touch. If its scratched I have to stop what I’m doing just to deal with the pain. If I forget to put oil on in the morning as moisturizer, my face gets so itchy during the day, and the more I touch it the more I breakout. Any advice? Encouragement? I’m pretty close to giving up all together and going back to my old routine. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you! I’ve been toying around this idea for a year and I am so happy I took the plunge! I have normal to oily skin in the summer, and my face is a little sun damaged, bigger pores and a little aging now that I’m almost heading into my 30’s (and had some nasty habits in my younger partying years), so I’m doing the 2/3 castor oil, avocado oil and apricot kernel oil with rose hip seed oil. I also use vitamin e under my eyes. First time and I could see the difference immediately. I will NEVER EVER go back to chemical laden and pricy skin care lines and systems. I’ve shared this page to about 3 other girls so far. Thank you again!!! Xoxo
Hello
I’ve been trying the OCM for 2 weeks now and my skin is drying a lot! I do it every night.
I have combination skin, and am using about 20% of castor oil, 80% of sunflower oil and few drops of argan oil in the mixture. After rinsing my face with cold water (someone said it close the pores) I still need to add few drops of argan oil on my face at night and in the mornings.
At first I was steeming my face with warm water but read somewhere the water needs to be hot. I just came across a website and it said the water can’t be hot otherwise it will dry the skin. So what is it then? warm, hot or hot hot?
There were only 2 days where I could feel improvement but then things went downhill.
Since I spent quite of bit on these oils I want to make them work instead of switching!!
Any tips will be appreciated!
The post says that if you are experiencing dry skin, either reduce the amount of castor oil, do OCM less often or reduce the temperature of your water. If I was you I would use the same oil combination but try doing it every other day with water that is bath-warm.
Thank you so much Crunchy Betty for the wonderful advice!
OCM – 3 weeks In
My skin care regimen:
skin type: oily with blemishes, blackheads and white heads
50% jojoba/50% castor
add: tea tree oil
Microfiber wash cloths. I bought a set of 12 and I only use them once before washing
Night Moisturizer/Treatment: tea tree oil and tamanu oil
I did have a few zits after starting, although I expected this because I could feel them under the surface of my skin prior to starting. I now have zero white heads. I no longer get oily during the day. I can finally after 33 years say that my skin is balanced. I realized all the products I was using previously were overstimulating my skin and causing breakouts. I just wish the old acne scars would fade.
Hi, Jenn! Reading this is like reading my own story, even though I’m still waiting to see the convincing result. I use a blend of jojoba, castor and sometimes add a little pommegranat oil. I have two questions:
1) The microfiber cloths you bought, were they regular kitchen cloths, or specially made for the face?
2) Do you wash them, as recommended, using baking soda and no softener? I can’t help worrying about all the extra fuzz…
Hope you see this!
Thanks!
Tony
I started OCM about 5 days ago, after recommendation from 2 friends. It is very nice and I look forward to seeing how it goes long-term. I use it 1x/day in the evenings in the shower, and in the morning was my face with pure honey. I’ve always had acne, now at age 24 and on the pill it is better but I still get flare ups (specifically around my menstrual cycle). Anywho, I was curious to see if anybody else is uncomfortable inhaling the oils in their blend w/ the towel over your face. Although I don’t feel any adverse affects thus far, I worry about whether it is safe to be inhaling something as strong/astringent as tea tree oil (I use a very small amount – like 1 drop of tea tree to 5 tablespoons of carrier/castor blend). I don’t see very much information about adverse affects of inhaling tea tree oil, other than if the oil is impure/mixed with other harmful substances. Maybe I’m just claustrophobic, but I’ve been doing the top half of my face and then the bottom half so I can breath during the process. LoL. Any thoughts?
I have extremely sensitive skin that is prone to breakouts and oily on my t-zone and dry on my cheeks and around my mouth and nose. My skin is very fussy and the only cleanser I have found to not make it mad is SpectroJel.
Two weeks ago I decided to try oil cleansing because I am trying to cut out some of the chemicals I put on my face.
Week 1 I used a 1:3 mixture of castor oil and jojoba oil
Week 2 I used jojoba oil on its own
I have developed a slight rash on my face (little red bumps). I’m thinking it is probably the jojoba oil so I am going to switch to using grapeseed oil this week.
I’ll comment again to let you all know how that goes! 🙂
Hope you can help me out with the following Julie ! My husband and I have been using the OCM for some time with great results (him with a very oily skin uses it about twice to three times a week, me every day with my combination skin). I have 2 sons one well into puberty (with acne, hormones and all) and another on his way to it. For my son with acne I just cannot find the right combination, he breaks out every few days and cannot stop scratching and popping them on his forehead(ieuw) and he says that it also feels dry a lot too. I have tried the combination for oily and now for normal but I’m not sure what to do … I use almond oil combined with castor and a few drops of tea tree oil in it to help inflamation. Hope you can help ! grts, D@nielle
D@nielle: I have had adult acne and 2 teenage boys with acne. 1-2 times a weeks mix baking soda with warm water into a paste. This will stop the oozing of the pimples. Spread over face and leave on until it dries. Use plenty of warm water and a cloth to remove mask. splash face with cold water to close pores. Then use one of the oils for moisturizing as baking soda dries up the pimples. Grapeseed oil is the most neutral and works very well. dryness causes itching. In the meantime, just keep fingers away from face and don’t use too many different products for cleaning. Hope it works. google search natural acne treatments
Use your washcloths only once!! After that bacteria starts to grow and will definetly cause acne. Plus you are spreading the acne bacteria you are cleansing off your face. This is a must if acne is a problem for you. Start there, it may not be your oil mix.
Hi,
I’m just starting the OCM process this week. I’m not sure if I will have time to do this twice a day so I also bought a bottle of Burt’s Bee’s Radiance cleanser. I figured that I could use that in the morning and OCM at night since Burt’s Bee’s is supposed to be natural. I am just switching off of Proactiv so I assume that there will be a big adjustment!
Any thoughts on using Burt’s Bees in the morning and OCM at night? Or will that delete any good results of the oils?
Thanks!
I started using the OCM with just jojoba oil, and after cleansing I do a spot treatment with neem oil, and although it will take time for my acne to clear, I can feel the difference in my skin!
Also, when I am super lazy, I put on jojoba and wait, then walk into the shower and do the OCM there, I find it works well in making my skin softer to say the very least.
Should i store my OCM blend in fridge. Or my oils.of neem and.jojoba? Thanks!!
Is it OK to do the ocm twice a day? I realize it’s probably too harsh on my skin, however I have work during the day (makeup worn) and school at night. This means the only time I can go to the gym is during my lunch break. I use the ocm take off all the sweaty makeup after my workout and then reapply makeup to finish out my day. What should I be using to take my makeup off at night then? Anyone else have this problem? Also, I am currently using hemp seed oil and tamanu oil with a few drops of tea tree oil. If anyone else is using these oils, what ratios have worked well for you? I have struggled with acne for YEARS and have very sensitive, dry skin. Any help would be so appreciated!
Just use a different makeup remover instead of OCM. I make one which is just water, and tea tree oil, and it removes makeup without really doing much else to your skin (use less tea tree oil if your skin is dry, or a different essential oil altogether). That way you can save OCM for before you sleep, or whichever time suits you.
I love the oil cleansing method! ive been using the OCM for years on and off. I do get lazy at times and decide to use conventional cleansers, but whenever my face starts to break out or becomes irritated i come right back to it. I actually incorporate my clarisonic! I first use just grapeseed on my face to remove all of my makeup, then wipe it of using a cottonball. then i apply a mixture of half castor half grapeseed and massage it into my face. I then use my clarisonic all over my face to really help massage the oil into my skin. then i get the warm washcloth and remove all of the excess oil. I sometimes leave the oil on my skin for a good ten minutes (It really depends on how patient i am that day) I love this way of cleansing…. My skin is not only clear from pimples but my skin looks instantly tighter, and I look so much younger.
I have naturally thick and oily skin. I used to get such wicked cystic acne that was so painful that through the night, I would claw at my face no matter how short my nails were. I turned to the oil cleaning method (in the winter time) where I started off with higher amounts of castor oil and olive oil. It worked for maybe a month or so. I noticed fewer cystic acne breakouts, but after about a month, my skin started to get those dreaded white headed pimples.
So I decided to try to alter the recipe. I started off about 50-50, then changed it to 30-70 and so on and so on playing around with the ratios. I did this for well over six months with no results. After about month four, my skin looked sallow and ill looking and I lost that glow that I always had.
It was about this time I got into homemade soaping and have been increasing my knowledge about oils and what I like to call exotic oils (neem, tamanu, argan etc…)
About a year after my change to the oil cleaning method, I decided to try unrefined avocado oil with some essential oils included (1oz unrefined avocado oil, 10drops sweet orange essential oil, 10 drops grapefruit essential oil, 5 drops cypress essential oil and 5 drops pine essential oil).
Now remember, I have wicked oily and thick skin.
But golly!!! My skin responded to this combination like there was no tomorrow!!!
So I decided to try something else. I decided to stop the oil cleansing method altogether as I was finding my skin just needing an extra oomph. So I turned to sea salt and honey as my face wash. Even calendar days I use a spoonful of salt to wash my face while in the shower (wash hair, pin hair up, spoon of slat gently rubbed into the face and leave on while washing/shaving the rest of me, rinse off, pat dry apply toner and oils). And odd days apply honey the same routine as when I apply salt.
My toner became a vitamin C+ various tea (rose, green, white, peach, lemon whatever tea I am drinking when I make it even coffee) in the evening, and an apple cider vinegar+witch hazel+various essential oils (lemon, grapefruit, clove)+bee pollen+ salt+ magnesium flakes concoction in the morning.
And my oils became a strange blend of funness!
In a 30mL dropper bottle I add a little of this, and a little of that to make a super concentrated bottle; (most to least)
seabuckthorn oil
rose hip
argan
pom seed oil
tamanu oil
baobab
borage
kukui
black cumin seed oil
moringa
neem
vitamin e
With my essential oils being: lemon, sweet orange, cypress, clove, and a couple others.
I have three other dropper bottles in my baathroom for carrier oils; 1) moringa, 2) argan and 3) unrefined avocado oil. I take three drops of any carrier oil, and one to two drops of the super concentrated and massage into my face. Some nights, I just use the super concentrated oil without the carrier oil.
Within three days of starting the above, all the scabs I had on my face from clawing through the night were almost healed. My face was glowing. It has now been over a month since I started this, and I have seen a radical difference in my skin. As has everyone who has not seen me in a while. My skin tone has evened out, any scars I had on my face have been significantly reduced, my sun spots are fading, and my skin just feels nicer to live in.
Hello. I heard about the OCM method here and was so optimistic. Sadly it has not worked for me. From reading the other comments I am not alone, but sounds like a trial and error process.
I started out with equal parts castor, sunflower, and hemp seed oils. with a few drops of tea tree oil. then moisturizing with Tamanu oil.
From some of the other suggestions maybe I am using to may oils? Perhaps eliminating the castor or sunfower oils? Should I be using Tamanu as a strait moisturizer? or just add a little to my mix?
Depends on what issues you are having, if you are too dry then you would need to pick either castor oil or tea tree and eliminate the other since both can be drying. You never want to just use a very cleansing oil so do not eliminate the sunflower oil but it you want to try something else you can replace it. You can add the tamantu oil to your mixture or if you feel that it is working as a mousturizer continue using it after as long as you are only using a little bit. I use oil as a moisturizer after I cleanse because my skin is extremely dry. Also if you are very dry you may want up eliminate both castor and tea tree oils and just add one or the other once a week or whenever you feel that you need a deeper cleaning
To those of you who have acne and have tried numerous failed attempts at the oil cleansing method (with breakouts as a result), I highly suggest using hemp oil. I don’t use castor oil at all. Just 100% cold pressed, organic hemp oil. My skin looks better than it has in a long time!
Also, side note: You don’t even need to do the standard wash-cloth-on-your-face-method. I just massage the oil for a few minutes, rinse with warm water (the oil won’t come off), and pat/wipe my skin dry with a clean wash cloth. More simple and saves time!
And you’re finding this beneficial despite not washing the oil off? Do you find that it builds up at all?
I just went out and bought the “3 ingredient” facial cleansing from your aug 2012 post…I have been cleaning my face at night and putting the oil on when I go to bed….my skin feels great!! Now I read this blog and it says to wash off ???
The bottle I made was 2/3 jojoba oil, rosehip seed oil and a few drops of lavender….I wanted the aging antidote …..can you tell me if this blog is a follow up on the other blog…..I have been letting the oil soak in at night….should I be washing it off with warm water now???
HELP PLEASE!!
If what you’re doing is working there’s probably no need for you to change what you’re doing. This method is for people still having problems with blocked pores, spots, acne etc. Definitely don’t use castor oil if you want anti-aging.
Regarding breaking out…I have had this problem all of my life. It is much better now that I am almost 50, but I can always count on breaking out when I try new products or regime. I was watching the Dr Oz show the other day and he stated that a lot of women have breakouts because of the oil, sweat and cleaning products absorbed by their pillowcases. Made sense to me. I change my sheets a couple of times a week, but in the future will change by pillowcases more often and honestly I can’t remember the last time I washed my pillow. Ugh 🙁
I have been using olive oil for two weeks now and the change is incredible!!! My skin is softer stronger and less red! I only use extra virgin olive oil but I use a flannel afterwards four times with warm water to make sure as much oil is off as possible!!! Seems to work for me!!! Every now and again leave your skin free to breathe!!!
I have acne on the lower part of my face and eczema on my cheeks nose and forehead. I’ve tried so many different things to help and it seems that whatever helps the acne makes the eczema worse and anything that helps the eczema makes the acne worse.
So then I discovered OCM, and for a few weeks I’ve been trying it. It seemed at first that overnight my face went from bad to best I’ve seen in ages. And it stayed good for a week and then got worse again. Within a week both the acne and eczema have flared up and my face is pimply and scaly again.
I realise that I may be in the adjusting phase, or it may be because I made the mistake of starting with coconut oil.
I think maybe I should try other oils, but have no idea where to start with needing to deal with both acne and eczema.
Does anyone have any experience of this themselves? I’d love to know if someone has found a combination that works for both!
Regarding breaking out…I have had this problem all of my life. It is much better now that I am almost 50, but I can always count on breaking out when I try new products or regime. I was watching the Dr Oz show the other day and he stated that a lot of women have breakouts because of the oil, sweat and cleaning products absorbed by their pillowcases. Made sense to me. I change my sheets a couple of times a week, but in the future will change by pillowcases more often and honestly I can’t remember the last time I washed my pillow. Ugh 🙁
Coconut oil does not work for a lot of people, try starting with something lighter like grapeseed oil and if you feel like you are still dry then try sunflower or avocado oil, and make sure your oils are always organic
Thank you so much for replying Diane.
I’m pleased to report that while I was waiting for a reply I kept up with the Coconut oil, just to see if it was just my skin adjusting. And wow, after 2 more weeks my skin has gone really good! I’m hoping it will stay that way.
But now, thanks to your reply, I have a backup plan. I will get some grapeseed oil today so that if my skin takes another dip I can go straight for your suggestion.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply.
Hi, I’ve been trying to post this and can’t get it to work. Hopefully it doesn’t show up several times.
I’ve been doing OCM for about a year. (Three mornings a week. Sunflower and castor mix.) It works ok, but I don’t feel like it is any better than when I was only splashing off with warm water as my washing routine. I still have clogged pores, dry skin, and occasionally get pimples. I also feel like my skin is more red and has red dots. I have a couple of areas I’d love input on!
Morning vs Night
It seems that most everyone does OCM at night before bed, but I haven’t really read a reason for this. Is it because people are removing makeup at night, or is there another reason? I don’t wear makeup, so I just splash off my face after I workout after work and reapply an oil as moisturizer.
Dry vs Wet
I’ve seen different instructions for OCM. Some say splash off your face with warm water first. Others say to do it directly on dry skin. I’ve tried both. For those who have had success, what do you do?
Moisturizer
After doing OCM or on other days when not doing OCM, do you wear other moisturizer, or should your skin be moisturized enough after OCM? (I use shea butter or sunflower oil. I don’t wear makeup.) I feel like I need the extra oil, but I worry about never really being able to get my face clean and wonder if that is contributing to clogged pores and red dots.
What to do Other Times
Seems like most people do OCM several times a week. What are people doing other mornings and nights that they aren’t doing OCM? I’ve just been splashing off with warm water and then reapplying an oil as moisturizer. I see in the comments that others use homemade toners with ACV, rose water, or witch hazel. What is the reason for this? Do you just splash it on and rinse it off?
Hemp
I’ve read that hemp oil is great for skin, but I only see a few comments from people who have tried it as a part of their OCM mixture. I’m currently using a castor oil sunflower oil mix, but am considering switching to castor oil and hemp. I replaced sunflower seed oil with hemp oil a couple of weeks ago as my daily moisturizer, and my skin has been really bad and pimply!!! Not sure what’s going on.
Exfoliating
I had never been much of an exfoliator, but thought it would help with the clogged pores on my nose and chin. I’ve been exfoliating my dry face with a dry washcloth and then doing OCM three times a week. Could the exfoliating be what is making my skin more red? Is exfoliating really necessary?
Hoping i will get some responses. I don’t want to give up on OCM, but I don’t want to keep doing it if it’s not working or making things worse. Getting married in two months, so hopefully I can figure something out. Thanks!!
I’ve been doing OCM for a while now and have noticed a change in my skin. It is much more clear and even across my skin tone. Marks go away a lot faster, it’s less flaky, and my pores look a bit smaller. I still get very small breakouts here and there, most around my mouth & chin, but not at all in the capacity I was getting before OCM.
I use a mix of 25% castor and 75% sunflower oil. If you are having trouble with dry skin, I would suggest using less castor oil, slowly reducing it until you find the right balance. For example, if you’re using 1 part castor and 3 parts sunflower, start reducing with 1 part castor and 4 parts sunflower (20%castor/80%sunflower). If reducing does not help, then try switching the oils. There are lots of different combos. I can only speak to the castor/sunflower mix since that is what has worked for me.
I also add tea tree oil in my mix to help with blemishes. It kills bacteria and fungus so it is good on fighting acne. It is pretty volatile if used in large quantities (drying and can burn) so I wouldn’t apply it directly to the skin. 3 drops per ounce (3 drops every 2 tbsp) of the oil mixture is plenty. There are other essential oils good for their various properties and benefits to your skin.
Morning VS Night
I do the OCM at night (every night) because I usually wear makeup and this really helps clean it all off. Even if you don’t wear makeup, it *could* be beneficial to do this at night because your face can collect some dirt/grime just from being out and about, from your clothes, touching your face, resting your head on your hands, lying your head down during the day, sweat, etc. I do it right before bed so all the oil and moisturizer I use has a chance to work undisturbed. In the mornings I don’t use OCM. Sometimes I’ll lightly wipe my face with a free & clear baby wipe or spray some rose water and then apply a moisturizer.
Dry VS Wet
I am not sure on the benefits of a wet or dry face before OCM. I personally choose to do a dry face because it the oil seems to spread around my face better and sink in.
Moisturizer
I do OCM every day, even if I’m not wearing makeup. I have read other instances where it said once you have balanced the OCM, you shouldn’t need moisturizer. In my opinion, it is all personal preference. I feel as though I need a moisturizer because my skin is somewhat dry naturally. I spray rose water (as a “toner”) on my face after OCM, and then use a free & clear moisturizer.
Toners
From my research I’ve found there are traditional toners, astringents, and fresheners. Traditional consists of moisturizers, oils and extracts that soother your skin. Astringents are *generally* alcohol based which tightens the skin/pores and helps remove oil. Astringents can also be drying. Fresheners work similarly by tightening the skin, but aren’t as harsh as astringents and can contain caffeine or green tea in place of alcohol. Traditionally toners are to balance the pH of your skin after your cleanser has thrown off the natural pH of your skin. OCM is to balance the naturally occurring oils on your face which keeps the pH level balanced. So in theory, toners aren’t necessary if the OCM is working properly.
Hemp
I don’t have much knowledge on hemp oil. I think I have read that it can beneficial, but don’t know anything else about it. For some, it may be very beneficial. If you personally feel it is not helping your skin, then remove it from you skin care routine and see if that makes any difference. I have found OCM is very trial and error, as most skin care routines are.
Exfoliating
Too much exfoliating can irritate the skin. I used to use a Clarisonic Mia brush every day. I’ve found it was too much for my sensitive skin and have reduced it to once a week. It is *possible* you are exfoliating too much. If you have a feeling it’s the exfoliating that is causing the redness/irritation, I would reduce it to once or twice a week and see if that helps. Not every skin care tip is necessary for everyone. Exfoliating can be beneficial in keeping smooth, healthy looking skin. Plus, it can help your products do a better job because there is not dead skin/grime getting in the way.
These suggestions and tips are things that I have tried or experienced. I’m not an expert so please don’t take this as the end all be all for advice. These are simply things that have worked for me and that I have gathered through my own personal research and experience. With that being said, I hope that I could help shed some light on your concerns!
Erin, I’m curious as to how you use the Clarisonic Mia with the OCM. I’ve been using the Mia every evening with my previous skincare routine and I like it because I feel like it gently exfoliates and makes my skin softer/smoother.
Now that I’ve switched skincare methods I wasn’t sure how it would fit into the OCM and I was kind of planning to retire it (a shame since it was a good chunk of money!). Do you use it with the oil once a week? Or on it’s own? I’d like to find a way to keep using it!
Thanks!
Erin’s reply is awesome, and she seems to have had a lot more OCM experience than I have, but one thing I’ll add is about the kind of washcloth you’re using. Personally, and I’ve heard this from other people too, I find regular washcloths to be really harsh and irritating on my skin, giving me patches of teeny flesh-colored “rough” bumps which sometimes turned into breakouts. I’ve had better luck with microfiber (just don’t rub hard). Regardless of what kind of washcloth you use, be sure to clean them VERY well.
Shea butter is slightly comedogenic, too – some people swear by it, some people can’t use it (kinda like coconut oil that way). So that could be a possibility for your continued breakouts.
My last thought is that maybe after you work out you need more than just a splash of water to remove the sweat/salt/toxins/etc., and applying oil to moisturize after that could be trapping some of the stuff in your pores. I’m a huge fan of raw honey as a face wash, so maybe you could try tossing a jar of it into your gym bag and then, after your workout, splash your face with water as you’ve been doing, dig out a fingerful of honey, rub it into your face, and rinse. That could help get rid of any “crud” that might be left on your skin.
I’m far from an expert on this stuff, but these are just some possible ideas!
For me I find the best time to oil cleanse is after a shower, I don’t base it on time of day since most days I don’t wear makeup. If your skin is very sensitive any amount of exfoliation can be too much, I don’t rub at all with the washcloth. Just make sure your water is hot and let the steam remove the oil
Hello. I need some help here, I’ve been doing this for about 3 weeks and my skin is awful.
I have all of the skin plagues it seems.. Sebhorrheic dermatitis.. Psoriasis.. Starting to seem like I have rosacea.. Eczema my whole life. I’ve been cleansing with hemp oil and moisturizing with coconut oil once a night. Splash of warm water and a little coconut oil in the morning. I haven’t been wearing foundation to help speed up the process of healing, so this has really been messing with my psyche. I’ve never had nice skin, it’s always been red, dry, a pimple or two. It’s never been this bad, but I’m hopeful and I want to keep going.
What am I doing wrong? I am the healthiest person I know, I change my pillowcase every night, I never reuse the same towel. I’ll manually extract some of the worst zits because sometimes they just really want to come out.
I’m just barely holding on to this method. Any help much appreciated.
http://tinypic.com/r/2hmzoyh/8
Also this is a picture of my skin right now.
She did say in the article that many people have a bad experience with coconut oil. Maybe that is something you should cut out. I would suggest just washing with the hemp oil to see if that helps, and if not try a different oil for your skin type.
Hi Anita,
I saw your post and wanted to reply. I started using OCM about 3 years ago now. I went through a purging period of several months; not several days like most people claim. I thought I was gonna go crazy. I gave up a couple of times and had to start over. I’m glad I finally stuck to it because once I finally got through the awful purging stage my skin cleared up and looks beautiful now. I hardly ever break out now. I did find though that the only oil I could use was Grapeseed. I tried hemp and that DID NOT work for me. I tried Olive Oil and Coconut. Both Olive Oil and Coconut are a 5 on the comedogenic scale. 5 is the highest for causing breakouts so I steer clear of those. I recently added Castor oil to my blend so I can’t comment on that yet since I haven’t been using long enough to see the full results. I also add a blend of Essential Oils to my OCM oil (I am a Certified Clinical Aromatherapist so if you need help with deciding which oils to use, let me know). Other than that it sounds like you’re doing everything else right…clean washcloth, clean pillow cases, etc….
Hi Dawn! I stared using the ocm about a month ago I was in love i had no need to wear foundation at all! I couldn’t believe it best first week ever and others complimented me as my skin looked radiant!…well after the second week I started breaking out (I have dry skin and only get one underground painful zit when it’s that time of the month) needless to say my skin looks awful as I’m trying this I have. Major underground zit middle of forehead and one right below my cheek bone with three more around it I can’t believe it. Why did it go from 10 radiant skin to weird looking and breaking out skin? I’ve been using castor oil / jojoba oil / avocado oil mix ….any thoughts?
I’ll repeat the others’ suggestions and advise you to steer clear of the coconut oil, at least on your face.
Re: the manual extraction: just BE CAREFUL! (I apologize in advance if what I mention is what you’re already doing.) Use a stainless steel extractor, not your fingers, but wash your hands thoroughly anyway beforehand because you undoubtedly WILL end up touching your face at some point in the process. Sanitize the extractor beforehand, and I’d recommend wiping it on a clorox wipe or something in between extractions just to help keep the bacteria at bay. And only, ONLY attempt extraction on the pimples that are “just begging for it;” don’t even try if you can’t see any white pus in the middle. Clean the whole area around the pimple post-extraction to get rid of any invisible pus/bacteria, put a drop of tea tree oil on the zit, and then think of it like an “open wound” (because it is) and dab on a bit of Neosporin with a band-aid on top for a few hours. Manual extraction CAN be effective and even helpful, but it’s so-so-SO easy to have it make things worse. A LOT worse. Take it from me, as someone who – more than once – has ended up spending an entire week stuck in the house while the post-overly-vigorous-extraction scabs on her face healed up only to reveal more pimples.
I’ve heard of people using raw honey for some of the skin plagues you listed to great effect, either as a face wash or as a face mask (or both). It’s very gentle, amazingly healing, and could help with some of the raw redness.
Good luck!!
I have dry skin and have had the best luck with avocado oil I do use coconut oil as a moisturizer and have no issues with it. In fact my skin gets very dry and tight if I don’t use it but coconut oil is not for everyone
you need to be using at least SOME castor oil or the OCM method doesn’t work– there is nothing to draw out the blackheads and the “junk” from under the skin. Have you read the article on http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/. it explains why.
Anita,
This is some time after your post but I have personal experience with the Sebhorrheic Dermatitis. I did the Ketonazole Shampoo and though it works short term, there is always the need to get a ‘scrip to keep applying it. What worked for me personally was sea salt. For the face I mix it with warm water and for the scalp I applied it directly and let it sit for as long as I could stand. I do have to say that since I went shampoo-free, almost 4 months ago, I haven’t had a single problem on my scalp and only once looked like I was maybe going to get a breakout on my face, applied my saltwater and didn’t have a problem.
With my acne, and I used to get some serious acne, only Livergy and Kidney-Klear from Innovita have ever worked for me in the span of the past 10 years(I’m 26). And they take care of ALL the acne!
Hope this helped 🙂
About six months ago, I realized that the skincare regimen I’d been using for the last 8 years or so (I’m 27, and started getting acne when I went to college) was no longer as effective as it once was. I started doing some research and trying some different products (including a Clarisonic, which I’m pretty sure was a waste of money – it felt nice, but made no difference to my acne), but nothing really seemed to be making a difference, and my skin was slowly but surely getting worse and worse. About six weeks ago, I took a deep breath and ditched my standby glycolic acid cleanser and started doing the OCM exclusively every evening (using raw honey as a daily morning facewash, as well as a face mask). I didn’t really have a “purging” period, I don’t think, but I DID discover – through painful trial and error – that my skin is apparently really sensitive, and lots of oils make me break out. Coconut oil makes me break out. Jojoba oil makes me break out. Almond oil, grapeseed oil, vitamin E oil, olive oil – they ALL make me break out. So, my skin was in pretty bad shape by the time I decided to use ONLY oils rated “0” on the comedogenic scale and started using hemp seed oil. I wish I could report that my acne has now been banished, but it hasn’t – is it better than it was when I was using comedogenic oils? Yes. Does my skin look dewier, more refreshed, more even-toned? Yes. Do I still get break outs? Yes!!! It’s incredibly frustrating to look in the mirror and think “Wow, except for the parts of my face that have pimples, my skin’s looking really good!”
For what it’s worth, I’ve been working on my diet, too, since the root of acne is often internal – I’ve almost completely eliminated dairy and GREATLY reduced the amount of “bad” vegetable oil and refined sugar I consume, as well as increased my intake of fruits and veggies. Hasn’t really made a big difference for my skin, although I do subjectively “feel” better.”
Also for what it’s worth – I started out using regular washcloths with OCM but found them to be WAY too irritating to my skin when I wiped off the oil after steaming. Switching to microfiber has helped a lot with this, although I have to be careful not to wipe too hard.
I suppose it’s possible that it’s the hemp seed oil making me continue to break out, but in terms of molecular size and whatnot, I’m not sure that’s actually possible. I’m wondering if I should start adding a small amount of castor oil to my OCM blend because maybe the hemp seed alone isn’t cleansing enough, but I’m frankly terrified – castor oil is supposed to be great at getting into your pores and cleansing, but it can also be slightly irritating and in some people can cause break outs. With diva-skin such as mine that breaks out at everything, I’m thinking it’s likely I’d be “one of those people” who can’t use castor oil. Has anyone had any experience similar to this? If not castor oil, what should I add to the hemp seed oil to boost its cleansing?
I’m practically at my wits’ end with my skin. I’m trying to get a job, and I can’t be confident going into interviews looking like this! Also, my current skincare routine takes a ridiculously long time and is really complicated, and I’d love-love-love to cut it down AND still heal my acne. I guess it’s possible that I’m doing TOO much, and that all the different oils are just making my skin freak out, but every step I’ve added is because what I was doing before wasn’t working, either. Here’s the routine:
Morning:
– raw honey wash in the shower (I usually leave it on for a minute or two while I shave my legs)
– few drops of hemp seed oil with a drop of tea tree oil to moisturize, plus sunscreen and makeup if I’m leaving the house that day (with my skin the way it is, I’ve been spending a lot of time at home…)
Night:
– if I wore makeup that day, I do a few swipes of sunflower oil on a cotton ball to remove “the worst of it” before cleansing
– hemp seed oil massage for several minutes, then steaming 3 times with a microfiber wash cloth and wiping away
– raw honey face mask – yes, I’ve been doing this every single night for several weeks. I usually mix in a few drops of lavender and rosemary oils. For the last few nights, I’ve added green clay powder to the mix – I wouldn’t have thought I’d be able to use the green clay every night because it’d be too drying, but I’ve seen no evidence of dryness on my skin. Actually, I’m not sure the addition of green clay has done anything at all. I leave the mask on for an hour.
– rinse off the mask, then moisturize with a few drops hemp seed, plus a drop or two of frankincense and carrot seed oils.
– tea tree oil on a Q-tip to spot-treat pimples.
– I’ve also tried using black cumin seed oil, both as an add-on to the hemp seed cleansing oil and as a moisturizer, and I think it does really nice brightening-toning-beautifying things to my skin, but I haven’t been able to decide if it makes me break out (and it’s not listed in the Beneficial Botanicals comedogenic ratings chart, either). Does anyone know anything about the comedogenicity of black cumin seed oil?
I REALLY need advice! Any comments or suggestions would be hugely appreciated. I’ve done tons of reading about the OCM and so much research into different oils, but I’m clearly doing something wrong. I really want to make OCM work for me, so I don’t want to give up! (Especially since NOT using OCM wasn’t really working, either, so….I’ve got to find SOMEthing that will work!)
I have also dealt with many a year of acne, and I have to say.. the number one thing to consider with topical treatment, even with natural means, is: less is more. I haven’t found an oil that I can cleanse with, personally. I use a version of face wash that is similar to cetaphil, but lacking the parabens (whole foods carries it) and finely ground sugar to exfoliate my makeup off (washclothes are too harsh). I’ve had success with tamanu oil applied as a moisturizer before bed. What you really want to do is leave your face alone as much as possible! I also use a moisturizer (and it’s the only one to not break me out) from trader joes (says enrich on the front), I think the zinc in it is really helpful and anti inflammatory. But, despite all that topical nonsense, the number 1, number number number 1 thing that I do to keep my skin clear– is avoid sugar. At all costs. I never eat dessert, I add unsweetened almond milk to my tea, I even limit fruit to 2 or 3 servings a day (especially bananas). I won’t even have something with teriyaki sauce because the stuff is so sweet.
Here’s a recent example.. I went from totally clear to a ton of tiny pimples which have been plaguing me for about a week now because I ate strawberry granola on a camping trip. It was around 6g of sugar per 1/3 cup I think. Even that tiny amount! I also avoid alcohol, coffee, and dairy (dairy gives me cystic acne), but it would seem it’s sugar that really seals the deal. It’s a lifestyle change for sure but I think it’s worth it.
Thanks for your reply. With the dairy thing, yeah, the jury’s still out as to whether or not that’s been contributing to my acne (it’s only been a few weeks since I’ve gone completely dairy-free), but I’m definitely going to keep it up. I thought it would be really hard, but I’m pleasantly surprised that that hasn’t been the case for me – I do miss Greek yogurt, but that’s really the only thing. Clear skin would feel a million times better than Greek yogurt tastes, though.
I’ve heard wonderful things about tamanu oil and have even purchased some, but I haven’t tried it yet. I think I want to let my skin get to a slightly calmer, healthier state before I introduce something brand-new, especially since I’m already using so many different things.
Since you’re so sensitive to sugar, it makes sense that you’d decide to avoid alcohol, too, since that tends to be sugar-loaded. It’s strange to think that back in college (once I got my acne under control) I could – and did – drink like a fish without it affecting my skin, and here I am today, not having had a sip of alcohol in like 3 months, with my acne flaring up. Wouldn’t it be great if adult acne actually made sense??
I hope that eliminating dairy helps you! It takes several weeks once you stop taking it in for it to completely leave your system. I had to eliminate dairy from my diet when I had my son due to his intolerance of it in breast milk. I found that I felt better and my complexion looked better after several weeks of not having any. I would research yogurt though. As far as I have read, yogurt(especially greek) doesn’t have the same affect on our bodies as milk, cheese, etc…and can actually help heal your gut. I also wanted to mention that I had run across another blog post where the writer mentioned she had a lot of the same issues with A LOT of oils and switched to pumpkin oil. It has been an amazing change for her and she has stuck with it ever since. Worth looking into maybe? Also, the chemical makeup of the oil maybe the issue. Oleic vs. linoleic was something that she stressed in her blog with the latter being the better choice. Hope some of this info helps!
You should really think about trying black cumin seed oil. Do some research online, and you will find this oil is amazing when used both internally and externally. I use it twice daily, mostly as a face moisturizer, but it is oil, and would work for this, too. I have had acne for 20 years, until about 6 months ago. I found mine was mostly hormonal, and the use of clary sage and geranium essential oils daily on my wrists and ankles helped with that. I also add lavender, geranium, and clary sage essential oils to black cumin seed oil and use as a moisturizer. It is one of the best oils for acne-prone skin. I just ordered it online, extra-virgin, cold-pressed. I highly recommend it!
You may be stressing your skin out with all of the stuff you are putting on it. I’m 26 and still get pimples around my mouth, my nose and my forehead is bumpy (clogged pores). I just recently stopped buying commercial products and started the oil cleansing method, and so far it’s definitely been improving my skin. I decided a while ago that I wasn’t going to wash my face in the mornings, only at night to take my makeup off.When I wake up my skin is the clearest it is all day, putting stuff on it may actually be irritating it right off the bat. I tried cleansing with raw honey and I didn’t really notice any difference, so I would try ditching that in the morning and just putting your makeup right on your skin, as is! You can still do a honey face treatment, but maybe only once or twice a week? Oh, and ditch the sunscreen! Wear a hat instead, sunscreen makes my skin break out like crazy. A few things to try, I am by no way an expert, but I have tried many a thing to try to cure my acne, it certainly isn’t an easy process.
Oh, and if I don’t wear makeup, I notice small white heads form on my nose, so it may seem strange, but I would recommend at least using a powder on your face.
Your skin sounds similar to mine. I don’t get many nose-pimples at all (some whiteheads around the sides of my nostrils, but those just lurk for months and never turn into pimples), but my forehead is constantly congested-looking with flesh-colored bumps and the sides of my chin, right below my mouth, like to have really awesome cystic parties. Fun stuff.
I do feel like the overall quality of my skin is improving a lot with OCM, it’s just taking a LONG time to see any significant results vis-a-vis my acne. Even that is improving though….slowly….very slowly…(I think). I do think some of the pimples I got earlier on with OCM were simply from not really knowing how to do it. I got crazy breakouts right along my hairline until I made the connection that I wasn’t wiping the dirty cleansing oil away thoroughly enough, and shortly after that discovered that maybe that was also the reason I kept getting pimples in my EYEBROWS (yuck). So, just figuring out little things like that has already made a difference in the number of OCM-related pimples I get, and hopefully as time goes on I’ll figure out even more.
(I’m thinking there’s a good chance I perhaps should only do OCM every other night, too. I had been OCM-ing my chest, too, which would get an occasional pimple or two but nothing too bad, but after starting OCM it started breaking out more and more….until I stopped doing it every night. Then it almost completely cleared up, in a matter of days. Magic.)
Does ALL sunscreen make you break out? There was one my dermatologist recommended to me years and years ago called Z-Silc that had zinc oxide, making it a “physical barrier” instead of a chemical barrier that most commercial sunscreens are. It was very gentle, went on smooth, didn’t turn your face white, and doubled as a moisturizer. I never had any issues breaking out from it (which is not to say that YOU won’t, of course, but hey maybe it’s something to try), and in fact, I don’t know why I ever stopped buying it…
I HAVE to wear sunscreen. If I don’t, aside from the obvious concerns like sunburn and whatnot, I get madcrazy dark freckles on my nose within a matter of hours – on my cheeks, too, but for some reason my nose is more freckle-prone, so it gets darker than the rest of my face, and it’s not the most attractive thing in the world to have a pale face and a tan, freckled mass protruding out from right smack dab in the middle of your face. Hats don’t cut it, unless they’re the big-floppy-brim kind, and that only “works” on me at the beach…
Thanks for your tips!
I do have to put sunscreen on if I’m going to be outside for a while, but I’m actually going to try my hand at making my own zinc oxide sunscreen this summer, mainly because I don’t like the idea of putting chemicals on my face. I was born freckly, so while mine do enhance in the summer, I like and have no issue with freckles. I also agree with the person above. I’m lactose intolerant and gave up dairy for a while, and my skin did clear up a bit, same with when I gave up sugar for 3 weeks, but it was just too time confusing and difficult. Dairy and sugar are in EVERYTHING. I will be trying some new oils for the oil cleansing, so If I remember I’ll let you know if I find a good match! Remember that your skin needs a break, so try not to overwhelm it with a ton of stuff. Not washing in the mornings works for me, but it might not for everyone. Good luck!
Oh, honey. You do realise that zinc oxide is a *chemical* too, right? Everything, all oils, all products, all matter, is made up of chemicals. Saying “I don’t want to put chemicals on my face” is a meaningless statement.
I find the castor oil to be way too drying for me but I do add in some tea tree oil about once a week for a deeper cleaning, just a few drops added to the oil I pour into my hand.
I used a bit of tree oil with my castor oil when I had a huge zit on my nose (abnormal for me). I had a horrible reaction to the tea tree oil and had blisters all over my nose and cheeks. Major reaction and I had to go to the doctor for antibiotics for the infection it created 🙁 So be careful of tea tree oil!!
Hi Melissa,
I have had a problem breaking out with raw honey. Almost consistently, once I use honey to wash my face I get a new painful underground zit.
However, I have discovered the key to getting rid of those guys if you can catch them in time! You just want to get it right once you feel it with a hot cloth soaked in hot water with Epsom salt. That will bring it to surface which I usually have been able to extract the next day. instead of lasting a month under my skin, they have lasted 3 days.
Try skipping the honey, see what happens.
As for the oil cleanse, I use 1 part sunflower oil and 1/2 part castor oil. I havent had the undergrounders in a while, but I have fewer, but still minor pimples. Also, instead of just oil cleansing, I double cleanse with the clarisonic. So here it is:
At night wash with your oil cleanse on dry skin.
wet your skin
apply facewash to your clarisonic (I use TJs spa facial cleanser which is basically the same as desert essense tea tree oil cleanser)
Wash off and pat dry.
So far so good! But the Epsom salt is the BEST solution to the painful ones. I found it on yahoo.answers.
I feel your pain. I’ve has acne since age 10 (I’m in my late 20s), but about 5-6 years ago, I discovered two things that changed my life, and face forever. Acne is not easily fixed by topical treatments, because the cause is internal. If you’re an adult female and have acne, it’s likely caused my adult female hormonal acne. There is a prescription for high blood pressure that was found to almost completely get rid of this form of acne, called spironolactone. You can get a script from your dermatologist, just ask.
The second thing that has greatly helped me is the supplement Burdock root. Both the prescription and this supplement are diuretics and detoxifiers, they purge your body of the toxins that cause acne in the first place. I will still on occasion (maybe every 1-2 months) get a few pimples around my menstrual cycle, but they are not that noticeable and go away quickly.
I am so happy I found these two things, and I hope they work for you and anyone else who suffers from adult acne.
I must first admit to being too lazy to read the other posts in reply to your asking for suggestions, so if any of this is a repeat, please forgive….
Ok, first of all, you mentioned briefly that you use sunscreen. Could that be part of the problem? I haven’t read good things about what they put in those and so check out the ing. list.
Second, you mentioned cutting out dairy. You should REALLY consider adding back some raw dairy into your diet. It has all the healthy enzymes and other things that make it a real health food, and none of the acid forming mucus promoting properties of the pasteurized milk products. You can do a web search to see where it is available in your local area. I have read of it being almost a miracle cure for a lot of conditions, so you may consider it to be a good addition to your nutritional overhaul. That’s it for my contribution to the wise advice department. Hope it was at least a little helpful….
tootles,
Della 🙂
You just described my skin 🙁 Any luck or suggestions? It’s a real happiness sucker.
I had the same experience with hemp seed oil and I love it and continue to use but these”boil” like spots are Lasting for months on my face. Feel like giving up….
Hello! I happened across your post and I can feel the frustration in your writing. Acne – and other skin conditions – truly are medical problems that often can’t be resolved simply be changing your cleansing method. The gold standard for dealing with this are the acids: glycolic and salicylic. While you can go to a medi-spa and get a “peel” you’ll hate yourself when your face is flaking off like crazy. Try low % acids – 10 for glycolic and 2 for salicylic and then move up. These acids can penetrate the pore and begin to pull debris. The challenge here is getting the pH at the right level: many products don’t do that and you’ll want products with as few additives as possible. Dr. Hilton Becker (google him) has a line of products that are active ingredients only. You won’t find them in stores. Another good source are the two masques available from Naturopathica – although I find them far too expensive for what they are. The rest of the equation is what else are you putting on your face? Sadly sunscreens are just the worst and because both the chemical and minerals are tough on skin. And they last for limited time anyway. Start thinking about sun protection in terms of clothing and hats. And finally- cosmetics and hair products. A huge no no. Check out Caroline Hirons at carolinehirons.com. She has a wealth of good information.
I respect wanting to stay with “natural” ingredients. But you’re going to have to bring out some big guns here.
Hey Melissa, I have a few thoughts after reading your skincare regime.
1. You seem to be using too many products. When it comes to skincare, especially for acne-prone skin, less is more. When I have a breakout, I leave my face alone as much as possible. From my personal experience, even if some natural remedies work for you, applying them every day will make your skin get used to it and make them less effective over time.
2. I haven’t experienced any breakout from OCM because I just use olive oil as a pre-cleansing step and then cleansing my face with a good cleanser. I’m no skincare expert, but I can see why OCM would make people break out:
– The OCM says that it’s a more effective cleansing method because oil dissolves oil. Actually, that doesn’t mean much since the job of every good cleanser is to dissolve oil. If the oil can get deep into your pores, then it may not be removed easily with just a few wipes of hot wash cloth. Oil doesn’t mix with water. I don’t get why people can clean away the oil with just a washcloth. Think about when you get oil slick on your hand, you will need to clean it with soap. You want your pores to be clean, but you also need to make sure that no oil residue is left inside the pores. From your description, I suspect that the hemp seed oil does a good job of moisturizing and nourishing your skin but you may not remove the oil residue completely. Massaging the oil on your face for a few minutes is enough.
– The OCM requires you to steam your face with hot water every day. This is very irritating for sensitive and acne-prone skin. When you unluckily have sensitive skin, you should treat your skin as a precious fragile gift and avoid doing anything that may inflame your skin. Warm water will be more gentle to your skin.
– Make sure that you clean your hands thoroughly before massaging your face. Also don’t forget to wash your washcloth and pillow case regularly.
3. I have a few other suggestions about natural remedies as which you may be interested in trying.
– Apply salt paste to your acnes to spot treat them. It’s a tip handed down by my grandmother and then my mother. Salt paste is just natural sea salt (not table salt as it’s mixed with chemical fillers) with water, enough to soften the salt and makes it gentle to your skin. I find that the salt paste works great for bacteria-related acnes, but it does nothing for my chin acnes, which are hormone-related and only appear at the beginning of my menstrual cycle.
– You may try using more calming and soothing ingredients. Try washing your face every morning with oatmeal. I love it as it’s gentle and soothing but still slightly exfoliates your skin. Try incorporating aloe vera, cucumber and turmeric into your skincare regime. I don’t know anyone who breaks out from those ingredients so it doesn’t hurt to try them. There’s a reason why they are often added to skincare products. Remember that if even if they work for you, you shouldn’t apply them too frequently or they’ll lose their anti-inflammatory effects. Drink more green tea, chamomile tea and lemon/lime juice (not the bottled ones) as they are all soothing drinks.
– If your acnes are caused by hormonal imbalance, you may think about taking magnesium, zinc and omega-3 supplements. There are many reasons for hormonal imbalance, but magnesium, zinc and omega-3 insufficiency are believed to be the most common causes. Also don’t forget to sleep early and exercise every day.Yoga is particularly good for reducing stress, which doesn’t cause acnes but exacerbates them. Skincare is a holistic approach and there is no single secret for good skin but every small step helps.
I know the perpetual pain and frustration of being at wit’s ends and unable to trust any skincare products when it comes to skincare. Good luck.
Melissa~ I feel your pain and understand your frustration. I found a product that I love that may be helpful. Thayer’s Natural remedies witch hazel. It is different than your typical hazel in that it is UNdistilled, allowing all the natural beneficial tannins to remain. It comes in an alcohol free toner in Rose petal water and aloe, or lavender and aloe, cucumber, etc. There is also a blend that is astringent and contains natural alcohol. You may want to try mix in some with your oil mixture.
I hate to say this but some people just get acne because their hormones are crazy, and no amount of skin treatment can do anything about internal problems. If nothing seems to be working for you, it might be worth seeing if you have a hormonal problem by talking to your doctor. In any case, doctors can prescribe a type of antibiotic that worked for me when I had bad skin as a teenager.
Another thing worth considering is if you are on any hormonal contraception that could be affecting it. If you aren’t (and you’re female) there are about seven types of birth control pills that work wonders on skin (this can take some trial and error). I used one called Yasmin for a while and that was great.
Also, in response to the other person commenting, I have never heard of caffeine affecting skin (or noticed it myself since cutting it out), and making drastic changes to your diet can make things worse rather than better. The only thing I (and my friends) have ever noticed directly causing break outs is sugary drinks and alcoholic drinks (though spirits are usually fine).
I would say that if you want to know what works, start over. Try one of the things you are doing at a time for a week or so, and see if it helps. If it does, keep in in the regime. If it makes no real difference, cut it out. By doing this you’ll know exactly what is worth your time and effort.
One thing I can recommend is using a tea tree toner/makeup remover. Boil some water, let it cool, add tea tree oil and maybe a citrus or lavender oil to make it smell nicer. Apply with cotton wool. I do not think using sunflower oil on acne-prone skin is a good idea.
I’m sure you’re still getting answers and I’ve not read everything but did anyone mention Manuka honey? It’s different than raw and unprocessed honey; much more powerful medicinal aid (clinical trials have found that Manuka honey from New Zealand, made with pollen gathered from the flowers of the Manuka bush [a medicinal plant], can effectively eradicate more than 250 clinical strains of bacteria). I had an “open” place on my knee that nothing would close, no antibiotic, nothing. I finally broke down and put some on a bandaid and within 2 days a nickle size hole closed up completely. Maybe a mask made with it (and it’s edible) would work?
Also using too much tea tree oil will dry your skin out. And if you’re using tea tree with a product like benzoyl peroxide it could leave you with red, irritated skin, and you could end up in a situation worse than the one you started with. And check out bee propolis salve. It works on our minor cuts, sores, etc., and someone on Amazon said it worked on acne (some). (Honey Garden makes a salve)
i struggled with acne (hormonal chin/mouth as well as more conventional pimples) through my late teens & early 20s. there is definitely something to be said for choosing products that are natural. but i think when your acne starts to have a negative effect on your self esteem and begins to impact what activities you do/do not do its time to bring in the “big guns” (stolen from someone who posted before me). i sincerely think your mental health is so important to your outward appearance. there is nothing more beautiful than a woman who is happy and smiling…
so if i were you i would go to the dermatologist. instead of guessing about what is causing you breakouts you can bring in a professional who likely has seen similar skin conditions before and has experience treating said conditions.
My derm put me on spiro which someone mentioned below, and it has been a life saver for those fleshy blemishes around the chin. http://acne.about.com/od/acnetreatments/a/spironolactone.htm this article Explains how it works for hormonal acne.
i also use a topical retin-a for the more conventional pimples.
Going to the derm was the best choice i ever made. i love my skin now, i love not wearing makeup, i love having clear glowing skin. so please please please check it out. definitely the solution with the highest probability of success.
Firstly if your face is sensitive then it likely means the body is sensitive too. Perhaps you can try using organic oils.
Also, I have heard that they put some really nasty stuff in meat, especially pork. I would advise that you stay away from red meat and eat more clean chicken and fish. When you cook the chicken, boil the meat first to eliminate fat and toxins.
On the other hand, thanks to everybody’s recommendations on oil, I still find it quite confusing on deciding on “the oil” for my skin
I’ve been doing OCM for about a year. (Three mornings a week. Sunflower and castor mix.) It works ok, but I don’t feel like it is any better than when I was only splashing off with warm water as my washing routine. I still have clogged pores, dry skin, and occasionally get pimples. I also feel like my skin is more red and has red dots. I have a couple of areas I’d love input on!
Morning vs Night
It seems that most everyone does OCM at night before bed, but I haven’t really read a reason for this. Is it because people are removing makeup at night, or is there another reason? I don’t wear makeup, so I just splash off my face after I workout after work and reapply an oil as moisturizer.
Dry vs Wet
I’ve seen different instructions for OCM. Some say splash off your face with warm water first. Others say to do it directly on dry skin. I’ve tried both. For those who have had success, what do you do?
Moisturizer
After doing OCM or on other days when not doing OCM, do you wear other moisturizer, or should your skin be moisturized enough after OCM? (I use shea butter or sunflower oil. I don’t wear makeup.) I feel like I need the extra oil, but I worry about never really being able to get my face clean and wonder if that is contributing to clogged pores and red dots.
What to do Other Times
Seems like most people do OCM several times a week. What are people doing other mornings and nights that they aren’t doing OCM? I’ve just been splashing off with warm water and then reapplying an oil as moisturizer. I see in the comments that others use homemade toners with ACV, rose water, or witch hazel. What is the reason for this? Do you just splash it on and rinse it off?
Hemp
I’ve read that hemp oil is great for skin, but I only see a few comments from people who have tried it as a part of their OCM mixture. I’m currently using a castor oil sunflower oil mix, but am considering switching to castor oil and hemp. Also going to replace hemp for sunflower for my daily moisturizer.
Exfoliating
I’ve never been an exfoliator, but thought it would help with the clogged pores on my nose and chin. I’ve been exfoliating my dry face with a dry washcloth and then doing OCM three times a week. Could the exfoliating be what is making my skin more red? Is exfoliating really necessary?
Hoping i will get some responses. I don’t want to give up on OCM, but I don’t want to keep doing it if it’s not working or making things worse. Getting married in two months, so hopefully I can figure something out. Thanks!!
I have been using the OCM for several years now. I use 25% castor oil, 50-60% jojoba, 10-15% vitamin e oil, and depending on how much room I have left in the bottle, play around with organic extra virgin olive, grapeseed or coconut oils. I hadn’t read until now that olive and coconut oils aren’t recommended. I didn’t care for the olive oil, so haven’t used it since the first try, but it didn’t do anything bad for my face. Truth is, my cat really liked the olive oil and I would wake up to an ‘organic’ microdermabrasion going on with him licking my face! I have a couple of TBS of coconut in the current batch of oil, and I have really liked it, the smell and the extra moisture. I have not had an issue with breakout either, it actually has seemed to help the redness of my rosacea. I think that the thing that I like best about OCM is that when I do it nightly, the pores on the sides of my nose, my nose and my chin get really clear and seem to almost disappear. I have been afraid to try essential oils because of the sensitivity of my face. I read on Yahoo the other day that DIY OCM was not a good idea, that you need to buy cosmetic manufacturers cleansing oils. I have to say that I totally disagree. I have tried several highend products from Bloomingdale’s cosmetic counters; I have a friend who works there and can get me free samples, so I thought, ‘why not’. I have to say that none of those incredibly expensive products work half as well for me as my DIY OCM!
Do not use peppermint oil or anything with it on your face! It’s a skin irritant. I’ll admit, the cooling effect is neat and feels good but it shouldn’t be used anywhere near your face. I have moderate acne and it bothered my face. I do, however, use it on my abdomen when I am having cramps. The cooling sensation distracts you a bit from the pain.
Hello! Has anyone used rose hip seed oil for the OCM method? I was thinking about mixing rose hip seed oil, grapeseed oil, and adding a few drops of palmarosa. I currently use rosehip seed oil as a serum and my skin LOVES it, so wondering if it would make sense to use as a cleansing oil as well.
Thanks!
Julie
I don’t use OCM, but make/sell my own cosmetics and can definitely vouch for what has been said about the various properties of oils mentioned above. Castor oil, sweet almond and apricot are real favourites of mine…something else I find useful is to work out which of the more expensive oils are effective for you personally and create a blend that can be combined with a cheaper oil – e.g. Might use 50:50 blended expensive oils (argan, tamanu, perilla, neem, hempseed, things like that) with something cheaper.
I have been doing OCM for about 3 years. At first I used jojoba oil with additional essential oils. Now I have switched to using hemp seed oil and the essential oils. I mix it in a very small container and keep it in the fridge.
basic recipe:
1/3 c hemp seed oil
3 drops tamanu
2 drops lavender
3 drops sea buckthorn seed oil
3 drops sea buckthorn fruit oil
Just an FYI and for those who want to use a toner but don’t like toner’s in general. A fancy-schmancy pants skin care line that I love makes this wonderful toner with colloidal silver. At 30 bucks an 8 oz bottle, it’s not something I can afford to buy often…especially the way I was using the stuff. It’s anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and antiseptic, plus like the 10,000 other things people claim it does for you. Colloidal silver does also cause a condition known as agyria which is when the skin will take on a blue or gray tint because of overuse. I can only find one case of this online and the man was drinking an intense amount of this stuff that he made which his own machine. I highly recommend researching this stuff before you start ingesting it if you choose to do so, or talk to your doctor.
all that brings me to The toner. I figured out the ratio’s one day and they are about like this:
1 to 1 and 1/4 tsp of good quality colloidal silver, depending on how much you think would be good for your skin type. If you are acneic, then go with the larger amount
6 oz distilled water.
use CLEAN and DISINFECTED implements (i.e. funnel, measuring spoons) to transfer these ingredients to a CLEAN and DISINFECTED spritz bottle or mister.
I cannot emphasize how everything should be clean and disinfected beforehand. Just mix together and its ready to go.
I spritz my makeup brushes with this and let it sit for a few minutes then wipe off when I haven’t cleaned them properly. You can also spritz your clean brushes with this to disinfect them while they dry.
It’s not drying and not harsh. I’m pretty sure you could add a couple of drops of EO in there like lavender. Lavender was in the fancy stuff, so I figure you could add that or whatever your skin needs…i just haven’t tried it yet. Or find some rose water and add the silver to that instead and you’ve got something that will disinfect AND calm your skin if you having flare-ups of any sort. Hmm. I should try that…
I hope this helps! Do your own research though! I’m not a doctor and this is all based on personal experience 🙂
I’ve been trying the OCM method for my problematic oily/acenic skin for one week. I can say so far it’s working and I’m impressed. I also drink 1.5 litres of water to help cleanse my body internally (I suggest you start off with this too because it helps!). I do 1/3 ratio of organic castor oil + organic sunflower seed oil and a 2-4 drops of hemp seed oil and 2 drops of pure tea tree oil. If it sounds confusing, get a plastic tablespoon and do 1/3 castor oil and pour it into a little container, then pour 2/3 spoon of sunflower seed in tablespoon and add into the container (also add drops of hemp and tea tree as mentioned above). Mix the oils together using the plastic spoon. At the end of my work day, I rub the mixture of oils on my skin for 2 minutes then apply the hot towel for 30 seconds. To my surprise this method removes ALL of my makeup (foundation + blush). Before I start OCM, I use my fingertips to rinse of my mascara and leave rest of the eye make up on. I use these eye make up remover pads just to get rid of all the eye makeup. I’ll soon try one of the oils to remove my makeup! After OCM, I tone my face with Thayers Rose Petal toner and I do NOT see any trace of leftover make up on my cotton pad, which makes me feel confident about doing OCM. I had one breakout appear out of nowhere but let me tell you, it was a REALLY odd experience to have a zit appear 1 day and be gone the other. So the zits you do get with OCM have a shorter lifecycle and will heal faster, I think. If you have suffered with acne and oily skin all of your life like me, you have nothing to lose. Go pick up organic oils and give it a try. The sunflower oil I have is food grade and rest are organic/cold pressed oils bought from a soap-making specialty store.
Hi!
I purchased one of your oil blends (tamanu/thyme) and I’m currently on day two. Is it bad if I moisturize with Cetaphil spf 30 after? What moisturizer or oil do you recommend for after oil cleansing?
Thank you for your help!
Ugh puh-leeease help if you can… I recently found out about oil cleansing and was very excited because the blog I found was written by a woman with acne that looked very similar to mine. I’ve had acne since I was in 5th grade (will turn 25 in July) and still have not found an answer. I have tried antibiotics up the ying yang, topical everything, just… everything it seems. Oil cleansing makes sense to me and I want it to work for me so badly… I’m using a 3:1 ratio of castor oil to jojoba oil and yes… I am breaking out. I used to have all my acne located on my cheeks but it has since “moved” and now I have a ton of little bumps all over my forehead and rather large/angry red zits on my temple areas. I also have a bunch of little red bumps on my right neck/throat and chest area that I’ve never had before. I don’t know if this is the jojoba oil or what but I’m just feeling SO defeated… I don’t know what to do. I now have a huge bottle of castor oil and spent a fortune on the jojoba (I live on Guam so anything remotely “natural” is insanely expensive) and want to cry thinking I bought it for nothing. I have large pores and what I would consider fairly average skin… I don’t get super oily (anymore) and have never had much of a problem with dry skin. I just need advice… I’m so blah and want my skin to just be clear for once in my life and I thought this would work… but I see many posts telling me to “not give up” and I don’t want to because in all honesty I have NO idea where to go from here. Anything… any… thing… you can tell me will be helpful I’m sure.
Help. Please.
Hi, just starting the oil cleansing method and love this page for it. Just wondering about sunscreens. I normally include a sunscreen daily as my moisturizer, but since I won’t be using a moisturizer per se any more how do I get my sun protection? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks
Hi! I want to try this method. I have oily and really sensitive skin. I just have a couple of questions: Can I mix my two oils and store it in a bottle? Or do I have to mix every time I use? Also I’m thinking of not using the olive oil, to exchange for jojoba oil , how much of each should I mix?
Thanks!
Not many people have mentioned pumpkin seed oil on here but it seems to be great for clog-prone acne-prone AND dry skin. It seems that if you’re oily/combination/acne prone you need to use an oil that has higher linoleic, as opposed to oleic, values. Pumpkin seed oil is really nice to use, absorbs easily and has loads of healing properties, etc. Ok, it smells of pumpkin but that’s not really an unpleasant smell or one that lingers. Can be used for cleansing or as a moisturizer. If you’ve tried other oils and broken out, definitely give it a go before you give up on oils!
I read this article and the other piece from Crunchy Betty as well as several articles for about 6 weeks before finally deciding to try it. I am 38 and have normal to dry skin with very few breakouts. I live in Minnesota and right now it is on the dry side because we are recovering from winter. Mostly, my skin was just not as soft and pretty as it used to be. I had twin boys at the end of 2012 and one of them has a slight nut sensitivity so I thought that I’d avoid nut oil to start in case I had a sensitivity that I didn’t know about. I went with 1 part castor oil to two parts avocado. I didn’t have any major reactions. I had just little irritations after the first two days around my chin area. I tried to go with no moisturizer for a few days but that wasn’t working because my skin was still a little dry. So I started using my old facial moisturizer for a few days. I didn’t like it anymore. So, I tried a little tamanau oil lightly on my face. Now, I know it is a nut oil but I had some and thought I’d try it. Uh….lovely. So I added enough tamanau oil to reduce the castor oil to a 1:4 ratio. PERFECT! Using that for a few days now. Last night I made a moisturizing concoction. Equal parts avocado, hemp seed, rose hip, tamanau, argan, jojoba with a little vitamin E just for good measure. I probably should have started simpler and I meant to but I had all these yummy oils that I wanted to try and I just kept adding them a like 3 ml at a time. I cleansed as directed in this article. I added one more step and that is to do a couple of splashes of water to rinse. Then I just blot dry. I smoothed a light layer of my moisturizing concoction on. This morning my skin is so soft and pretty. A month in and the pores on my cheeks and nose are smaller. My pores weren’t too bad to begin with but the improvement is welcome!
Hi, I’m 45 years old and I’ve been using OCM for almost a year now. My skin has never looked better. I even get compliments from my family at how amazing my skin looks. I cringe when I think about all of the (probably) toxic rubbish I’ve put on my skin over the years, expensive products with who-knows-what in there. It was a lot of trial and error, like you said, I had to cut back on the castor oil! I never use coconut / olive oil on my skin, but I eat it.
I cleanse with a mixture of avocado and sweet almond oil along with a few drops of jojoba and lavender oil. Before bed I blend a few drops of argan and almond oil into my T zone for moisturizing. It’s wonderful. Thank you for your terrific recommendations, I love your site! All the best, XX
I tried experimenting with the OCM last summer by using raw coconut oil to cleanse and diluted apple cider vinegar as a toner. Initially, I was pleased with the results, but after about 2 weeks I had the usual reaction of a massive breakout. I have fought my skin with an arsenal of products, both natural and not, since puberty (I’m 30) and I’m weary! I’m going to give this a second try and take my skincare products into my own hands. I downloaded some ebooks (including yours!) and have made some recipes.
My oil blend right now is grapeseed (carrier) and about 1/2 tsp each lavender and rosemary oils. I made a moisturizer with glycerin, jojoba, vitamin e, and tea tree oil. Also two toners: diluted ACV with tea tree (evening) and green tea, aloe, and witch hazel (morning).
I also use Dr. Woods Black Soap as needed.
I’m a bit nervous that I’ll have the same breakout reaction, but I’m willing to stick it out because conventional products (even natural ones like LUSH) just don’t work for me. I have a question: is it normal to get small flaky patches? I remember this from my last attempt at the OCM. Right now I have them just under my lips and in the laugh lines near my nose. Do I just need to exfoliate? These are areas where I’m likely to break out so I don’t want risk dead skin accumulating there.
Also, what type of make-up do you use with the OCM? Can you recommend anything? Thank you so much. I love your site!
I’ve been using the ocm for about a year now. I seem to have been consistently changing ratios the whole time. When I first started with castor and evoo, I broke out everywhere but continued to use it for 2 months in hopes it was just a long purging period. What I noticed amongst the small bumps everywhere was that absolutely all of my blackheads were gone on my nose, but my forehead and jawline were a mess. How could this be. So I gave it a rest for a couple months and went back to my old method (pro active). I hate putting this harsh stuff on my face. I continued to do research, and discovered jojoba oil (organic). So I started using this mixed with castor oil, and started noticing little blackheads everywhere. Then I purchased tea tree oil to add a small amount to my blend… This, I felt kind of dried my skin, and didn’t seem to help with the blackheads or acne. I started trying evoo again, to clear the blackheads jojoba had given me, and that didn’t help.. I’m not switching back to chemicals because my skin looks better now than it has in a long time, I just have these blackheads that only I notice. So from this website, I bought organic tamanu oil. I have been mixing a small amount of this with a small amount if castor, and double the amount if jojoba. My skin seems to be dry, but it has cleared tremendously after only a week of the tamanu oil. I’m excited to see how it is another week from now. I wish I could use jojoba as a moisturizer on my face, as I use it in the rest of my body with no problems… But I don’t want the blackheads.. I’m still trying to figure it out to perfection, which I’m sure takes time.. But any tips on moisturizing??
I was just wondering what combination of oils you would recommend for dry but acne prone skin? I have had dry and quite sensitive skin all my life and acne caused by hormones
I use 2 parts grapeseed, 1 part evening primrose and about 10 drops of lavender! I LOVE IT for my combination skin (prone to periodic cystic acne breakouts). I’ve been using it every morning for 3 weeks now and I have yet to see a breakout, but I have noticed better texture and smaller pores. Thanks for your advice and this awesome post!
Quick question.. I think I’m ready to add an EO to my mix and I’ve chosen geranium oil. One problem though.. IT’S SO PRICEY ! $32 for 1 oz @ mountain rose herbs. How many drops should I use in my mixture?? I don’t want to have to buy this more than once a month 🙁 (even that is too much). Thanks !
Essential oils are so potent, a single drip should be more than enough. You also don’t have to use it every time you oil cleanse. I use tea tree and lavender interchangeably, and even then it’s more like every other day. Crunchy Betty has an article on essential oils if you wanted to learn more. Hope this helps!
I just completed my first month of oil cleansing and I love it! My acne is clearing up but mostly I love that my face doesn’t look as “old” if that makes any sense. I was drying out and generally abusing it with Proactive for years. It looked irritated and tight. And my face was an oily mess all the time.
I’ve had success with borage, grapeseed, hemp and some tea tree oil. I’m oil cleansing every night and leaving the warm wash cloth on for awhile to really steam out the nasty stuff. In the morning I wash it with raw honey (it wouldn’t need it if I could keep my hands of my face. I’m a crazy face toucher!) Then I use a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar and water as a toner. When I need moisture, I use raw shea butter and lavender essential oil. Everything is organic and unrefined.
I’ve also cut out A LOT of sugar. I already eat pretty well but I’m a sugar addict. I think that’s really helped clear up my acne. All the fancy oil in the world can be undone by what we put into our bodies. Oil cleansing has helped me kick my sugar habit because it’s more expensive and effort than regular cleansing. It helps me to not want to undo it!
Dear Crunchy Betty,
I love your blog and I love that you explain things in a simple way. I need your advice but first let me give you a brief about my skin. I am 26 years old and I suffer from my acne since I was 13, I have an oily skin with lots of blackheads and crazy breakout, since a year and a half I adapted a new facial routine where I steam my face and apply the indian clay mask once or twice a week as well as using my clinique acne line, since then I did not noticed any breakout. However, I felt that I need to even tone my skin as well as give it a healthy radiant, for that reasons I decided to switch to all natural skin care products.
Currently, I use OCM with a mix of castor, jojoba and grape seed oils twice a week , brown rice scrub 4 times a week, clay mask once a week and I made facial and under eye serums from lavender,lemon,carrot,rosemary essential oils and I apply them every night. I am doing this for almost one month now and I gladly didn’t breakout, However, my skin now is full of blackheads and white tiny pimples even around my eyes, I also feel like there is a lot of heavy layers under my skin, I also noticed that my chin become a little darker and greener now! and the stranger-weirder thing is that deeper lines under my eyes!!!
I used to clean my blackheads while I am steaming my face and that worked great, but now no mater what I do my nose still have these dirty things.
Crunchy Betty, I am freaked out, I do not want to give up and go back to all that chemical things I used to use, but I feel like I will wake up one day with an ugly crazy breakout and a sun burns!
Your advice is sooo much appreciated. and please keep up the good work.
Thank you!
2 weeks in so far love it! I’m 23 have sensitive acne prone skin. Have tried everything and never obtained clear skin. I still get a few zits but not the huge cystic ones I was waking up daily with. Hopefully my skin will continue to improve over the next few weeks. I’ve researched this a lot before trying it and so far so good!
My Mixture
-Castor Oil (if skin starts getting dry I use less for a day or two)
Organic Grapeseed Oil (started with jojoba but made me break out)
Tea Tree Oil
My Routine
– OCM every night and some mornings ( in shower or by sink)
– dab a LITTLE argan oil or grapeseed oil for moisturizer if needed
– use microfiber washcloths (got a bunch from dollar store)
– if I’m feeling lazy or in mornings I often just wash with raw organic honey (from trader joes)
– I just eyeball the amounts and adjust on how dry or oily my skin is feeling that day
http://www.minimalistbeauty.com/oils-specifically-for-acne-prone-skin/
very helpful in choosing oils! I could definitely tell a difference when switching from jojoba to grapeseed (higher in linoleic acid)
– Also in hopes of not having a bad “purging period” I used dove soap and honey to wash my face for a few weeks before starting OCM. I was using prescription creams and didn’t want to confuse my skin too much… I think it helped the transition go smoothly but who knows?
Goodluck! And does anyone have any suggestions regarding sunblock and OCM? Not sure if it will ruin my progress but definitely can’t live without it.
I’ve been using the oil cleansing method for just over a month now. After the first week I was starting to see some improvement in my skin (I’ve never had very acne prone skin, was just wanting balanced and overall healthy skin) but now my skin is worse than it’s ever been. I have more breakouts now than I have ever had! I don’t want to give up as I know it’s just a matter or tweaking it and customising it to my skin. I’m 21 and have normal/combination skin. I started using 1/4 castor to 3/4 sweet almond oil, and I’ve tried increasing the castor as well to about 1/2 to 1/2, but still haven’t seen any change. After reading this and some of the comments below I’m thinking I may have a nut oil allergy so might try switching to grapeseed or hempseed. Any other suggestions? Should I be using other supplementary oils/essential oils as well? Determined to make OCM work for me, I know it’s just a matter of trial and error so any tips are welcome!
Forgot to add I started off doing it every night and then started doing every second night as I thought it may be too much for my skin. Should I be doing it even less? A lot of people say to only do it a couple of times a week, but what should you do the other nights, especially if wearing makeup? (I don’t wear makeup everyday and when I do I use mineral makeup)
Hi! So I want to try the oil cleaner method. I have mild rosacea and severely sensitive skin that is combo/dry, I want to try the OCM, but was wondering.. If i do the oil cleanser can I put sea buckthorn oil or rose hip oil on after? Or should I just use one of them to oil cleanse? Im confused! I feel like the castor will be to drying for me.
I started OCM about a month ago. I started off with jojoba, sweet almond and grape seed, but after about two weeks I cut out the jojoba because I was breaking out badly. If anything, my breakouts are worse now.. I took some pictures before starting this and compared to now and I’m MUCH much worse than before.
I’m really disappointed because up until a few months ago I had really clear skin but then I had a bad reaction to a new cleanser and finally decided to try this since I was desperate but it’s just not working. I’m thinking of buying an oil based cleanser (a natural one preferably) so I still get the moisturizing benefits without needing to worry I washed it all off (I feel like using a washcloth every time I use the OCM now is too abrasive for my skin, it gets really red, but I can’t just not use it because then I won’t rinse off all the oil..). Does anyone have any good suggestions for cleansers?
I know it’s wasteful but I use paper towels. A hot washcloth was tearing my skin up. My skin is an absolute train wreck and has been forever. Like 18 years forever.
I’m new to the OCM too.
Current mix: grapeseed oil base, a little almond oil, argon oil and some tea tree oil.
I just purchased apricot oil, neem oil and cumin oil.
I’m gonna make a new mix w the grapeseed + apricot + neem oil + tea tree oil + cumin oil. We’ll see if my sh*tty skin can get a little better…or worse. I also take lots of oils..fish oil, borage oil, vitamin e… I have pcos thus insane hormones.
Not sure whether to persist or not. I have skin peeling off and very red (after about two weeks of OCM) on my nose, chin and centre of the forehead. The last mix was olive oil, avocado oil and jojoba. I have ordered tamanu oil which is yet to arrive. The area where the skin is peeling has been a problem in the past, (with dryness and skin flaking). Not sure if it is a dermatitis problem.
I’ve been struggling with acne for over a year… In high school I always had perfect, jealous-rage-invoking skin. Now that everyone else has moved on from that, my skin is just the worst. I actually cried to my doctor about it when I finally decided to go and get a prescription for antibiotics (they actually sort of worked… but not worth 3 months of off-and-on yeast infections)
When I read Crunchy Betty’s post about the OCM, I was like “A-HA! That makes sense! I started breaking out worse than ever, I freaked out, and I washed my face with harsh, over-drying products… like, constantly… all throughout the day. And now my skin just sucks more because of all the excess fussing.”
I use 1/2 castor oil and 1/2 grapeseed oil plus 1 drop of tea-tree and 1 drop peppermint. I mix in my hand before use every time, so sometimes I use more or less castor oil depending on how greasy I’m feeling. (I plan to add an extra oil that is more moisturizing next time I wash, because I read today that grapeseed oil is an astringent, so I’m using two drying oils in my OCM) I only cleanse using OCM once a day or every other day. I moisturize with jojoba oil and spread lavender oil (diluted in the jojoba) over problem areas every day or twice a day.
My skin is MUCH better. The first two weeks were really scary because I got kinda red and bumpy… I had just finished my 3-month-cycle of antibiotics (which still left me pretty broken-out), and I thought maybe all the little bumps were going to turn into big zits. They didn’t. It took two weeks for my skin to adjust and balance out. I’ve been doing OCM for three weeks now, and I’m all porcelainy minus a few zits left over from my last break out.
I have been using the OCT for about a month now and have broken out in lots of small red pimples. I’m wondering if this is just the gunk coming out of my skin or if I’m using ratios/oil that’s perhaps not right for me? I currently use jojhoba and castor 3/4 quarters to 1/4. Also in the last week I have noted my skin feels ‘rough’ I exfoliate about 2 times a week with cinnamon, honey and nutmeg. Also to top it all off have just come off the contraceptive pill which I have been on since I was 14(I’m 25 now). If anyone has any advice or similar experiences I would love to hear 🙂
I’ve combination skin that is prone to breakout. I think it’s because my skin is sensitive to skin care products. I can’t use most counter moisturizers. After reading good reviews on OCM, I’ve been using pumpkin seed oil and grape seed oil alternatively for the past month. The first week, I saw really good results. My face is clear and my acne scars lightened but the following week, I begin to breakout on first on the forehead, then on the chin & mouth area. Then I read about the benefits of Tamanu oil and blended it with grape seed oil. I am still breaking out, and to add to the problem, the skin along my jawline began to itch. Is there something I’m doing wrong???
Crunchy Betty is the expert, but could it be because you haven’t stuck with one type of oil for long enough to adjust? I had a horrible time adjusting for the first couple weeks, but now my skin is like porcelain minus just a few zits left over from my last break out… but I also felt itchy all over my jawline at first. Why is that??
Hi Gabrielle,
Thanks for your response. tt’s very hard not to quit with large pimples breaking out everyday. I’ll stick to grape seed oil & see what happens. Glad to know I’m not the only one who is experiencing itch along the jawline. Hopefully, someone can tell us why. Cheers.
Hey, I have the itchy jawline too! What is that?! I washed my face about an hour ago with an avocado/jojoba mix that I’ve been using for a while (also happen to be the only oils I’ve gotten around to investing in, besides the obvious coconut and olive oils, which I don’t like on my skin). After I washed it off, I was a little itchy and the skin felt a little tight and dry, so I put on a little bit of straight jojoba and didn’t wash it off, and now it feels fine.
P.S. The oil mix I use has been amaaaazing, and where I used to have a perpetual crop of blackheads on my cheeks, I have fewer than I can count on one hand.
Hi Betty, your are truly amazing! I had mildly troubling skin growing up and then it went away at around 20, but I have recently moved to the city from a farm and I swear ever since I started living there my skin got worse and worse(I think this is because of the higher level of pollution in the air?. So a while ago I went for a facial and the beautician recommended I use an organic range of products, but as with most products I’ve used over the years, it works amazingly for a month of two and as soon as I get the second lot my skin starts making little bumps everywhere and it just feel irritated in general. It also feels dry despite the fact that I moisturize twice a day and on top of this I usually struggle with oily skin?! Talk about confusing…
So, last night I stumbled upon your blog and I got really excited as I’m quite keen on going natural with these things, and I tried the Nutmeg and Milk scrub (I added some Turmeric in there) and I was amazed! My skin was sooo smooth and I didn’t feel like I had to moisturize at all! So this morning I made the Tomato and Gelatine peel of mask and I currently have it on and will be taking it off shortly (it really sets!!). All of this has totally inspired me to try the Honey and Bicarb face wash and the ACV toner! I can’t wait! You are amazing and thank you!!!
Hello! Do you have any suggestions for removing makeup mid day?
Hey folks,
After doing what I think is a good amount of research on the oil cleansing method, I’ve decided to give it a try. I’m sixteen and have pretty bad acne. I’ve tried various natural remedies to help my skin out, but nothing has worked. I have a feeling this could work well for me, but I want to try and get it right the first time around (or at least the second time around) so I don’t have to face the horrors of the trial and error period. I’ve recently started using African black soap and rice water on my face, which Is helping, but not enough. I don’t want to have to buy lots of oils mainly because of the expense and because my Mum will probably be doing the buying. Also, I just oil-cleansed last night with olive oil, but now I’m hearing that it’s actually bad for your skin, so I’m not sure what to use as a base oil.
Any advice and tips on how to start this process would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. I was wondering it I could use the rice water as a toner after oil-cleansing?
I’ve been using OCM for about 4 months now and I couldn’t be happier with it! My skin is so much clearer than it used to be (I’m 29 and for a bit I felt 13). I still have a breakout here and there, but it is nothing like it used to be. Most importantly, I no longer end up with an oil slick on my forehead and flakes on my cheeks at the end of the day. My skin feels balanced and happy! Yay to that!!! I use about 1/2 castor oil, 1/2 grape seed oil, and a hint of tea tree oil. Plus at night I moisturize with Jojoba oil.
I’m going to be going to Florida for a week, and I’m afraid of the humidity,(I always break out in humidity). I live in Colorado where it is very very dry. Do you have any tips to help reduce this? Is there some kind of oil I might be able to add to help with the climate change? Thanks!!!
Please help ! 🙁
How long does it take skin to “normalize” I realize this probably varies from person to person but I am getting really frustrated. I posted recently about having a dryness prob and was told to decrease my castor. I did and with a combo of a baking soda scrub in the morning plus a few drops of jojoba as a moisturizer the dryness is virtually gone (THANKS Brittney !) but my face.. cheeks in particular.. are red and blotchy. I’m not breaking out per say but my skin definitely looks a bit bumpy. Since I pre mixed my oils I have no clue what ratio I’m using. The orig mixture was 2/3 castor and 1/3 jojoba so I use a quarter sized amount of that then add about another 1/2 tbsp of jojoba. My skin is fairly slick after I cleanse but soaks most of it up a few mins later. In the morning it feels fairly soft. Am I doing something wrong?? Or do I need to be more patient. Please tell me this will work soon ! With this plus the fact that I’m trying to use less makeup till I find something chem free.. I look and feel compleletly nasty 🙁
Thanks 🙂
Oh I forgot to add I have been using the ocm for roughly 2 weeks maybe a bit longer.
I’ve never heard of the OCM until about a month ago. I was intrigued and almost jumped into the olive oil cleansing method, but then I started reading how this ended with disastrous results. Looked into coconut oil cleansing, same story. But then I stumbled on a page:
http://www.minimalistbeauty.com/oils-specifically-for-acne-prone-skin/
It basically explains that certain oils (like olive and coconut oil) make you break out because they are higher in oleic acid. Oily/acne prone skin is composed predominantly of oleic acid. From what I’ve researched, you want to find facial oils high in linoleic acid to help keep the pimples at bay. Supposedly, our skin’s natural sebum is more closely aligned with linoleic acid, and we break out if we are deficient in linoleic acid.
Some oils, like jojoba oil, can work for some and not others because they are a “somewhat balanced” oil. However, depending on the brand/sourcing of the product, you may have an oil that is slightly higher in oleic acid.
The website mentioned encouraged pumpkin seed oil. I think evening primrose may be another good one. This site gave a break down of the oleic/linoleic content of different oils…seems to be good info.
Hope this is helpful.
I am just starting OCM. I am 7 days in. I am 39 and have struggled with mild/moderate acne around my chin since my teens. I am so frustrated. My combo is 60-70% castor and the rest is Grapeseed oil. I like the way it feels on my face, but I am noticing a flare up of red pimples on my chin again. I have several questions. 1. is this normal in the first week or so???? My routine is this: AM: wash with all natural honey, rinse, swipe of cotton ball with 100% natural witch hazel, then rub on a very tiny amount of grapeseed oil. PM: OCM, witch hazel and grapeseed oil. Does this sound about right? How long should I wait to see if it is natural purging/detox or if it is just the wrong combo??? If it is wrong, what should be my next plan???? And, What is the best way to wash during the day if you need to wash again, ie after working out etc. Honey? OCM? some other method. I have tried to ditch all my drying chemicals that I used to put all over my face and commit to this new method wholly, but it is difficult and a bit scary honestly. Not that the other chemicals were doing that much either. I read rare reports that the OCM has completely messed up some peoples faces, Just a little worrisome, hoping this is the answer. Thank you for any advice.
Witch hazel and lavender oil is good for you skin but I read that if you skin is sensitive, you should avoid anything with strong fragrances including witch hazel and lavender oil so I stopped using those two ingredients in my skincare routine. You can use apple cider vinegar as a toner instead but I use rose water. I basically have the same or similar skin routine as you. I hope this helps~
I tried a blend of 2 ounces of each Castor Oil,Apricot Kernel Oil and Argan Oil, my nose and chin got extremely red and irritated. I am sensitive to cleansers and normally use Dermalogica. When a co-worker told me about OCM, I had some Vitamin E oil laying around and started with it before I ordered my oils. My skin looked so soft and vibrant..I don’t want to give up on this method! I would appreciated any advice you could offer. I am female age 53 fair, sensitive skin. Thanks Crunchy Betty
Right now I am using 2/3 Castor, 1/3 Sweet Almond, and some essential oils depending on how I’m feeling. Usually Ylang ylang, tea tree, or lavender. My skin has cleared up alot, but after almost a month, I still have some acne that persists! I also have a lot of scars. Any recommendations for new essential oils or ways to get rid of the last of it? I was also wondering where the best place is to get tamanu or tumeric oils?
You know why I immediatly knew that oil cleansing was Good for my skin? Aside from the softness Of the skin afterwards; I have always had oily skin, but also really sensitive. Well after the first days Of OCM, my skin stopped looking oily all day long and the pores on my nose looked smaller and clean.
My problem now after a few weeks is that I get extremely dry.
The skin is tight, and flaky. I put more almond and jojoba oil in the mix, but I’m still incredibly dry, plus a few cystic zits that really hurt. I have to work on my oil mix, my skin looks so dried out and wrinky.
That’s exactly what happened to me. I switched the olive oil out for sunflower oil and I’m not sure if it made it worse
Vita told me I was probably overexfoliating. I now oilclense my skin twice a week and the other days I use cotton pad and floral water ( rose or lavender). Whenever I feel dry tight skin I damp my face with a hot cloth and apply a drop Of my oil mix massaging it in with warm hands to make it sink in, before closing my pores again with a spritz ice cold water or a rose water icecube. The irritation is gone, tightness and cysts also, pores back to normal. Overall, the best looking skin in six years. I will have to keep an eye on the mix and my face in general, as my skins’ needs will change in summer or over time. Also whenever I happen to get a blemish, I pop it and then clean it with floral water and then oil mix. It sounds absurd but I assure you it heals much better than with desinfecting! Maybe the ingredients in the desinfectant strips the skin from its portecting layer or something, but it’s much less irritating, and there is no bacteria spreading giving me pimples all over. I never tried olive or sun flower though, I use still 10%castor, 40%iojoba,50% almond and a few drops pomegranate seed oil.
I became obsessed with the coconut oil rave. I made a coffee, sugar, salt, cinnamon, cocnut oil blend body scrub and I use it everywhere. I get in the shower. was my hair with regular shampoo until I run out of it. I then put the cocnut oil in my hair for conditioner. I wash my face with an organic but still 2% saliclyic acid facewash then I shut off the water. I add the scrub on top of the facewash and then all over my body and once I have rubbed all the little exfoliating parts away to nothing I rinse and get out. I made my own concotion of coconut oil and lavender essential oil that I put on any breakout areas and my face (a very thin layer. I tend to breakout under my sports bra since I am an engineer that sweats 10 hours a day then I workout so I just stay filthy most of the time. aka breakouts). I so far have no had any issues. I accredit it to the lavender EO I added in and the scrubby stuff in the scrub I made. This may not work for everyone but I made this for a bunch of my friends and everyone is loving it with no bad reactions so far. The added ingredients may have made the difference between breakouts and glowing healthy skin. That was my tidbit. Might not work for everyone.
Use Veet Wax Strips for silky smooth skin! It works like magic leaving behind perfect flawless skin. Its easy to use and convenient! Buy veet products from snapdeal on a special discount offer!!
So I first started the OCM with castor and olive oil (both of course organic and cold pressed) and my skin started clearing up and looking amazing. I also tried coconut oil and it was fine too. I know you don’t recommend those, so I ordered your thamanu theyme cleansing oil and the lucid oil moisturizer. I was so excited to try it but I was horrified when I immediately broke out worse than ever before all over my face the day after I used it so I stopped using it after 3 days and my skin started clearing up again. 🙁 I dont know what to do. I really want to use it but I’m not sure why its breaking out so much and if that is just a beginning stage…but if it is, why it didn’t do that when I used the olive/castor oils and coconut oil?? Please give me any advice because I want to use these products.
Crunchy Betty was it you who wrote about the impact castor oil production has on the environment and the people who process it, and what castor oil you should go for to ensure it is friendly?? I can’t find that info now anywhere! Thanks!
Any thoughts on how to or what oils to use for Rosacea prone skin?
Hi Marie, I’ve started oil cleansing because I couldn’t find anything that didn’t trigger my rosacea. I’m very new to it, but I’ve not reacted poorly to grapeseed oil as my base. I’m slowly adding a little bit of castor, and I’ve had good results adding a bit of chamomile oil (it’s anti-inflammatory).
What is the ratio for Tamanu oil? You mention 1 tsp above, but how much oil cleanser are you adding that to? I want to get my ratios right and not overdo the Tamanu
Cynthie add the 1tsp (5-10 drops) of Tamanu oil to 1-2oz’s of or your OCM blend (re: Add extra bonus ingredients for your skin type). Hope you have good success.
I am just starting to try ocm and was wondering if I could add some hyaluronic acid to my cleansing oil blend. Can’t seem to find any info on it.
I used HA mixed in with rosehip oil (which I use as a nightly moisturizer)and, for my skin, I wasn’t able to tell a difference. Plus the molecules in pure HA are too big to be absorbed by the skin, so it just kind of sits of the face, and it needs help being pushed into the skin with another moisturizer. However, when I layered the HA and then put rosehip oil over it, the HA would just ball up. In my opinion, HA does not go well with oils and it’s kind of a waste of money, especially if you purchased pure hyaluronic acid. I’d either use it on it’s own (which doesn;t do much good) or with another more standard moisturizer.
Also, If anyone has started doing this while pregnant and has any tips, I’d sure enjoy them. I just started oil-cleansing a day ago because my face has broken out to all hell since I got knocked up, and I know pregnant women can’t use anything that’s standard. Everything I used to use has retinols, parabens, pthalates, and so forth (besides the retinols, the rest is way awesome to NOT be using anymore). It could be because I’m going into my second trimester and my face is clearing up on it’s own, but I truly believe my face is clearing up because of the rosehip oil…which is also great for scars! It’s just a little expensive, and can be a little drying, but it’s really worth it (especially when your retin-a and retinols are taken away from you). Hormones are a bitch!
I have been using the OCM for a year now and LOVE it! Before using OCM I had breakouts, and red rashes around nose, irritations from sensitive, aging yet acne prone skin.
I experimented with all the oils my favourite blend is:
Tiny bit castor oil (I find it VERY drying)
Apricot kernel oil (my Fav)
Grape seed oil
Almond oil
essential oils: Lavender, rose or clary sage.
I don’t measure though I just put it all in the bottle and shake ‘er up!
I save my jojoba oil and argan oil for my moisturizer because they are more pricey.
Straight olive oil has worked wonderfully for me. I have a little pump bottle filled with it in my shower. I use it when I wake and before bed, and really, whenever I feel I want to clean my face. My skin looks great (according to me 🙂 ) My shiny-ness has gone away, my pores are visibly smaller, and my pms acne has been diminished. I love it. I will never go back to using anything else. I may experiment with hemp oil, but that would be the extent of it. Don’t fix what isn’t broken 🙂 Good luck everyone. It’s different for everyone, but worth the experimenting.
Just bought a bunch of oils today to try this method! Since I turned 30 and my son stopped nursing, my skin has started breaking out worse than when I was a teen. I had been using coconut oil, but I think that made it worse. My only question: what can I use to remove eye makeup including waterproof mascara? The jojoba oil says it can be used to remove makeup, but castor oil says to avoid contact with eyes. Thanks.
I use the OCM method with a face full of make up including mascara (and waterproof mascara). It looks black for a bit, but it all melts off nicely and comes off no problem.
Jojoba oil works… and it’s high in Vitamin E so it’s a good thing to put around your eyes. It’s pricey, though, so i try to save it to use only as moisturizer. I usually rub the grapeseed oil on my eyes until my mascara is all off, then proceed with my castor-and-grapeseed-oil cleansing.
Gabrielle, what kind of grapeseed oil are you using? Organic, cold pressed ? Hm, I just got some today and noticed its just plain grapeseed oil not organic or cold pressed. Wondering if that makes a difference???
I bought my grape sees oil from the cosmetics section. It says “oil for skin” but doesn’t say whether it is organic or not… This was only about $4 for a 6oz bottle
Anything for men?
Why would it be different for men, other than maybe eliminating the essential oils?
Try motor oil 😀
(I very much think the same rules apply)
I have tried the ocm for almost a year, and had horrendous results with it. I was of course not going to give up so easily, so I experimented with several different oils. I suffer from Atopic dermatitis, making my skin incredibly sensitive and causing me to break out from the smallest of things. I first broke out when I was 19, after a lifetime without a single imperfection on my face – no joke, I was like a bloody porcelain doll throughout my teenage years. So imagine the torture of beginning adult life looking like a thirteen year old. I am now 25, and countless products and “skincare specialists” (worst thing I ever did, going to a dermatologist; the products they gave me was like putting my skin on fire, and I ended up with my skin swelling and turning completely red!), and the following failures, convinced me I would look like this for the rest of my adult life. Then I found the ocm.
Jojoba oil, olive oil, argan oil and so many others were disastrous to my skin and ravaged it, leaving me with even more spots, scarring and deep infections. Now I have been using hempseed oil, and it is a world of difference! No more dry skin, or it feeling uncomfortable, no more gigantic spots or infections, and the small spots I do get disappear in a day or two, or even a few hours. And bonus: it makes my scarring slowly less prominent day by day! 😀
So if you are on the verge of giving up on the ocm, PLEASE DO NOT! At least, not before trying hemseed oil for a while. (It took me about a moth before I noticed a more radical change than just softer and more supple skin – and I try to only do a deep cleanse once a week, and try to avoid makeup BUT IF YOU DO WEAR MAKEUP YOU NEED TO WASH YOUR MAKEUP BRUSHES AS OFTEN AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE!!!)
And thank you Crunchy Betty for posting this and the other posts about the ocm. I think I would have given up on this method much sooner if I had not come across these posts.
Thank you!! In all my research about the oil cleansing method I haven’t been able to find anyone who started it, broke out horribly, but kept going and found a solution. Everyone who ran into trouble seems to have quit. I just started about a month ago and my skin is really enflamed, major breakout and I’ve been thinking about giving up… but now! Going to get some hempseed and see what happens.
Did you notice your new breakouts stopped when you switched to hempseed, even if it took about a month for it to affect the current breakout?
Thanks!!
The most radical change was generally that my new outbreaks were much smaller and not nearly as inflamed, and that my existing infections drasticly reduced in size. This was the first hint that I might finally be on the right path, and it has slowly but surely improved with time. When I did break out with large new spots, I found that it was only every time I used makeup, so now I wash my makeup brush every time I use it (found that the easiest way was to wash it with the mild cleansing milk I had from before I started the ocm, followed by a round with the hairdryer I never actually use on my hair) and new breakouts are a thing of the past.
I have used hemp oil at night. Messaging all over my face, wiping off makeup with a cotton ball then applying manuka honey on after for 5 to 30 min. Then I rinse with cold water. In the morning I put manuka honey mGO 250 on my face for 5 min then rinse and put hemp oil on and I’m done. Hemp oil is rated 0 for comogenic which is awesome and it reduces inflammation. Because it has chlorophyll in it it minimizes redness. Manuka honey with a rating over 20 is guaranteed with powerful enzimes to clean and heal wounds.
The reaction acne reaction to olive oil is probably due to its high phytoestrogen content. Putting it directly on the skin probably allows some of the hormones to absorb causing a hormone induced breakout like around the time of your period.
I’m currently using castor oil and sunflower seed oil but still breaking out. I use morning and night. I’m interested in trying the hemseed. Do you mix it with another oil? And how often do you use it? Hopefully that’s something I can find at the grocery store. Let me know. Thx!
I’ve been using the OCM for about a week now and I love it!! I have been cleansing at night and just splashing with cold water in the morning. At night I apply my usual under eye moisturizer. I am looking to get a hyluronic acid serum to apply morning and night because the dorms I live in have dehumidifiers and it drys out my skin terribly. Would it be ok for me to use the hyluronic acid serum and a think retinol cream at night before bed? I have oily skin with a dry patch between my eyes so I’ve been using 2/3 castor and 1/3 olive oil.
What kind of material do you use for the wash cloths? Is it just cotton? Would microfiber work as well or would that absorb to much oil?
I am having problems with the OCM. The first few days I used it my sister told me that I looked so beautiful and my skin was glowing. After a week or so my skin got dry and saggy. I normally have dry skin so I started with 80% Grapeseed Oil, about 5% Castor Oil, and 15% Argan Oil.
After my skin got dry I tried a mix of 3 Tblsp Coconut Oil, 1 Tblsp Grapeseed Oil, and 1 tsp Vitamin E Oil. Then I whipped it with a whisk until it was smooth and creamy. I try to use this every day but my skin is still dry. Then the dry skin clogs my pores which then causes me to break out… UUUGH!! I am so frustrated and want to quit using OCM.
Do you have any advice? I am at my whit’s end here.
Hi Crunchy Betty!! Thanks so much for sharing this cleansing method! It has been wonderful to my face!!
My issue is that after a few weeks, the inside of the container I’m using to hold my oil blend gets moldy (gross!!). I can’t figure out why. Its absolute clean when I fill with oil, its an airtight (tupperware-small) container, and I use a medicine dropper to pull out the oil for each wash. I use organic sunflower seed oil and castor oil. Its gross and wasteful. I only mix, MAYBE 1/8 cup at a time (probably MUCH less).
I am just wondering if you have any suggestions or if any of your readers have come across this and what did you do? Any idea WHY this is happening??
Thanks so much again!
Please help!
I have been using the OCM for about a week and a half and my whole face is now super dry and flaking off.
I normally have combination skin and have been cleansing with Grapeseed oil once a day. Afterwards I moisturize with Jojoba oil with a drop of Lavender and Geranium. I’ve done so much reading and none of these oils seem to cause dryness for anyone else! I have tried stopped steaming my face with a hot wash cloth, and instead been sticking to warm water.
Any ideas on what I should eliminate? I have to constantly be moisturizing my face throughout the day (with the jojoba), otherwise the flakes start to appear 🙁
If you don’t do the OCM every night, what do you do to cleanse the other nights if you shouldn’t go back to chemical cleansers?
Has anyone tried adding some organic honey to your OCM blend? I’ve been using honey for a lot of homemade skin remedies, so I’m considering adding it to my oil mix.
Should I wash my makeup off first (I’m in TV news) before applying the oil? Or should I use the oil to remove the makeup? And what about the morning routine…before or after my shower/shave?
oil cleansing makes me so happy I could cry. I’m 17, and ever since I hit puberty as an early bloomer my face has been such an oil slick it would kill seals and ducks. I was lucky to never have bad or cystic acne, but my face was SO oily, I could soak through those nifty oil absorbing sheets completely every hour. Along with using only home made natural makeup and cutting down on makeup in general, I use half grapeseed oil and half olive oil. The olive oil doesn’t bug me, but I’ve replaced it with avocado and liked that just fine too. The real tricks for me have been 1) leaving the hot towels on for long enough! actually waiting till they reach room temperature makes a huge difference. 2) repeating. doing it twice somehow makes your pores so much clearer, probably because the oil can penetrate better after the hot towels. These steps are crucial for me, and I had no success without them. I also had a 3 week transition period of annoying little pimples, so patience is key!
Hi Crunchy Betty,
I have just started the oil cleansing method a few weeks ago. I have had some trouble finding the right blend. I have purchased your Exquisite Stuff blend from Etsy and cannot wait to try it. I am happy with the OCM overall and would really like to stick with it but i am finding my skin is still dry and flakey. Any advice?
I use 1 part shea butter, 1 part castor oil and 1 part manuka honey. Works brilliantly on my combination/dry skin.
Personally I would try a different oil if what I was using wasn’t working. I first tried pumpkin seed because I love it as a moisturizer but it did NOT work for me for cleansing. I had decided that the OCM was not for me until I tried castor oil which worked great, I use pure undiluted castor oil with nothing added and a very hot washcloth (bamboo terry which has very fine fibers to clear out pores). I sometimes follow up with a gentle exfoliant and a touch of pumpkin seed oil for moisturizer. Has your mixture always included sunflower seed oil? It might be worth using just one oil at a time to figure out what your skin may be reacting to. Good luck!
I’ve been using OCM for two nights now.and I think I burned my face a little. An angry red splotch is on the side of my face. But otherwise my skin feels great. I’m using almond and olive oil. Never broken out like that before so I’m wondering if it’s just s too hot washcloth.
Can anyone recommend an oil that’s been really effective for them at unclogging pores (aside from castor oil)? I have pretty terrible combination skin, with the majority of my breakouts in the T-zone, and really, really enlarged pores on my nose.
I’ve been using the OCM for about a month an a half after having acne since I was 14 and trying absolutely everything on the market to get rid of it (including Accutane). I was seeing positive results after using olive oil for a week – but then got worried after reading about the problems people have had with it and switched to sweet almond oil. None of the stores near me seemed to carry castor oil, so I ordered some online and decided to cleanse with just the almond oil while I waited for it to ship. My skin was looking a million times better; it was softer, smoother, and I was barely using any concealer/foundation anymore – until I added the castor oil. After just the first time cleansing with it I was suddenly getting enormous almost cystic-like breakouts on my cheeks and near my hairline, and I was using so little of it that all I could think to do was eliminate it completely. I’m kind of nervous about trying any new oils now, so I’m just using the sweet almond oil, but the large breakouts have stopped; I’m sure the castor oil was the culprit. I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed that I don’t get any scarring while they heal.
It’s been two weeks since the “castor-oil incident”, and unfortunately my skin has been dryer and I’m seeing a lot more blackheads on my nose that I’d love to get rid of if anyone has some suggestions!
I have noticed that what oils work for individuals is really, well, individual. What oil works for one person does not for another, so if I were you I would let your skin guide you. If olive oil or almond worked for you, I would go with it. Some possible things to consider might be: using a microfiber cloth (I use a bamboo washcloth which has very fine fibers which help to clear out pores), making sure your washcloth is really hot- not hot enough to burn you but hot. I have found that my tap water does not get hot enough so I heat the water until it is steamy. Make sure to get ALL of it off. If your face is dry after washing use a light amount of your oil of choice as a moisturizer (again what works for your skin). For acne oils with a high percentage of Omegas can be helpful. Also I would definitely consider a facial steam at least once a week followed by a clay mask. French white clay is the most gentle. Just my two cents!
A thought on castor oil. I was at the market today and checking castor oil prices because I am getting low and noticed that one non organic bottle stated that it was hexane free. Non organic castor oil, that does not state that it is solvent free, may have been extracted using harsh solvents such as hexane. Don’t know what kind you got but it might be worth checking. Cheers!
I haven’t actually started the ocm yet myself (I’m just working up the courage to try it) but I’ve been doing a LOT of research. The more anecdotes I read, the more this post has me convinced:
http://www.minimalistbeauty.com/oils-specifically-for-acne-prone-skin/
Try one of the oils she lists that are high in linoleic acid! I also have horrible T-zone acne (I swear I constantly have at least 1-2 cystic pimples on my chin! I hate it!!) and larged pores on my nose. I think I’m going to either try pumpkinseed oil or organic grapeseed, and maybe only do the ocm 1-2 times a week at first, alternating with my normal facewash. I’ll let you know if I get any good results!
If you only need to use the OCM once a week or so, what do you do daily to wash your wash and remove your makeup before bed? Especially since you don’t recommend using any other type of drug store cleanser.
I do it daily/nightly to wash my makeup off and cleanse my skin. 2-3 days of not doing it makes a big difference for me. Most that do the OCM try to do it every day, so it can give them the best results.
I normally have very oily skin. I have been using the OCM method since November with wonderful success. I use grape seed oil as a base, add some lavender and a few drops of peppermint and lemon oil. My skin has never had this clarity before. Even after a long day at work., no oil!
Thanks for this! All the other places I read about the OCM recommended using olive oil, but when I tried it it totally wrecked my already temperamental skin. With your advice, I am willing to give it another, more informed try.
I bought the It’s Tamanu Thyme oil and The Lucid facial oil and I’ve been using them for about 6 days now. While my skin is softer than it’s ever been, the breakouts on one side of my face aren’t going down. How long till I start noticing results from the using these products?
If you’re suggesting that coconut oil causes breakouts, why do other websites promote using coconut oil as a makeup remover and as a facial moisturizer? Should it just not be used as an oil-cleansing method when mixed with castor oil?
I just started using the oil cleansing method! Since I didn’t have anything other than coconut oil in the house, that is what I started with and after just a few uses my skin is drastically better! I had been breaking out for months (after perfectly clear skin during puberty) and finally came across the oil cleansing method. Since coconut oil has been working well for me, I am a little reluctant to try other oils. What do you all think? Should I keep just using coconut oil, or add in castor oil next time I can get to the store?
Hi! Okay, so I’ve had acne since I was 11 years old. Its terrible and I hate it. I’ve been on doxycycline hyclate 100mg and tretantoin .025 mg for about a year now and it is not very stable in keeping my face clear and I still have really terrible break outs that make me want to wear a paper bag over my face. So, I’ve decided that I need to try something new and natural and maybe, JUST MAYBE, my face will sing praises and clear up. Thus, I was wondering if anyone has any advice on what oils to get (I have combination skin and blackheads are my nemesis) before I go and spend money that I dont have on a bunch of different oils.
Thanks a mil!
I need some advice. 2 weeks ago I started the OCM with a blend that I purchased which included mostly coconut oil. Initially I thought it was amazing. My skin was really responding well, breakouts clearing up and my skin felt luxurious. After about a week I started getting small red bumps on my forehead and temples. I did some research and switched my blend to hemp seed oil and castor oil 2:1, which I’ve been using for 3 days. The bumps seem to be spreading and definitely not going away. Should I give it more time? Is it normal to go through a transition period with OCM? I read that hemp seed oil is a zero on the comogedenic scale. (Not sure if that’s the correct word) my oils are all organic and top quality. Thoughts?
I am getting the same red bumps after using the ocm for several months. I have changed up my oils but still getting the bumps. At first my skin was smooth and looking really good I was so excited…now it looks very dull plus the bumps. How long does it take to see a difference after changing oils? I don’t see any responses to a lot of these questions…is anyone answering? Need help!
For your rosacea, please read up about the benefits of organic, unprocessed, apple cider vinegar. It has been widely reported by posters.to be the best treatment – both externally and internally. Best of luck.
Hi all–
I have been OCM for a little less then a month now. I use half Castor to Grapseed oil (sometimes a bit of Apricot Kernal oil), and just yesterday got Tamanu oil to add to my blend. For the most part my skin has definitely improved, especially around my chin and jawline where it was causing issues. However, I had bangs for about 6 months and they gave me the most awful forehead breakout ever, I have blackheads and cystic pimples, and although it seems I definitely have less, I still have skin colored bumps and just overall unevenness there. I no longer have my bangs in my face and I just started cleansing with honey in the mornings. Has any one else had this problem, been able to get rid of it, or had it worsen using OCM? I’m hoping its just a matter of waiting it out and seeing improvement the longer I do it. Just so frustrating because before the bangs I never had an issue there!
Thanks in advance!!
As a hairstylist I will tell you that lots of people with bangs tend to get major breakouts on the forehead especially those with oily hair. If your hair gets oily rather quickly you should never consider bangs aside from that if you have sensitive skin; hair products can irritate it as well. Try adding a few drops Of tea tree oil to your mixture. If the rest of your skin doesn’t need it then don’t mix it in with your oil, do your cleansing as usual and before you rinse adds few drops of tea tree oil to you hand and just work it into the forehead then steam the oil off as you normally would
hello, I have been searching for something natural to help sooth the rosacera on my 15 year old daughters face. we seem to have tried everything under the moon … any suggestion?
thank you,
martina
I’ve been using the OCM for three weeks now. While I have noticed some real improvements I have also began to break out in an area that was once clear. I have since lowered my castor oil dosage and raised the sunflower oil dose. After a small break in cleansing (4 days)I have started a new system where I cleanse every other day. I guess my question is how long should the adjustment period take? Should I try a different oil to end the new breakouts? HELP!!!
I’m in the same situation. I’ve done a lot of research and I’ve read that if after a few weeks you’re still reacting badly then maybe try a different oil. I also started on sunflower and it was horrible for me, and since I’ve read a lot of things saying sunflower probably isn’t the best. Try lowering the castor way down to no more than 15% of your mix, and I’ve read great things about hemp seed oil. That’s what I’m going to try next, as well as jojoba. People also say not to do the full steaming deep cleanse more than a couple times a week. Less is more. Good luck!
Hi I used sunflower oil at first too and it made my skin horrible. I switched to jojoba and castor oil at about a 10:1 ratio (I have pretty dry skin and didn’t want the castor oil drying me out) and it made a huge difference. Took a few weeks for my skin to start clearing up once I switched but it’s been great since then so about a year now I guess! Hope this helps 🙂
Your 10:1 ratio is 10(jojoba) and 1(castor oil)?
Here’s the answer you don’t want to hear: everyone’s “adjustment period” is different. Some people have no purging period and adjust right away (those tend to be the Evil Mutants Who Have Had Perfect Skin Their Whole Lives, and we don’t like to talk about them). I’m 6 weeks into OCM, and while I don’t think I really had a “purging” period, I’m only just NOW starting to see a gradual improvement in my acne compared to what it was before I started OCM.
That said, if you’ve been using your blend for a few weeks and your skin is looking “irritated” in addition to still having pimples, you might want to try a different oil. It could be that your skin doesn’t like castor oil, at all – from what I’ve read, it can cause breakouts and irritation in some people. It PROBABLY isn’t the sunflower oil making you break out, since it’s considered completely non-comedogenic, but everyone’s different, so it might be. Add or remove oils from your regimen one at a time so you can figure out what’s causing issues, and give it a week (I know, it’s hard) to notice any effects before changing something else.
If you’re breaking out in an area that was once clear, well, don’t have an answer, because I’m in the same boat. The only possible explanation I can offer is that, since you’ve been doing OCM for 3 weeks, it could be hormone-related. Sorry, wish I could give you a better hypothesis than blaming it on your period… :-/
The period theory could be right, most of us tend to break out more here and there, tea tree oil helps without drying my skin out, I found the castor oil to be way too drying for me no matter how little I used so I just use avocado oil and occasionally add a few drops of tea tree oil when I feel I need something more. I also use grapeseed oil instead of avocado when I am not as dry
Hi – this seems to be a good and honest post. My friend swears by OCM and I just started today. However, it needs to be noted everywhere that while it takes the outer layers of your skin to clear up in a week or 2, you could have acne developing deeper in the skin that takes a few weeks to come out and that’s what you are seeing now. I sometimes take a month or so to adjust and I have extremely oily and sensitive skin. I’m using sunflower oil (organic, gourmet, cold pressed) and the first time I washed, my skin felt great. I also have slight ezcema on my chest and it stopped itching after I massaged the oil in, so who knows.
Hey, I’ve been having the same problem. So I just want to ask if you’re still doing the OCM for your skin? I’ve lowered my castor oil amount, and increased the safflower oil. I’ve also started doing the OCM every other day.
Hello!
I read that you only use oils from mountain rose herbs. I am thinking about getting my oils from this site but I noticed that the castor oil that is advertised is refined. Is this the castor oil you use for OCM? I am wondering if I should try to find other unrefined oil or if this will work.
Thank you!
Hi! I am dealing with some OCM problems that I’d love some help with. I had initially had great success with the OCM but after about a month my skin got way worse. Now I’ve been dealing with large, painful acne (mostly on my forehead and around my temples). I’d hate to give up this natural method of cleansing but I can’t handle the breakouts (my skin use to be clear, minus a few blackheads and large pores on my nose). My t-zone use to get shiny but not anymore since starting oil cleansing. Here’s my typical routine:
– Morning- wash with primal life organics face wash or baking soda and water, followed by Argan Oil to moisturize
– Night- wet face and massage in 50%/50% castor/sunflower oil blend. Steam face with clean washcloth soaked in hot water (heated with a kettle), normally twice. I then wipe my face down with the same washcloth until all the oil residue is removed. I then moisturize with Argan oil or green pastures beauty balm (all natural)
I don’t use fabric softener on my wash clothes and add baking soda to the load, so I don’t think that’s the cause. I’ve tried more castor oil but then my face is way too dry. I’ve tried olive oil instead but that didn’t seem to help. Any ideas? Is OCM just not for me? Thanks in advance for any advice you have!
Hey Rebecca! I am having the same issues as you. I use 60 % castor, 40% almond oil and about 25 drops tea tree oil at night. In the morning, I just rinse with water and then moisturize with oil free moisturizer and a drop of tea tree oil. I have done all of the same things you have (baking soda, no fabric softener) and am having the same issues. Hopefully someone has some advice for us because I don’t really want to give up the natural face care regimen.
I think yo uboth might be using too much castor oil. It’s quite a harsh oil and some people can have terrible reactions to it. Try cutting down on the oil or cutting it out completely. Hazelnut oil/grapeseed oil are meant to be good substitutes. Good luck
Kelly, You said you were using 25 drops of Tea Tree oil at night? That may be causing some of your problems. Tea Tree oil is very concentrated and very little is needed. I use at night when I moisturize. I use about 10 drops of Rosehip Oil with 2 drops of Tea Tree. And when I want to cleanse your face with oil no more than 5 drops of Tea Tree oil needs to be added. Hope this helps
Oh man.. I made a major typo! I put about 25 drops tea tree in my castor oil/almond oil blend ( the entire batch). But since posting I added more almond oil and have been moisturizing in the morning with one drop almond and one drop tea tree and my skin is looking better. Thank you all for your responses!
Hey there! The cause may be the baking soda. Baking Soda has a PH of 8-9 (even with water) while your skins PH is about a 5, so it could be messing with your acid mantle… I am honestly not extremely informed on the subject but p but please check out these links before continuing to put baking soda on your face.
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/328544-acid-mantle-and-products-that-damage-it/
http://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/comments/195lue/psa_please_do_not_use_baking_soda_on_your_skin_it/
First off, let me tell you that the OCM changed my skin. Heck, I’ll even say it changed my life! So many people compliment my skin, I no longer get annoying (and self-confidence wobbling)break-outs, no black heads,no clogged pores, more even skin tone… I use Macadamia Nut oil. I tried castor oil & it dried my forehead out so badly that I got flakes & my skin started peeling. I know that not everyone will be able to use a nut oil due to allergies, but my skin loves it!
Hey Katy! Waht is your regimen? Do you just use macadamia nut oil?
I use macadamia oil to melt off my makeup & then use a very mild cleanser. I will then put a couple of drops of oil back on any spots that feel dry or tight (usually my forehead). I do this at night. In the mornings, I’ll cleanse in the shower & then put oil on as a moisturizer & let it soak in before putting my makeup on for the day. I guess it is a rather modified version of the OCM, but I have payed around with so many combinations & this is what keeps my skin happiest.
Hi there! Quick question for you guys. Can this oil blend be left on over night like a face mask and then removed in the morning, or does it need to be washed off right away? Would the former do any harm?
It may be very messy if you leave it on at night, causing pillows and other surroundings to be covered in oil. In my opinion, I think it is best to wipe it off. Some can be left on, but nothing to where it’s dripping and very slick. Just faint.
Oops VERY MUCH…CHEEK KISS AND A SQUEEZE
I am just beginning…I made a fabulous moisturizer that worked unbelievably well….I decided to bottle it…Went crazy changed the ingredients. …big mistake…it began to dry the skin…leaving a leathery texture….I searched and searched…to no avail couldn’t find my mistake….YOU HAVE JUST SAVED ME ….CASTOR OIL WAS THE CULPRIT…VERY DRYING TO PUT IT MILDLY… ..MAY THE UNIVERSE SUPPLY YOU WITH ALL YOU NEED
..THANK YOU. WHY MUCH….
I am thinking of trying this out but am not clear on what you do in the morning. When i wake up, i always need to wash my face because it is a bit oily. Will following OCM naturally regulate and leave you not needing a morning face wash?? Maybe just a rinse with water?
Thanks!
My skin was very oily before OCM. Within a week it stopped and it takes two or three days of not cleansing to get a shine going. I cleanse at night and use a quick wipe of hot water in the morning, followed by a few drops of almond oil. Before this I had oily, acne prone, fair skin with red patches.
You can rinse with water in the morning or you can oil cleanse at whatever time of day works best for you, in my case I prefer to oil cleanse after I take a shower once the steam opens my pores a little
…I should have also mentioned that while I was expeiencing acne breakouts in the beginning, I also had patches of very dry, flakey skin evrywhere, including my eyelids under my eyebrows. My face was a mess and my makeup looked awful, but I stuck with it and tried a few different things. It really does take a bit to adjust to the change, but it does work.
I recently started using the ocm. I have fair, sensitive skin, which is very oily, and am also prone to acne breakouts. The first couple of weeks were awful. I went thru quite a bad breakout period, but I continued to experiment. Olive oil has worked well, and I also add almond oil, and a couple of drops of tea tree oil & geranium essentail oil to my mixture. I follow up with a toner of apple cider vinegar and water. I have been giving myself homemade facials, using masks made from gram flour, cocoa, buttermilk powder, tumreric, and orange peel powder. The buttermilk in the mask exfoliates, and I just gently rub the dead skin off using the tips of my fingers in the shower. I’m 47 and I can’t remember the last time my skin has looked this good. I wish I’d have known about this in my 20s. I have spent a small fortune on products. I do use Stieva A at night.
I began having rosacea symptoms after my kids were born and have been searching for a skin care solution that is healthy and makes ME look like ME again. Is OCM a good option? What would be a good combination and ratio of oils to start with? After years of redness, flakiness and break outs it’s really messing with my self esteem.
I’ve actually just started looking into OCM, too, because I’m pretty sure I have rosacea. I totally understand what you say about it messing with your self esteem. I never had to deal with acne as a teenager, but now my skin is crazy flaky and bumpy in addition to being red and I feel really self-conscious.
I’m still researching, and I haven’t figured out what oils might be best, but my skin doesn’t get tight after washing with oil. (Granted, I’ve only done it a couple of times.) But I feel like because so many things are triggers for rosacea, the lack of chemicals *has* to be a point in favor of OCM. I’m going to keep experimenting and I suggest you do, too. Feel free to drop me an email!
Try something like avocado oil to start with and I would not recommend the castor oil in your case. Not everyone can use it and if you are already red with dry skin it will probably only dry you out more. I can’t even use a few small drops of castor oil
I love your website, and I’ve been doing the OCM method for several months now (jojoba with a couple of anti-acne essential oils, and tamanu), and I’m very pleased with the results. I would however suggest that you include a stronger warning about the negative effects of castor oil (and not just evoo or coconut). While it may be cleansing and work for some (I saw several blogs raving about it), it can have disastrous effects on others, including myself. I decided to incorporate it into my OCM routine, first at a 30% concentration. It was too drying, so I lowered it to 10% or less. Drying was no longer as bad, but then within two weeks, my chin ERUPTED. When I did some more digging, several women had the same experience (http://beautyeditor.ca/2010/11/15/my-brief-traumatic-foray-into-the-oil-cleansing-method-or-how-overreaching-can-sometimes-backfire-on-your-skin/). And this wasn’t just chalked up to “purging”, which IMO is another misleading term used by many skin blogs. Sometimes it isn’t a true purge, and only gets worse. So listen to your skin. Thankfully, I’m starting to see improvement on my chin after just 3 days of stopping castor oil, which tells me that it was the problem. And it was good quality too, from Mountain Rose Herbs, which is where I get all my products from.
I’ve been oil cleansing for about a year now, at first I oil cleansed on and off and didnt bother having any kind of routine (not a good idea, I’m just lazy) I have used a few oils and found grapeseed oil worked really well for me, not perfect but it was good.
I ended up using a homemade whipped body butter as a cleanser, I really loved it but it contained cocoa butter, far to heavy for my skin, so I couldn’t use any to moisturise those slightly dry patches afterward, with this in mind I decided to make myself a lighter cleansing butter, it feels and works just like a cleansing cream.
My skin in very acne prone, with dry patches on my cheeks, jaw and brow. I also have loads of blackheads and open pores on my cheeks, jaw and nose, I have found my new cleanser really helps minimise them and I havent had a new spot since using it.
I use:
120ml melted mango butter
50ml avocado oil
50ml jojoba oil
50ml rice bran oil
30ml grapeseed oil
The tiniest amount of orange oil to give a delicate scent.
I mix these oils together, but them into the freezer until they are solid but still soft and then whip them up the same as you would a body butter. It is such a delight to use that I cant wait until bed time to use it! (It’s been gettjng me to bed earlier haha!) I make sure to really massage it in, and brush my teeth or something while it soaks in. I use a tiny bit to protect my lips and cheeks as it’s winter!
Hope this helps someone, really it’s about researching which oils will benefit your particular skin and finding a blend that suits you.
Hi,
I have started using this method of cleansing my face about a week ago. I have a few questions about it.
Instead of putting the hot washcloth on my face to steam, would it work just as well to massage the oil into my face before I get in the shower and then allow the steam from the shower to open my pores, and rinse off the oil after a few minutes? (I am just not a fan of breathing through the wash cloth).
Also I have found that I have gotten more black heads since I have started doing this, more than I have ever had really. But since I have seen so much success in other people I am not giving up on it just yet! I use a mixture of 1/4 cup castor oil, 1/2 cup grapeseed oil, 1/4 cup jojoba oil and about 15 drops of tea tree oil. If I try the same mixture minus the jojoba oil, do you think that would stop the blackheads? Thanks!
I have been using OCM for 2 years now. I initially started with olive / castor oil. This was too drying on my already dry skin. I haven’t had any problems with olive oil. Though I am over 40 and never really had issues with acne.
I love how hydrated my skin is and will never use soap on my face again. Right now I’m mixing it up and using grape-seed oil which I’m very pleased with. I’ve also cleansed with honey, which is great too. So if your new to this idea give it a try. Wish I would have done this many years ago.
Oh, this is interesting! I have been using OCM for my acneic skin for a month now. My blend consists of olive and castor oil (as originally suggested) and I use jojoba oil for a moisturizer. My skin recently have become extremely dry and breakouts just didn’t stop. So your article makes a lot of sense to me – I’ll try sunflower or avocado oil instead and see how it works. Thank you!!
I have a lot of trouble with acne, I have found a blend of grapeseed, mango butter, avocado, jojoba and rice bran oils work well for me, I have also found hemp to be good in the past so you may want to try some of those 🙂
Oh
My
God
This actually WORKS!!!
I’ve had oily acneic skin for 20 years. Tried everything. One month into OCM now.
Never thought that at 37 it would finally get it under control and stop having to wear makeup.
I even reapply a few drops of almond oil and one drop tea tree oil at night to moisturizer.
Oil…on my face…healing scars…getting rid of nasty persistent acne. It’s crazy! But it works!
I settled on 25% caster oil, 75% almond oil, and three drops of Tea tree oil.
I am dumbfounded, but grateful as heck! Cheers Betty!!!
If you have oily skin, a few drops of tea trea oil in your OCM blend will significantly reduce any breakout. But, of course avoid the eyes with this potent essential oil!
I have been using the oil cleansing method for approximately a year now. Having combination skin, I use an 80% to 20% extra virgin olive oil to Castor oil ratio. I also include 10 drops of lavender essential oil and 10 drops of Rose Hip Seed oil. I mix it all in a large roller lip balm applicator, and use it every night. It is wonderful for travel, no mess, no spills! Also, in the winter when things are dry, try increasing the ratio of EVOO/Castor oil to 90/10. I have had no issue with blemishes, and it always feels so smooth and not drying, but also not sticky! I love it! AND, my pores appear smaller, it takes care of blackheads, I mean, I can’t say enough about this cleansing method! Oh, yeah, and it is SUPER CHEAP to make! I hope this helps some out there with combination skin! Give it a whirl, and make sure your wash cloth is as hot as you can stand it. Leave it on your face until it starts to cool, and gently wipe.
Hi Betty, it sounds like you and I have very similar skin types. I was curious if you are also using a moisturizer after as well? I have not tried the OCM yet but will be soon. Thanks!
I have been oil cleansing for about a year, and my formula continues to evolve. I had a problem at first with my acne-prone skin getting too dry and flaking (a lot!) so I had to tweak the oils for a while until I found what worked well. I started with 3/4 castor oil to 1/4 olive oil. Now, depending on the weather/humidity mainly, I use 1/4-1/2 castor oil, 1/4 hazelnut oil, and 1/4 jojoba oil. When it’s cold and dry out and I’m using less castor oil, I substitute grapeseed or apricot kernel oil. I also use about 25 drops of a “synergistic blend” of essential oils (typically lavender, tea tree, helichrysum, sandalwood, juniper, chamomile) to a 2oz container of base oils. I should mention that I have PCOS and my breakouts are hormonal rather than due to skincare in general, but this has really helped my skin feel more comfortable/soft, decreased breakouts somewhat, and helped with healing when I do have breakouts.
I don’t put it in my cleansing oil, but I recently discovered tamanu oil (thank you Crunchy Betty!) which I rub over my face after cleansing at night. I have been pretty pleased with this. I also think it’s important (for me anyway) to exfoliate at least once a week.
My skin is still not perfect after years of adult acne, but it is MUCH improved in only a year of eliminating store-bought “acne” products. And to think of all the years (and $$$) I wasted using proative and not seeing results! I wish I could have that time back!
I am 28 and have been doing the oil cleansing method for almost a year now and my skin has been clearer than it’s been in 15+ years. I LOVE it, and I notice a big difference if I stop using it. For the first few months I would still get a couple of blemishes when I was on my period (but still 10x better than before), and once I stopped birth control the breakouts became nonexistent.
I have combination, very pale, acne prone skin (mostly on my jaw/chin area) and have tried just about every product you can think of over the years. I guess I am special, because olive oil works great for me. I use half (good quality) extra virgin olive oil and half Castor Oil (Heritage), but I up the ratio to more olive oil in the winter when my skin is dryer. I use the tiniest bit of jojoba oil as my moisturizer. I also exfoliate with my clarisonic in the shower 2-3 times a week and this helps a lot, so I would highly recommend some sort of exfoliation/mask at least weekly.
My experience has been AMAZING, but my advice to anyone who has trouble with this method is to give it a little time and to try different oils and ratios until you notice a positive change. If nothing seems to work, don’t forget to consider that diet/hormones/etc. play big role in skin problems that can’t seem to be fixed externally.
Hi, I really want to try the ocm method but my dilemma is my dermatologist has just put me on accutane. My skin is normally combination but with the accutane will get very dry. Will the OCM method do me justice or should i rather wait to get off it? Also how would i cleanse and moisturise in the mornings? Would i still be able to use my sunscreen…? Thank you.
Just my own personal opinion, but I would research and make sure you’re comfortable with the potential harmful effects of accutane before you continue. It has been highly criticized. That being said, I only use oil to wash at night and just rinse with water in the mornings, so you can apply moisturizer & sunscreen in the mornings with no problem. If you decide to continue with the accutane without trying this method first and your skin is very dry, use a much higher ratio of olive oil or whatever cleansing oil you choose and less of the castor oil. See her link to the other post on OCM. Good luck!
accutane has been linked to things like colon cancer to the point that there are class action lawsuits. just be careful
I actually used accutane back in 2011. It was the best decisioin I’ve ever made. You do constant check ins and you personally will know if something feels wrong. I now only get tiny pimples if i’m near my cycle but no more major white heads & it actually healed majority of my acne scars. I will forever love accutane
I took Accutane, it was the best thing I ever did!! Obviously if your taking it, you’ve done your homework and read all about it. Don’t listen to the bad press, it happens with any and every product out there. AND, its the reason I waited WAY too long to take Accutane in the first place! You will do great and your skin will thank you once your course is over. As for OCM, wait and try this once you are finished with your course. Use a mild cleanser, nothing harsh. Invest in some aquaphor once you get to month 3-4, it will be needed. Best of luck to you!! Everyone deserves clear skin, so hang in there, your day is coming! 🙂
My friend lost her hearing at age 19 from using accutane and will have to have hearing aids in both ears for the rest of her life. She’s now in her 30s and, of course, hugely regrets using accutane. This is a potential side effect. Is it worth it for clear skin? I guess that depends on how bad your acne is, but unless it is life-damagingly bad, I wouldn’t think it’s worth the risk.
I’m about to give the OCM a try but was wondering how often I should cleanse my face with the OCM. As a “beginner,” should I do it every morning and night or just once a day?
I cleanse in the shower at night, but make sure to massage the oil on before my face is wet. I like working with all the steam in there. In the morning I soak a washcloth in hot water, wipe my face down, pat dry, and rub in a drop or two of almond oil.
My mixture is about 5 parts almond oil, 2 parts jojoba oil and 1 part castor oil.
If I’m too tired to shower at night, I put a few drops of almond oil on a cotton ball to remove eye makeup, rub a few drops of oil on my face and wipe with a hot wet cloth. It doesn’t feel as “clean” as the full method, but it removes makeup and moisturizes in about a minute.
I received my oil cleanser today from Crunchy Betty. I washed my face this evening with it and loved the feeling of it. It was actually like a God sent that it arrived today because my hormones are crazier than ever and this past week I have been breaking out more than usual. I went to the doctor yesterday and she prescribed me benzoyl gel for acne. I just dont know if I should use it or just give the OCM a try alone. I just hate looking at myself in the mirror and seeing my face full of acne 🙁
Try it! I’ve been there. OCM worked way better than benzoyl gel for me once I got the right oils & ratio down!
Maggie: what was the right oil-ratio for you?
Hi
I’m going to start using this method but wanted to know if you have to tone or moisturise after cleansing?
Also, can I use a steamer?
I believe its my understanding that you do not have to moisturize after using this method, although you can if your skin feels dry.
I have naturally acne prone skin, but nothings ever worked bc I had a combination oily and dry skin. It’s very strange, the less often I wash my face, the less I break out, until (of course) my skin decides to change its mind after a few days of not washing and decides to make a surprise attack. I have found a solution though (at least it works for me)! I use a combination of grapeseed oil (for sensitive skin) with a little bit (maybe a tbsp) of MELTED coconut oil. I really like the properties of the coconut oil and you must melt it first so that it mixes with the grapeseed oil and doesn’t solidify. I’ve been using it for a week and a half, and everyone seems to notice the change in my skin. It’s clearer, softer, and brighter. I do have scarring so I may be adding tamanu oil the next time I make it. I just wanted to share what works for me, thanks Crunchy Betty for your recipes, I love your site!! <3
I’ve been using this method for about a week.
I part hazelnut oil, 3 parts olive oil. My skin has
never looked or felt better!
Can you just take a shower instead of steaming your face with a face towel?
I have very dry skin and after ocm my skin feels dry. Im currently using olive oil and castor oil mix. Can i mix a bit of rose hip oil to moisturize my skin?
OhMyGodILoveYou!!!! I have only just found your site today and have enjoyed reading it so much! I don’t necessarily agree with, or care about all of the things I have read here, but I cannot stop reading. I love your humor, and give-a-damn attitude…. I have (also) found some of the advice and tips interesting and potentially very helpful as I embark on the new adventure of living more cleanly for my family.
Thank you, and please keep blogging!
Just wondering if someone has an oil formula for facial breakouts caused by candida and also eczema. I am 72 yrs old and have battled this problem for many years…thanks for your suggestions….jean
I just started the OCM. The reason being: my sister broke out in a terrible rash a couple weeks ago all over her cheeks, and it was spreading terribly. My grandmother (A “homemake everyone” freak((in a good way))) recommended the OCM. I thought they were both crazy- i mean washing oil with oil? weird. But after a couple weeks, my sister’s rash was completely gone, and her overall facial complexion was outstanding. I haven’t seen her face to radiant for years- ever since we both had that “little kid face”. We both suffer from mild acne, and we’ve both been extremely embarrassed about it. We always see girls and boys at school with perfect skin, and it makes us feel, well, ugly. So seeing my sister’s face like this made me feel even more embarrassed about mine (and extremely jealous). So I just switched to the OCM a couple days ago, in which I use olive oil. It made my sister’s face magnificent but almost one week later, I don’t really see a difference. In fact it’s causing a bunch of tiny pimples on my cheeks and so far i’ve gotten two medium sized ones on my forehead… After reading this, i’m considering the possibility of it being the olive oil? Honestly, I don’t know what my skin type is. One day it might be extremely oily and then the next it’s flaking dry skin… Should I get a different oil and then continue?
p.s. I’m fifteen years old, and live in a military family. We just moved to a new state, and I start school in two days (in the middle of the school year). I really want this OCM “miracle” to work for me too, so I’d really, really appreciate some feedback.
If you can, eliminate the olive oil and try another oil. I know it’s tough when you’re in school and you think all people see is the zit on your forehead. Truth be told – you’re so much more than your skin and the occasional zit. Have a great school year.
Hi! I’ve recently started OCM and been having trouble keeping my towel hot…no matter how hot it is to begin with it cools down within 15 seconds. I’ve read that you should allow the towel to stay on your face for a minute before removing it though. Any tips? Thank you and happy new year!
I’m glad I’m not the only one. 🙂 I find the washcloth holds it’s heat a little better if I keep it folded in half. Then I hold it on my face in sections, rinsing in-between. Forehead, then across my nose and cheeks, then chin. Then I go back a second time to the areas that are the most “congested”, namely across my nose area. Then I wipe off all over.
I have a question about coconut oil. I’ve heard and read that it’s amazing for your skin, so I tried using it just as a moisturizer. I just grabbed the organic cooking coconut oil from the pantry and used that and my skin felt amazing, and I even noticed less breakouts and the old ones healing faster. However, I decided to buy coconut oil specifically for my skin online (from puritan’s pride) and I started breaking out all over my face, even where I didn’t really have acne before. I don’t know if this is caused by coconut oil itself or just the specific brand. I have very sensitive skin that gets extremely dry in the colder months and some hormonal acne around my chin and neck.
Does anyone have any ideas? I want to try the OCM now that I read this article, but if my breakouts are caused by coconut oil I’m a little scared to start with that. I’m also a little afraid to invest in big bottles of oil, because my skin is so easily irritated, and I have no idea which one to choose.
If you are still looking for answers, I would suggest starting with sunflower oil. I found an organic one in the cooking aisle of my grocery store that was relatively inexpensive for a good sized bottle. I figured if I didn’t continue with OCM I could just cook with it, but I like the way it feels on my skin and it smells delicious.:)
I also have extremely sensitive but acne-prone skin, along with redness that I’m pretty sure is rosacea, and I’ve reduced the amount of castor oil I add (I’m down to about 10%, but I think I’m going to try leaving it out because I still feel dry and itchy after I wash. I also find that my acne flairs more when my skin is irritated.
I love coconut oil for some things, like my hands and the dry ends of my hair. But i found it too heavy for my face. Like I was left with a heavy waxy coating afterward. Good luck!
I started the oil cleansing method about 2 weeks ago. I use about 30 percent castor and 70 percent sunflower seed oil. My face has begun to break out a little bit and I have a few dry irritated patches in my beard area (I normally have a 5 o’clock shadow).
I’ve been doing it nightly and I’m wondering if I’m doing it too much? What should I do on the days I don’t do it? I was thinking about adding more sunflower oil to my mixture, perhaps this will help.
I also work out daily and get very sweaty, so I’m thinking this could be causing it. I’m not sure how to cleanse my face post workout, any suggestions?
I’d reduce the castor oil down to 10 or 20 percent. 30% is for super oily skin. After my workouts [6 times a week], I splash my face with water to get the sweat off and then do a clay mask or a honey nutmeg mask or something else that tickles my fancy. Good luck!
So I’ve just slowly attempted this method using cold pressed argon oil; I have really oily skin acne prone skin and at 27 I’m just tired of trying OTC products. I’ve been experimenting with a few natural options and I had some questions for some of the OCM vets before I go full fledged:
1) can I use my apple cider vinegar ( home made with ACV with the mother and water) toner after the OCM?
2) I am dead scared of castor oil and was thinking of just using sweet almond oil by itself, has anyone tried sweet almond oil?
3) I wear make up everyday (I work corporate and always have to look super presentable) I’m just afraid the OCM will not take off all my make up properly; anyone have any good tricks to making sure all my make up is taken off?
I wouldn’t be afraid of castor oil. I do it every few nights and it’s fine. I wear a good amount of makeup and I was also worried about not getting it all off. If I do the cloth at least three times, I’m clean as a whistle. I used my Clarisonic brush with just water after I cleaned my face with oils and the brush came away clean. On the nights I don’t do castor oil, jojoba seems to remove all my makeup too. I don’t think there is anything wrong with using the apple cider vinegar toner after. Good luck!
My daughter and I have been using CB’s cleansing oils for four weeks now and couldn’t be more pleased with the results. I use Exquisite Stuff and my daughter uses Tamanu Thyme. Neither of us experienced additional breakouts or problems. In fact our skin is more balanced and clear than ever. I have no desire to make my own and am so glad I decided try CB’s? The best $15.00 I ever spent on a facial cleanser!!
I’m on day 4 of my OCM and already my skin looks and feels a whole lot better! I’m 20 years old with what I think is combination skin but it seems more dry in the winter. I bought two large bottles of both castor oil and avocado oil to start my OCM.
I mix 1/3 castor and 2/3 avocado. I was very hesitant to try this method so I did a lot of researching beforehand. I also bought a small bottle of jojoba oil since it was most expensive. After my skin gets used to the castor and avocado I plan to either add the jojoba or just do a separate mix of jojoba and castor. My skin now has a healthier glow to it since using the OCM.
I usually just do this after I shower to open my pores and go to bed with a fresh soft face. My boyfriend agrees that my skin looks more radiant. If anyone is hesitant to start this method start with avocado! It’s light and has good results according to what I read previously. The brand I bought was from a local health foods store (which was amazing I wanted everything) called Now Solutions. I also bought coconut oil because I’ve read this oil is good in so many ways as well ! I don’t cook with the coconut oil or do the OCM but I do moisturize my body with great results!
Does anyone have any suggestions for body acne such as on the back? I can’t do the OCM there easily but I have a problem with cystic acne and scarring back there.
Hi All!
Kudos CB…all hail!
I’ve been doing the OCM for about 12 months and I really had to tweak for my Cystic Acne Skin. (Note the capitals? It’s like a person… the comic book villain with 3 names…).
I buy organic sunflower oil as the base. I keep the bottle in the bathroom, so I add tea tree oil, about 1 tsp to 500 ml, first to stop it going rancid, second to use as antibacterial agent. Note that I must use organics as I am very sensitive to pesticides, having Pyroluria, (another evil graphic novel beeeatch).
To this I add 100 ml organic grape seed oil, a nice thin oil with great properties balances the thick tackiness of castor oil.
Castor oil 10 ml…. still very drying, but I deal with that later.
I used to use other oils, but not anymore. Coconut is great in my homemade soap, but not directly on my face. Same with olive oil.
I always do this after a cuppa, morning and night. By the time I’ve sat massaging the make-up off, or general night grime, the kettle has cooled sufficiently to pour the water on my washcloth….aaahhh! Th cloth cools quickly, so I go with the water on the cloth again…aaahhh! If I have a lot of make-up (rare), I do the whole thing again. This gets off waterproof make-up like a dream, you just gotta let it have the time to soak in.
Then wipe off. The resulting dryness is dealt with by putting rosehip or argan oil on my face directly afterwards, just three drops. I let that sit for a couple hours or till I can’t stand it and then wipe off gently more with warm water. Sometimes my skin will suck it all in, and I skip this wipe off step.
Twice a week I apply the main oils and then put my face in the steamer… opens the pores right out. Excellent.
Going from pizza-face to almost clear has been great. Maybe I’ll skip the castor oil altogether and see what happens.
Thanks for a great blog!
helpful! thank you.
I’ve been doing the OCM for about a year with various combos of caster, avacado, jojobo and originally olive oil (stopped using that after a month of awful skin) I still get a lot of break outs, like 5-10 new zits a day. i don’t get cystic acne anymore which is a wonderful thing, but I’d like to stop all the small red spots and white heads. I have extremely dry skin and have had acne since I was 19 (never got it before starting college) Since starting the OCM i no longer have any issues with my skin being oily during the day (turns out i was stripping it with acne washes) and I don’t get dry throughout the day. But i just can’t seem to improve the small zits. Any one have an recommendations for combos? i’m thinking of trying the tamanu addtion and cutting out Jojobo to make a combo of:
10% caster 45& avacodo 45% apricot kernal and then just a dash of the tamanu oil.
should I maybe try hazelnut or sunflower oil? do those tend to be more drying since they are for acne prone skin?
And a great big yay to swanson vitamins. love that site, get all my goodies there. 🙂
Hey all !! I started off with the worst acne of my life along with perioral dermatitis. I have extremely dry skin. I started using coconut oil only and after a month my skin looked and feels amazing!…… Except for cystic acne along my chin. I just switched to 15castor 75jojoba oil. My face is breaking out horrible. How long should I continue as it’s been two days?????
Hey, I would stop using the jojoba oil. She mentioned in the blog that it may clog you up and cause breakouts, same goes with olive and coconut oil apparently! I’m terrified now because I’ve only just tried the OCM and I used olive oil because it’s all I had on hand and I didn’t read all this till after! So scared I will break out badly now 🙁
Hi. I’m all about the OCM but am wondering if the washcloth part of the process is absolute? Couldn’t I just do this in the shower and then rinse my face with the steamy water or is the “wiping with a washcloth” part essential? I promise to be very careful and not slip…
Hello, if someone could help me that would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
I read about the OCM in Sept. I was using a natural and organic cleanser, but it sounded like it would be great for my boyfriend. He has acne prone yet dry and oily skin all at once. combo skin is the worst, and he has reeeeally bad blackheads all over his nose that just won’t go away. I thought the OCM would help with his blackheads. His acne has gone done though, but he is still dry/oily and full of blackheads. I have him using castor and avocado, basically nightly.. the portions are hard to say because he is the type of guy that I am lucky that he is even doing it, but I would think hes doing half and half because that is what I told him to try (since thats what the blogger/youtuber I found out about it was using for her ance prone skin). the other problem is that I doubt he is massaging the oil and taking his time. I am just confused at what the best combination is for his combo skin since each one has several matching oils, and some said for one type and then say for another on a different post. Also, should he be using a moisturizer, since he is dry/oily?
In addition, there is me, I have naturally clear semi-dry skin, but due to stress (probably) I have been breaking out the last couple months. I want to start the OCM but I don’t know if I should focus on my recent stress acne and go for more my normal skin, I just want a amazing radiant glow, and to help with my bad dark circles under my eyes. then the question of how often should either of us do the cleanse.
I’m new to the OCM. I dumped all my dirty products about a year ago and have been mixing and matching various clean cleansers and moisturizers ever since. My struggle right now (during winter) is that my face feels very dry even after I cleanse/moisturize in the morning.
When you cleanse at night with oil, what do you guys do during the day for sunscreen? Is it OK to use, or will adding that thick cream counteract the benefits of OCM.
Thanks for the help!
You can try just using a few drops of your oil blend as a moisturizer. that’s what i’ve been doing and it works great to keep me from being dry after cleaing my face. i do it first thing in the morning and right after i’m done washing my face.
personally i don’t use sunscreen so i can’t help you there. Sorry!
I have been using “The Best Skin Ever – Sea Buckthorn” By a company called Living Libations for about 8 weeks now. I am someone who has acne prone skin and had tried about every cleanser and exfoliant on the market…. and no results. After the first time I used their product which is a blend of oils including some essential oils, I noticed a HUGE difference in the moisture level and softness of my skin. After a couple of weeks I notice an even bigger improvement in my break outs and over all complexion. I can definitely attest to the fact that OCM can be the way to go for most people, but it all depends on the products you’re using and what oils you’re using if you’re making your own. Expect that if you have acne prone skin, that you may break out more in the beginning as you are possibly purging out oils stuck in your pores. However I urge you to stick it out! It is totally worth it in the end. And I couldn’t imagine not using this method to clean and moisturize my face. I use one product to cleanse and to moisturize. Amazing!
Are you still using this product? Im curious to hear how its been going.
Hey everyone my recommendation to people with sensitive skin is not not use castor oil.
“Castor oil is in just about every tutorial for the oil cleansing method out there. I have been using it too but am happy to say that it is too harsh on my sensitive skin no matter the ratio. Why happy?
Castor oil is highly toxic.
Thanks to our dear friend Mommypotamus, I looked further into this little seed and found out that safe harvesting practices are pretty non-existent…as in I haven’t found a sustainable one yet.
There are a plethora of health benefits associated with it, but I can’t promote using it when its main toxin, ricin, causes severe allergic reactions and permanent nerve damage to many of the workers who harvest the seeds to make it. Bad business Big Ag.
Ricin is removed during processing, so the oil we use is deemed safe. There’s no need to run around chucking your supply into the trash. I would however consider looking to other sources when replacing it.”
http://www.mommypotamus.com/oil-cleansing-for-clear-baby-soft-skin-video-tutorial/
Does anyone know if neem oil is safe to use while breastfeeding? I was doing the OCM before pregnancy and it worked wonders to clear up painful cystic acne. I stopped doing it a few weeks into pregnancy but would like to start back up again but I’m nursing… Thanks for any help!
help! I’m 48, with dry yet acne-prone (cystic/hormonal) skin; I’ve used prescription acne meds for 30 years. I started doing OCM with straight jojoba, figuring that would help both conditions; I’ve only done it 3 times, and now my face is SO dry, it almost feels wind-burned. Zits are not going anywhere, but haven’t had new ones. I don’t know what to try next. Suggestions? Also, I’m still using the topical meds, b/c I’m scared not to. Thanks for any help.
Try using a topical application of turmeric and honey on those zits. Also, I would encourage the use of neem in your OCM blend. Turmeric is an absolutely wonderful antiseptic. Neem is an all but miracle oil. Green clay is great too as an individual zit zapper, or as an overall detoxifying face mask. I have actually included a bit of turmeric in my OCM blend to exfoliate my skin a little when I rub. I used it for the first tonight, and my face isn’t yellow …..yet
thanks!!
Puring relief that really did help me in one day! I hope this helps everybody out there who is spending hours looking for help!
I just started OCM about a month ago. I used 1/3 hemp seed oil, 1/3 sunflower oil, 1/3 castor oil. I have acne prone skin and have tried EVERYTHING from the time i was 12 up to now 24 years old. The reason I wanted to do OCM is because I have blackheads and ice pick scars covering my entire face and now very minimal pimples every now and then. My face wasn’t bad at all I just I wanted my pores to unclog and shrink. Form my research this seemed perfect. I steamed my face before hand with a washcloth laying it over my face, then rubed the oil on for about 10 mins, steamed again, and wiped off with the washcloth.
I choose the hemp seed oil and sunflower oil because they are rated a 0 on the Comedogenic rating (https://www.beneficialbotanicals.com/facts-figures/comedogenic-rating.html) so they will not clog your pores. Another important thing is Hemp seed oil will spoil easily so keep your mixture in the refridgerator and the orginal bottle of pure hemp seed oil in the freezer. It should be fine. If it starts to smell rancic throw it out and make a new mixture. I suggest not making a huge batch espcially if you are just trying it out. The first two weeks was fine. I had blackheads and plugs literally coming out onto my hands. I was super excited. Two weeks later my face exploded over night. I mean, red spots everywhere, blackheads, little white heads, and big pimples on the jawline. My face felt like a giant scab and it was so sore. It hasn’t been this bad for over 10 years. I was embarssed and so sad that I felt like i was in middle school again. I wasnt sure If I was going through the so called “purging stage” or if my skin just didnt like it.
I stopped the oil for a few days and my skin didn’t really calm down. I didnt want to stop because I read so many people trucked through this stage and their face bounced back better than before. So i did my research and I found that castor oil causes major problems for people. I even found some people just cut it out completely. I was afraid to change my ratios thinking it would confuse my skin even more but I went for it. I changed my ratio to 1/2 hempseed, 1/2 sunflower, a teaspoon of castor and a few drops of tea tree oil. I also learned that steaming the skin can actually irratate sensitive skin so I skipped this all together both at the begining and end. I just used a washcloth with warm water to wipe off any makeup or dry skin I had before hand. I cut my time down to 5 mins of rubing the oil on my face and i rubbed a lot lighter than before to prevent irratation as well. In stead of just rubbing the oil off with a washcloth and hot water, I also found out that people had great sucess with using african black soap (supposed to be great for your skin–walmart $5 http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/sheamoisture-african-black-soap/ID=prod6064944-product) to wash the soap off to insure all the oil was off my face. Then I either use a honey&cinnamon mask or Oatmeal&cinnamon&honey mask. The honey should be raw organic to reap the most benefits. I bought a little 8oz jar for $6 and it will last me a while since i only use about 1/2 spoon full. I don’t do this everytime but when I do I normally keep it on anywhere between 20 mintues to an hour or more depending on how i feel. After I wash off with water and apply a toner of 1/2 raw organic apple cider vinegar (it is important to get the kind that is unfiltered with the mother–it will say it on the bottle, i bough braggs organic $5 http://bragg.com/products/bragg-organic-apple-cider-vinegar.html) and 1/2 distilled water. People say this was a god send for them because this is supposed to being the pH of your skin back to normal, so I tried it. Then I patted on very very little spot treatment all over my face (I just used the genaric equate brand from walmart) ***THE NEXT DAY MY FACE IMPROVED SO MUCH!!!*** It wasn’t dry, the redness was decreased, the bumps also decreased. I know this seems like an overload but everything I used was all organic (except the spot treatment) so there are not any harsh chemicals in these things to kill and irritate your skin. All this together (not including the oil) cost me about $20 but it will last me for at least 3-6+ months easily.This process is only about a 10 minute thing (not including if you use the mask).
I hope this helps some of your who are researching helpful hints for your “purging” stage. Some people cant handle OCM and if this last for more than a few weeks I suggest stopping before you scar your skin. Plus there is no point in suffering if it isn’t working for you. I was so sad that my skin exploded so I research for at least 12 hours before I decided what I was going to attempt to fix it. Don’t freak out and go buy all these chemical masks, face washes, and treatments. They will more than likely irritate your skin and make it worse.
An article on minimalistbeauty.com highlights the importantance of the ratio of linoleic acid to oleic acid in various oils and how this affects sebum already present in the skin. Perhaps it’ll answer the question as to why olive oil might not work for many people trying the OCM.
http://www.minimalistbeauty.com/oils-specifically-for-acne-prone-skin/
Check it out.
Also, my mix is equal parts grapeseed and castor. A couple drops of each, along with salt once or twice a week. That way, I get to exfoliate and oil cleanse after I rinse off the salt! It works well for my skin, and I’m supposedly a hormonal teenager.
I chucked out the chemical products about a month or so ago – really was the best thing I ever did! After doing some research I opted for a two-part oil cleaning routine. First, I do a ‘deep’ cleanse with a honey & lemon or plain yoghurt mask, which I leave on face while running bath/shower. Then I rinse off under the shower/in bath, and use my simple sugar scrub (almond oil & sugar). The hot water and steam opens up pores and makes residue removal a breeze.
My skin is combination, leaning towards dry but with shine and pore issues. It would dry out after moisturising, or sweat off in summer, but would still just feel icky too – even if it was mostly dry. After swapping to oil cleansing, my skin feels baby soft ALL the time. I also find that I don’t sweat on my face as much… like my skin is retaining more moisture maybe? Either way, I don’t think I could ever go back to chemicals again now!
I guess it’s time to share my experiences with using the OCM. I’ve been dealing with acne prone skin since I was a teenager except for it clearing up throughout my 20s then breaking out again once I got close to my 30s (I’m 31 now). I started the OCM back in March after struggling with embarrassing cystic acne around my jaw area. I used 70:30 ratio of Castor oil and Jojoba oil. I could tell a difference immediately. My skin was finally clearing up beautifully. Then after about 3 months using this blend, my skin broke out again, worse than it was when I started. (I think I irritated it by trying to use a honey, sugar and lemon scrub). I feel like I have tried everything. I’m still using the same blend but I did add tea tree oil to it with no avail. After reading all of the blogs, I am going to stop using jojoba oil and switch to either Sunflower or Grapeseed oil. My skin is about as awful as you can imagine it being, not to mention very embarrassing to deal with. If anyone can offer any other tips, I’d appreciate it.
Others might not agree on this, but I also use tea tree in my mix, and when I get a blemish, I’ll dab straight-tea tree directly onto it. It can be a little harsh, but I haven’t noticed any ill-effects after several months. The tea tree tends to stop the zit in its tracks and start the healing process. If you’re brave, you might give it a try… good luck!
I use tea tree straight on my skin, I DO NOT have sensitive skin and this has not caused any issues. I’ve done it for years. I suggest trying it on your arm or neck in a small quantity before going right tot he face. I have a friend that was burned by it, since she has sensitive skin.
Have you tried a clay mask with aloe? Also, it looks like your ratio of Castor Oil was 70% which was probably way too much … I would try to reverse what you had to only 30% castor and another oil that agrees better with your skin.
I love Crunchy Betty’s Tamanu Thyme OCM blend, it has worked really well for me.
I love this information. I realized my skin does not agree with castor oil due to the burning and redness I would get after applying. So, I’m so nervous and not sure which oils to use. I’m really wanting to use coconut oil because I have a huge tub of it and its organic which is important to me. Although I bought all my oils from the natural groceries I’m not sure if they’re specifically organic since they do not say so on the label. With that being said…
When would be the earliest I would get signs that the coconut oil is not agreeing with me? And can I apply a natural vitamin E oil on after cleansing because my face is dry? If I do should I just leave it on or wipe it off after a certain amount of time? One more thing… With using coconut oil (which I do understand is not fully recommended) do I have to make it into a liquid before applying or can I just rub some in the palm of my hands and apply with the chance of little chunks that I do try to avoid putting on my face? Thank you so much!
Edit: I’m also wondering can I not replace my regular face washing with this method? I wash my face twice a day. If I do need to spread it out what can I do on the off days instead? Thanks!
I use the coconut on my body and it melts in my hands ! It shouldn’t be chunky, also I shower first then do this method after instead of washing in the shower I just rinse to open my pores up..
I have been using the oil cleanse for a few months now and love it. I am one of those people who had to stop using castor oil (way too drying) but since then it has been great. Only one problem remains – the smell. Can I add anything to the oil to get rid of the unpleasant smell left on my face?
Thank you for all of your amazing tips!
An essential oil that suits your skin type? I like the smell of ylang ylang.
So, I’ve got a silly question here…I just started the OCM, and I’m pretty happy with it. I notice great changes for my 50 year old face…But, everything I read suggest only using the OCM about 3-4 times a week. So, what do y’all do on the ‘off’ days? Am I missing something here, or is it just warm water as your skin stabilizes?
Thanks…
I just use water and a dab of good quality evoo on wet skin to moisturise.
I only use OCM at night on days I wear make-up [too lazy otherwise). On the other days, I either use cleansing grains, honey wash or clay.
Hi,
I just wanted some insight, tips, tricks, or anything that might help me. I started the OCM method using a blend of about 70% Sunflower oil and 30% castor oil almost 2 weeks ago to see if it would help clear up my flare up of cystic/normal acne. So far my face isn’t getting better nor worse, but I’m getting fed up with it. I was washing nightly, but I’m thinking that makes my face too dry? It feels kind of itchy/tingly and kind of tight -should I stop the castor oil? I also just started using Burt’s bees topical acne stick too, so should I stop that and see if it’s making things worse? Some of the pimples I’ve had since starting this are still there and it’s annoying me -some are fairly painful too, which isn’t helping my self-esteem or confidence. 😛 I know there’s supposed to be a “purge” time, but I can’t really deal with this much longer.
~Aly
I would stop the castor oil. I had the exact reaction plus my face was red after applying. You probably have sensitive skin like I do. I just started the OCM so I don’t know much but I do know that that reaction is not normal. Good luck!
Okay thanks! I’ll try without the castor oil this week and see what happens. My face is starting to look a tiny bit better, so keep your fingers crossed that this works out. 🙂
I was wondering if not using the castor oil has helped with your skin? It sounds like I’m having a similar problem with my skin and blend and at this point, I’ll try anything that can help.
Hey Danielle! My skin does feel less dry and tight with not using the castor oil, but it’s still a little on the drier side so I may try washing every other day to see if that helps everything. As far as acne….it seems to be getting better little by little, even though I still have quite a bit, but I’ll give it a month and see where I’m at.
Has washing every other day helped? 🙂
I’ve stuck with washing every day just cause, but once things settle down even more I might back down again or maybe I will -at the moment I’m undecided. I added back in the castor oil this week just to see how my skin would react and so far it’s doing okay. It’s not flawless by any means, but I think things are finally calming down -almost all of my spots seem to be healing up and I’m still getting some smaller ones, but none that are as bad. 😀
I am using sunflower cooking oil for cleansing methld..is it good for my skin ???
And yeah! My skin is dry..!
how long did you all do the OCM before you saw results? I have been doing it for about a month now and my face is worse. which I’ve heard is normal, but my forehead never used to breakout and it is now broken out. i do a blend of sunflower oil and grapeseed oil. I decided to skip the castor oil all together because my skin gets dry very easily. and sometimes I finish with tea tree oil. any advise would be great. thanks. kelli
It took me about two weeks to see results. I used about 1/3 castor oil and 2/3 evoo – been using OCM for about a year and my skin has never looked better. Recently I tried adding tea tree oil and my skin didn’t react to it well at all, so maybe take that out and see what happens (just added a few drops of lavender essential oil to my latest batch so we’ll see how that goes). I also tried using a Clarisonic once a week over the summer and that was bad too; as soon as I stopped my skin looked great again. I have dry/normal, sensitive skin, so I am finding the simpler the better – OCM at night, Cetaphil cleanser and moisturizer in the morning. I haven’t found the castor oil to be drying, but I live in Dallas so the humidity may be working in my favor. My mom lives in Salt Lake City, which is a much dryer climate and she went to straight evoo. We have both been able to completely cut out eye creams and other moisturizers, although as I noted above, I use Cetaphil in the morning after I get out of the shower. In reading through the comments (and the post), it seems like a lot of people don’t like evoo, but my experience has been wonderful. I’ve always had pretty clear skin, but struggled a little with blackheads and monthly breakouts around my chin. That has all gone away completely since I started OCM. Hope that helps! I’m no expert, but definitely a believer!
I use polysorbate 80 as emulsifier.
4 oz castor oil
5 oz safflower oil
1 oz polysorbate 80.
I use The Tanaka massage technique on YouTubeand steam and wipe twice with a clean hand towel.
Once a week I use a clay mask followed by a drop of jojoba oil as a moisturizer.
Once a week an aspirin scrub in the shower again followed by jojoba oil for moisture.
Dear me. I read this post before starting the OCM. I didn’t listen and used EVOO and castor and tea tree oil. Worst mistake ever. I started OCM in the beginning of Sept and by the beginning of Oct I had the worst acne breakout of my life. When I started I had maybe 2 zits and blackheads. My skin was looking better the first month and then suddenly it exploded. My skin is ravaged by acne, severe on my cheeks and jaw and a few on my forehead. I never had anything this bad a a teenager. My skin is oozing and zits are popping if I barely touch my face. I have to put gauze and antibiotic ointment on my face at night because 3-4 zits will pop in my sleep just from sleeping on my side. I’m pretty sure this is going to leave scars. 🙁 Please don’t use olive oil on your face. I don’t know about the other oils, just don’t do what I did. I thought OCM would be cheap, but now I’m making up for it by buying supplements for acne, clay masks, African black soap, exfoliants, etc. Grrr.
Hey! Loving your website 🙂 I’ve started the OCM a week ago using strictly Argan oil. I have scarring and acne flare ups. I react to Castor oil, olive oil, and coconut oil on my face, and know I should use the olive oil and coconut oil on my face anyways. So! Have you any insight on mixing Jojoba oil and argan oil together to use in my OCM? What’s your thoughts on it? Thank you SO MUCH!
I’m late responding but who says you should use Olive Oil and Coconut Oil anyways? This is all about finding what works for YOU, your particular type of skin.
Hi, been using castor oil and olive oil with great success, however, the castor oil has ruined my hands! They are completely dried out despite using several applications of salve! Anyone else experience this? Any solutions?
maybe try using a more emollient oil on them right after… like olive, or coconut, without castor.
Castor oil is a natural astringent and therefore cause dryness. It should never be used by itself but at the maximum of 30% – I think less is better. Castor oil on the other hand works miracles for nails, eye lashes and eye brows.
I’ve been doing this less than a week, but am very impressed with my results so far. Since I’ve used coconut oil for several years as my moisturizer, I just tried using equal parts of it with olive and almond oils. Has worked very nicely for me so far. I also tried mixing it with baking soda for scrub effect. I am anxious to purchase castor oil and try some others also. Occasionally I still use glycolic acid cream and also aloe vera with niacinamide. I love experimenting with these ideas and hope to find my perfect recipe.
Was the coconut oil not enough to clean your skin with? I’m wanting to just clean with coconut oil but use the steps for the OCM. I found that my face did seem a little dry after but not even close to as bad as it felt when I used the castor oil. I applied a vitamin e oil but I’m not sure if I should just leave it on or only for a certain amount of time.
Not sure, the coconut oil may be enough, I’m just experimenting right now with several different oils for fun, and to see what seems to have the best results. I’ve read several places that coconut oil helps with cell turnover also, don’t know how true it is….
Gotcha, we’ll thank you! Ill keep experimenting as well!
Hi there,
I am very intrigued my this whole method of oil cleansing! I bought an oil mix from you today and can’t wait for it to arrive!! My question is: I use Mary Kay products. Should I discontinue use using them as soon as I start the oil? I use a cleanser, night cream, day cream, acne spot treatment, a toner, and lotion. I don’t use them all every day, but most days, when I remember. Would appreciate your input very much! Thanks!!
Your skin is more likely to get confused the more products you put on it. For a toner you can just dilute some apple cider vinegar and dab on your face. This levels out the PH level of your skin. Also, a night cream and lotion aren’t necessary. The oil also acts as a moisturizers.
Mary Kay has chemicals in their products, so if you want to go all clean I would look into discontinuing the products.
I have been using OCM for about a month now. I can for sure tell the difference, even though i am still trying to find my special blend. I wash with my oils every other night (tried every night….tooo much action for my face) However, on the days i dont use OCM, i dont wear makeup because i cannot seem to find a good combination ingredient to go along with the oil. basically, every other day or so i get to enjoy my foundation. ( most like the “natural”…but i honestly love makeup…, sigh) Any thoughts or suggestions for something natural that will not have a battle worse than the 300 on my face when oil is mixed in on the opposite days? I have looked into a honey wash, but i dont get very far. Most places say “start with a makeup free face”. immediate downer. I hope to hear back! thanks, lacey
Yeah, honey is great but doesn’t get rid of makeup. I love makeup as well 😉 Try just using a bit of jojoba with some warm water and wipe off with washcloth. So you’re not doing the whole treatment but still getting rid of your makeup.
Also I know coconut oil isn’t recommenced for your face, but a little bit on a cotton ball works wonders to get rid of eye makeup.
Everyone, step one: drink more water! Seriously, after you read this article, go find some and chug. Hydrate yourself from the inside out. It will add to the benefits of your oil cleansing.
And think happy thoughts while you sip.
Hi,
I hate the fact that one must wait months to see any real improvements from ocm. I’ve recently joined the wagon but developed more breakouts and crazy bumpy texture all over my face than ever before.
WHEN CAN I SEE REAL RESULTS?
Hi there, I’ve read several posts and websites and I watched quite a few videos on youtube about OCM before I’ve tried it. In several places it was reported that olive oil is particularly prone to cause lot of breakouts and do almost more harm than good (or maybe it’s true only for the initial phase). Your problems may be related to the type of base oil you are using. The recommendations I’ve found for oily and mixed skin is to use flax oil + 20-30% of castor oil. hope it helps 🙂
Ahhh I have the same problem! Never happened before. And I’ve been doing it for a little over a month now. And it’s not getting any better. I’m guessing we’re allergic to one of the oils. Like mentioned in the article don’t use olive oil or a nut oil (Both of which are in my combination)
Also don’t use castor oil. Read this article 🙂 http://www.mommypotamus.com/oil-cleansing-for-clear-baby-soft-skin-video-tutorial/
I am on Day 3 of OCM and my skin clarity and complexion already looks much better! I’m using Castor, Jojoba, and a few drops of Tea Tree. I have adult acne and the past few years with the stress of surgical residency, the acne has turned cystic and left tons of scars. I am excited about using a natural method and look forward every night to the few moments of relaxation as I was my face 🙂
Should I being doing this AM and PM? I’m currently just doing it at night and using Basis facial cleanser in the morning with a little Clean & Clear moisturizer. Is there a different facial cleanser I should use in the morning? Something that’s a bit more organic than the Basis?
Thank you so much for such a straight-forward, thorough outline on OCM!
I don’t recommend using Clean and Clear. They hide chemical and preservatives in their products.
I’ve heard you should start off my just doing it about 3 times a weeks in the evenings. But you can do it morning and night if that is what works for your skin.
In the morning when you don’t have any makeup on your face a great wash is raw honey. Just dab a little on your fingers with a bit of warm water, rub around your face and rise. Great antibacterial and makes your skin soft and lovely.
Also, you don’t need a moisturizer after you use the OCM. It’s usually enough for your skin.
Hope this helps!
First of all, this blog is awesome!
Now, the problem I’ve been experiencing is with the castor oil. I swear I have experienced increased facial hair growth since I started using this method (oil+honey). I am hairy to begin with but my facial hair has now increased and I am not a happy camper!! Has anyone else experienced this!??
Second question: I don’t use a wash cloth to wipe off my face–I just wash it really well. Is that okay or is skipping the washcloth a bad idea? It just sounds like too much effort -.-
I experienced the same problem with castor oil. Castor oil is good for hair growth, so people use it on their eyelashes, scalp. After a little internet research, I stopped applying it in my face. It’s only for my scalp now.
I use about 3 drops of rosehip oil on my face. It’s meant to reduce blemishes and for skin regeneration, but I don’t know if it’s working!
You might try turmeric oil. There isn’t a lot of info about it but it’s supposed to slow unwanted hair growth.
I have sensitive, dry skin but I am constantly getting breakouts on my chin & around that area, would using an oil that’s good for acne prone skin, as well as an oil for dry skin & a little bit of castor oil work? I’m so desperate for something that will actually help my skin, most things don’t help, but they don’t make it worse either, they just don’t do anything!
That’s exactly what my skin is like, with the occasional breakout near/between my eyebrows…
If you figure out a good combo I’d love to hear about it! I really want to start doing the OCM but am hesitant to go buy oils without knowing which ones are okay for my skin type.
Try sunflower seed, apricot kernel and a little grapeseed (too much will dry out your skin)
OCM Help! Hi all, does anyone have any suggested alterations I could make? I have pretty dry skin and have never been able to find a good, moisturizing way to cleanse my face and was very excited to read about OCM. I have been using it for two weeks and have all of the sudden been having very, painful break outs and way more noticeable black heads (only ever had the occasional pimple before). Currently using the ratio of 25% caster oil and 75% jojoba oil. Could it be the oils I’m using or do I just have to continue to stick it out for longer?
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks!
Hmm that doesn’t sound fun! Are you doing anything else different? Applying anything after cleansing? I know apricot kernel oil is supposed to be really good for sensitive skin. You might try maybe about 45% jojoba, 45% apricot kernel & just 10% castor. And maybe try the honey wash or do an aloe mask to soothe & heal.
I like getting as many of my supplies from Swanson Vitamins as I can because if something doesn’t work for me I can return it for free. It gets expensive trying all this stuff until you find what works for you so it’s nice to have the return option.
Good luck!
thanks! I’ll look into that combination, as well as Swansons Vitamins
Jojoba oil gives me horrendous cystic acne. It’s not good for every skin type. I am 34 with combination skin that turns very dry in the winter. I’d consider dropping that from the regimen if Elysia’s combination doesn’t work for you.
Thank you for the info on jojoba oil. I have been using it with the OCM as 50% jojoba 50% grapeseed (with some combination of clary sage oil, tea tree oil, argan oil and a rosewater toner afterwards) and getting terrible cystic acne on my chin. I am going to switch to castor instead of the jojoba today and pray this works. My skin feels and looks amazing, except for the few large and painful cysts on my chin.
Also, on the clarisonic- I have been using the clarisonic with the OCM, just apply the oil with my hands, rub in for a few minutes and then do the clarisonic cycle prior to the hot washcloth.
Goodbye jojoba, hello castor!
waaay too much castor. If you have dry skin already, you should most likely be using a max of 10%. Some people even cut it out if it’s still too much.
that definitely could be irritating your skin.
up in the article, she mentioned that jojoba is listed as comodogenic, which means it can clog pores. maybe switch to sunflower oil and castor.
Good call, I think I will switch out the jojoba and try a mix of apricot and sunflower oil with a touch of castor.
Thanks!
Maybe try leaving out the castor oil? I first tried OCM about a year ago. First I used only jojoba oil, because it was the only oil I had at the time. Once I started adding in castor oil I broke out in horrible cystic acne for the first time in my life. I then stopped using OCM after a week or two. It took my skin about 6 months to get back to normal. A few months ago I started again but with only jojoba oil and my skin has been just fine.
Hi! I just started this wonderful cleansing method. I first used castor oil and cut it with olive oil. But the I wanted a “nicer” more luxurious carrier oil and switched the olive for almond. Just to found out my face is now turning tomato red. I’m so glad I found your page and read about the almond oil can cause an allergic reaction. So now I will most defiantly go to the store tomorrow and pick up grape seed oil. Thanks for all the tips on all the other great yummy oils one can use! 🙂
I love, love, love the castor oil though, so that one just have to stay. I also use it in my hair roots twice a week for about an hour then I cut it with olive oil as well. I might start using grape seed oil now there too. It didn’t sound to good that it can cause comeodons, in fact, I have experienced pimples on my scalp that itch and hurt, but I can get them even when I’m not putting any oils on the scalp. This cleaning method makes me feel so clean and fresh and gives the skin a whole new luster. And, I love the massaging it in slowly, like a little personal time spent just for me. And I love putting big, hot clothes covering my whole face and dream a little.
I just bought two comedonextracters that I want to try out on some of the comedons I’ve been battling for so long.
The weird thing is that now my scalp is red too even though it hasn’t been in touch with the almond oil
How is that happening?
I do have rocacea since many years but I have managed to get rid of with IPL laser.would hate to getting it back
but, I’m just gonna oil on since I have found it has such tremendous benefits.I want beautiful, radiant skin, blemish free? Again, thank you all for sharing.
Ps:even my scalp has turned Red after I washed the face with castor and almond oilhow I only used it in the face, so why did scalp turned red too?
I have so many questions!!! I started w the Josie Moran oil cleanser before I had read about OCM, her info says to just massage oil into to face and then rinse with warm water. I also heard a lot about borage oil and was just putting on my face before bed. My questions are …..
1. can you/ should you alternate OCM with a glycolic acid type cleansers or a gentle cleanser with a clarisonic brush? This is what I used to do and still feel there should be a place for my electronic brush in my regimen but think I probably shouldn’t use with oils. I love my clarisonic brush 🙂 and also have read so much about how important an exfoliant like glycolic acid is & should be used at least once a week.
2. I’m wondering about the order of products to use after washing my face? Can I still use a moisturing toner, serums, night & or eye creams?
I was using all these then applying the borage oil last right before bed. I then just rinse w cold water in the morning then use a little Argan oil mixed w my SPF lotion & BB cream.
I am thinking I will try making my own cleansing oil & serums once I’ve finished the Josie Moran Argan oil products.
I think maybe I’m having trouble letting go of all these products I have in my cabinet 🙂
Thanks for any advice!
I am new to the OCM and I have the same questions about the rest of the products. I hope we can get these answer. I will like to know if I can continue using spot treatment for acne, moisturisers, or night creams?
OK, I got some grape-seed oil at the local Fresh Market and tried it on my face one night. I have oily skin, which is extremely aggravating but has kept me looking pretty good for my age (or so I think, anyhow). The oil got sucked right in to the oiliest parts of my face right away and a bit slower in the less oily spots. After rinsing, my face felt really tight and dry! I was very surprised by this. I’ve been afraid to try it again. Do I need an “oilier” oil? Or do I just need to try again and power through? I do get the occasional zit, even at almost 60, by the way.
Grapeseed oil is actually very drying in large amounts I’d recommend a conditioning oil like Argan, hemp, or sunflower oil.
HEY! I absolutely LOVE the oil cleansing method; i can feel all the yuck coming out of my pores and onto the washcloth, my acne decreased (but is not yet gone) and my face is so soft and supple! But i have a few questions:
1) Can i oil cleanse in the morning and wear sunscreen; will i tan if i go out in the sun?
2) Does almond oil clog pores? Because the majority of my acne is healing, but i sort of feel new tiny little under-the-skin-acne bumps. I’ve tried this previously with olive oil and that broke me out. So i switched to this and its much better, but I’m still not sure! My whole family is saying it looks much better and they don’t notice any bumps. I want to continue but I’m not sure? Maybe I’m just paranoid…
I know how you feel! My skin has improved A LOT! But I still get tiny bumps, and sometimes one big one under the skin that will fade quickly. I am still testing different combo’s. What are you using? Always curious to know =]
I use almond oil and my skin loves it. It’s the only carrier oil that doesn’t clog my pores. But that’s my skin. Give it a shot, though.
Its a little late to answer this but I hear washing with pure homey in the mornings is a great refresher for the skin and balances ph, I tried it once and liked it and ill continue when my face wash runs out:)
Does your site have a contact page? I’m having trouble locating it but,
I’d like to shoot you an email. I’ve got some ideas for your blog you might be interested in
hearing. Either way, great website and I look forward to seeing it grow over time.
I used the oil cleansing method for about 6 months and liked not having to use moisturizer on my face at night. Eventually, as in about 3 months ago, my skin started itching after I’d cleanse, so I stopped a few weeks ago. Hoping to take a few tips from this post and put them to use so I can use the method again.
Hi, thank you for lots of information.
I found most of my questions solved by your website.
I brought the sunflower oil from mountain rose herbs, on their website they said Expeller Pressed/Refined, is it still okay to use on my face?
The expeller pressed and refined note means that the oil was obtained by squashing the plant matter, and then it was finely filtered to remove all but the oil. It’s perfectly fine to use on your skin. Some types of oil are only obtained in one way or another, because obtaining them another way (like cold pressing or steam distilling) would yield limited or poor quality results.
I use a (very effective) cream on my acne scars — will the residual oil left on my face prevent the cream from working properly?
I was thinking I could just use a mild toner and cotton bud to clean the areas where I need to apply the cream — would that be effective enough?
Hi, sorry, I don’t have an answer for you (I’m an OCM newbie). But, if you don’t mind me asking, what cream do you use on your acne scars, and where do you purchase it?
Copy/pasting my response to the other person who asked:
Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all promote-y — I just wanted to emphasize how effective this cream is so people don’t respond with, “I would just stop using it,” since that is the response I’ve gotten in previous OCM forums.
Anyway, I use the D-Scar Scar Diminishing Serum by Kate Somerville. I get it from the Sephora website.
You have to use it as directed to get the results — twice a day, rub it in with the rollerball until there’s barely any residue left. Intermittent use will slow your results.
Also, I take pauses from using it if I am having an acne outbreak in the area. It really hurts to rub the rollerball over cystic acne. And some people say it breaks them out more — it only gives me tiny blackheads or whiteheads in some cases.
I’m also curious as to what cream you use, I have acne scars that just don’t want to fade.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all promote-y — I just wanted to emphasize how effective this cream is so people don’t respond with, “I would just stop using it,” since that is the response I’ve gotten in previous OCM forums.
Anyway, I use the D-Scar Scar Diminishing Serum by Kate Somerville. I get it from the Sephora website.
You have to use it as directed to get the results — twice a day, rub it in with the rollerball until there’s barely any residue left. Intermittent use will slow your results.
Also, I take pauses from using it if I am having an acne outbreak in the area. It really hurts to rub the rollerball over cystic acne. And some people say it breaks them out more — it only gives me tiny blackheads or whiteheads in some cases.
Hi!
Have you tried neem oil yet? Ever since adding it to my oil serum that I use to keep my face moisturized, my acne scars have faded significantly! Also, if anything new has popped up on my face, and obviously I MUST squeeze it…. It flakes off within 24 hours! I use a blend of jojoba, neem, lavender oil, and lemongrass! Hope that helps. I also have been using honey in the morning to wash my face.
Hi Ashley…I was curious about your oil blend ratio. How much of each oil do you blend and is it based on your skin type or is it just something you’ve played with to get it right?
Hi Liz!
I do the OCM with rosehip seed oil, it promotes skin turnover and clarifies skin.
I don’t want to be all drmatic about it, because results may vary, but my scars started seriously fading after the fourth use.
Hope you’ll give it a try, and that it will work for you as well as it did for me… And now I’m realizing how late I am for the comment party… I hope you will see that response though!!!
I have been using the oil cleansing method for almost 2 weeks now. I am using half sunflower and half castor with a few drops of tea tree. Let me start off by saying that I am super oily. Oily as in I wash my face and within one hour I am shiny, all my pores have a little dot of oil on them, etc. Those oil blotting rice papers don’t work for me because one press and they are completely saturated… Gross. I do get occasional pimples, always the big deep ones that last a week or so, but those are related to stress – usually a tough day at work :). Also, age-wise, I am 30.
So this has been amazing. My face is so visibly less oily/shiny looking. I have had numerous comments on my complexion-probably because it doesn’t look like you can fry an egg on it right now! It is a little tedious/time consuming to get the bulk of the oil off my face with the hot cloth method, but it is worth it. If I don’t get all the oil off my face is a little shiny ‘feeling’ to the touch but still doesn’t look shiny. I have had a few tiny white heads pop up, but that is a quick fix. Overall I am so satisfied. I can actually touch my face and my fingers don’t come back shiny. I have been skipping wearing mineral powder because I just don’t need it. My skin seems to have a healthy glow that I don’t really recall it ever having. I honestly just cannot believe how much less shiny I am! Thanks for this posting!
Just wanted to leave a tip that I use to soak up extra oils or even sweat on a hot day, that won’t ruin your makeup. Rice papers usually come in tiny little squares and are very expensive, so when I use a public restroom, I always snatch a few toilet seat covers or you can buy a pack to keep in your purse for very cheap. Cut them into usable squares and they work better then most blotters I have used and leave no residue, soaking up oil and sweat while not ruining your make up. Hope that’s helpful 🙂
Omg I always thought I was the only person who did that and was always a little embarrassed about it! (I would always just take the whole cover straight to my face in the bathroom at work. Cutting them into squares I didn’t think of and is much more lady like!) Works like a charm though!
This was a great tip, they work better than any blotting papers I have tried. Thanks for sharing!
I just use tissue paper, cut into squares (unless I’m really lazy, and then I just tear a piece off). Seems to work just as well.
I’ve been using the OCM for about 3 months now, LOVE it! My blend is Jojoba as a base, tamanu, hemp and a tiny bit of castor oil and seabuckthorn oil. I live in AZ, very dry climate. My once oily skin has changed dramatically since I moved here (from NYC) 2 years ago, and I was so happy to discover the OCM. What a gift to my post menopausal skin! I cannot recommend it enough. I also make almost all my own skin, hair and body care products, easier than you might think. Thank you Crunchy B for having this awesome forum for sharing ideas and recipes.
Hi! I love the OCM, but somehow I got away from it and haven’t been using it in several months. I’m finding I have a lot of premature aging. I was using about 20% castor to 80% evoo. I am switching to grapeseed now after reading this. At only 27, I have deep furrow lines and laugh lines, as well as crow’s feet starting. People always think I’m late 30’s. I believe the grapeseed oil will help, but do have any addition suggestions? I have combo skin, prone to driness in cheeks and black heads in t-zone
ps– also lots of greys… are there any maybe internal remedies to aging?? thanks!
hi jessica,
a bit of a late reply to your post, but in case anyone else is interested in anti-aging… i am 42 and people always mistake me for early 30s. i am afraid to tell you that most of this is due to genetics. the 3 other things that influence premature aging (tripple-s): sun, smoking, stress. if you do your best to avoid these three things, your skin will age more slowly.
apart from that and perhaps dying the grey hair, the best thing you can do is just love yourself and rock your look! the most attractive thing you can wear is confidence, and if you look older than you are, the advantage is that people will take you more seriously!
hi,
this is aishwarya.Im from india. I have white heads and black patch around the nose edges.i have trying to solve this problem for many years. I have opted for OCM. currently im using jojoba oil at nose edges. i feel good at that option. i have dry skin.is it preferable to use castor oil with jojoba? application of oil should be applying thin layer over affected part or massaging it? hoping for reply.thank you
I’m curious about the issues people have with Coconut and Olive. My thought process: both these oils solidify at pretty high temperatures (coconut oil at about 74 degrees; its always solid on the supermarket shelf) so if you are in a cold climate, or in air conditioning it would make sense that residue might block pores.
Hi! I know this post was written a while ago, But I’ve been researching the OCM and this blogpost has been a very valuable source. I just started giving it a go. I’m very basic right now, just sunflower oil and castor oil and I was wondering if you had some tips. I think the kind of acne I have is hormonal adult acne as it is mainly on my jaw and cheeks. What combo of oils would you recommend? I would say my skin would be normal to dry? As far as I can tell anyway. Also is toner recommended/necessary? I do want to make sure my makeup comes off (especially while I’m still covering up all this badness). And lastly, I’ve found that taking off my mascara with the oil irritates my eyes a bit and I was wondering if you had tips for this. It doesnt hurt, but its uncomfortable and makes my eyes water a tad Like I have trouble focusing. Any tips from you or anyone would be amazing and appreciated. Thanks for the great post!
I have dry, acne-prone skin, I’m a teenaged guy into natural remedies and this really helps with my acne! I use this recipe:
2 teaspoons almond oil
10 drops lavender
5 drops peppermint
5 drop patchouli
Next time I make it, I might use less lavender or omit it, though… the smell lingers for a really long time – even longer than the patchouli – and I’m not a huge fan of lavender smell (though it’s bearable).
Hi. My name is Teresa. I’m 28 years old and I have an acne problem. I’ve been using all kinds of facial cleaners and creams and nothing works. It just dries out my skin and makes it worse. Recently I decided I needed to find a more natural way of cleansing my skin. I went on the web and discovered cleansing with extra virgin olive oil. After only a week my skin is noticeably better (softer, less oily and just feels cleaner), but I am noticing more blackheads and I am still getting a whitehead here and there. After reading your blogs I’m planning on trying a blend of 2/3 castor oil, 1/3 jojoba oil and a drop of tamanu oil (for the scarring). I am also cleansing my face with organic raw honey in the morning. I just would like to know if this is a good blend for oily acne prone skin before I switch. Thank you so much!
I am new to this site. Can you direct me to the OCM method? I am curious to know some of the items I need to purchase and if there is a recipe. I have normal skin. I could, however, use some kind of skin tightner for those of us who are in that age range. Thanks
I’m new to all natural,toxin-free and I just came across the oil cleansing method. It sounds awesome. I just ordered some Enkido products, but when I use them up, I’m going to try this. I have normal skin but am almost 49 so wrinkles are becoming an issue. I do wear makeup daily. Is it ok to cleanse with this method daily? I’m thinking at night, with a water rinse in the morning. Also, what about moisturizer? will I need one after washing this way? Finally, I could use a good eye cream. Any suggestions?
The OCM has even cleared up some acne scarring for me!
OMG, so sorry! Translation problem: it’s not rosehip! It’s Sweet briar or Eglantine Rose… we call it Rosa Mosqueta.
My bad, my bad.
Last week I started the OCM with a blend of rosehip and jojoba oils. My face was itchy and my eyes hurt badly, but it turned out that my jojoba oil had fragance so I discarted it. After a few days I was feeling moisturized, but dehydrated. I paid a visit to my mom’s aloe vera plant and put some of its jelly on me after the everyday OC. That solved it.
Well, I have oily skin and acne issues since I was 13 (I’m 28). I’m just getting started with this method and I know rosehip might not be the best for my type of skin, but after one single week of trying this stuff I gotta tell you… my face looks friggin’ awesome. All these spots and redness after years of pimples have begun to dissapear. My skintone is more even. My wrinkles are dissapearing, too (they were not a big deal to begin with, but you know). And those annoying blackheads on my nose are much less than before. Any new breakups? On the third day my chin was worring me, but no more after tossing the bad jojoba oil. It is all just fine now.
I’m really looking forward for the argan oil. My dream mix gotta be 30% castor oil, 35% rosehip oil, 35% argan oil and some drops of tea tree essential oil. Then finish the OC with two layers of aloe vera gel and I’m done.
No more chemicals for me, I’m happy with my humble rosehip oil. Where I live rosehip is quite popular (now I see why, it’s just amazing) and easy to get, so I’m keeping it.
Thanks for all the info, it was super helpfull! 😀
Just want to say THANKS for all this great information. I have normal to oily skin (45 so no breakouts) and LOVE DHC’s olive oil deep cleanser. However, it is not a natural product due to the preservatives. Haven’t used straight olive oil since it’s stickier than DHC’s product but I just wanted to say I haven’t had any problems at all. Perhaps olive oil is okay for people without acne.
Jojoba alone made me break out, but I found when I added 3 parts olive oil, and 1 part castor oil to my 1 part jojoba that was left over from my old batch of OCM makeup remover, along with water (the recipe is a ratio of 60/40, oils to water), my skin feels supple, clear, tight, and better than it ever was previously, when I was using 1 part jojoba, 1 part castor, and then the other half of the recipe water. The old recipe would break me out and enlarge my pores…I am using costco olive oil, not even the organic kind everyone raves about, just the general one bc it was cheaper and I’d forgotten about that tip. I decided on this because I noticed that when I put the costco olive oil on my hands, it was drying out my skin so I thought that would be ideal for my face because it’d be a lot more unlikely to clog my pores. This is my first time using it, but my face has never felt this healthy and supple after any other OCM recipe so far…so I wanted to post about it. I also added 4 drops of lavender essential oil and half a drop of tea tree oil (which was in all of my old recipes, I just forgot to mention it).
My fine lines look less noticable, after one use which has NEVER happened before (and I been doing this a WHILE–almost a year now!):) Kind of thrilled. I will keep you guys posted on how this all works out.
I have extremely oily, sensitive and acne-laden skin, and oil cleansing has been a godsend for me. I was hesitant to try it at first, just because adding more oil to oily skin sounded like a bad idea, but it’s been fantastic – I’ve been doing this for about 8 or 9 months now. I use about 60% castor oil to 40% olive oil – yes, I know, the dreaded olive oil. Jojoba oil was perfect, but I tried olive oil to cut expenses and it doesn’t make me break out, so I keep doing it. It *does* irritate my eyes – they water for about half an hour after use, but since I only do this before bed I don’t really mind. (I always reccommend people try jojoba oil first though.)
Oil cleaning completely solved my moisturizer problem – I’d never found one that didn’t either clog my pores, increase oil production, or just be way too greasy on top of oily skin. I’d actually been going without for the past few years, but this way my skin is moisturized nightly. My skin had no trouble adjusting to ocm, but I should point out that I hadn’t used commercial sls-laden “chemical” face washes in several years at this point – that probably had a lot to do with it. I know when I switched from drugstore shampoo to baking soda my hair freaked out at the whiplash, so I’m sure there’s a similar skin reaction if you’re going from Noxema to oil washing.
I use it every night – it serves as a makeup remover as well, since I refuse to use those toxic ‘makeup remover’ formulas, and scrubbing makeup off with soap and water sucked. I use just straight tap water on my face in the morning – don’t even wait for it to heat up, just douse my face and wipe off the night oil with a towel. My skin’s the best it’s ever been – no zits as long as I stay away from sugar, which is an acne trigger for me. Fewer blackheads than ever, and slowly decreasing over time – I’m ridiculously prone to blackheads, so I had a lot to start with, and nothing at all has ever worked to get rid of any, not even prescription meds.
If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend trying half jojoba, half castor oil first, and use as hot of water as you can tolerate. Try the herb/natural shops in your area, some sell oils by the dram and that’ll be a much cheaper way to try a little of several different varieties than buying a whole bottle of each.
I started OCM last week with castor oil and safflower oil. It made me break out terribly. I read that safflower oil is good for acneic skin. Should I try sunflower? I really want this to work for me. Any tips would be so appreciated!
I used straight-up avocado oil for two months and it was fabulous. I am 47 with skin that is fair, very dry, sensitive, easily irritated (but not acne prone). When I used up the little 2 oz trial of avocado oil that someone had given me, I went back to using a very mild all natural cleanser with jojoba oil in it. My skin has gone back to looking lifeless and is gradually drying out again. So now I’m back here looking to see where you recommended buying oils online. Thank you!
Hi,
I’m planning on beginning OCM and confused which oils to use. I most definitely want to use almond oil but do I really need another oil?
My skin is very uneven, it’s bumpy underneath the skin and I constantly have redness. It’s is dry in places but usually it’s quite normal skin.
Help! Xx
Hello! I’ve been using oil cleansing for about 3 weeks and it made my skin feel awesome for about a week and then break out like crazy since. I added a witch hazel toner a few days ago to see if that would help. I think my ratio might be wrong (2/3 jojoba oil, 1/3 castor oil) so I’m going to try reversing that, but it’s hard to know because it seems like every post about it has conflicting advice about ratios and the best oils for each skin type.
Also i’m readying through the comments and I see lots of people have a T-zone issue… mine is more the forehead and jawline. that’s where the breakouts have been the worst.
Hi All,
I’ve been using the OCM now for about 6 months and current use a mixture of 80% Rosehip oil, 19% Argan oil and 1% Rosemary & Peppermint oil. I’m 39 and have always had oily skin with regular breakouts. I use OCM at night to get rid of any makeup, rinse with water in the morning and use the Rosehip oil on its own if I need it (mainly around my eyes).
I find that maybe once every couple of weeks I need a little oil and sugar face scrub, but other than that, nothing else.
I’ve gone from permanent breakouts to maybe the odd one or two closer to my period. Thanks Crunchy Betty for the idea, I wish I’d known about when I was a teenager!!!
What can I use instead of castor oil, please? Heard I shouldn’t use it while nursing. thanks
Oops, sorry for the duplicate comment. First it said my comment didn’t post.
Hi-love the idea of OCM, but can’t use castor oil b/c I’ve heard to avoid it while preg or nursing (first I was one, now the other). Any ideas of an alternate oil to use in place of the castor? I have sensitive skin with some blackheads at times. thanks
try grapeseed oil and you can add few drops of tea tree oil, i usually massage my oil into my face first then add a few drops of tea tree oil to my hands an work it in so that the other oil gives a little bit of a buffer, i find it to be especially good for getting rid of black heads but if you are sensitive don’t add the tea tree in more than once a week
Hi! I use sunflower seed oil with eo lavender, cinnamon, rosemary and tema tree. And it works! ?.. then I use lavender and rosemary infused oils
V.
I have oily to combination skin type and just started using the OCM few days back. I am using 2/3:1/3 ratio of castor and almond oil. The results are good but the skin feels a bit stretchy after and my stubburn blackheads and whiteheads have just not budged.. should i change the ratio or give some time to it? i am using this method alternate days and cleaning with baking soda on other days since the skin feels greasy and dirty…
Are you using too much oil? I put my oil in a half-ounce amber bottle with a dropper orifice. That way, I can just drip a very small puddle of oil into my hand. Also make sure you’re rinsing the oil off thoroughly! You could try wiping your face off with some tissue afterwards if rinsing with water doesn’t do the trick. As for oily skin, rosemary might help! Try 5 drops of rosemary and 5 drops of lavender per tablespoon of oil.
Thanks Crunchy Betty! Your website is awesome.
I want to try the OCM, however, do you have to use a washcloth or could you not just wash the oils off your face using your hands and very warm water?
This is because I do not like washcloths and prefer to just wash my face with my cleanser then wash it all off with warm water using my hands.
Thank you!
I would think that rinsing with warm water and your hands would not remove much oil, as oil is not water soluable, and your hands are not absorbent like a washcloth would be. Also, the steaming effect created by laying the hot washcloth on your face is an important part of the OCM, and the routine may not be very effective without it. You’d probably end up with a face that is oily, and not very clean. You may want to consider another cleansing method, such as raw honey, perhaps? Hope this helps.
Ah I see, thank you for explaining it so well, as I never thought about the point you made! I shall have a look at the other cleansing method you suggested then as that seems to sound more suitable for me.
Thank you again!
I don’t like washcloths, either – I use my hands and it works great 🙂 I’m on my second day and my face is a lot less red.
Thank you for the reply; at least it’s a different perspective with regards to whether or not to use a washcloth. It would be great if you could post any other updates to how it’s going! And glad it seems to be going well for you so far.
I tried it with a washcloth: it worked about the same as with my hands, but slightly more abrasive – which was fine for me, but I’d recommend sticking with a baby washcloth or something similarly soft if you have sensitive skin.
Also, in regards to honey: honey loses its antibacterial properties when mixed with water. A honey cleanser would probably last 3-6 months with no preservative, so I’d recommend making small batches of it. You could also keep it in the fridge to extend its shelf life 🙂 If you decide to use honey instead of the oil cleansing method, I’d be interested to hear how it turns out 🙂
Hi
i have oily acne prone skin and ive tried to clean it with olive oil argan oil jojoba oil blended with some drops of clove oil… from more then 3 months now i am not using chemical cleanisers any more but the result is not IMPRESSING
I am thinking about introducing Castor oil to my face but as i have lots of unwonted facial hair, i am affraid that castor oil is going to make them even more stronger and darker… please help
I have dry and extremely sensitive skin and I can not use castor oil at all, not even a drop or 2. I typically use grape seed oil alone to cleanse. When my skin is dryer than usual I switch to avocado oil. When I have my period and get a few pimples I add a few drops of tea tree oil for extra cleansing. I use coconut oil daily after I cleanse as a moisturizer. I use organic,pure extra virgin, unrefined, non bleached, cold pressed coconut oil.
I’ve been enjoying exploring this site. Thanks CB!
I’ve been doing the OCM for two months. Previously, I had been a Proactiv user for the majority of the last 14 years. I didn’t have horrible acne, but every time I tried to change to another routine, my face would freak out, and I’d go back to Proactiv. Unfortunately, I cannot feign ignorance at this point and return to chemical cleansers, so I’m sticking with the OCM, despite that it’s not going that well. I’m still breaking out, and very dry, considerably, and have adjusted my castor oil to argan oil ratio, even eliminating the castor altogether at one point. I reduced the number of wipe-offs from three to two, but no change. I began washing with honey one week ago, and it is helping with the dryness a little. My argan oil is almost gone, so I’m going to try another oil. I am very seriously considering giving CB’s acne formulated cleansing oil, grains, and moisturizing oil a test run.
This is off-topic, but I’ve been moisturizing my body with coconut oil since last spring, and loved it, but it is now drying my skin out. The only change has been the colder drier weather. I made a 50/50 mixture of coco oil and shea butter, but it hasn’t helped much. I wash my body with a 1:8 ratio of Castile soap and water. Should I dilute the castile more during the colder months? Would avocado oil be a good oil to try? Any feedback in regard to either situation would be awesome. Thank you!
I love avocado oil. When I am dry that’s all I use to cleanse. I personally prefer to cleanse in the morning when I shower instead of at night. If I wear makeup during the day I will also cleanse at night but I feel way too dry during the day if I cleanse at night and rinse with water in the morning
Thanks! How pricey is avocado oil, and have you ever used it as a body moisturizer? Do you have any recommendations for a body oil for severely dry skin?
I use avocado oil or coconut oil on my legs when they get dry. I usually get avocado oil at sprouts and it’s not any more exspensive than my grapeseed oil
Hi! Thank you for all the info! So helpful as I am new to the OCM.
I found a good combo of sunflower and castor oil. So far so good.
My question is how to treat the eye area. Do I use the oils in that area as well??
Thanks!
I use the ocm to remove eye make up and if I feel I need a little extra something around the eye area i use vitamin e
I love the oil cleansing method now, I had to stick with it for a little while to see results but now my skin looks better than it ever has, I sell oil cleansing pads that work great for me, they keep me from having to get oil all over my hands and they help exfoliate any dead skin off.
A little help! I’ve been using the OCM for about five weeks. I have oily skin and mild rosacea on my nose and cheeks. I use 2/3 grapeseed oil, 1/3 flax oil. I moisturize after with emu oil (which, from what I can tell, is the only thing saving me right now.) The first week was a bit rough–pimples and whiteheads as the pore-clogging oil and dirt were purged, but then things got much better the second week.
Since the third week, things have been getting steadily worse until now, at week 5, I can safely say my skin is the worst it’s ever been–and it’s only getting worse. My skin is rough with whiteheads on my chin and bridge of my nose, and I have zits on my forehead, cheeks, the crevices around my nise, and my chin. My forehead is peeling (something that has happened even after I took castor oil out of the mix). I also have a lot of bumps in my undereye area and in the corners of my eyes. I do not think, at this point, that this can be solely attributed to pulling the “bad stuff” out; at this point, that should be long gone by now.
I am hesitant to give up something that, for a week or two, gave me the best skin I’ve had in years. Does anyone have any ideas on what I should do? Change up the formula? Try a new method of massaging/steaming? Give it up altogether? I’m getting desperate! Thanks.
I wash my cloths separately, with baking soda and vinegar, and I wash them well… I’ve tried using apple cider vinegar as a toner, hoping it will help. Finally, I caved and used my old Clarisonic
I’m only into the OCM about 4 weeks myself. I seem to have similar skin concerns as you; I have an oily t-zone (prone to many blackhead) and a rosacea/redness around the nose and cheeks. I initially started using oils as a moisturizer b/c commercial treatments left my skin still riddled with blackheads, even oiler t-zone and patches of extremely dry flaky skin. ACK! Anywho, I chose to use hazelnut and kukui nut oils. I also use these for the OCM as well. Hazelnut I found was a good replacement for castor and had little to no side effects like many have with castor oil due to it’s refinement. And kukui nut is quickly absorbed by the skin, wont clog pores and soothes and moisturizes. I have a lot of success with these two in general. I use 1/3 hazelnut to 2/3 kukui nut, morning and night. Then I follow up with a very mild apple cider vinegar toner (1:5 ratio or less) with 5-10 drops of lemongrass essential oil. And lastly I use my facial oil (hazelnut/e. primrose/kukui nut oil). I have had a small amount of purging so far. Mostly very small non painful white heads and only 2-3 a week. Usually gone by the next day or from simply the next cleaning with a washcloth. I am seeing slow steady progress why my black heads. I also do a facial steam weekly to help open up the pores. Hopefully this is helpful. I also would not suggest using any oils purchased at grocery stores either, I get my oils from mountain rose as well. Many commercial oils have hidden additives or are not 100% pure.
Would this method be okay for extremely dry, flaky skin? I suffer from really bad cystic acne and it’s difficult to treat it while also trying to treat my awful dry, leathery skin. I already use oils to moisturize but now I’m thinking this might be the way to go? Please help!
Hey, Sara:
As you can see below, I’m having a bit of trouble for myself with this cleansing method, so take this with a grain of salt (figurative–not literal 🙂 ) but I have had friends use the OCM with dry skin with great success. They just couldn’t use any castor oil, since it is naturally so drying. Have you tried avocado oil? My roommate has dry skin and she uses coconut oil, but according to this site, that’s not adviseable!
I’ve tried avocado oil and coconut oil, and sadly they both break me out. 🙁 I pretty much have every oil that has been recommended to me, but none of them seem to work with my skin, it sucks!
I have heard that it is normal to breakout a little while your skin is getting used to it especially since we are so used to drying our skin out with products then struggling to add moisture back in. so it will take a little time for your skin to balance but once it does you will love it. try grape seed oil for your cleansing oil. it is naturally antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and full of antioxidants
May I suggest to finish your OCM with aloe vera gel? Right after the oil cleansing I put a first layer of aloe on my skin, wait for it to dry, then apply a second layer. You’ll feel your face tight but that’s normal. It should help with the acne and the dryness.
Hope this helps a little.
HELP!!! I want to do OCM so badly but I’m having so many issues. First and foremost, I have dry skin and the oils that I’m using are castor and sesame. Every time I try this method my skin feels extremely tight. I thought I was using too much castor but I’ve been using less and less until now I don’t use any at all and I am just using the sesame. My skin still feels dry and awful. So I made a moisturizer of aloe, shea butter, and a ton of great oils and started applying that after cleansing my face with sesame. I still feel just as tight and dry as before. And to top it off, I heard so many great things about coconut oil for the hair and body that I’ve been rubbing coconut oil all over myself and put it in my hair to soften and my results were awful. My hair feels like a brillo pad and my entire body (not just my face) resembles the skin of an alligator. I’ve got problems. If you have any suggestions at all, do tell! It would be MUCH appreciated.
Hi, Whitney:
I don’t have dry skin, and even I found castor oil too drying. My skin would start to peel. Have you tried taking castor oil out of the mix? I also love love love using emu oil afterwards as a moisturizer. I’ve noticed the fine lines around my eyes diminish since doing that, and it gives a soft, balanced feel to my skin.
I’d avoid coconut oil for your skin. It naturally clogs pores, so that’s not adviseable. My roommate has used it with good effect, but apparently she’s the exception.
I’ve been reading a lot about OCM. I was trying to figure out which castor oil to buy so I came back looking for your page which was the one I found most informative. However, reading about the quality ingredient section I got confused. You write:
How do you know if your ingredients are quality? That’s not always easy, but a good rule of thumb is: Never buy anything that isn’t organic and cold or expeller pressed.
If it’s organic, you’re so much closer to not putting synthetics on your face (e.g. synthetic fertilizer or pesticides) that are used to grow commercial crops. And if it’s not cold pressed or expeller pressed, it’s likely refined.
Then I decided if Mountain Rose Herbs was highly recommended, then I would start there. As I searched for Castor Oil it says it was expeller pressed (I thought ah, good! right on track!) I kept reading and it said refined. So my question is if you get all your oils from Mountain Rose Herbs as you say you do, is it enough that it was expeller pressed and you overlook the refined part and use it anyways? Or do you get Castor Oil somewhere else?
* I meant Asian Indian
Have been following the posts abt OCM. Just curious to see if any Asuan Indian has tried this method. I have extreme sensitive skin acne prone …
First of all, kudos for all the unbelievably fabulous work you’ve done and relentlessly keep on doing! I stand at awe at all the diy wonders, not to mention the amount of dedication it took to create and share them. At awe!
As for the OCM, I’ve been using the method for about six months and it’s proven to be the best cleansing method for my sensitive, extremely oily, acne-prone skin. And I don’t say this often. I hate it when people overexagurate cause of all the hype of a new, esp. long awaiting, product. So if I say the best, no doubt for sure. Finally, after a decade of a long pursuit, I could scratch off another step in my, proud to say, all natural skin care routine.
I do apply the method with a slight variation. I use a damp cotton pad (completely soak the pad in/under water and then squeeze (not stretch!) the shit out of it) onto which I drop 5-6 drops of my 3:1 sunseed and castor oil combo. That’s right, I use the recommended oils, but in an opposite ratio. I apply this method both in the morning and in the evening. I also often use it during the day to take care of the afternoon sebum. Works like a charm. No dryness, no breakouts, no nothing. Merely fabulous, glowing and unbelievable smooth and silky skin.
There is one downside. My eyes are becoming more and more sensitive as I get older. Up to this point, they can’t stand any kind of oil, so I try avoiding it around that area.
However, this downside can’t even come close to stand in the way of me saying SMOG HS HG 🙂
I first tried Olive Oil and haven’t seen any issues but tried Coconut Oil previously and noticed clogged pores a few days after. I am hoping to get out to the local market and purchase the sunflower seed and castor oils today. I do have extremely oily, acne prone skin (from cystic and up). Did you see a transition phase at all? I’m not sure if I have the guts to continue through a tough breakout, it might scare me back to using my old products (although they were irritating and drying they would at least clear my acne up for the time being).
Sharleen,
I’m using flaxseed oil and grapeseed oil, and I have to say, five weeks in, I have worse acne than I’ve ever had in my life (I usually only have 4-5 at a time with a breakout. I’m easily pushing 10+ pimples). I hear so many rave reviews about OCM, and my skin responded well to it for the first little while, but I will be honest, if this keeps it up, I don’t think I’ll have the courage to continue, either!
hiii… i have been using oil cleansing method for two weeks, nd the pimples are gone bt the no of black heads and white heads has increased to a great extent.. i do not hav any pimples on my t zone , bt my cheeks are cuverd fully with these black heads and white heads, i m useing a mixture of castor oil 40% and 20% olive oil and 40% jojoba oil.. with few rops of lavender and tea tree oil.. please help me i want to clear it all as soon as possible.. i m having a big function within 10 days… please reply….
She said Olive Oil and Jojoba oil have been known to clog pores! Use Turmeric oil instead, with castor oil. I would do 50/50 of both and about 5-7 drops of the lavender and tea tree. Since the air is becoming more dry with fall and all (although I dont know where you live so maybe your fine)keep a close eye on your skin and if it seems too dry (dryness can cause breakouts too) cut down on the castor oil to maybe 70/30? I hope that helps…
I would stop using olive and/or jojoba oil. my blend is 25% castor and 75% sunflower seed with a 1/2 teaspoon tea tree oil. my skin is combination with some acne. Make sure your oils are virgin, expellar or cold pressed, & high quality. also make sure your container and cloths are clean and don’t use fabric softener on them. hope this helps.
I was wondering if the Oil Cleansing Method would be appropriate for sensitive skin? I am finding that my skin has become even more sensitive over the past few years, seems irritated much of the time (although I haven’t changed what I am using on my face, or medications), and seems to be breaking out more than it used to. I have also noticed that I have been developing allergies (food) to things that never bothered me before, and am getting stronger reactions to things that I have been allergic to for several years (so maybe my face is just reacting the same way my body is?). Any ideas about what oil blends might be best for my skin type? Has any one else developed these kind of sensitivities later in life (late 30’s-early 40’s)… Thanks for any help! And thanks for your posts – I love the way you write! You have such a great sense of humor along with such helpful information!
God Bless!
Wendy
Oh no 🙁 I’m sorry you’re becoming so increasingly allergic to the environment around you. I know I might sounds super simple in saying this, but do you have any local honey you can get your hands on? You need put a tsp in your green tea (6oz) glass a about 3-4 times a day. I buy honey from a place here in SC, and it really helps me with my allergies… I also have very sensitive skin, and it will literally freak out over the slightest thing. (end of allergy rant)
I would strictly use jojoba oil… Organic, unrefined, cold pressed jojoba. Steam your face (Over a bowl or washcloth/flannel) rub in the jojoba 2 minutes perhaps or less if you skin hates being touched, and take washcloth/flannel and slowly/softly wipe away oil until it barely has any jojoba oil left on it (need some for moisture)
I hope this helps! I know how terrible sensitive skin is! Mines instantly red after I get (soothing scratches) and looks like a cat came and attacked me!
Take care!
Oh and I highly recommend gluten free experimentation for you! Please try it!
I know this is a tad off topic, but can you tell us a bit more about your experience with gluten-free experimentation?
I have pretty bad lupus and have been on a lot of meds for the last 20 years. Even with all the meds, and really good, attentive doctors (all female — go figure!), I’m still very symptomatic. I have never been diagnosed with gluten intolerance and have no reason to suspect it, but at this point I feel ready to try anything!
But before I do, I would like to hear from people who have actually gone gluten-free. If you can share any observations or advice, I’d really appreciate it!
CJ, I have Crohn’s Disease, another auto immune disease,a s is Lupus. Try the SCD Diet, book by Dr Elaine Gottschall, lots of info online. It helps.
I found this post when searching for natural acne treatments for my 11 year old daughter. Your comment hit home. My food sensitivities started early in life, but by my mid-thirties it was getting out of control. I recommend an organic and gluten free diet. I found that I could tolerate foods that were organic, but my body reacted negatively to conventionally grown food. Organic food made life livable again.
oh boy. well, it started well enough with jojoba oil only. mainly because i was traveling. i was also using a jojoba/tamanu blend as my daily moisturizer and have really liked it.
then, i introduced castor oil. omg. my chin erupted in red bumps that are not going away. i reduced the amount but the only thing that seems to make them less visible is time (i.e., always better first thing in the AM). needless to say i am getting rid of the castor!
going to ease up for a few days also and not do it nightly. maybe every few nights or so. and jojoba or almond only.
so even though my skin and i are figuring it out, i do feel a hundred times better that i’m NOT using gross products on my face anymore. i’ve chucked all cleansers (although occasionally use diluted Dr Bronners in the shower) and moisturizers. much happier with the way things are.
I was wondering how often everyone cleanses their face this way? Once a day? Twice a day? Only a few times per week? And if you don’t use it every day how do you remove your makeup if you wear it daily? Also what kind of washcloths do you recommend?
i do it daily, twice a day if i wear makeup. I really can’t use anything else on my face
I just started the OCM yesterday, and I am COVERED in pimples! I’m going to consider this a great sign, because it takes two weeks for something to clog your pores and then become acne, not a single night. I think the oil is drawing the nasty out of my skin!
how is your skin doing now, Maren?
Hope its getting better!
However, I did read that as carrier oils contain no actives, they do not cause a purging effect. It might pay to switch your oil(s) if this is true..
Good luck!
My question to you ladies.. any of you African american?? I’ve been using coconut oil… but i tend to be oily. So I was gonna try a blend with castor oil. Any suggestions?
I am afrian american and have been using coconut oil method on and off for about 6 months, my skin is normal and i havent had any problems being oily after using this method, however i am interested in the castor oil I love it in my hair
I have very oily skin that had been acne prone, especially around PMS. I use 70/30 castor oil / sunflower seed oil, with 3 drops lavender oil and 3 drops spearmint oil. My skin has never been better! I still get 1-2 zits about two days before my period starts, but that’s it! I used to break out in large clusters around my chin, nose, and cheeks all month long. My skin tone is more even and I have that youthful dewy complexion that just glows every single day! I’m never putting soap on my face again!
How often do you use the OCM? Thanks!
I use the ocm daily, i prefer daytime after i shower on most days. if I wear make up then i will cleanse at night and again in the morning. I have very dry skin so i feel too dry when i get up in the morning if i cleanse at night and just use water in the morning.
I make a blend of extra-virgin cold pressed coconut oil, evoo and a couple essential oils. I absolutely LOVE it!! I’ve been using the OCM for about a month now and I cannot tell you how much cleaner, smoother, healthier looking my skin is. I was a blotter before OCM. You know the type…rice paper blotters several times a day. Now, I blot once a day because I feel like I’m supposed to, ha! Not because I look like I have to. On that blotter at lunchtime…a lil bit of oil. Probably the good oils my skin is supposed to produce!
On another note…I’m about to make a blemish blend for after cleansing for my friend who doesn’t do the OCM method. I’m thinking grapeseed and a little castor oil and melaleuca essential oil. Any thoughts?
Nancy
I am 50 years old and my face is very oily and prone to breakouts. I have been using the OCM since January of this year. I had about a 5 week adjustment period when I first started the OCM while getting my oils, oils ratios and essentials oils right for me. I currently use California Olive Ranch Olive Oil, Castor Oil and Tea Tree Oil. During cooler weather I was using 1/3 castor to 2/3 olive with a few drops of Tea Tree. During the summer, I had to modify the mixture, to help control oiliness, to 50/50 with a few drops of Tea Tree. I clean at night and splash with water in the morning. My face feels and looks good. I never have over dryness nor excessive oil. I do have an occasional blemish, but nothing deep and painful, blemishes always heal quickly. I find the OCM very simple, effective and economical.
Hi Crunchy Betty! I’ve been using the OCM for about three weeks now and I love it! I was wondering, for backne (back acne), will this method work?
1 – My tantrum prone skin (yay for lupus – not) riots with washcloths. Too rough. Flannel that’s well washed however is favored.
2 – Argan oil can increase sun sensitivity, so use with care.
3 – Equal parts grapeseed, apricot and castor oil seems to be most agreeable for me. The first two are supposed to be for opposite skin types, but no breakouts so I’m happy.
4 – honey in the morning works nicely. I flat out must use high spf chemical sunscreen, as lupus reaction plus blistering sunburns are worse. If you don’t need sunscreen, water or nothing should be fine.
Hi there fellow lupie!
I’ve never tried the OCM and am really curious about it. I’m going to try your recipe. (Not that all lupus skin is alike, but I suspect we have some issues in common. :))
I have used honey successfully in the past, but never thought of it as a cleanser, just a sort of mask. How do you use yours?
I can’t do washcloths either, except the tiny soft ones for using on infants. Have you tried those?
I’ve been using this method since June or July with a blend of castor and grape seed oils (switched from olive due to the labeling fraud). For the past month, I’ve noticed dryness on my cheeks and enlarged pores. Could it be the castor oil or the hot water? Any suggestions or is anyone else noticing this?
I have experienced this also. I use coconut oil and castor oil and I have noticed a lot of dry flaky skin as well. a way to fix it (this worked for my but might be different for you) is to only do the ocm at night them go to bed with your moisterizer, acne cream whatever. In the morning don’t wash using the ocm instead (since the point of the ocm is to stay natural) instead use a oatmeal wash.
This is my recipe: I grind about a cup of oatmeal in a blender till it’s a powder. Oatmeal is really good for soothing acne and calming down the ichy ness you may feel with dry flaky skin.
I also add in some coffee about 3 tablespoons or so for a general exfoliater and the benifits to skin (look them up) then I add in about a tablespoon of tumeric, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Those all help with acne and other things you can look up if you don’t have acne but are interested. Store it in a jar and in the morning pour a little in your hand and scrub on your face. Wash off like any other cleanser. This should defiantly help of you have acne or if you don’t have acne then with the dryness. Also maybe lower the amount of castor oil you use, but if your still noticing the dryness it might not be the castor oils fault but rather it the transition period. However during the transition period no one want to go out lookin like a snake so try this recipe.Hope this helped. Also after writing this all I noticed you posted this over a year ago. I feel stupid but I hope this helps anyone who happens to read this
Hi there! I’ve been doing the OCM for about 5 days using 60% castor, 40% EVOO and a few drops of tea tree oil. It’s going we’ll so far: my skin is much smoother and I don’t use any moisturizer. I stopped washing in the morning too, just splashing warm water in the shower.
My problem is I’m using pure lemon juice as a toner for the cleansing power and the shrinking effect it has in pores and scars. When I wipe with the toner about 20 minutes aster OCM I notice that the cotton ball is filthy with dirt and make up.
I’m wondering if the oil is not cleaning the way it does for others or if the dirt on the cotton ball is just all the deep down stuff that the oil pulled out.
Note that I do steam my face at least twice with a hot cloth and wipe off the oil thoroughly.
Only thoughts? Thanks!!
Hi, I am by no means a skin care expert but you should reconsider using lemon juice on your face! It messes with the pH in pretty horrible ways 🙁 Check out the link I’m putting below for more information. The first comment explains it all and has lots of great sources.
http://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/comments/13wz1y/psa_lemons_and_limes_great_for_food_not_for_skin/
Do not use lemon juice on your skin. It photosensitizes your skin to the sun and ages it faster by causing discoloration. It also destroys the lipid barrier and pH balance of your skin which can lead to a whole other slew of problems.
For the oil cleansing method, try using more oil or rinising with oil a second time and make sure you really massage it into your skin. Also, try wiping with a microfibercloth. They’re about a dollar at the dollar store and I have seven of them. I just use and toss in the laundry basket so I don’t have to worry about using one twice before washing it.
I’ve been using OCM for about a year. I started after going through a nasty 3-month long face rash that wouldn’t clear up until I was put on prednisone. Not good. An in general, I used to get red blotches on my face that felt hot to the touch after I washed with soap or cleanser, even the gentlest kinds.
I use a 4-1 ratio of oil (grapeseed, sweet almond, or jojoba) to castor oil. I have experienced some break-outs and irritation at times, but it’s not the oil combinations. It’s because I’ve overdone it with too much wiping off the oil with a too-hot washcloth. I get tiny whiteheads and some redness the next day. I wonder if that is what some people are experiencing when they first start OCM and go through a “purge”.
I’ve found that fluffy soft washcloths and very warm (but not hot) water works best for me. I gently wipe my face in sections (forehead, each cheek, nose/chin) rinsing the oil/makeup off the washcloth in between, then repeat once more. When I do OCM properly, my skin looks calm and feels relaxed afterwards – not tight, hot, and blotchy. Wiping has a great exfoliating effect, any flaky skin is gently removed.
I’ve appreciated all the tips and comments on here – I wouldn’t have stuck with OCM this long without hearing about what works for others.
I think I agree with you on the over-wiping part! I’m about 5 months in, the first month was moderate breakouts, then about 1-2 months of noticing improvements, then the last month I’ve suddenly backtracked again. I’m gonna try an oil blend, and less frequent/less intense washing sessions
I have been using extr virgin olive oil for last 3 days i just apply it on cotton pad n wipe my wace n then clean extra oil from my face with fry cotton pad (no steaming or water cleaing )to my sursprise my skin is geeting more dry white flaky paches on forhead n face can anybody tell me am i doing something wrong??(i even sometimes mosturise my face with few drops of oilive oil after cleanser still dryness is there.
hina, the flaky patches could be from not exfoliating your skin. Applying olive oil to your face and wiping it off with a dry cotton pad doesn’t remove the flaky dead skin in the same way that wiping your face with a moist warm washcloth does. Once you have the flakes gone, the oil process really moisturizes your skin without being greasy.
Love the articles! I have more a question than comment… How often should one use this method if one wears makeup often> Should it be used every time I wear makeup? If not, then how to remove makeup without the chemical stuff? Also, I have been taught, and seen first-hand, that hot water + skin = broken capillaries. These can also be hereditary, but why tempt fate. Is the water temperature just warm enough to open pores, albeit microscopically, as that is all they are capable of, or hotter than that? Any thoughts? I am not trying to be negative, just have some questions before I begin this new technique and they seem to not be addressed anywhere online. Thank you!
Firstly I have to say that although I sometimes don’t completely agree with all the information on this site, I love Betty’s writing and sense of humour – it’s a really uplifting and fun place to visit. Thanks Betty for the hard work and the enjoyment it brings us all.
I’ve been watching the OCM comments for a while and finally thought I’d suggest your readers take a look at my short book at Amazon called ‘Save Your Skin and Fix Your Face’. It does have a section on the OCM your readers might find useful, because the book has been written to help readers design their own products from scratch, based on their own skin type and condition. Including how to select and design the correct oil blend as a base for creams, and for the OCM. It’s really important to understand that your skin type requires a correctly matched oil blend to start with, and that this can be gently modified as your skin’s condition alters. The book is free if you’re in the kindle owners library scheme. I really think this short read might clear up a few misunderstandings, and I hope it might help. Anyway thanks for the crunchybetty forum, and keep up the great work!
Frances Shawers
I use Purador 100% pure organic Argan Oil, and nothing else. I use just a little to massage into my skin like you would the oil blend. It leaves my combination/oily skin feeling smooth, fresh, and supple. I purchase mine off Amazon.com. Its a $26 bottle or something like that, but I also use Argan oil in my diluted castile soap for my hair.
I have been using 100 percent pure SBT Sea buckthorn oil with NOW tea tree as my essential oil. Together I noticed my acne has improved, fine lines seem lessened, and my acne scars are much less visible. This combination has made me a believer in oil cleansing after a few didnt go so well for me. Wonderful article cool to see the different options out there too.
Hi, I am new to the OCM method, I have sensitive acne prone skin and usually break out every month with cysts when I PMS. I have been using grape seed oil with 30% castor and a few drops of tea tree oil for 2 weeks. It seems to be going well so far, at least the texture of my skin feels amazing and my skin isn’t getting worse, just a few small pimples on my forehead which i don’t usually get but I’s assuming it’s purging. I also started using raw honey on my face daily for about a month which I love. So my problem is that I started regularly exercising again, at least an hour of P90X sweat sessions 6 times a week. I feel that washing my face with honey is no longer good enough, and I usually work out in the mornings so wondering what else I can wash my face with in place of the OCM, as apparently that’s not good to use daily, or can I just a carrier oil to wash of all the sweat? Please help as I hink exercising more is giving me more zits.
I have extremely oily skin (thanks dad!) and have found amazing success with evoo (the fourish dollar brand found in aldi’s lasts me between two and three months) and castor oil ( have had the same bottle for six months!). It always leaves me with dewy, gorgeous and blemish free skin. The only time I break out now is if I super stress out, or if I have to use commercial brand in a spot. I, however, am trying grapeseed oil this go around (because they didn’t have the kind of evoo i wanted at walmart), so wish me luck!!
I have been using OCM for a few months now, and LOVE it! I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Castor Oil in a 80%:20% ratio, and add in a few drops of Tea Tree oil (since it has antimicrobial qualities). I will use this blend for a long time. Thanks!!
Here is a recipe that I use at night only. It has helped me. Night oil for the face for every type EXCEPT sensitive.
Geranium Essential oil 1 drop
Lavender 5 drops
sandalwood 4 drops
ylang-ylang 2 drops
Mixed into a carrier oil-1 ounce bottle. I place all my oils into a 1 oz. bottle then top with a carrier oil. Rub between hands to gently mix oils together.To use:
Wash face. Dry well. Use gentle upward motions while massaging face with oil. I use only 4-6 drops at night before bed and I have noticed a difference in my oily skin along with blackheads disappearing slowly.
I hope this helps
I’ve been using grapeseed oil with a few drops of tea tree oil regularly as my nighttime moisturizer for nearly a year now. I have fairly severe cystic acne on my chin that sometimes spreads up my cheeks and I always have small bumps, but never cysts, on my forehead. Even so, since I switched to grapeseed/tea tree, I gave up all my medicated creams and my skin generally just feels better and my acne is definitely better than a year ago, even if still consistent.
I think I would like to continue to use this mix to give the OCM a try. Any thoughts on that?
I look forward to seeing how it works out!
I’m very new to the ocm and I was wondering, is sunscreen really necessary still?
I have been using an oil wash of olive and castor oils to take off makeup and to wash periodically this summer with no problems. Two weeks ago I started using olive oil soap, no problems. Some times I use grape seed oil as a moisturizer. This past week, I got rid of the olive oil due to all the fraud with extra virgin olive oil and substituted macadamia nut oil as my makeup remover and moisturizer. Today I noticed my cheek is starting to break out. Could it be the mac nut oil? The olive oil soap? I don’t ever have breakouts and have pretty smooth skin with the exception of an occasional whitehead.
I started doing the oil cleansing about a week ago. I use lavender essential oil, 10% Castor Oil and 90% Sweet Almond Oil. I had to adjust since I originally was doing a 75/25 blend. Being 47 now, I’ve had more adult acne in the past 7 or so years than I had in all my teenage years. My skin also changed from being normal/oily and is now normal/dry with dry being more dominating. The main problem is acne bumps (not black or white heads, just bumps) around my temples and hairline as well as what looks like milia. I know my diet has been wacky….a couple of months I’m raw and juicing and then I jump off and go back to being bad and I know that isn’t helping much. I must say though, this oil cleansing has cleared up my nose area beautifully. I am a firm believer in coconut oil but have learned a tiny bit goes a long, long way on the skin. Anyway, that’s my two cents. Hopefully things will start looking better and I don’t have to cough it up to what the dermatologist’s excuse of hormones and him wanting me to use prescribed chemicals. Bleh.
Just bought aloe juice for my skin and see mention of it here. How do you use it? Is it a moisturizer?
I’ve been using the OCM for a few months now, using 1/2 Castor Oil and 1/2 Jahoba oil and have had great results. Skin is much healthier, no breakouts, very soft. Tip for rinsing with hot water. After I apply oils and massage in, I wet my facecloth and put in the microwave for about 30 seconds and get it nice and hot. Be careful to test so you don’t burn your skin. In this way I don’t have to run the water and waste it going down the drain. In the morning just rinse my face with warm water. Every once in a while I use soap just to get squeaky clean!
Ok, that sounds like a good idea…as mentioned above, I’ve been having problems with my nails peeling lately, probably because of the hot water…
I’ve been using OCM successfully for several weeks. I haven’t had much of a transition period, maybe because I had been using an organic cleanser (not a harsh, chemical one) for over a year before I started OCM and had actually been out and only rinsing with water or extra ACV/water rinse from my hair for a few weeks in between. I just need to figure out what I need to do to clear out the last of the blackheads on my nose.
I use castor and almond oils for my blend. I started off with half and half and it seems to be working okay. I might try to increase the castor oil or find a lighter oil than the almond for my next purchase though because the almond does seem a little heavy in the humidity here. I would probably love it at this ratio if we were in a dryer climate.
So far, I’ve had great luck with not having break-outs. I’ve had acne-prone skin since I was a teenager and going natural with my cleanser and make-up was the only thing that helped.
Hi! I’ve been using the OCM for about three weeks and I am mostly in love. I say mostly because I still have the same breakouts I had before using this method. Gotta figure out what my g
food allergy is….anyways, what is the best method to store my olive oil/castor/jojoba mixture? I currently am using an old ghee jar. But my oil now has green floaters and white floaties that resemble mold 🙁 I don’t know if maybe there was still some residual ghee or what the deal was, (EW). Has anyone had a similar issue? Thanks!
I always just mix the oils in the palm of my hand each night, that way I can add whatever I want. I also have these little travel squeeze tubes I found at Costco that I put my honey in which work really well. I know Betty has mentioned in the past how much nasty stuff tap water has in it and how it shouldn’t be used in homemade cosmetics…so maybe when you rinsed it out, it wasn’t properly sanitized?
I’ve also found that my diet has a ton to do with my breakouts (duh). If I add half or a whole avocado to my breakfast smoothie at least every other morning and keep very well hydrated my skin clears up a lot. Also I need to sweat, a lot. If it’s not hot enough outside and/or in my apartment to sweat during my workout I turn on a space heater.
Every time I do the OCM over a boiling pot of water my results are muuuuch better! It also makes it easier to rinse the oil of my face.
I need to try this, since I think the hot water for the face cloth steaming is making my nails peel. 🙁
Ok so I hate to be that person who comes from the woodwork but I must have very strange skin. I am 42 and have always had a few pimples here and there and flat and uneven skin. I found about ten years ago that I had dry skin and my over drying/under moisturizing was making the pimples worse. About 4-6 months ago I started OCM with coconut oil and my skin has never looked better. About 3 months ago I started on retin a for wrinkles which I know isn’t very natural but it has shrunk my ugly pores and my skin is fabulous. The problem is it gets dry even though I only use it twice a week. So a little olive oil as a moisturizer and my skin is great. If I use any commercial cleanser I break out or itch. I literally use coconut oil, olive oil and retin a. That’s it and my skin is great. Wash with coconut and put olive once dry. On retina days I mix it with olive oil. If I try a commercial moisturizer I flake like crazy and forget about makeup wipes. My eyes will itch for a week regardless of brand.
I like the idea of milk and honey and such. I may try that once a week as a deep clean though.
Thanks. Great site.
Crunchy Betty! I love smearing food on my face! It started in 2008, when a Peruvian lady I worked for told me she used to finish off what avocado was left in the peel or around the nut to make a face mask. so i made an avocado/oatmeal mask and my best friend laughed her ass off when she walked into the bathroom to see what i was doing. i then bought avocado oil at a local natural food store, and tried using it as a moisturizer for a while, but with not much luck as it exacerbated my acne. (at this time i didn’t know about the OCM – maybe i would’ve had better luck) I was using Devita natural skin care during that time, which is an aloe-based vegan line. I still use some of their products, but i also still struggle with acne!
in May i found a blog post about OCM. and with a little more google-ing, i found this article too. and then i found an old Mountain Rose Herbs catalog I had ordered from back in ’08. i started reading through the oils and their benefits/uses. i made a list of all the oils i would like to try for a blend. of course i picked the most expensive oils, so i decided to give OCM a try with what i had in the house. i tried EVOO once, and hated it! it’s too heavy and hard to steam off. i had a little better luck with straight coconut oil, which is anti-microbial even if it’s listed as comodogenic here. i would get little white pimples around my nose. later i splurged and spent the $3 on castor oil and had about the same luck. both leave my face dewy and supple, but nothing’s gotten the acne under control. the castor oil is also really thick…even thicker than EVOO. side note: coconut oil is great for getting eye makeup off and for a night time under the eye oil. it boosts collagen production!
back to the fancy list i made….of the oils i wanted to include in my exclusive personal blend…some are mentioned in this blog post…apricot kernel…sunflower…grapeseed…tamanu…rosehip seed! well guess what! i found a new product on walgreens.com and picked it up yesterday at my local walgreens. Seventh Generation just started making what they call customized face serum boosters (5 or 6 different oil blends customized to target different skin issues)….that you can add to your cleanser or lotion. the one i bought and tried last night is called Revitalizing. it had all the oils i wanted to buy! and i got it on sale 1.5 oz for 8.99. still kind of expensive, but worth a try. so i used it to clean my face doing the OCM and i followed with Acne Free brand micro-benzoyl peroxide (EWG rating low – 1). then a couple of drops of the same oil as a moisturizer. my crow’s feet and brow wrinkles already look smoother and my face is supple. going to try this combo for at least two weeks and see what kind of purging/healing my face does. SG promises results in 14 days. They don’t claim to be organic, but it is a bio-based product and cruelty-free.
trying to get my face in shape for my wedding September 7th! I’ll make an update in a week with my results.
also, a note about blackheads. blackheads are not oil. they are skin that has not shed properly around the opening of a pore. when the pore then get’s clogged with bacteria and sebum, that’s when whiteblood cells rush in to try to attack the bacteria…causing inflammation and thus…whiteheads…or…pimples.
don’t expect oil to dissolve skin or thus a blackhead. skin is only slightly permeable to oil.
one thing i noticed last night was the oil blend i used to clean my face only loosened the plugs but didn’t remove them completely. it will take some other foods in your cabinet. i think the OCM will be more effective for myself and other users who’ve had troubles if we also focus on removing our blackheads first. Crunchy has an article about 5 ways to remove blackheads. I’m interested in trying the nutmeg/milk microdermabrasion. i do a homemade AHA or alpha hydroxy scrub with lime and raw cane sugar once a week. lime has citric acid. and sugar acts as glycolic acid. my skin is glowing for a few days after.
also another thing i learned from my anatomy & physiology class is that sebum production doesn’t increase or decrease based on how much we try to strip it from our body with cleansers or soaps. it is genetic and it is always the same. i imagine it could naturally decrease some with age as does everything else in our body. however with blackheads present sebum could get blocked from flowing to the skin to do it’s job as a moisturizer and anti-microbial agent for cleaning up surface bacteria. which is why people with acne….may suffer from combo or dry skin!
also the product i mentioned above is properly named Seventh Generation Boosts.
Great info thanks for sharing! Did you say you have generally pretty dry, oil y or in btwn skin?
So if I am reading this correctly, you used the coconut oil or the extra virgin olive oil and castor oil blend (what ratio did you use by the way?) to wash your face first and then applied the Seventh Generation Boosts Revitalizing oils after the OCM was done? Or did you mix the SGB in with the Olive oil blend? I am a bit leary of trying a benzoyl peroxide since my skin can get dry from just plain water sometimes!
hey jaci….
i need to correct one of my statements up there. i was confusing myself with a book on acne i had read years back, but after a little more research the consensus seems to be that blackheads ARE plugs of sebum…and the tip is black because it’s been oxidized…but they DO have dead skin cells mixed in…usually skin cells that don’t shed properly. these skin cells help blackheads to form and also pimples. this lack of shedding with some skin cells is a PART of the mystery of acne and no one knows why it happens. a helpful but only temporary solution is exfoliation. blackheads will come back. but you can keep them at bay exfoliating 1-2 times a week. it’s important to note that skin are keratinized simple squamous cells…and the outermost layer is a protective layer…but it’s also a layer of DEAD keratinized cells. skin is somewhat water resistant and a little more receptive to soaking in oils.
i actually haven’t tree EVOO, coconut oil, & castor oil in combination yet. i know a girl who has great luck with it. of the three coconut oil worked the best.
The Seventh Generation Boosts i have is a blend of apricot kernel, sweet almond, grapeseed, sunflower, rosehip, tamanu, balsam, vanilla, and rosemary…in that order.
i really like it so far because it goes on very smoothly and it’s got a higher viscosity than EVOO, coconut and especially Castor oil…which i find extremely hard to spread around on my face.
don’t get me wrong! i love coconut oil! i use it under the eye or to remove makeup…and for sugar/lime coconut oil foot scrubs. i think it’s a great moisturizer for the rest of my body just not my face.
look at walgreens.com and check out Seventh Generation Boosts. They list the ingredients for all the different blends. They don’t mention using it in the OCM, but i’m having good luck so far. day 2 no new breakouts. I did a lime/raw honey/sugar scrub yesterday and nixed my blackhead count for now. I also saw Crunchy Betty makes and sells her personal blend in her Etsy store. It looks awesome! Check that out too!
i have combo to dry skin…dry patches are usually found near my acne…and i attribute this to the block of flow of sebum to the skin surface.
i’m using benzoyl peroxide to zap the zits i have currently…but once they go away i’m going to see if i can’t just nix them with the OCM and exfoliating twice a week. i noticed that the benzoyl peroxide i use has parabens…ugh.
Thank you for mentioning Seventh Generation’s Boost line. I hadn’t heard of it before I read your comment, and having just started OCM I’ve been trying to figure out what oils to buy and mix. Revitalize has everything I was planning on buying separately, plus some. I got it this evening at Walgreen’s (they carry it exclusively). Our store has it on sale for $9.99 – BUT go out to Seventh Generation’s website because they’ve a printable coupon for $3 off any Boost product. It only cost me $6.99. Great deal!
I couldn’t wait to try it. Lovely consistency, and the scent is light. For some reason it reminds me a bit of chocolate. I also picked up some castor oil…after using the Revitalize I took a dab of each on my fingers and massaged it in, and it started pulling gunk from my pores after a few minutes. And I had already been using jojoba with success for a few days. Wow!
btw, my skin is oily and congested, blackheads, large pores, the works, and I’ve tried everything to control it for nearly 40 years. Nothing has ever made my skin look as good as OCM does. My pores have shrunk, my skin is actually glowy and evening out instead of being a sallow, pasty mess. It’s a freakin’ miracle! And that’s after only 4 days of OCM. If I do well with Revitalize then I’ve got an even better idea of the oils I need to buy later on.
One trick I’ve learned so far for anyone reading: if you start breaking out (the purge), try dabbing a tiny bit of tea tree oil on the spots. For me this kills ’em dead!
Hello! I recently found your blog about using extra virgin olive oil and castor oil as your facewash! I have extremely dry skin so I have been using 2 parts castor oil to 3 parts extra virgin olive oil and on the bright side my skin has not been dry at all! But on the down side I am breaking out with pimples more than before, any suggestions?
jaci…read my comments below yours. sounds like we were having the same problems.
One more thing…how do you know if your aloe is pure. I’m
using Aubrey Organics aloe that I found at a organic food store. It does not say that it’s 100% aloe Vera but it is listed first and only others are grapefruit extract, guar gum (?), and vitamin E. it needs to be refrigeratored so I thought that to be a sign its real aloe but it’s liquid and I thought it would be more of a gel like when cutting an aloe leaf. Label does say no thickeners are added.
I’m not sure. I guess most aloe products will have a preservative/stabilizer in it. The bottle of aloe juice I have says it contains aloe juice and citric acid. I think your product is real aloe, and I think it’s a bit runny because like you said there are no artifical thickenening agents.
HELP! I’ve been doing the OCM for five weeks now with no improvement and my acne has gotten worse. I have always had one or two cystic types on my chin, but I currently have 8 and all over! I also have more visible whiteheads. I started with EVOO (80) : Caster (20 with a bit of tamanu, followed by a toner mix of AVC, witch hazel and tea tree. This is when my face started breaking out like crazy. I then switched to using jojoba as my carrier for two weeks but no help. For the past week I’ve been using grapeseed as my carrier with tea tree and lavender, and I increased the caster to 70% as I was still experiencing oily skin and read on some posts that people has success with this. One week later and the break outs continue. Other things I have been using the past week are honey and baking soda scrub in the morning (suggested by Crunchy Betty) in hopes of aiding with the breakouts, followed by aloe vera from Aubrey Organics as my morning moisturizer. The only thing I think I found some success with is lavender oil as a spot treatment. Any suggestions??? Writing all this is seems like I may be putting too much on my face. Maybe I need to simplify. Or try as @TBLA did and cut out caster? Any advice is much appreciated. I’ve been struggling with this for two decades and have tried all OTC and scripts (including two rounds of accutane). I really want this to work…
Since your skin sounds like it is very distressed, my advice would be to simplify your skin care approach as much as possible until it calms down. I recently had a similar experience and had a terrible break out. I decided to streamline my routine as much as possible, cut out the essential oils and just let my face be as much possible. I would probably just cleanse with raw, organic honey, and maybe spritz your face with some aloe juice or a hydrosol afterwards and then moisturize. Medicine Mama’s Sweet Bee Magic (www.medicinemamasapothecary.com) is a great balm/skin cream that has been incredible for my skin. The stick lip/face balm I love in particular.
Personally, anything with witch hazel, tea tree, or alcohol has wreaked havoc on my skin. Now I just use aloe juice or an Evan Healy hydrosol. Exfoliating with raw honey and nutmeg/turmeric or olive oil and nutmeg/turmeric works well for me. Also, a good thing to put on your face when it’s freaking out: full fat organic dairy. Full fat Greek yogurt + raw honey is fantastic at calming skin. I usually put a 1/4 tsp of turmeric in it as well. Don’t worry if your face is a bit yellow when you rinse it off, it wipes off easily with a facial wipe or a bit of cleanser.
Thanks so much for the advice and info. Last night I only used grape seed oil, followed by my toner and no new pimples this morning! Where’s all other days there was a new one or old ones were bigger. I read a
lot more of other posts here last night and it seems caster oil may be the culprit. Think ill stick to honey in AM and just grape seed at night. Will have to read more about the yogurt mask! Thanks again.
You’re welcome! I’m glad it’s getting better!
Hey I’m trying the oil cleansing method with sweet almond oil. But what I wanna know is how do you know when you’ve found the right blend. Everyone’s always like this is what works for me…but how do you magically know when something is or isn’t working? It’d be nice to know some signs that an oil isn’t working so I can switch it out before my face explodes.
How do you know when your face is “clean” after wiping it off with a warm wash cloth repeatedly? Is it when it’s squeaky clean? Because when I think it is and my face air-dries, it’s still pretty shiny and I feels like I still have oil on it.
Hello, I notice you (and other sources) mention coconut oil is comedogenic. Is this also true for pure MCT oil, as the main fat source in coconut oil is MCT fats? If not, how would you classify the use of MCT oil? Thanks so much!
Leah
I just tried Castor Oil/EVOO (30:70) wash last night, too soon to tell where this will go, all the comments are freaking me out. I have oily TZone acne prone skin and I’m looking for clear skin, and it sounds like the OCM turns south at 3 weeks into the process. Did anyone have problem skin before, this method solved it?
A different website I read said oily skin should have 30:70 ratio (castor oil: EVOO), normal 20:80 dry skin 10:90 ratio. This website says to add a lot more castor oil. I wonder if the additional castor oil is growing hair and causing ingrown hairs and infection.
I used to do use this method, but now I wash with very diluted Dr Bronners (just a bit) to cleanse the dirt and old oil off my face, then moisturize with a few drops of sweet almond oil. My skin is much clearer (I had very bad, chronic cystic acne on my chin).
I use frankincense oil on my face every morning. Frankincense oil has a lovely, exotic scent and it has an astringent quality I appreciate. Then after I wash the day off in the evening, I use carrot oil on my skin. I get compliments on my skin all the time. I had extremely oily, acne-prone skin that finally settled down in my late 40s and 50s. I thought I’d go straight from acne to old age but now I have the skin I always wanted. Frankincense and carrot oil.
I guess the point is that high quality essential and carrier oils can be fantastic for skin, and it may not matter which ones you develop a fondness for. Far from leaving an oily mess, they seem to merge with skin and leave a beautiful smooth surface.
And I never leave the house without using sunscreen. It’s better to avoid sun damage than to try and correct it later.
When I first heard of the ocm it sounded perfect for me. I have generally dry skin that is extremely allergy prone , ultra sensitive and gets blocked quite easily. Other than those issues my skin has no discolouration or pigmentation. I thought the ocm would work from the glowing reports I read and was determined to make it work. I started out doing it once a day with 50:50 olive oil : castor oil. This completely dried my skin out so I tried a much smaller ratio of castor oil. Then I noticed that I was getting many breakouts in places were I NEVER breakout , I attributed this to the gunk being purged from my skin. But my breakouts didn’t stop so with some research I stopped using olive oil as many people say that it clogs pores. My breakouts were getting worse very red sore and some were hard. The face cloth method of steaming did nothing for me …No gunk was being cleaned out . I was just getting more blocked pores and btw. at this stage I was using sunflower oil with a little castor. So I tried steaming with a bowel of steaming water and it burned my skin each time and irratated my breakouts , so I lowered the heat each day until I found a heat I could tolerate (which only slightly opened my pores) .. with my breakouts getting worse I patched tested some castor oil behind my ear and on my inner elbow- to my horror I discovered that I was deathly allergic to it. I mean I tried every combo with this method it was a disaster and here I am a month and half later with horrible skin rashes , horrible angry breakouts that I can’t heal!! Just all I’m saying is be caustious if you have my skin type DO NOT go near the ocm.!!
Have you tried OCM without castor oil? There are as many methods to OCM as there are people. If the castor oil is what you have allergies to why don’t you try another oil blend?
Okay, I’m back. I’ve been troubleshooting and tweaking my OCM routine for months now and I think I’m really close to OCM nirvana. My skin is not 100%, but about 80-90% better. My skin looks better than it has in the past year- far fewer breakouts, overall healthy glow.
Here’s what I have learned from my trial and error:
-Don’t use OCM every day. I learned this from one of the helpful commenters on here. I thought I should just replace daily face washing with daily OCMing- wrong! Now I only use OCM, every 4-5 days at night before bed.
-If you struggle with acne, try hemp seed oil. It is one of the few oils that is a 0 on the comedogenic scale. Only drawback is that it must be kept in the fridge because it can get rancid very fast.
My routine:
-I use a 70/30 Hemp/Castor oil mix
-In the mornings I exfoliate with baking soda/water paste
-On the evenings that I don’t use OCM, I either rinse my face well with just water or use raw honey as a wash/mask
-I follow up with Apple Cider vinegar/water toner every night
I hope this helps some of you! I have been stubbornly committed to making this work for over 3 months now. I am really tired of putting crazy chemicals on my face and tired of paying a fortune on products. It’s really starting to pay off!
You could also soak your washcloth I’m water, then place it in the microwave for a few seconds instead of leaving the faucet running.
I really wanted to like the oil cleansing method but it just didn’t work for me. I bought the Oil Cleanser for acne prone skin off the crunchy betty market and I had no success, my skin was softer but I had heaps of pimples 🙁 I now use the Tamanu Thyme Cleansing Grains and raw organic organic honey, and at night I apply commercial acne cream (I know it’s not natural but at least my one doesn’t contain benzyl peroxide)and my skin actually looks clear (if you ignore all the scars). I really don’t think OCM is that good and while I’m sure it works for some people, I really didn’t like it.
Hello, I have been using oil on my skin and I am breaking out worse than I ever have before. Is it possible that I could be breaking out more before it gets better…or should I just keep away and not be using this at all?
Hi, CB!
Thanks for this great info – I’ve been using EVOO to clean my face with now for over a year, and I guess because I’m 50+ I have no problems with break outs. I do sometimes use almond oil, or a mixture, and have good success with both. Question – what can I use for the dreaded age spots? Anything to help lighten the light brown spots that keep appearing? My skin is “normal-oily” with the normal areas having the most age spots. Thanks for any suggestions!
Valerie
Greenville, SC
Valerie, I haven’t tried it myself, but google mustard seed oil. I’ve heard it helps with age spots/dark spots.
I swear by plain yogurt mask for diminishing spots. In fact I use plain yogurt as a mask and a morning cleansing. I have been doing this for years, and my 58 year old skin really glows.
I add a drop of honey to my OCM at night. I was having bad breakouts with it and adding this tiny bit of antibacterial action seemed to help with that. I still breakout on the method sometimes and have contemplated quitting a few times, but in general I’m much happier with the quality of my skin. I also make sure to exfoliate with honey and baking soda every day or every other day so there’s no build up of dead skin cells, which has helped with dullness and some of the breakouts.
Interesting comment. Can you tell us what type of skin you have? (Dry, acne-prone, combination, oily, etc.?) Thanks!
I have dry skin. I never struggled that much with acne until, suddenly, right after I graduated from college I started to break out like crazy. I was using piles of different chemical acne products before my step mother said (of the benzyl peroxide I was using), “why would you use something that can stain your clothing on your face?” This comment made me realize that I should switch to something more natural and from that I found the OCM. I still break out more than I did before college graduation, but my skin glows and still feels healthier – and pimples disappear faster. I do baking soda scrubs more consistently now, sometimes even at night as that keeps my skin from getting dry and seems to help keep my acne at bay.
hey i would like to ask if i can use Blackseed or Almond oil.
I asked for Castor oil and i said that they have it but they don’t have Hazelnut or Sunflower oil.
Btw can i use Refined Sunflower oil? That’s the one we use to fry meat and stuff lol
I haven’t said that i have acne problems, that’s why i’m trying the OCM and i’m male too if that matters.
I don’t know much about black seed oil, but based on my limited findings, I think almond oil sounds like the better of the two. (Sweet almond oil is usually good for oilier skin.) As for the sunflower oil, you can always try it and see how it works. If you can find organic oil, that’s always good.
You can also try adding just a bit of honey; it’s a bit antibacterial, and so it’s usually beneficial for acne-plagued skin.
Thanks a lot Maid.
I’m not sure if its Sweet, it only says Almond Oil so i think its normal.
And i’ll try to find Hazelnut/Sunflower organic in the town tomorrow.
And there is 1 more question i want to ask,can the Castor and Almond oil be refined too?
I have found the castor oil in our Drug Store and the almond oil in a shop named Drogerie Markt(translated it means Drugstore).
Do i need to watch for what kind of Castor/Almond oil i get?
Is there something bad that could be in them?
Maid, i have found sunflower organic oil i only need the Castro oil.
I asked the women in the shop and she said that they have only Refined Castor Oil.
She said its ”cleaned” She probably thought to say that its Filtered.
Is that ok to use?
Sunflower+Castoril Oil(Filtered Refined) ?
I started using blackseed oil in my mix a while back, and I have seen a LOT of improvement in how it works for me. Not sure if I can 100% attribute this to the blackseed, as I was changing some other stuff up too, but I’m a fan and am keeping it in. 🙂 I only use a little – 4-6 drops per wash.
SO you say that Blackseed oil can be used? Good to hear cause i can get Cold Pressed here, and it drinked it before and it helped me a LOT, didn’t had much acnes.
I have oily/normal skin. I sometimes get breakouts. I started off with sunflower oil and sweet almond oil. It really made my face feel awesome. It’s not oily like I thought it would be. It cleared up my breakout areas overnight. I’m SOLD! Thanks!
Great post! I have been using the oil cleansing method since December and have not had one cystic zit on my chin (or any place else) since then, it was something that immediately started working for me! I cut out castor oil on a daily basis when I read more about the effects of it and just used olive oil. And yes, I am one of those few that has had no huge problems with straight olive oil. I added castor oil back in for a week, and it was a bit disastorous. I also have reactions to different things like, tea tree oil, sunflower seeds, and vitamin E. if i use a different face wash or lotion or anything, I typically see a reaction. My eye lids used to flake and dry out like no other in the winter (and even the summer, but not as bad). My eye lids have been great since using just olive oil, and any switch back to something different, results in flakiness. I have been on the hunt for a “real” olive oil product instead of using just what is in my cabinet, but have been having trouble finding something without Vitamin E. I am 50/50 on cocunut oil, I think I sometimes get small reactions to it if I have something going on on my face. I do miss a great moisturizer, but they were half my problem! Boscia has a great SPF BB cream that I use on my face and I got another great sample from Sephora, that hasn’t made me break out (can’t remember the name). Good luck to all, adult acne has been a challenge for me, especially because I never battled acne before the age of 25!!!! I highly reccomend the oil cleansing method to anyone with acne woes, give it a try and stick with it!!!!
I haven’t been doing the OCM for very long. I’ve been using organic virgin coconut oil with no problems. Just in case the coconut oil gets to be a problem, however, I have ordered some apricot kernel oil. I don’t use castor oil because I’m afraid it might affect hair growth on my face (PCOS issue). Is that a legitimate concern, or am I just spooking myself?
I was already to start using the OCM but I just checked the ewg skin deep rating on castor oil and I saw that it is toxic to the reproductive system. I have acne and blackheads and oily skin and I want to try this method, but is there anything to use in place of castor oil to help clean deeper into pores?
all ready*
Try just olive oil, that is what I use. I cut out castor oil after reading more about it, and having problems with it.
Rachel, I take a neuroscience course that has me very aware of everything I use. The ewg.org is a good friend of mine now. However, castor oil’s rating of 2 out of 10 isn’t even a drop in the bucket for toxicity compared to most of the skin products on the shelves. Fragrance is the #1 toxic ingredient in almost all products, even the ones listed as unscented. I know I don’t have an answer for your question if it is a concern certainly don’t use it. It’s just very improbable to use 99% of products off the shelf and get a rating under a 2!
I have been using OCM for almost 2 months now. I expected a purging stage for sure but holy cow! I started with 10% Castor and 90% grapeseed. My skin turned very dry, flakey and I started getting a lot of papules. Then came the blackheads. I switched to hempseed oil only since I though the castor may have been too drying and the hemp is totally non comedogenic.
That was 2 weeks ago. Now it seems like every pore on my face is congested and I have atleast 30 very sore papules and cysts on my face. I have scoured the internet for tips and have tried to make this work. I’m about to give up! I work for a plastic surgeon and can’t look like this every day. My sister OCM’s with EVOO only and has for a few years. She loves it. Her skin was really congested now it’s great.
I think I may have to give up. 🙁
I know how it sucks when something that should be good for you turns out not to work!
If OCM isn’t working by now, it probably won’t. Have you tried what Crunchy Betty calls “cleansing grains”? I’ve used them for over a decade. (Since I started using the oil cleansing method, I use them only a couple of times a week.)
My old recipe was roughly three parts each rice flour, powdered oatmeal (grind old fashioned oats in a blender), and bentonite, with one part powdered dry milk. I’ve since added a touch of turmeric and rose hip powder (I grind up bulk rose hips), both ideas I got from Crunchy Betty. If you want to try it, I recommend starting simply, then adding other ingredients once your skin calms down. I mix mine up with water, then add a dab of honey. (You could also omit the powdered milk and use milk to mix your cleanser.) I would skip baking soda right now, as popular as it is, because it may be a bit too abrasive for your skin in its current condition.
If you want to try a mask, many people swear by milk and honey to soothe troubled skin. You may need to add a bit of a binder (like the rice flour or oatmeal) to thicken it up. Milk and honey is what I used when I accidentally grabbed the cinnamon and nutmeg mix instead of straight nutmeg. My face was on FIRE, but the mask calmed it almost immediately.
I am not sure if you want to put more oil on your face, but this is what worked for me. I have dry skin that is cystic acne prone (great combo, ugh!). I use a natural soap (African black soap) with a Clarisonic brush at night and follow up with a clove oil blend I purchased from theskinnutrionist.net (a blend of clove, jojoba and bergamot). It works very well to dissolve the cysts. I am currently trying the OCM with castor / jojoba and am breaking out on my chin (mostly whiteheads / black heads but no cysts) and will likely go back to my previous method!
I started a few months ago moisturizing with coconut oil, and really loved it. Then, I started researching the OCM, and started using it with castor and grapeseed oil. My skin is way worse that before. I’m 29 and still have regular acne. The weird thing it that I started breaking out on my neck, which I never did before like now. I stopped using coconut oil, because I’d read that for most people it isn’t good; however, I’m beginning to think it does work for ME, and I think it’s the grapeseed that my skin doesn’t like. I stopped using the grapeseed oil 3 days ago, and I think my skins already looks/feel better.
I know how frustrating it is. Maybe you could try something besides grapeseed oil. I’m not saying coconut oil, just something else. Remember that you skin is unique to you, and no one else’s is exactly like yours, so what will work for others doesn’t always mean it will work for you. I hope you find results that you like! Good luck!
Thanks for the replies. I had switched to hempseed oil in hopes of improvement. No go there. I did everything exactly to letter and tried any recommendations I could find. Just isn’t working for me. I have since stopped and my skin is slowly improving. My skin is just so congested now. Its gonna take a long time to recover. I gave it 3 months. My job requires me to have a certain appearance and it was getting too hard to cover all of it up. I can not go make-up less with my job.
I completely understand. Not having great nearly my whole life has never been easy. I hope your skins improves quickly!
Might be time to see a dermatologist. After the drying phase, you may have actually gotten some infection. Make sure you haven’t got anything infected (if you do, it’s not a big deal. You take antibiotics for a couple of weeks). After you get the situation cleared up (or the derma says it’s not infection) maybe try one oil at a time. A walnut oil might be more gentle for you. I thought grapeseed oil was a little too thick for me. Everyone is different!
As I said above, if you feel you need to go back to soap, try to find someone who does cold processed natural soap in your area. It can be very soothing if the oil cleansing doesn’t work.
I know how frustrating it is to battle with congested skin. At one point, I’d tried everything to clear up my skin and ended up at a dermatologist who prescribed Accutane, an acne treatment drug with terrible side effects. It worked temporarily and a few years later, my acne returned. Mostly cystic breakouts around my chin, jaw and neck, occasionally on my cheeks or forehead.
I was ready to give up completely. As a last effort, I read a book by Dr. Perricone who suggests an anti-inflammatory diet, deep breathing, water, and yoga to clear adult acne. I tried it and have never, ever had a breakout again. This was eight years ago.
I now use the OCM method, though I don’t think I would have tried it when I was still experiencing breakouts. Once my skin stopped breaking out, I began using only serums to moisturize because my skin had become quite sensitive from so many harsh treatments.
I highly recommend starting to clear your skin from the inside out. I wish you the best of luck and please contact me if you want additional support.
I’ve been using OCM for several months now. My purging stage was 2 months, maybe a little longer. However, I’ve never had terrible acne just frequent small breakouts, and my purging wasn’t much worse than that. I use only coconut oil, but it’s now just starting to dry my skin out in small patches. I would skip the castor oil all together and try almond, sunflower, or hazelnut oil – like just one by itself. I’m really not an expert but I think just trying one specific oil works better for sensitive skin that is prone to irritation. Try only washing once a day and using a light moisturizer afterwards. I noticed that if I OCM twice a day, my skin would freak out – breakouts, dryness, oiliness. But only once a day was a world of difference.
I’ve been using the OCM for about 3 weeks now. I’ve tried the castor oil with jojoba and some lavender oil as a spot treatment. I have also used a small among of the jojoba as a moisturizer when I felt my skin was a little tight. I still haven’t seen much success and would love some advice. I’m ready to hit the big 36 and am tired of the acne and brown spots. My acne is strange because its they’ll over under the skin kind that just won’t go away. Any advice would be helpful. I am a believer in the OCM but am feeling frustrated!
Perhaps you should use less of the castor oil when cleansing your face. Like the article says. Try 1 part castor and 2 parts Jojoba and just adding a bit of lavender. This will keep your skin from becoming dry and not have to moisturize it. You want to try and avoid using just oil as a moisturizer. It may in fact, clog your pores. I mean it’s just oil sitting on your face, attracting the dust/dirt particles and your pores cant breathe. The whole point of the OCM is that you take off the oil after cleansing your skin. (with hot water). Anyways, I’ve felt that doing a bunch of things at once never helps my skin. The spot treatment may also be causing some irritation if the lavender essential oil is too strong. (tip:use it with the cleansing routine not on your skin to sit there) HOPE THIS HELPS!
It might also be that you have other non-topical causes for your skin problems. I love oil cleansing but nothing will clear my acne or eczema if I eat wheat! Hope you find good success.
I have trouble with the jojoba–you might try taking that out. Sub in hemp seed oil instead (or one of the other recommended oils.) As the article says, stay away from coconut and olive unless you’ve had success with them. Start with one oil and see how it goes. Then maybe add a second one in (like the castor oil).
If you do want to use soap, try a cold processed soap. You can probably find someone in your area who makes it.
I cannot use any castor oil. Almond and jojoba as well as grapeseed do me wonders tho. I also use witchazel as a toned. I add lavender and myhrr sometimes. Castor oil alwáys makes me break out.
I have bug bites all over my body and my sister-in-law told me about your website and the wonderful things it has done for her. I was wondering if there was an oil blend for normal to oily skin to help me get rid of them but also cleanses my skin as well.
Thank you again,
Casey Hughes
AFter I found your wonderful site about a year ago, I started OCM and still use it everyday, to this day. I love it! My old, 41 year old skin that used to STILL breakout is so much better.
Anyway – when I first was reading up on it, I think you had a list of “extras” to add in on top of the castor & carrier oil. Rosehip seed oil was one of them and I’ve been using it. I have tried to find that original list and can’t seem to. Can you tell me where it is or advise what those extras were? I see you have extras written in the above article, but I don’t think they are the same extras . . . ?
Thank you for such wonderful research and information!
http://crunchybetty.com/nitty-gritty-on-the-oil-cleansing-method
Steph, this might be it. There is a small section towards the bottom reagrding “jazzing” up your OCM.
http://crunchybetty.com/nitty-gritty-on-the-oil-cleansing-method
I’ve been cleansing my face with olive oil ever since I found it recommended on a university website when I had severe dermatitis from pollution when on a work holiday in China. It was the only thing that worked and it worked immediately. I get acne, but I’ve never had problems getting it from washing with olive oil (well I did at the very beginning but my skin adjusted quite quickly). I’ve also found that coconut oil works okay for me. Anyway, I’ve used it from then on (5 years). Too bad it doesn’t work for many people.
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Hi there, I love this article but as a certified aromatherapist, I want to caution those who chose to use essential oils in their oil blend for cleansing. I see that thyme is mentioned as one that may be used, but there are two chemotypes of thyme (thymus vulgaris ct. linalol is safe to use on the face, whereas thymus vulgaris ct. thymol is NOT, it is a skin-irritant). If the company that someone is buying their oils from does not provide the entire Latin name, be wary that you do not purchase and use something on your face which is too harsh!
For everyday use, a 1% dilution should be used for oil blends going on the face. So if using one once of carrier oil (jojoba, grapeseed, olive, etc.), use just 1-3 drops of essential oil.
Bergamot, Lemon, Sweet Orange, and Grapefruit are indeed phototoxic. A few popular skin nourishing essential oils are lavender, rose, roman chamomile, geranium, and rosewood–though there are others!
I hope that this helps, regarding the safety of using essential oil in the OCM!
Thank you for this info! I’m gonna get started with OCM as soon as I have a job again and can afford to buy these, in the meantime I’ll try using just water and a good scrubbing on my face 🙂
I know this is an older post, but I wanted to comment because I think I’ve found THE oil that makes the most difference for me, and I haven’t seen it mentioned on this blog yet — blackseed oil.
I have skin that is very acneic, but not necessarily very oily (but not dry, either). I generally always have a lot of acne underneath my cheekbones, right in the groove of my cheeks. The bumps NEVER go away — even if there are not any active pimples, there are always small bumps and old scars. I occasionally get acne on my forehead and chin, but that is relatively well-behaved and they disappear (scars and all!) usually within a week or so. No idea why my cheeks don’t react the same way.
After trying OCM with jojoba oil for a while, I switched to castor and grapeseed oil and have gotten MUCH better results. I really wanted jojoba to work, as I’ve heard so much good about it! Grapeseed just seems to work better for me — does great things for my skin as well as my lips and eyelashes (this is probably a blessing, as it is MUCH cheaper than jojoba).
Anyway, what I do these days is a quarter-sized puddle of castor oil, a squirt of jojoba oil, a bit of tamanu oil (maybe half the amount of the castor) and then a few drops of black seed oil. This has had a really good effect on my acne so far — while it hasn’t gone away, I can tell it’s reduced significantly. I also use a couple of drops of the black seed oil in the morning for a moisturizer (though soon I plan to experiment with argan oil and do some sort of mixture of black seed, tamanu, and argan, with maybe a carrier oil like sweet almond to dilute).
Just wanted to record some changes I made to this regime, as they have helped TREMENDOUSLY. The mix described above turned out to not help me so much after all, as my breakouts eventually started getting a lot worse. However, the mix I’ve been using now has given me results that I haven’t seen before with natural treatments, and that I think are headed in the right direction!
First thing I did: ditched the castor oil. For some reason this started drying out my skin (?), so I added avocado oil to my mix. I also started getting a lot more sparing with the washcloth I was using, both with wiping and steaming. Below is my mix:
Squirt of grapeseed oil (small, nickel-sized amount)
Squirt of avocado oil
4-6 drops blackseed oil
6-7 drops tamanu oil
I massage this onto a slightly damp face. Then I steam for about ten seconds and wipe off GENTLY with a washcloth. I try to do as much of the wiping as I can without the washcloth from then on.
My face sometimes feels a little dry after this, so I usually take 2-4 drops of tamanu oil and massage it in well. Before bed, I use the following combo for a spot treatment:
1 oz jojoba oil
4 drops rosemary oil
4 drops tea tree oil
6 drops tamanu oil
(I plan to add a few drops of lavender oil once I purchase it!)
In the morning I either splash my face with water or use a Lush cleanser. I also use the tamanu oil again as a moisturizer (I love this oil!)
The effect this has had on my skin has been pretty interesting. I was in the middle of an awful breakout, with the usual pustules on my cheeks and some additional acne on my chin and upper lip (which was unusually persistent). In the days I’ve been using this, the acne has gotten IMMENSELY better; however, I’m seeing this weird peeling effect on my skin during the day, where the area around my acne just gets horribly dry and flakey. To me, this looks similar to the process my skin went through when I was using Retin-A last year, which was terrible but eventually dried out the acne. Although it does look pretty awful during the day, the peeling skin has dried out my acne and I am seeing a really significant deflation of all the irritation on my face. I’ll keep going like this for a while and see if it works all the way!
A note on the peeling: I think it’s possible that the BB cream I’m using (Andalou Naturals, tinted) takes part of the credit for the flaking.
Great tips ! I was looking for vegan skin care and was lucky to find ocm, my skin does look young for 30’s even though i comitted the sin mentioned here -coconuts AND OLIVE! LOL.
I guess with research and test all can enjoy ocm, we just can’t give up when the first concoction didn’t work. I became a. Believer when i bought a oil make up washer by accident, it was the best thing to remove make up till then and then when i heard about ocm and that the skin is actually an organ that have oil and to clean we have to use also oil it made perfect sense.
Ok so I’m starting to panic a bit….a week ago I stumbled upon OCM and was extremely unsure of what to expect. I am 25 and have been struggling with extremely acne probe skin for 11 years. I had horrible cystic acne in high school and was even on Accutane when I was 14. I found the original page on here regarding OCM, then did some quick google searching, and grabbed my bottle of olive oil. And that’s all I’ve been using….I have done it every night/morning for the last week, and my face looks great!! After reading that some people have broken out with olive oil and that I’m only supposed to do it every other day, I’m terrified that I’m about to break out like whoa! My face typically breaks out if I just look at it wrong, so honestly I’m surprised I haven’t broken out yet…could it be just a matter of time? Crap….. 🙁 I was even PMSing this past week, which typically causes extra zits. Ugh….maybe I need to go back to my intensive daily scrub/face wash/toner/cream to prepare for a nasty break out :,(
I use sunflower seed oil for OCM and after massaging my face with my blend, it’s amazing to see tiny beads all over my fingertips which I think are the whiteheads in my face. Some of my friends are getting breakouts from OCM, maybe there’s something wrong with their blend.
Crunchy Betty! I’ve found your amazing blog a few months back and it ha been life changing with anything that has to do with natural cosmetics.
But! I must say I am more than confused with all that knowledge and options. What comes before what? What’s a daily routine, weekly recommended and stuff that are just once in a while when I feel like spoiling myself?
On the daily routine – mask, toner, soap, oil , honey – in which order and how many times a day? What’s important to do after the face are cleaned? And what do you recommend to be the first cleaning?
I have the same question as others have asked, but never could find a response: When you’re not doing the OCM, what do you cleanse with? (If I overlooked your response, I apologize!) I only want to start with once a week at first, so I need to know what to use in between. I’m currently using CeraVe and it’s lovely, but of course I do still get occasional cysts on my chin that are the bane of my existence!! help!
I OCM every night and then do honey/baking soda washes, alternating every other day with these two things.
forgot to add….in the mornings I do the washes…or if I’m taking random during the day showers, like after a work out or a hot sweaty day, etc.
Just curious Cynthia, do you consume dairy? Aside from goat cheese, dairy products give me cystic acne on the jawline. Cutting dairy out helped improve my skin immensely.
So I just started OCM a couple days go, I have extremely acne prone skin that gets dry, I used a 30% castor/70% grapeseed blend. I use Kroger castor oil and organic grape seed oil, my skin looks WAY worse, I’ve been doing the OCM twice a day, should I do it less than that, and if so what should I use when I’m not cleansing with oil? Could it possibly be the castor oil I’m using? Or should I up my castor oil percentage? I’m on a budget so any recommendations on organic castor oil would be appreciated!
Definitely only do 1x (at night) and maybe not even every day. Start there and maybe play with percentage some… although that’s a pretty good percentage for oil skin.
This is my regime: The majority of the time I wash my face with raw local honey, which has done wonders for my oily acne prone skin. About ever third day I make a scrub with brown rice flour, green tea and honey and exfoliate with that in the shower in the morning. The same days I exfoliate in the morning, in the evening I do an oil wash with castor 25%, grapeseed 75% and a drop of seabuckthorn oil. On occasion I moisturize with a minimal amount of coconut oil or jojoba oil (EVOO didn’t work for me) and maybe every few weeks I make myself a face mask with the honey/flour/tea mixture and let it dry on my face – about 30 minutes. It’s a pretty simple and economical routine and it has changed my face which has always given me issues and was a source of stress. The other elements of good skin: eating clean, using natural products on your hair (I wash it with aloe vera) and using natural laundry detergents with no other products i.e. dryer sheets.
How do you wash your hair with Aloe Vera? I grow my own and use it on my skin but never thought of using it on my hair.
Has anyone tried castor oil and grape seed oil?? It seems to be working fine (not FABULOUS) except I started to notice that about 2-3 weeks after I mix the two in a bottle they begin to grow mildew. Anyone else dealt with this? I’ve tried both plastic and tinted glass (all air tight). My bathroom is high in moisture however each bottle of the straight stuff next to it has grow nothing. I can’t find this out anywhere. Help.
I found that organic almond oil with a few drops of lavender oil added works very well the lavender oil is well known for being very beneficial for the skin.
Does anyone use this method for body acne? My face seems to be doing great with OCM, but my back and my neck keep getting terrible cystic acne breakouts. What do people use for body cleansing?
I have been plagued with a pimply face since I was a teen. I’m 35 now. I have used Proactive in the past and It worked to keep most pimples at bay. But gave me crazy oily skin. I wanted to get off the proactive so I did 9 months of OCM, I gave up. I look like a teenager right now. I’m so frustrated and depressed over my stupid skin. I’ve started on Arbonne clear advantage. It has some salacilic (sp?) acid as the medical ingredient and is not a soap. I’m hoping it works…
I loved the idea of OCM. My mix was Castor and jojoba with some tea tree oil. Even by itself tea tree doesn’t seem to help when put right on the pimple. I would like to take the jojoba out and try something different since maybe that was the culprite. My question: could I add OCM with the Arbonne, say, 3 times a week? or do I have to go straight back to only using OCM? Extremely Frustrated! Help!
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I have posted my difficulties with OCM recently. I was able to calm the breakouts by taking a week off. I then went back to OCM and have realized that the Castor oil makes my skin feel great, not drying, but it is causing MAJOR breakouts like I have never seen before. It was great for pulling small blemishes so I was very encouraged. However, it pulled beyond what was needed. I now have deep and painful bumps. I have decided that I am back to old washes containing Sal. acid as that instantly calms my skin. I just don’t have room in my life to get through the side effects of Castor oil. Maybe one day I will revisit the OCM, because I do like the idea. But for now, I am trying to clear my skin up for a wedding and can’t face work with a horribly bumpy face. My face hurts so much that it wakes me at night! I may spot treat with OCM and will use it for eye makeup remover as Castor oil is good for fighting wrinkles and lengthening lashes. Ugh..I need a month by myself to survive this! HAHA
Help me! I’m 30 years old, and I’ve always had relatively clear skin… the only bumps I’d get would tend to look awful only because of me clawing at them (I’m an addictive picker). But I’d say my skin was combination normal to dry with mild breakouts. About a month ago, I decided to try OCM with organic extra virgin coconut oil. For the first few days, I was shocked at how beautiful and clear and glowing my skin was… even though at the time I had a few breakouts, I didn’t even care because the rest of my skin looked so awesome. Then, little by little, there came a few breakouts that I wasn’t used to… clusters of them. And even though my face felt beautifully moisturized, I was getting clumps of pimples all over. I tried to hang in there but after 2 or 3 weeks I was desperate for answers. I finally read the above article and ran out in a frenzy to get castor oil and jojoba oil. For the first few days it seemed to be working. Then, lots of breakouts and terribly inflamed bumpy skin. Not what I signed up for! So now, I look like a teenager and I’m wondering what to do. I found a Swedish Eggwhite Face soap that a shopowner raved about. The first couple times using it, it marvelously tightened everything up, smoothed out the bumps, and made the blemishes look a little smaller. But, now my skin is really dry, and still broken out like crazy. I really really really wanted OCM to work. I want to cry when I look in the mirror. I had near perfect skin as a teenager and now I look like I have chicken pox. I did a raw honey mask earlier today, and then rinsed off and steamed with a washcloth soaked in warm chamomile tea. Then wiped face down with chilled rosewater. Then massaged evoo into my skin. My pores were all well open and exfoliated, but my scars and marks and current pimples looked so bad I had to smear on foundation to appear semi-normal. So here I am… unsure of what to wash with tonight or tomorrow or next week. I need my clear skin back! Please help!
I just started using the oil cleansing method a couple of weeks ago and my skin feels great! I saw it on another blog (can’t remember which one) and decided to give it a try and now i tell everyone! I make small batches that last about couple of weeks. I use about 60% grapeseed to 40% jamaican black castor oil. I add about 5-10 drops of pure tea tree oil and a few drops of vitamin E. I had acne prone skin, but that has minimize, dark spots have significantly faded. my skin is so soft. I steam my face with a washcloth about 3 times. I actually use this method everyday, sometimes in the morning and night and haven’t had any issues with break otus. Keep trying to find the right mix and use good oils!
Hello,
I’ve been doing the OCM method for about a month now. I suffered with pretty bad acne and extremely oily skin. I started with 50% castor oil, and 50% jojoba oil and after a week my skin was really dry. So I kept lessening the castor oil and my skin was still dry. I didn’t really have any breakouts while i was doing the cleansing but kept suffering from dry skin. I tried using a very little amount of castor and added sweet almond oil and it did a little better but i still have dry patches around my nose and cheek. I think now i’m going to try to just not use the castor oil and see what happens. What would you suggest?
Hello all,
Greetings from Singapore. My skin type is oily and acne prone. I just started the ocm method for about 2 weeks now. The blend I use is 40% castor 40% grapeseed 10% jason vitamin E oil and 10% evening primrose oil. I mix it in a small bottle so that I don’t mix too much incase the blend doesn’t work. So far I’ve seen improvements on my greasy skin. Its really humid where I am so bacteria build up is pretty fast. My skin tone has evened out a wee bit and my skin feels less greasy throughout the day. However I’m starting to break out on my cheeks and forehead. I do the ocm every night before i sleep and make sure that I wipe as much as i can of after steaming etc. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong and I’m starting to feel a little disheartened. Also I would like to know how to get rid of black and white heads. They seem to be getting worse, could it be that I’m going through some “purging” period or is that all a myth?
Hi Denise,
I’m from Singapore too!!
Can I ask where do you buy the castor oil? I tried Mustafa but I’m hesitant as it didn’t state if it’s organic or cold -press.
As for your white and black heads, would you like to try Manuka honey umf15+? I did that and the clogged pores are gradually clearing, thanks to the honey drawing the plugs out. It takes time and three weeks since I started and my skin has improved, from a few new zits every week down to small bumps that would clear quickly. I smooth on a few drops of Vit C serum after the cleansing and dab tea tree oil on the trouble spots.
I plan to try avocado oil with grape seed oil blend, as I doubt my finicky skin would tolerate EVOO or even castor oil. ☺
I started using the oil cleansing method a week ago. I used the combination of oils that was listed here (jojoba, castor, and avocado). I was quite scared to do it the first time but this is absolutely amazing! I will never wash my face with anything else again. After just one use my blackheads that I have been trying to get rid of for years were almost completely gone and my skin is beautifully glowing and perfectly cleansed and moisturized. Thank you so much for posting this! Life changer!
I tried the OCM for 4 months….using a blend of 30% castor oil (bought at a pharmacy….most likely mistake #1) and 70% sunflower seed oil bought at a health food store…unrefined. About 2 months into it I began to experience burning sensations after applying my Bare Minerals make-up and my face would turn red. I diluted the Castor Oil down more and used less facial make-up…it helped immensely. BUT then I began to get VERY dry patches of skin that would not clear up at all…..so I threw the OCM out and began to use raw honey instead with great success for 3 months before the dry patches came back…..needless to say, I am back to using earth Science without a problem save for the break-outs that caused me to seek OCM in the first place. I still use the sunflower seed oil as a moisturizer at night and an eye make-up remover (works fabulously!!!!) and have no reaction to it at all. I would love to try again using quality castor oil. Loved this article, by the way!
HELP! I really want OCM to work…have been doing it for about 2 weeks and my face is worse. I am so discouraged! For the first week I tried 1/2 castor and 1/2 EVOO. It made a few small breakouts so I added tea tree oil, argon, and lavender in small amounts. This seemed to help but by the end of the week there were 4 cysts that would not come to head or go away! Banana peal helped when they were very irritated. I have only done the wash at night and followed all the instructions. I wash with honey in the morning. I will do a baking soda scrub a couple of times as well. This week, I switched to castor and Jojoba with same lavender, tea tree, argon. My face is worse and cheeks have large bumps underneath the skin. I am also breaking out on my forehead which has been clear. Very sad and need this cleared up ASAP! I was thinking about buying another carrier oil but just need real HELP! PLEASE!THis is a repeat…I submitted it at the wrong place before…I think 🙂
It is so discouraging, isn’t it? I started doing OCM over three months ago and my skin kept getting worse and worse: cystic acne, whiteheads, blackheads, little bumps. I tried EVOO, jojoba and sweet almond oil with the castor oil. Then I tried just castor oil with tea tree oil or lavender. I still kept getting horrible cysts (as well as all the other acne). Finally, five days ago, I stopped doing the steam portion of OCM, thinking that perhaps the warmth against my face was actually trapping some of the bad stuff under the skin. You know what? No more new cysts since then! Unfortunately, I have a plethora of scars on my chin and around my mouth from the previous three months of experimenting with OCM. My current regimen is this: wash with honey in the mornings; wash with castor oil (Or hemp oil. I just started using it last night because I’ve read good things about it.); apply a mask of bentonite clay and tea tree oil (this has made my skin much, much softer); apply lavender after mask for spot treatment and moisturizing. I hope this helps. I totally understand your panic–and your desire for OCM to work!
Meant to say that I do the castor oil wash (and everything that follows) in the evening.
I’m starting to try OCM this week (every other night) with a honey wash each morning. I was wondering if I need to exfoliate with another product each week to get the dead skin cells off? I noticed some people saying they have some breakouts/acne after a couple weeks of doing OCM and was wondering maybe if this is because they aren’t exfoliating the dead skin off? If you do need to exfoliate, do you have a good recipe for exfoliating? Thanks so much!
I think you are right, exfoliating is very important. But how often do you do it? once a week? twice? everyday? I would like a recipe too. maybe even something that we could add to the OCM so you can exfoliate while you rub it in??
Since I haven’t gotten a reply back I’ve just been incorporating a scrub twice a week. All you need is your regular raw honey that you wash your face with on your off days. I wash my face with honey each morning and every other night that I don’t do OCM. So with that honey, I mix it with brown sugar and just rub it on my face! It’s a natural and simple scrub that makes me feel better that I’m actually removing some dead skin cells off. Let me know if you have any other alternatives! Hope this helps.
I’m so glad I found your blog. My story…For about 4 months I’ve been washing with a 50/50 blend of olive oil and castor oil as recommended by another website. At first it worked amazing and my skin looked really nice but as it’s turned into summer my skin has been looking oily and super clogged. I assumed it was because of the heat and increased sweat but it got to the point where I just couldn’t take it anymore and went out and bought a Burt’s Bees cleanser. Talk about send my skin into shock, I stopped using that immediately!
I stumbled upon your website in a desperate attempt to try the OCM again. I decided to try another oil (other than olive oil) and rushed out and bought Sunflower Oil and I also found a Teatree/Lavender Oil blend. I mixed up 50/50 Sunflower and Castor Oil to start with along with about 10 drops of the Teatree blend. I washed my face with it and then let it sit for maybe 5-10 min (something which the other website never mentioned) and I noticed the difference after the first wash! I’m so excited, I hope it continues to do the job! Thanks for all the troubleshooting tips and if anything changes I will post again.
i’ve been using a blend of jojoba oil with a little bit of aloe vera oil, sometimes neem oil but it smells so funky i gag when it’s on my face, and a few drops of tea tree oil. my face has been breaking out terribly over the past few months so i turned to a chemical free life, but it’s still not totally healed. i think it will take awhile. i’ve been using the oils for 3 days now. before i was just using honey to cleanse with while putting shea butter on my acne scars and AVC on any zits i do have. the breakouts are still coming but im trusting that this oil cleansing method will work for me. dont give up! 🙂
I’m new to this method and just starting it out but I was wondering if anyone could help me.. If i only use ocm before bed each night and moisturize in the morning, what do I wash my face with if I work out during the day? just water in the shower? I’m worried about what to use to get the sweat off. Thanks!
Besides washing with just plain hot water, have you looked into a natural ACV ( apple cider vinegar) and green tea toner? I use this in the A.M. because I just don’t feel like the water washes my face enough. I also made a facial spritz that feels wonderful after the toner dries.
I have been using the OCM for a year now and I will never go back to any other commercial cleansers. I have pretty sensitive skin. Mostly to fragrances and most of my adult life I had struggled to find an effective yet inexpensive fragrance free cleaner that didn’t totally dry out my already dry,sensitive skin. Then along came Pinterest and a pin on OCM. And I was completely enthralled. A couple of Google’s later and Crunch Betty was on my monitor and my life for me and my family was forever changed. I’ve only had to adjust my recipe a couple of times. Mostly because of the change in seasons. Right now I am using equal parts castor oil, jojoba oil, and avocado oil. Over the winter I cut down the castor oil by about 1/2. I love it so much. My skin has never been clearer and my makeup lasts longer throughout the day. I have even converted my sister after I made her a batch for her birthday. I’m so happy I stumbled across this blog. It really has changed so much in my lifestyle for the better. Right now my hubby going out to get more vinegar to make DIY fabric softener…
Tina, your story sounds like mine but with different results.. maybe you can help me (or anyone else who reads and feels my pain. please PLEASE voice your input!!!!!!! I am so discouraged over my skin today!!) Like you I have sensitive very dry skin and have struggled for years with a cleanser that would not dry it out worse. I also saw the OCM method on Pinterest and was totally intrigued. Majority of the stories sounded fabulous! I gave it a go with EVOO and Castor oil. All was great for about a week and then I started to break out again. I read to ditch the EVOO so I switched to, again like you, jojoba/avocado/castor… however, I don’t measure it in a bottle. I simply equal out the drops in my palm. Once again, great glowy promising skin at first.. then 2-3 weeks later BAM! worst. skin. EVER!!!! I was already acne prone and had the ugly scars to prove it but this is the worse it has ever been and I am so disappointed. I wanted this to work so badly. Not only is my face covered (COVERED!) in small whiteheads, my jawline, cheeks and mostly my forehead (right above eyebrows) is full of those cystic painful bumps just under the skin. They are not big enough to extract anything but even with makeup on you can see allll the bumps clear as day, just not the redness! Wondering what I’m doing so wrong here! I desperately do not want to go back to the oh-so-drying soaps and cleansers. My skin does feel not as dry after I use the oils to cleanse but I still have dry flaky patches, esp on my lower cheeks. Wow I hate even typing this b/c it sounds like a horror story.. and honestly it is like going through one!! So I have a few questions for you since your skin sounds similar, you’ve stuck with it for a whole year, and you’re using the same oils………
1- did you go through a “purging” period where you wanted to give up? or has it just been great from the get-go?
2- do you wipe away all the oil with a washcloth? I feel like maybe I was keeping too much oil on my skin (I wasn’t wiping, just splashing it off) causing it to break out worse but I did this because it felt so moisturizing at first and my skin is always THIRSTY.
3- how often do you do this and when you don’t OCM does your face not feel extra dry? Mine feels so dry sometimes I can’t stand the thought of putting makeup on it.. I have to moisturize SOMEHOW but struggling to figure out the best way without clogging my pores. I used Coconut oil briefly bc it just felt so good on my skin and I thought It would moisturize efficiently but then I read to ditch that too… ah. so many hits and misses I can’t keep up!! Do you use any sort of toner/moisturizer??
and lastly, what kind of makeup do you use? I am trying to ditch the powder.. I am awful with it truly. I reapply often and my sponges seem to stay grimy looking. I try to wash them once a week. I hate the cakey feel of it but at the same time I’m always wanting to cover the ugly and its a quick fix. I feel like a teenager always stooping in a corner somewhere to pop open the compact and drag some more coverage over my cheeks… it can’t be helping matters!! I’m starting to think the makeup I buy could be a part of the overall problem. I’m sure they’re full of chemicals and toxins and fragrances. Researching organic makeup/brushes after I post this! Anyway, I’ve rambled on enough so.. any help you or any of you other ladies have to offer would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi ColeyL,
I don’t know if this would help but maybe you could try to stop your OCM until your skin clears up.. I read that people with sensitive skin should avoid castor oil. Perhaps the culprit is the castor oil?
For me, I have yet to start OCM. But for three weeks now, I use Manuka honey UMF15+ to cleanse my face and at night, flyer the honey mask, I use jojoba oil with some Vit E oil. My persistent acne have cleared and the existing scars are slowly fading. There was the purging stage that happened in the second week and now, it’s clearing. My skin isn’t glowing so much but the breakouts slowing down. The honey draws out underlying gunk, so you just have to be patient to see it through..
I suppose honey as a cleanser and jojoba oil as moisturizer could be the in-between of OCM?
*other than honey mask
I posted above (June 20) and my huge cystic pimples are out of control. Im getting to the point where i don’t want to leave the house because my skin is so bad. I caved and went to the derma (I work full time, see patients all day, etc–cant stand having little kids ask what the bumps are all over my face.) I ditched the OCM, I’m sure it did this–it happened right around the 3rd month of using it.
My dermo never heard of OCM and said she’s heard of using some oils, but not this method and certainly not Castor because its “100% pore clogging.” I had one cyst along my jawline prob about an inch long (it used to be small ones but they joined forces causing a big huge one). She injected it with cortisone and that shit did not go down. This is SERIOUS and costing me so much money in med bills….SO NOT WORTH IT, because my skin was manageable before this–not perfect ever, but a few pimples here and there. No big deal compared to now.
Im on topicals and back on BC only because the alternative was accutane…which she still might have to put me on. I dont want to, but this shit is never going to heal…there are dozens of deep deep knots under my whole chin/side of face area. Funny thing is forehead, nose and front cheeks are clear as day–its just both sides of my face. Bumpy, yucky non-healing acne.
🙁
I’ve been using the OCM for about a year with great success. My acne prone skin is balanced now with my blend of 25% Castor oil to 75% Olive oil (but its from a friends personal small batch olive oil production from their family grove in Greece….very pure) and I’ve added a few drops of tee tree oil for its anti bacterial properties. I wish I’d started doing this sooner!
I have been using the oil cleansing method now for about 3 weeks.. I used a blend at first of 50% jojoba and 50% linseed oil as I’d heard that castor oil can increase hair production on the face. I’ve now changed though to 50% jojoba, 25% linseed and 25% castor, I haven’t developed many ”big” spots but I’ve noticed my skin is covered in lots of little bumps. Blocked pores I guess. My skins feels rough from these bumps when I run my hand over my face. Has anyone else experienced this? What could I try to stop it? I cleanse using oils every night and just hot water in the morning. Please help!
Can anyone offer any advice? My skin is really getting me down. It’s less greasy now I’m only using jojoba oil which is nice.. But I have so many blackheads and tiny blocked pores all around my chin and jawline… Is this ocm causing this?
Gosh, I hope you find some information, I’ve been unable to find anything about this online. I’ve been using the OCM for a year and a half, and the skin on my face is 100% better, but my jawline and the soft skin under my chin are a disaster area. I suppose I’m grateful that it’s just bumps/blackheads and not (usually) full-blown pimples, but it’s not pretty. FWIW, I’m very careful about not leaning my chin on my hands, and I’m very careful not to curl my hands up under my chin when I’m sleeping.
Thank you… Sounds similar to me then. Like you say it’s better than full blown pimples but its still getting me down. I’ve read around and perhaps I need to exfoliate. So I plan to go to the store this weekend to get some baking soda, honey and apple cider vinegar to make a natural exfoliant. Think I may also reduce ocm from daily to maybe every other day and use crunchy Betty’s honey cleanse on the other days.. Adding baking soda when I need to exfoliate. Will keep you updated on my progress!
Jen
I had the same issue and couldn’t get rid of the bumps for months. I spent tons of money at the dermatologist and allergist who could offer no advice.
I personally think that my case may have been bad castor oil that caused a long lasting infection- and am now trying the method again without castor oil.
I can pretty much guarantee that it’s the jojoba oil blocking your pores and creating blackheads. I have the same problem every single time I use it (and I have come back to it several times – just to make sure it’s the culprit!) I’ve finally given up on it and the OCM now works wonderfully for me. Good luck!
Sacha, what oil do you use now then?
Hi Jen,
I’m using a mixture of castor oil and olive oil (extra virgin, cold pressed). I eyeballed the amounts….about 1/3 castor oil to 2/3 olive oil. It works beautifully for me. I think the trick is to experiment with the oils a bit to find what works for you because the OCM itself is a great way to care for your skin. I also think – and this is just my own opinion, the simpler the concoction, the better 🙂
I ordered the Exquisite Stuff cleanser on Etsy about 2 weeks ago after reading everything I could about oil cleansing. I’m 39-years-old, a single mom, and I teach 2nd grade… that should tell you everything you need to know about what I’m up against. I’ve used it every day since it arrived, and I really love the results. I will admit that I’ve never had breakouts. Not even in high school. The flip side of that is dry skin. I typically do some heavy duty moisturizing at night. In the past couple of years, I’ve noticed some fine lines around my eyes which I had accepted (I figured, eh, I’m almost 40 so they’re bound to show up more and more). But, after only a couple of days of using the Exquisite Stuff, I stopped using moisturizer at night. And I still haven’t used it… not even once. The lines that were starting to appear around my eyes have softened so much that I have to squint to make sure they’re still there. Plus, my skin has held it’s moisture all day. And I live in Texas where it was nearly 100 degrees today. I’m totally hooked. Now I’m kind of afraid that I’m going to wake up with a face full of pimples since I’ve left such a positive post 😐
I started using OCM a little less than a week ago because I was looking for an all-natural way to wash my face. I’ve never struggled with acne, at all, but since I started doing this I’ve gotten a couple really big and painful pimples. I am currently using extra virgin, organic olive oil and jojoba oil. I don’t know if these pimples are just from my skin adjusting to something so different or what, but I can’t decide if I should ditch the OCM and go back to my regular face wash. What would you recommend?
Hi Kaitlin
Try ditching the jojoba oil – it can be really troublesome for some people. I had lots of issues when I used it (and my skin is normally quite clear). Now I just use a combination of castor oil and olive oil and love the results. – Don’t ditch the OCM, just experiment with the oils 🙂
I’d say the opposite, ditch the olive oil! Olive oil and coconut oi are known to make a lot of people break out. Jojoba is usualy great for acne-prone skin, but feel free to change that up, too!
Thought I would post my story:
Started OCM around Feb 1st…and LOVED it! 27 now and always had trouble skin that the derm could never “fix.” I OCM’d at night every night at first then cut back to 3-4 times a week after reading horror posts. raw honey masks in the morning and ACV toner in the morn and at night after OCM. skin was looking glowy and the best it has in a while….then the dreaded 3 month mark came. Right in the beginning of May I started breaking out and stuck with OCM, but it got SO MUCH WORSE. Like worst acne of my life! I thought it was something in my diet or stress or something and just recently realized it was prob the OCM! I stopped doing it after a week of progressively worse breakouts…and now my skin is still a terrible mess. Went to the derm (first time in years) and she thought it was a staph infection bc of the clustered whiteheads and huge cystic pimples and itchiness/redness/pain. So went on pills, clyndamycin and aczone for cysts to clear it up….its been 4 weeks and it got a little bit better but its still pretty bad.
Last night i decided to start OCMing again with my same old mixture (jojoba/castor/grapeseed–even of all) and I’m going to see what happens. I stopped using the soap/prescribed meds bc i don’t want them and they aren’t helping. I’m going to “push through” and see what happens….hopefully that was the purge, and things will start clearing up again…because I really liked the method for a while. From what I read, most people had 1 big “purge” then never again….which would be amazing if that’s what happens here. I will update back in like a month maybe (or a couple weeks? that’s me being hopeful) and let y’all know how it goes. thinking of trying hazelnut/tumeric or tamanu if the price is right at whole foods…but jojoba/grapeseed worked great for a while, so starting there. i really want this to work! And i want for once to have clear beautiful skin–especially for summer!
I’ve read a lot of people who’ve had excellent success combining the Clarisonic with OCM. They wash their face using the Clarisonic and a gentle cleanser a few times a week and OCM a few times a week. I’m considering it myself because my skin is acne-prone.
Hey, that’s what I’m planning to do now. Using clarisonic and OCM(alternating them)in a week. I have oil acne prone skin and tried OCM for 2.5 weeks,it was good in the beginning, after 2 weeks, started with acne on cheeks and little bumps on forehead. Sometimes little pus filled bumps on cheeks too. May be it was too much of oil for my skin. I also use honey wash in the morning. Now, I’ll try clarisonic and OCM, hopefully it works out better.
I also tried mud clay wash for my hair, works great. I usually put lot of oil in my hair at bedtime and wash my hair in the morning. Was using Shikakai amla powder for some weeks now, it does make my hair clean but doesn’t take away the oil from hair. Clay wash was easy and took away all the oil, next day my hair was smooth and silky.
I just have to report back that I did OCM only three times over that week in June when I made that post, carefully following the Crunchy Betty instructions (did not use a Clarisonic), and my jaw was immediately COVERED in hard, bumpy pimples. I never break out there. The road back to normal skin took MONTHS. It wasn’t completely clear until a couple of weeks ago.
The skin around my nose and cheeks was fine, though. I might sound nuts, but I’m going to try OCM one more time, this time applying it only to the nose/cheek area. I’m using the method described here, only substituting with natural products:
http://www.xovain.com/skin/pore-clearing-diy-facial#feed=/skin
Ive always been a bit acne prone, ive been using just straight sweet almond oil everynight before bed and i tiny dot of tea tree oil on any acne for about a week now and my skin is great
I can fly! Most likely due to the fact that I use OCM only 1x a week….now to the rooftop!
Following the original OCM post, I’ve been doing the oil cleansing method for approximately 6 weeks now, using a blend of castor/jojoba oil. I have always had very acne prone skin and I have many dark acne scars on my cheeks (I have dark skin). Although I felt a bit dry, the first couple of weeks went well but now I’m breaking out like crazy. I’ve considered giving up but really don’t want to. Please help! Suggestions?
Also, I work out everyday in the morning. Any suggestions for how I should wash my face post-workout as I cleanse at night.
I like to tone my face with witch hazel toner to get rid of dirt during the day- it’s gentle, natural, and non drying.
It sounds like the castor oil is definitely drying out your skin, and you’re breaking out as a result. I would either decrease the amount, or skip it altogether. I like to cleanse with mineral oil- maybe that would work for you?
I want to try this on my combo skin so bad….. but I am on Retin A and supposed to STAY on it. Do any of you beauty girls know if I can do the Oil Pull before applying Retin A? Or is that just all wrong? I’m 37 and only concerned with ageing/wrinkles.
Thanks in advance 🙂
You can definitely still use Retin A after you oil cleanse- and if you moisturize, you want to do that before Retin A.
I need some input. I already have sunflower and jojoba oil (oil pulling and stretched ears). I have normal/dry skin and I currently use a mixture of water, green tea, apple cider vinegar, and tea tree oil as my only facial wash. I don’t have any castor oil and I’m having a hard time finding some of quality. If I were to use a base of sunflower oil with a bit of jojoba and some tea tree oil, would I need the castor oil? I want to do it right but I have no experience with castor oil so I don’t know how it performs in comparision to the other oils.
Castor oil is the oil that is the “pulling” agent for your skin. It will pull the toxins to the surface. It is a necessity to use with this method. Castor oil on its own will dry your skin though hence the need for another oil. Figure out your skin type ( dry, normal, oily) and use the proper ratio of a different oil to add to your castor oil. Castor oil to another oil ratio is USUALLY as follows (remember everyone is different)……for dry skin:1 part castor oil to 2 parts other oil (evoo, apricot kernel, etc) normal: 50/50 and oily: 2 parts castor oil to 1 part other oil of choice.
Hope this helps. I’ve had to change ratios on occasion based on the weather and its effects on my skin. Good LUCK!
Kerrina is a little bit confused about OCM. Dissolution theory, which is the idea behind OCM, is that like dissolves like. That means you’re using oil- ANY oil- to dissolve oil clogs in your pores, and help remove dirty oil from your face.
Castor is absolutely not necessary. I find it much too drying for my skin. Your oil mix sounds great to me, just make sure there’s not too much tea tree in it, because TTO needs to be pretty diluted or it can harm your skin.
wow, i really must be ‘special’ enough to fly, then!
i’ve been cleansing my face with only olive oil for the past few days. because that’s the only kind of oil we have.
maybe i havent been doing it enough for breakouts to show, but so far, so good! it leaves my skin SOOO smooth and soft, like baby soft, and i cant stop touching it, too.
Hi! I am planning on starting this as my regimen of RetinA, Clyndamicin, and benzoyl peroxide face wash does not seem to be doing anything after months of use. I breakout in one or the occasional two papules on my chin which are very tender and never pop-just eventually go away and leave red marks. I’m 25 and have NEVER had acne problems until about 3 years ago and I’ve been trying everything the dermatologist has prescribed since. My question is, how often do you do this oil routine? Also, when you aren’t doing it- what should you use on your face to remove your makeup? And, do you use a normal cleanser to wash your face each day and do the oil? THANKS for your help.
The OCM has really changed the condition of my skin. I’m 46 with normal skin, but would have constant breakouts on my chin despite a meticulous skin care routine. It finally dawned on me that maybe I was removing too much oil, which irritated my skin. The more drying the products I used, the more blemishes I would get. Then along came Pinterest and an OCM pin. I have been using 75% sunflower, 20% castor, and 5% argan oil with a few drops of rose geranium essential oil. The results have been life-changing. Glowing skin with no break-outs. I have used a toner on my nose only, since sometimes I see tiny bumps. I did briefly try using oner on my chin again, but the blemishes returned. So thankful for your original post on OCM. Very informative! To anyone considering this method, look up comodogenic properties of oils before deciding which to use.
I started OCM in Sept ’12 but trying to find the right oil blend for me was proving to be difficult and I eventually gave up. BUT I still have not used any chemical-y products (other than occasional makeup application) on my face! Once or twice a week I’ll do a mask/scrub of some sort (usually something involving honey) and if I have dry spots, I’ll dab a little oil on them (usually a coconut/vitamin E combo). All other days I just rinse my face with warm water. My skin has never been better! I don’t get nearly as many zits as I used to and my skin is much more balanced, just some occasional dry spots whereas I used to have the oily T-zone plus some dry spots. My crunchy face is super happy, now I’m just working up the nerve to ditch the hair and body products!
I’ve been using coconut oil for about three months now and it has kept my face clear. I’m pregnant and suffer from PCOS, which has given me mutant acne. The past couple of days my skin has been breaking out. I am unsure whether it is in fact the coconut oil causing me to suddenly break out or it’s something else. I will take your tip on adding washing soda to my wash cloths and see where that gets me until I can get myself some castor oil. If I can’t get the coconut oil to work for me again, I’ll try a castor oil/ grapeseed oil blend. I found this article to be highly helpful, thanks for posting!
I use caster oil and grapeseed oil in a 2:1 ratio with a dropper full of evening primrose oil and a few drops of the following EO’s: lavender, rosemary, lemongrass. I’ve been doing the OCM for over a year now, I’m 41 now and for the first time in my life my acne prone skin is under control. On hot days my face might still feel like an oil slick, but there’s not really been any break-outs for a long time now. SO HAPPY I found your first post on this topic. And thanks for this post with some new info added, I’m going to place an order for Tamanu and Turmeric oils later this week to add to my regime.
I’m so glad I found this post! I tried OCM a while back with EVOO and Castor Oil. At first it was great! Then my breakouts got worse, so I tried different ratios. No dice. My skin looks the worst it ever has, and I think it may be the EVOO! I’m ready to try a different oil, and I plan on buying sunflower and castor and tamanu. I’m not sure how much tamanu to add to my 1 1/2 tsp sunflower and 1 1/2 tsp castor oil mix. It seems like 1 tsp of tamanu would be too much, and it’s expensive so I’d like to stretch it out! I’d love some tips if anyone has any!
Did you ever figure out the ratio? I’m in the same book you are, getting ready to try different oils, bought castor oil and tamanu but unsure of the ratios.
I ended up not wanting to buy a bunch of stuff all at once online (shipping was sooo expensive!), so I found grape seed oil but not sunflower at a Vitamin World near me. I mixed that half and half with castor oil. That cleared things up pretty well, but I felt really dry so I did 2 grape seed 1 castor oil. That worked well until I went backpacking for a week without any cleanser (I was not hiking any extra weight up a mountain!). I broke out for about a week when I got back to the OCM, but things are much better now! I’m out of castor oil, so I think I’ll order some and Tamanu and try adding a dropperful to my bottle of oil mix. I’d love to know what you figure out, too!
Ive been doing OCM for 3 months and my face initially got better, but now it continues to go up and down, but definitely worse than ever since I was a teenager and I’m 35. (I was a Proactiv user for past 8 years). I did olive oil and jojoba oil which obviously didn’t work for me, I just thought my skin had to get worse before it got better, so was happy to find this post and to know I wasn’t the only one! So I went to the store to get grapeseed, which I couldn’t find any at this particular store, but they did have sweet almond oil (which has been recommended) as well as castor oil and tamanu. So I am currently doing 50% sweet almond oil/50% castor oil, a dropper full of tamanu, and about three drops of rosemary oil (the whole solution is only about 1/4 cup-I didn’t want to mix a whole bottle full if it wasn’t going to work). I also do honey washes/baking soda in the morning alternating every other day. I think my face is getting better, but it’s only been 4 days, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed, its not getting worse! It is about that time of the month too and I continue to really bad during that time, so we will see! Thanks for responding! Seems like there are alot of questions on here but no one really responds…frustrating!
I use tamanu oil in my OCM mix and I loooove it. I get hormonal acne, especially on the chin, and OCM plus honey face washing (and occasional lemon juice or Aztec clay masks) are doing wonders for my skin. I use a ratio similar to Betty’s post on facial moisturizing oil–about 2/3 part jojoba oil, 1/3 part tamanu, and a few drops of lavender oil all in a 1 oz bottle. I use a dropper-full to do OCM, though maybe others tend to use more. I find that’s enough for me (and makes the tamanu last longer as well I suppose.) Tamanu is also wonderful for irritated skin and mild rashes.
Hi Betty!
I have a lot of problems with dark acne scars, which are purple and don’t seem to fade for months and months. If I add tamanu oil to my blend, how does that effect the oil ratios? For instance, do you think it would be alright to do my 1tsp castor oil to 2tsp grapeseed, and just add another 1tsp tamanu oil? I know that it is all about experimenting, but tamanu oil is expensive and I don’t want to waste any! My skin is dry but acne prone, I get really deep acne under why cheekbones and the blemishes sometimes stick around for weeks.
Hi Samantha,
I’m not Betty, but if your castor oil & grapeseed oil blend ratio works for you, I’d keep that as is, and use tamanu oil directly as a spot treatment for your acne scars. My mom recently had a second-degree burn on her arm, and tamanu oil healed it quickly. After about 2 months, you can barely tell where the huge burn was. I wouldn’t have believed it, if I hadn’t personally seen the results.
If you have a dropper container (they sell them at whole foods), I would add 6-10 drops of tamanu to your blend. That’s what I do, for awesome results!
I have not used soap on my face in about a year, essentially since discovering your first post on the OCM. I am approaching my mid 50’s and having lived in Southeast Alaska for much of my adult life until I moved to San Diego, my skin has been spared the nasty effects of much sun damage. (I look about 40; all that liquid sunshine, ie rain, was not so bad after all!)
I think the OCM helps keep my skin in good condition and I really don’t use any kind of moisturizer on my face either. Ok…sunscreen but otherwise, nada.
I use a 70/30 olive oil/castor oil mix and have a bit with lavender oil, some with tea tree, some with peppermint and some with rosemary/oregano oil. I love the way my skin looks and feels and doubt I’ll ever go back to soap! I have also turned a few open minded friends on to the method and they love it too.
I must be an anomaly because I use coconut oil too…on my skin and on my hair. I love that stuff!
I love your blog!
Thanks
I have been using 20% castor oil and 80% grape seed oil for a week now, and love it. Once it is under control, I will cut back or completely cut out the castor oil unless I have a break out. I love this. I steam my face two or three times after I apply the oils and massage for a couple minutes. The dark looking circles are disappearing, my skin feels tight, but not dry. After another week, I plan to just use grape seed oil and do the total ocm every other night or so.
My skin was always hypersensitive combination skin, with loads of blackheads around the nose and chin, moderate acne around the chin, nose, and hairline, and obnoxious flakies that wouldn’t go away no matter how I exfoliated or moisturized.
My goldilocks blend is simple – 50/50 jojoba oil and castor oil, with a drop or two of lavender EO. I also use lavender EO as spot treatment if/when needed. OCM helped me wean off of regular face washing. I rinse – RINSE! – with water in the shower (and I won’t admit how rarely I shower – I have a near-3-year-old and a 7.5 month old, I’ll leave it to your imagination) and have nearly perfect skin. I give myself an oil cleanse whenever my skin starts getting sensitive and reactive again. That ideally means I do ocm about once a month or so. 🙂
I sometimes treat myself to a clay mask (rhassoul clay makes my skin feel like silk, and french green clay purges my pores beautifully). That’s a 2-3 times a year event, though. My skin behaves the way it’s supposed to, since I started OCM 2 years ago.
So on most days, you just rinse your face with water and that’s it?
Do you use any moisturizer or anything else?
Oh and BTW, I have a 4.5 year old and a 21 month old and a husband who works inconsistent hours and sometimes I can’t remember when the last time I showered was :/ I feel your pain.
I am so glad I found this post. I have struggled off and in with acne since I was about 16 (I’m 33). I have had years of glowing,beautiful skin and tyears of terrible skin. Even when I find something that works for a while, it usually stops working. I have also had two babies in the past 4 years, so with pregnancy and breastfeeding my hormones are all over the place. I recentky started OCM because I wanted a more natural skin care regime (proactove worked for me but was expensive and harsh). The first few weeks were promising, my acne seemed to be clearing up and new breakouts were small and didn’t last long. I was so excited! Then things took a turn for the worst. I started breaking out more and getting hard, under the skin pimples that have been hanging around for weeks. I was getting ready to order proactove again, but now I’ll try tweakin my routine and see what happens. I’m currently using 50/50 evoo and castor oil. I don’t change my wash cloths daily. I’m going to try ditching the evoo and using jojoba. I’m going to make sure to switch my washcloth daily and make sure to wash them well.
Any other suggestions?
Wish me luck…
Try easing into it until you find the right formula for you. I had HORRIBLE breakouts after trying OCM a couple of years ago, but I was careless about washing the rags, and I was doing it every day.
You could cut down on your sessions, at least at first until you find the perfect formula for your skin type, and then gradually increase. A lot of people only do OCM once a week. Right now I’m going to try about 3 times a week and I use about 75% castor oil, 25% sweet almond oil, plus a very small splash (if I was measuring with a dropper it would be about 10 drops I think) of tea tree oil. Tea tree oil is great for acne-prone skin. My skin does NOT feel the least bit dried out by using 75% castor oil.
OH and one more thing. If I were in your situation, I would stop OCM’ing until my skin cleared out a bit, and in the meantime I’d do some clarifying mask, like an Aztec healing clay mask once a week and exfoliating with baking soda each morning. That’s just me though!
Hi Carrie! Thanks for your reply. My skin has gotten a bit better but I’m still struggling with quite a few breakouts even though I increased the castor oil and added some tea tree. Just a few days ago I started to exfoliate with baking soda every morning and I think it’s helping. I think part of the problem is that my pores are getting clogged with the oil. I’m hoping the daily exfoliation will cut down on the clogged pores.
I will look into the clay mask.
I have a question, if you’re only doing OCM a few times a week, what do you do on the other days? Just exfoliate and that’s it? What do you suggest doing at night on the days that I’m not using OCM?
Thanks again!
I was going to ask the same question about what to use in the days you aren’t using oil… Also, using baking soda, do you mix this with anything?
Thanks
HELP! I really want OCM to work…have been doing it for about 2 weeks and my face is worse. I am so discouraged! For the first week I tried 1/2 castor and 1/2 EVOO. It made a few small breakouts so I added tea tree oil, argon, and lavender in small amounts. This seemed to help but by the end of the week there were 4 cysts that would not come to head or go away! Banana peal helped when they were very irritated. I have only done the wash at night and followed all the instructions. I wash with honey in the morning. I will do a baking soda scrub a couple of times as well. This week, I switched to castor and Jojoba with same lavender, tea tree, argon. My face is worse and cheeks have large bumps underneath the skin. I am also breaking out on my forehead which has been clear. Very sad and need this cleared up ASAP! I was thinking about buying another carrier oil but just need real HELP! PLEASE!
Hi Carolyn,
Give up the EVOO. According to this article, that is most likely the culprit. Try using an organic cold pressed oil like grapeseed or sweet almond oil. And add an essential oil to the mix, and think about a natural toner. I love 100% natural witch hazel, and rose water distillate.
Also, what did you use before trying OCM? I was on Proactive, which is loaded with harmful benzoyl peroxide. Apparently it takes a while for your skin to detox the chemicals out of your body.
I just started with the OCM three weeks ago using a 50/50 mix of Castor/Sunflower oil. While the first two weeks were fine I’m now finding that I’ve got some dry spots on my chin and in the folds of my nose. So next batch I mix up will be 60/40 Sunflower/Castor and I’ll see how that goes. I’m also thinking of picking up one your blends from your Etsy site. To me, one of the biggest drawbacks is the SMELL. I’m not a fan of the smell of oil, it makes me think of…fast food places. LOL
Now I do have several different essential oils hanging around the house so I might try one or two of those in my blend to help with the scent.
Thanks for all the info Betty!
Fast food? Are you sure you’re using organic cold-pressed sunflower oil?
I found this true too Crunchy Betty. There is a list of non-comodogenic ingredients on the web. That has been very helpful when making shampoo purchases and using the OCM. Olive oil and Coconut oil are both on the comodogenic range. Out of a range of 0-5. They are 3 and 4 respectively. Hope this helps.
Thank you for this post! I have been oil cleansing for about 10 months now and have no plans to return to traditional face wash. However, I found your post because I was trying to find out why my skin is so dry. Before oil cleansing I had very oily skin with acne breakouts. Now with oil cleansing, I don’t have oily skin anymore and I have just an occasional pimple that seems to heal very quickly.
I use olive oil for cleansing and coconut oil for moisturizer, so I guess it’s clear what I’m doing wrong and why my skin is dry to the point of peeling! So I need help. I have no idea what oils to choose and I actually don’t mind a slightly oily skin because I feel like it will keep my skin looking young.
If I were to just choose one oil, what should I choose? I have castor oil that I was adding to the olive oil in the beginning but as I said, my skin is just so dry now, so I am not sure if I want to add castor oil or not.
Help me please and thank you!
Jojoba oil…however it makes some people break out,but most love it. You can try that
Is there anyway to TEST a small patch of skin for a few weeks before I put my face in potential danger?? I don’t have bad skin and I just wanted to try something new and natural but Not at the cost of colossal outbreaks!
Trust me, no one wanted this to work more than I did. I’ve been on this organic kick for myself and my family with everything from homemade laundry detergent to organic mascara! I have always had pretty good skin – I’m 30 and have never had to wear make-up on my skin. I’ve never had a problem with acne or black heads or anything of the sort. I was really stoked to try this OCM. I have been using it for about five months now and have quit. My skin is terrible. The worst it’s ever been in my entire life! I have black heads and big red pimples and have had to start wearing make-up when I go out so no one sees my gross skin. I have switched up the ratios, tried replacing olive oil with grape seed oil, and I just can’t handle any more of this. I’m truly envious of those who can make this work for them but I just can’t.
I had actually also asked the straight up castor oil question further above but looks like not many are for it.
But yah, google around about the grapeseed, pretty much all positive 🙂
Update: my new oils arrived a few days ago. I started using Castor oil, Sweet Almond oil, Tamanu oil and a few drops of Tea Tree EO. My face is clogging up and breaking out with cystic acne again, just like it did with the Castor/Olive/Jojoba blend. What??? I thought the new oils would be exactly what my skin was waiting for. Could it be that my skin is allergic to the Sweet Almond (even though I’ve never had an allergy in my life)? I’m so disappointed. I want to LOVE OCM, but so far I’m experiencing a lot of disappointment. My face was much better with just Castor oil and a few drops of Pepperment EO while I waited for these new oils to arrive. Is there anyone else out there who has found that straight Castor oil works for them? I’m starting to feel like I must have really weird skin…
Hi! I’m the same i use castor oil only…
Jojoba was horrible for me, so was olive and coconut lol
However coconut oil i use for my body n love it!
I’m debating trying sweet almond oil or GRAPESEED! I haven’t read much bad reviews of grapeseed 🙂
I would try 75/25 ratio castor and grapeseed. I will probably buy some in a week or two.
Let me know what you try/decide!
I tried using Sweet Almond Oil in a mix of castor, tamanu and tea tree but my skin got worse again. I took out the Sweet Almond and my skin seemed to get better, but then today I’m getting the cystic acne flaring up again. Very frustrating! I’m not giving up because I want this to work and it’s important to me to use natural ingredients, but I can’t help but wonder where all these success stories are coming from. I’m jealous. I’m thinking about getting some grapeseed oil.
Let me know what you end up doing!
Hey! I’ve been using castor oil oly. My skin looks super! The only oils I’m considering mixing ( but at very little ratio ) is the grape seed. However I haven’t had the time to get any, hopefully this weekend.
I’m also considering putting 1-3 drops of lavender oil in the castor oil as I’ve read good stuff about it, however I don’t have any right now. So yeah, been using plain castor oil, followed by my moisturizer.
Also, one thing I don’t do is splash my face with cold water, I steam it and pat it dry and put my moisturizing cream on right away. My skin has been great! I noticed my skin s better when I don’t do the cold water splash!
Also I do not use tea tree oil AT ALL. It irritates my skin….although others rave about it.
I have acne and very sensitive/thin skin.
Either lavender oil or peppermint or maybe 1 drop of each. I’ve read great thing about both!
I’ve used witch hazel as a cleanser/toner since college. In my 30s I suddenly had horrible acne, went to a homeopath, and the remedies successfully cleared it up (sorry, can’t remember what they were). Now, in my late 40s, I’ve been searching for a moisturizer my face can tolerate — I have chemical sensitivities as the result of mold exposure. Was diagnosed with rosacea at one point, but it seems to have gone away now that I’m gluten-free and mostly dairy-free.
I didn’t love jojoba oil (felt too oily to me, occasional breakouts) so have been using pure aloe vera. No problems, but still a little dry. I’ve been thinking about grapeseed oil. Crossing fingers. (The dramatically conflicting stories here about oils in general kinda freak me out, and all the mixtures are just too high-maintenance for me. But fascinating to read about.)
Hmm..I have been using Castor oil/EVOO in a 20/80 mix for three days and have been happy with the results so far. I’ve had fairly normal skin, combination with minimal blemishes but I have noticed over the last few years that my pores were getting larger and developing larger areas of blackheads around my nose.
I’m debating about switching to grapeseed oil instead of the EVOO but I really haven’t had a problem with it yet. I also wanted to add some essential oils to my mix, but I have no clue on the ratio. 1 to 2 drops? Any advice would be appreciated!
OH! Raw honey mask. Organic raw honey. It washes off more easily than soap and leaves my skin happy! I don’t bother to put anything else in with the honey.
I use olive oil, mainly just in the winter because it’s a little heavier and I like that in the cold months. I am going to climb up to the rooftop of my office building after I post to see if I can fly.
I do like grape seed in the spring and summer, but I could use a recommendation! I can’t remember what I used last year. And I guess I didn’t LOVE IT enough to bother to write it down so I could use it again this year.
And for the record, I use jojoba and argan. Tea Tree in the oil I use to cleans my face (castor oil too), lavender in the oil mixture I use to moisturize. I’m about to try some pomegranate seed. My pores aren’t perfect but my acne is under control and my skin is no longer prematurely aging now that I stopped using nasty chemicals (tons of benzoil peroxide) to control my acne.
I’m part of olive/coconut oil minority…but I can’t fly (to my disappointment). My skin regime for the last year has been as follows – wash my face with manuka honey, moisturize my face with extra virgin olive oil, and moisturize the rest of my body with virgin coconut oil. My skin seems to love this combination because it’s not only crystal clear, it looks and feels very soft and supple. I’m almost 28, but people often mistake me for being in my early 20s. Of course, looking younger is a combination of healthy eating, exercise, proper skin care, and genetics.
I did read some horror stories about coconut oil, but I haven’t experienced any of the weird side effects. As for olive oil, I haven’t come across any information about it breaking people out, but now I know it’s more common than I thought. I’ll let you know if I experience anything out of the ordinary.
Keep on crunching! 🙂
P.S. I heart your blog.
27 years of age, always had a problem with acne with rare time spans of super clear glowing skin from using proactive (until they changed the formula) and medication from my doctor (GP).
I was doing ok but not great with my skin until about 2 years ago when my skin just went crazy. By they way I have combination skin, super duper sensitive and it used to be oil pit oily..its changed bc I’ve moved across the world to Melbourne, Auz from Georgia, US…very different climates. Been trying the OCM for about 2 months now and lordy lord, we got some issues! Using a splash of castor oil and a tone of olive oil to clean with every night and just started moisturizing with coconut oil and with a few drops of frankincense. Giirrll, the castor oil and olive oil was trying to work, but not doing it, I’m still getting super clogged pores and although it cleared up some spotchy ares i started getting the ‘deep randoms’ mainly around my chin. And after reading this post I now know why its been getting even worse with tiny little white pimples and cracthy pimples..just pimples…the darn coconut! Although Im so feed up and just want my miracle moment to happen like the rest of the girls, I’m gonna keep trying bc I want to believe that this will work. SO ima try another carrier oil, keep the castor and find another moisturizing oil for my frankincense bc its supposed to be really good for wrinkles and acne and I know I need it. I’m thinking of using sweet almond oil with the castor and if I still have problems then I may just try the almond on its own. Im not touching the jojoba bc too many people are saying it did them bad. Wish me luck ladies and I’ll post an update in about a month.
Thank you so much for this post. I started OCM a couple of months ago using castor, olive and jojoba oils. I wanted to love OCM but my face was breaking out horribly with cystic acne, whiteheads and lots of other little bumps. After reading this post a few days ago I took out the olive and jojoba oils. My face is already SO MUCH BETTER (with just the castor oil and some peppermint eo). I’ve ordered some sweet almond oil and tea tree eo and can’t wait to add them to my routine. Thanks again. I feel so much more confident now!
When I began utilizing the OCM I was so excited. I read as much as I could about it, researched different oils and began my quest. My first concoction was 75% castor oil and 25% grapeseed. I believed my skin to be oily until about a month in. Using the method at night when I went to bed worked great. I would wipe my eyes with a warm washcloth in the morning and keep moving. By week 5, things were coming out of my pores that I couldn’t believe we’re there lol. It was an awesome feeling after steaming! I did realize however, that my skin went through the detox phase with flare ups here and there but they healed relatively fast and never came back. I also noticed that my skin was in fact NOT oily as I needed to pat my face with a little of my mixture after steaming.. I now work with 50% jojoba and 50% castor oil, with 3 drops of Lavender EO per tablespoon of jojoba oil and massage for about 15 minutes. OMG it’s amazing. I do not need to add any mixture after steaming. My face is completely balanced.
It’s super important to know your mixture, massage well (don’t just slab and steam) and finally steam enough. Give this method a chance and use trial and error to you advantage!
I have been using the OCM method for about 8 days now. I have cystic pimples often, tons of scarring and lots of blackheads. My skin is usually oily but dry around my mouth and chin. I am currently using 2/3 castor oil and 1/3 jojoba oil to wash my face at night. (Only water in the morning) I use a clean wash cloth every night and have started microwaving it in water to make sure it is hot, hot when I and wiping off the oil wash. I am using only 2-3 drops of grapeseed oil in the mornings to moisturize. I have now developed little white and red bumps all over my face. Boy do they itch! Are these bumps just just my face pushing out all the nasty gunk? or is this my face saying whoa! stop? I have been thinking about adding some grapeseed oil to the wash at night to see if perhaps that helps. Does anyone else have any suggestions?
My tamanu oil arrived today and I plan on making a grapeseed/tamanu/lemongrass moisturizer. Do you think this will help?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Is it ok to use castor oil only? I find when I add any other oil ( even in small ratio ) it makes me so oily 🙁 !
First off: I love OCM – I echo the sentiment of many of the success stories below. I used to get so oily in the face during the day, but ever since starting oil cleansing, my face incredibly started being able to regulate its own oil. Plus my face just feels so nourished.
Just a couple of questions, if anyone has any input it’d be much appreciated:
1. It seems my face just gets a tiny bit red, especially around the mouth and nose, after cleaning and in the morning. It goes away after an hour or so, so it’s not a big deal – but was wondering if there’s any tweaks I can make into the mixture/process to fix this? I use 70% castor, 20% grapeseed, 10% avocado, and a bit of tea tree.
2. I am using this method only in the evenings and don’t feel the need to moisturize afterwards. I usually just rinse in the morning, with Alba toner and moisturizer. Should I be using OCM in the mornings as well? I don’t know if the using of toner and moisturizer in the morning would disrupt the full benefits of OCM.
Thanks and so glad to be introduced to this! 🙂
Great post! I figured out early on with the OCM that I needed to customize it for MY skin, even if purists would scream at me, “but that’s not how you do it!” Glad you are spreading the word!
I’ve been using OCM for about six months now, but I’m on the verge of giving up. I read loads about it before I started. I started with castor oil and grapeseed oil. My acne-prone skin broke out worse than it had ever before. I added tea tree, lavender, and thyme EO’s to the oils. I played with the ratio of oils. I steeped the grapeseed oil in thyme. I bought all new washcloths and changed them every day. I tried washing with honey and baking soda. I added and ACV and witch hazel toner. I tried OCM at night and cleansing grains in the morning. I swapped all the oils out for hemp seed oil, after reading that it was a zero on the comedeogenic scale. I bought salicylic acid powder and made my own toner. I tried neem oil, sea buckthorn oil, evening primrose oil. In six months, my acne went from sporadic to continuous, covering my chin and forehead. I finally saw my dermatologist, who put me on oral antibiotics, which I was trying so desperately to avoid. I’m still using OCM, mostly because I’ve swapped all my other toiletries out for homemade products, and I just don’t know what to do if I’m not using OCM! Help!?!
Laura, I feel you! I never had major issues with acne, but this past winter things went down the drain. Mine was mostly stress related, but I tried OCM to see if I could alleviate some of the issues with my face. I tried OCM for a month and then several of the daily face routines in Crunchy Betty’s book. Nothing really worked and I developed severe cystic acne that has left my face scarred. It was pretty awful.
Finally, I went to see a nutritionist. I am just finishing up a special diet that has helped get my insulin levels back in line and replenish my adrenals. Overconsumption of carbs and sugar can cause big hormonal imbalances and stress can drain the minerals your face needs to be healthy. It has helped immensely! My diet had already drastically improved from my college diet, but my body had not had the time to heal and this month has provided that.
At the same time I started using just a little neem oil on my face at night, mixed with a little water, rubbed into my skin, and let sit for 5 minutes or so. I rinse well with hot water or salt water (you can even use large granules for exfoliation) and often follow it with a yogurt mask. It has been working really well, however, I just saw that there are some warnings about using neem when trying to conceive so I may need to discontinue that. I may try this method with tamanu instead.
Good luck!
Crunchy Betty,
I have almost been using OCM for a week and i have bumps on my skin that weren’t there before but are there now…how do i know if this is me “adjusting” to OCM or if this is a sign that OCM just isn’t for me?
P.S. I’m using olive oil and im going to switch to sunflower OR mineral oil soon (due to comedogenic ratings.
I’m really confused right now. Did anyone get bumps initially and then it worked out??
Thanks
I’m super excited to try this! Just want a quick recommendation…
I am 21 with normal/oily skin. I only ever break out on my forehead, chin, and the occasional pimple on my cheek/jawline. I just get big, red pimples that come to a nasty, painful head out of nowhere. My skin only gets dry patches where I use my benzoyl peroxide spot treatment. I hate using chemicals and synthetic junk on my face and want to start a natural skincare routine. I am a student teacher, and clear, pretty skin would really help my confidence in front of my middle schoolers!
Where should I start?? After my research, I think a blend of 20% castor, 80% jojoba, lavendar, tea tree, and rosewood (all organic, of course) is going to be my starting point for nighttime makeup removal/cleansing. I plan on starting the honey wash and ACV toner in the mornings too 🙂
Red flags for anyone? Sound ok? Thanks for the opinions!!
Thank you for this post. I am currently deciding whether or not I should try OCM. When trying to figure out my own mix, how often should I try new ones? Do I have to stick with it for a couple of weeks before trying something else?
I had pretty average skin but it lacked a “glow.” I read such positive things about OCM so I decided to give it a try last January. I used it for about 12 weeks and my skin looked AMAZING! People actually stopped me to comment on how good it looked. BUT THEN, I started to notice little bumps under the surface of my skin – nothing i could see YET but only feel. Then my skin exploded with painful acne. I tried switching up my oils but nothing helped. I finally had to give it up. I dealt with painful acne for almost 7-8 months and now I’m left with lots of scars. I LOVED OCM at first but I’m not sure what happened. I did use olive oil and jojoba so maybe that was my problem – the oil built up over a few months and then caused problems. I’d love to try it again but I’ll admit, I’m scarred.
oh my god okay so I’m using olive oil and I’m getting the little bumps too… should i stop???
Please please stop now. I’m still trying to fix my skin from OCM
I am new to using oils and this article is amazing! I can’t wait to get started. I was wondering if you still use a toner after this? I have a few recipes for all natural toners, some ingredients include witch hazel, apple cider vinegar, and even alcohol. Should I use these too or just the oil cleanser and maybe a moisturizer?
I do the OCM with EVOO and i’m happy with it, but I also drink Lots of water and change my pillowcase every 2 day. I read a lot of post saying that people found their skin dry and moisturized with only oil. This is a mistake, you can have the oiliest skin in the world and it can still be dehydrated, so please don’t just put oil, try a hydrating serum and cream and your skin should feel amazing!
I don’t use OCM as often as I’d like, since I don’t wear foundation that often anymore (thanks to you, by the way!) but when I do use it, I’m amazed. It’s like a magical cure for whatever is wrong with my skin, even if I just do it once. The rest of the time I wash with honey or just warm water. I love grapeseed oil – it’s the most affordable of the oils (at least where I live) and it’s amazing for my freaky, super-dry-with-super-oily-spots combo skin. Now that I’ve been using it for a while I want to add an EO or two to see how it works. I love it just straight, though 🙂 I never thought my blackheads could get smaller or decrease, but they have.
Hi I have acne-oily-sensitive-inflammation prone skin. I just tried the OCM method 3 days ago and it made me break out. I used only Castor oil and EVOO so this might be my fault. I really need help on what essential oils to use. Do you have any tips?
Can you add honey to the OCM?
I tried OCM a few years back and it was a miserable failure. I broke out worse than I had in years (I had cystic chronic acne as a teen, was on acutane 3 times and minocycline for 5 years before I knew better – I was a teen and wanted nice skin).
Anyway… OCM. I broke out. But something about it made me not give up. After a month of horrible skin and not giving up.. I gave up. A break. came back to it a month or so later and only did it 2 or 3 times a week instead of daily – and it was lovely. I don’t even know what was different… maybe it just needed to clean out my skin? I don’t know… same oils and everything. I have no idea. But it works great now.
I use organic sunflower or safflower oil as my carrier and castor oil in about a 70/30 ratio – sometimes more castor in the summer as I’m oily. But I’m also older now with more mature skin. So for wrinkles I add a drop of rose oil (A DROP) and 3 drops of oregano oil (doesn’t smell nice but good for wrinkles AND is good for acne).
I don’t mix the oil in a bottle. I do it in the palm of my hand so its not exact everytime. And I can leave out the oregano if I think I’m going to have sex with hubby… its kind of a strong smell!
I have one of those washers that has a sanitize function so my wash clothes get really clean everytime. I have to say that’s probably a a bigger deal than most people think. And I use PINK solution to clean them. So no smell, no detergent.
Thats it really. I recently started adding some apricot kernal oil.. that’s nice. Makes my skin ultra soft.
I think that’s it. OH I also use a microdermabrasion scrub. I usually use DermaE because it has no smell.
I’ve used emu oil before but had breakouts. I was using it for scar reduction. I’ll try your Tamanu Oil suggestion. Thanks a million
Oh thank goodness for this post. I’ve been using OCM for about three months now and LOVE it, love how my skin feels, but I keep breaking out and it’s getting to be very. annoying. (I’m 39 and never had acne or even frequent breakouts ever before!) I had no idea how to get advice on this, and voila, here is your post. Thanks! I’ll try eliminating jojoba first and see if that helps, then castor if not. I’m using myrrh in combination with argan and a few other moisturizer-recommended oils (I think primarily jojoba) so it’s possible one of those is causing the breakouts. Time to experiment! 🙂
I am still in the testing stage after several months of OCM. Castor, Almond, and Lavender oils so far…then removed the castor oil as it seemed to be too drying. Still dry though. I did have an initial bout of severely cystic acne which I have rarely had in my life. Now though the problem is lots and lots of bumps on both sides of my chin. Not so much blackheads, not so much blemishes…just “bumps.” Ack! I can’t get rid of them! Trying Tamanu and maybe some Myrrh or Tea Tree and switching to Apricot oil to see if any of that helps. I’m at a loss as to how to get rid of these bumps! I pick at them daily, which I am sure doesn’t help with scarring, but new ones crop up every day to replace them!
Been oil cleansing for two weeks. I had perfect clear skin before osm. I had coconut oil and castor oil so I started with that. My face totally breakout with little bumps everywhere and whiteheads. I’m so vain this is like the worse thing ever!! So I switched to grapeseed week two and its cleared up some but not fast enough!! Trying to wean myself off proactiv but I’m wanna give up!!! Help!!!
Don’t do it! Go back to proactiv! I had great skin with proactiv. I loved the idea of OCM but after 3 months of doing it and thinking my skin was “purging” I had to give up. I am a pizza. It’s awful.
Please don’t do Proactiv! It causes your skin to thin. When you go off of proactiv, it makes your face break out so badly. It’s really quite terrible for you!
Use a gentle cleanser with a chemical exfoliate (AHA or BHA) it’s less irritating than physical scrubbing and a light moisturizer. Start trying to internally heal..
cut caffeine and drink water
Balance your omega 3 and 6
Exercise 20 minutes 5 times a week
Start your day with a green smoothie
Etc… Good luck. I’m still trying to fix my skin after OCM
Since reading your first OCM post almost six months ago, I’ve stuck with a fifty/fifty ratio of jojoba and castor oil with about ten drops of tea tree oil. Whenever I feel like I need a change I use a honey wash per your other article. It’s inexpensive, lasts forever, and I don’t have to use moisturizers on my face anymore. Can’t thank you enough, Crunchy Betty. Anyone on the fence about OCM, it’s 100% worth whatever initial break out you may have. In the beginning, I washed with honey in the AM and OCM in the PM. I think the honey helped heal the initial break out, so it didn’t last very long at all.
Store bought face cleansers (even the ones that claim to be “simple”) set your skin up for disaster. Do yourself a favor. OCM is toxic-free, and a crunchy routine gives you the empowered feeling of knowing that you don’t need the adverts telling you what will make you beautiful.
I first started using the OCM about 6 months ago. I started with a jojoba/castor blend and it was AWFUL. Jojoba broke out my forehead something T E R R I B L E. But I switched to a olive oil(trader joes EVOO)/tea tree/castor blend and it’s been great! Apparently I am in the minority? My skin just keeps getting better. I only get maybe one or two zits around my jaw near my cycle. Now that my breakouts have virtually stopped, I plan on mixing my next blend to fade the little scarring/discoloration that I have and just calm my overall redness. I use OCM most every night. In the morning I will either just rinse with warm water and do a lemon juice toner before applying argan oil as my moisturizer OR I’ll use baking soda and honey if I feel I need some exfoliation, then moisturize with argan oil.
Castor oil and Sweet Almond oil all the way.
Let’s talk, Crunchy Betty.
Not that you asked for it, but I’m going to tell you a little story. One day, 5 years ago, I woke up with acne slathered all over my face. Went to bed: totally clear. Woke up: pink from crown to chin in the most painful outbreak of zits I had ever encountered. It was like Kafka’s Metamorphosis. No exaggeration. Then it stayed like that. Being of a somewhat crunchy nature beforehand, I went to a naturopath. Over the next year, I cut out dairy, soy, wheat, refined sugars, alcohol, caffeine, citric acid. Nothing. I tried every skin easing supplement, vitamin and slurry she gave me. Nope. Then I tried another naturopath. And another. Then a medical doctor. Then two dermatologists. At this fork in the road, all I was told was “Nothing will help you but drugs. There’s something wrong with your body and you just have to accept that.” But I knew what was down the prescription road and I simply refused. So I hitched up my hoopskirt and tried to make peace with my new face.
I couldn’t.
I wore full coverage make up everyday to work to hide it, but at night when I washed it off, I would start to cry. I am a grown woman. I pay taxes, mail thank you cards on time and keep a clean house. But in my bathroom, in the evenings, with my little round face red, raw and aching, I would sit on the floor and sob like a toddler.
Then I met you, Crunchy Betty.
I read your article about refining the oil cleansing method and fell down the rabbit hole of internet research. I think I read every blog and forum post, watched every YouTube video and listened to every podcast there ever was about the subject. After all that careful research, a tiny seedling of hope sprouted in my otherwise barren heart. Two weeks ago, I went out and bought organic, cold-pressed castor oil, jojoba oil and peppermint essential oil. I bought brand new, unbleached organic cotton towels. Today, I do not have a single zit on my face. I do not need an exfoliant or moisturizer. My skin is soft and smooth and while still pinkish from all the acne scars, looks more and more every day like the skin I remember having. A few minutes ago, I cleaned my face, looked in the mirror and cried. Not out of woe but out of pure, unadulterated joy. I thought you should know all that.
Thank you.
What were the ratio of each in your mixture ?
Does anyone have experience using oils infused with herbs for OCM? I infuse my own oils with Calendula, Chamomile, Lemon Balm, etc… to use in other products. I am wondering if these infused oils would work well.
I’m glad you’re back and doing a follow up!
I tried the OCM over a year ago and had to abandon ship. I did 2/3 castor oil and 1/3 jojoba oil. The first week or two my skin was great but then I started to get major breakouts on my forehead. I had never had pimples there but I tried to hold out and it just got progressively worse. It reached a stage where my forehead was pretty much a mass of pimples, a level of which I had never had before. At that point I bailed. It took about 6 months to get my forehead back under control.
Oddly enough I love using jojoba oil as my daily moistuizer. My normally oily skin is very happy and balanced and the best its ever been. My “eternal” quest to find the right moisturizer for my skin finally ended when I found jojoba oil.
Now I just have to figure out what to do with the giant bottle of castor oil…..
Anybody with experiences of using hemp seed oil? Just bought a bottle and it feels good on my skin, but am unsure of it properties re: OCM.
I switched to hemp seed oil after about 2 months of using a castor oil/ evoo oil blend and breaking out terribly. After I started cleansing with straight organic cold pressed hemp seed oil my skin cleared up initially but about 2 weeks into it I was a pizza again. Although the acne with the hemp seed oil was much more on the surface instead of the deep hard pimples I got with the castor/ evoo blend. I finally jumped ship about a week ago and my skin is starting to clear up but still looks pretty bad:( I badly wanted OCM to be as amazing as I thought it would be but I’m traumatized.
I absolutely love the Exquisite Stuff face wash oil !!!!!!! It is a gift from the skin care gods!!!!!!!! I cannot stop looking at my skin. I am just amazed at how smooth and clear my face is. I would have never thought that washing your face with oil would be so beneficial and create such amazing results. I will never use anything else to was my face ever again. I want to thank Crunchy Betty from the bottom of my heart for creating this face washing oil that has made a tremendous difference in my skin. This is what I’ve been looking for all my life. NO EXAGGERATION!!!!!!!! THIS IS NO JOKE!!!!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!!!!!!
Hi, just wanted to share my story thus far with the OCM, as we all know by now it can definitely be a long journey full of trial and error to accomplish great skin as everyone is different and has certain skin requirements, etc.
I want to first add that I’m 26 years old and for the most part have combination skin. I’ve never had ‘terrible’ skin, but its never been ‘perfect’ either. Until about a year or so ago, it was more on the perfect side, regardless of what commercial products I used on it, and how bad my diet was. When I reached 25, suddenly everything started going down hill with my skin complexion. So, last summer I decided to work on a better diet, I stopped wearing powders or foundations on my face and I also went off birth control. I figured this would help. Nope. Throughout this past winter things seemed to have went considerably worse and I believe a part of this may have been from the 12 years of birth control working itself out of my system. It definitely wasn’t my diet because for the last 6 months roughly I’ve cut back considerably on the wheat/gluten, processed foods, most dairy products, high sugar, fat and salty foods and eat a diet that consists mainly of fresh, organic (raw) fruits and vegetables, nuts/seeds, and have added many superfoods and good quality dietary supplements(evening primrose oil, wild fish oil, vitamin D3, maca root, cod liver oil, etc), drink lots of water and teas, as well as drink ACV diluted in water, etc, etc. I was feeling pretty good physically and mentally, but my skin was still a disaster. I also want to add that I’m also not on any kind of medications, nor have I been since being off birth control (some medications can definitely affect your skin!)
So, I did more reading and decided to try the OCM – the castor oil/EVOO with a little bit of this and that was my first attempt. Like what many others have experienced.. it didn’t work out. I perservered for a while until I eventually had to give up due to what appeared to be cystic acne and tons of red/white little bumps developing on my skin. Needless to say, it was the worst skin I’ve ever had in my entire life, so I stopped the OCM for a while and decided to try Burt’s Bee’s sensitive skin cleanser with cottonseed extract, and was also exfoliating with honey/lemon juice with baking soda every other day or so and used ACV/distilled water after my showers as a toner a few times a week and moisturizing either with coconut oil or a blend of carrier oils, and thankfully things started to clear up again. However, I was still determined to resume with the OCM after a bit more research, and stumbling upon this new article on Crunchy Betty I decided to give it another go.
So, while I don’t believe I’ve found the perfect success story yet with OCM, after a few weeks I seem to have definitely stumbled across something that’s been working out and gradually my skin is getting noticeably better!
Ok so here’s my cleansing concoctions and regime (and since I have combination skin, I use well, a combination of things FOR my skin! )
Cleansing oils are not measured out exact but I have a little travel container that consists of about 1/2 tsp of castor oil, 1 tsp of olive oil (the pure organic EVOO from Costco! – supposed to be one of the purest on the market!), 1 tsp of sunflower oil, 1 tsp of apricot kernel oil, 1 tsp of grapeseed oil with a few drops each of rosemary and cedarwood EO’s. Occasionally I will add a drop of Tea tree oil to my hand with my oils if I’m breaking out a little esp around my monthly. I try to oil cleanse in the evenings before bed, and I start out by splashing my face with cool-luke warm water and patting dry first and usually only having to steam once or twice and give a nice, gentle passing wipe once with the cloth afterward. I then splash cold water on my face and pat dry again and if needed, I add a little moisturizer which consists of a blend of jojoba, avocado, rosehip seed and pure aloe vera. ( I usually only apply under my eyes, around my cheeks and corner of my mouth – i try to avoid moisturizing my chin and t-zone. I’ve also noticed that trying to avoid cleansing around the hairline and neck has significantly reduced the small bumps and breakouts I’ve experienced in these areas. On the mornings that I shower (every other day or so) I alternate between using my honey/lemon cleanser with either baking soda, cinnamon or turmeric for a gentle exfoliator and let it sit on my face while I body brush for 10 mins before hopping into the shower, and sometimes I use just a wee bit of my Burt’s Bee’s cleanser in the shower instead. On shower mornings I usually use a ACV/distilled water toner. Mornings that I don’t shower, I usually just splash my face with some lukewarm/cool water, pat dry and dab a little moisturizer in any dry areas.
For evenings when I don’t have time to OCM, or cleanse at all for that matter (you know, the nights when we’re out a bit late and had too much fun and come straight home to bed?) I have the Burt’s Bee’s cleansing wipes with the cottonseed extract, I give my face a quick wipe with one of those and I do try to rinse it off a bit afterward and then moisturize. Also, I camp quite a bit in the summer and now that camping season has arrived, while I do have the comforts of a holiday trailer with running water, I have to conserve it so while i have to skip out on OCM all together when camping I do use my honey cleanser and my Burt’s Bee’s cleanser and wipes with my moisturizing oils and ACV/water toner and it all seems to be working for me so far!
I’m a few weeks in with this combo with good results so far so will continue and see how it goes. Sorry for the long post but thought I would share my story to some of those that may find my story helpful!
I also wanted to add that, I still DO NOT wear any kind of foundation or powder makeup on my face. I bought the Almay wake up powder foundation once and used it only occasionally and every time I did it caused major breakouts so I quit using any coverup alltogether
i LOVE LOVE LOVE this method of skin cleansing! i’m almost 30 and have never had smoother skin than i do now…it’s amazing. 🙂 i use castor oil and sweet almond to cleanse, and then i use a blend of jojoba, rose-hip seed, and rose essential oil to moisturize after. my rosacea is MUCH less noticeable, and my skin is so soft and smooth! not to mention, the rose makes it smell delicious. 🙂
I’ve just started the OCM method using Crunchy Betty’s very own oil blend! I’ve only used it twice now, but I think my skin is already reacting to the castor oil because my face feels tight and itchy even though it doesn’t feel dry to the touch. I may have to add more of another oil to the blend.
Also, just out of curiosity, how long does it generally take to show some difference in cleaning out clogged pores? So far I’m not seeing any difference but I figure it will take more than two cleanings!
I use Jojoba oil but after this post I am switching to either Avocado or Apricot Oil but I noticed my pores becoming less and less dirty over time like 1-3 weeks depending on how bad they were.
I am coming out of the wood work…. I use coconut oil every day, it doesn’t make me break out. After read this post… I think it may actually make my cheeks dry, I can’t wait to try some different oils. Thanks for the post 🙂
I use coconut oil for everything. I have dry skin and I had the same results. Red, dry and almost irritated cheeks. So glad I read this article. I’m going to try apricot kernel or avocado 😉
Yeah. Now that you mention it, my cheeks do get small red spots on them and are slightly irritated. I have been using organic extra virgin olive oil and after a week can see a difference aleady. 🙂
I’ve been doing OCM for more than a year and a half (thanks to Crunchy Betty!), and it did take a little while to find the right combination for my skin. I had great skin as a teenager, and then suffered from really bad acne for most of my 20s…go figure. After some experimentation, I currently use 1 part jojoba oil to 2 parts castor oil with a few drops of tea tree oil. I also use tamanu oil directly on my skin as a moisturizer at night, which has really help with lightening scars and evening out my skin tone…as well as warding off intruders – it’s an acquired smell 🙂
But really more than anything, I think the key ingredient in OCM is TIME. It’s not an overnight magic trick. It really took time for my skin to reach equilibrium so to speak, but I was confident that using natural ingredients was ultimately going to be the best thing for my skin…and after all these months, I pleased to report that it really seems to be working – my skin looks the best it has in years! And I’m relieved to know that I’m doing the right thing for the long term, not just for what’s going to work right now.
Did it get worse before it got better? And how before you saw positive improvements?
I’d also like to know because my skin is steadily getting worse the longer I do the OCM with straight jojoba oil. I’ve been looking at Crunchy Betty’s etsy shop and might try her tamanu blend. I don’t have the money to buy all of these different oils to experiment with 🙁
You might try just using an oil from the grocery store like sunflower, or sesame. They are much cheaper than some of the other options, and then if you don’t love them for your face you can still cook with them, so no money lost.
Jojoba seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing. You may need to switch it out to get improvement.
Oh halleluuujah! My 1st couple of wks OCM (olive/castor- acne/oily) were AMAZING and I was a believer…then DISASTER! Its been disastrous ever since (3 mos). Ive been determined to find the key for me bc the initial results were so great. Ive tried jojoba/castor, the good olive/castor w tea tree, and most recently….just jojoba and lavender (also initial greatness and now breaking out again :(…). I feel like it HAS to work bc SO many other acne sufferers seem to have great success, but Im definitely at my wits end… 🙁
Hi Jordan. I’ve been doing OCM for 4 weeks with terrible breakouts – big red spots under the skin, particularly on my jaw/neck. 4 days ago i removed the olive oil altogether after reading the post above and it seems to have calmed down LOTS. I too feel like it absolutley has to work for me, just because i feel like i’ve done my time and now it’s time for the face pests to politely “bleep” off!! Just know that your not the only one in this boat and stick at it!! Sorry – prob not the advice you wanted! x
I’ve been doing this method for about a week and a half now, and so far so good — I’ve had a really bad breakout month recently, and the OCM is slowly but surely calming all the zits down. I have skin that doesn’t seem oily, but it must be, because I really break out badly if I don’t do a ton to keep it at bay. I’ve been very happily using Lush face scrubs (first Angels, and then Herbalism) for almost a year with very good results, but recently Herbalism stopped being so effective (thus the breakouts). They usually occur on my cheeks (particularly my right cheek).
The mix I like the best so far is 3 parts castor oil, 2 parts jojoba oil, with about six drops of tea tree oil (I actually am constantly trying to do less tea tree, but I don’t have a proper dropper yet and it just dribbles out…) I did 2 parts castor, one part jojoba, and one part grapeseed for a while, and while I really loved the way it made my skin look overall, it did take a while to sink in and leave me a bit too oily.
I’ve been reading about the benefits of Tamanu oil for acne scars (of which I have many). I’m probably going to get some from Mountain Rose Herbs soon, but I was wondering if anyone had any tips on what proportion to use in your OCM mix?
I bought my Tamanu oil from Amazon and it came in a tiny 5ml bottle so i’m guessing that you would treat it like you would an essential oil?? That’s what i’ve been doing anyway. And it’s consistency is particularly thick. Hoping it will work on my acne scars too. 🙂
I have a tendency toward cystic acne, oily but sensitive skin. Started when I was 11 and over the years tried everything up to and including Accutane. I was on a “coconut oil for everything” kick a couple months back when I came across Crunchy Betty’s OCM post along with the posts on washing with honey. Both have been a life changer for me. Started with coconut oil, no breakouts but my skin got super dry, I have never had dry skin! Didn’t quite know what to do! Bought a bunch of different oils and some manuka honey. I continue to tweak things but typically at night I cleanse with hazelnut oil mixed with baobab oil, and put a little pomegranate seed oil around my eyes and dry-ish spots after. I also add a drop of rosewood or frankincense essential oils when I need a little extra healing. In the morning a few minutes before I shower I rub a layer of manuka honey all over then wash it off after it steams a bit in the shower.
My skin has never been better since I started this! I have only had a couple of blemishes come up, pre OCM I typically had 10 or more in various stages.
Thank you Chrunch Betty and everyone else who has posted their experiences!
So, not sure if anyone will see this but I wanted to give an update on my cleansing routine. I kept experimenting with the oils I use for OCM and have migrated thru passion fruit seed oil, eh ok, to just baobab oil, a little too rich for my skin to currently a combo of pomegranate seed and passion fruit seed oils with a wee bit of castor oil and a drop of ginger root EO. This is doing pretty good keeping the acne under control but addressing a little of the wrinkles that have started. I’m still smearing my face with honey in the AM, but sometimes at the end of my shower I will rub on a paste of baking soda and tamanu oil over the honey to exfoliate. I have also been using rose water as a toner and on the mornings I use baking soda I add a few drops of apple cider vinegar as well. I have also created a great (for me at least) acne spot treatment using tamanu, Palma rosa EO, frankincense EO, rosewood EO and clary sage EO. I literally spent hours researching EO’s recently and have found these to be great for skin regeneration, inflammation and acne. There are a lot of other choices out there tho, just can’t try them all! I just dab this combo on with a q-tip once or twice a day and watch the zit dry up and blow away. Deeper blemishes are a little more resistant but little one are gone in no time. I’ve also found that this blend is great for razor burn and healing ingrown hairs, just ask my bikini line, lol!
On a dietary side line I recently started drinking a little coconut vinegar in sparkling water a couple times a day. This helps the liver which is responsible for keeping our blood clean which keeps everything else happy! I was to.d years ago by an acupuncturist that my liver tended toward stagnation and to have a little vinegar in water everyday to help it.
Hope this info might help someone else out there. For me the trick is to keep trying, listen to your skin/body and have a little fun. I’ve tried and tweaked and loved or abandoned a lot of different recipes, Crunchy Betty’s and others and I’ve learned something new everytime about me or my body or my skin…
Been on the OCM for about 7 weeks. Started on thirds of caster, olive and jojoba. Felt amazing, broke out for two weeks. Third week I felt relief for about four days – face was smoothing out and no new zits. Then my period started and my face hasn’t gone back to those dreamy four days. I should say I’m 26 and have combination skin, and sensitive. I have struggled with acne since I was 15 and have been on everything short of the really killer stuff. Back to the post -This whole time on OCM I’ve struggled with two patches of small red rash-like bumps. So after about 6 weeks of that last week I decided to switch out the OO for grape seed. I also started cleaning more thoroughly with the washcloth. One week since I switch ratios and I still am breaking out, big, little and rash like, but not just in two spots anymore – all over. My skin hurts and now has some dryness. I should also point out that I used the oatmeal scrub in the morning (love that) and TTO as a spot treatment. Thoughts- I think wiping with the washcloth seems to irritate my face (I use a micro fiber body cloth from Norwex which is very soft) and might add to breakouts. Anyone else experience this? Questions, 1: How long should you give your face to adjust to a new mix? 2. Any suggestions on oils for MY face? Avocado? I really want this to work bc Im planning on having more kids and don’t want to have to put expensive medicine on my face! 3. Sometimes I follow up OCM with cold water, I feel like I don’t have to use as much jojoba for moisturizing. Is thus bad? The most frustrating thing about this method are all the unknowns. I am working at this with a friend and we both aren’t having luck and are at our wits end. Please help if you can!
Crystal! It might be the Microfiber body cloth from Norwex. I know a lot of people use those to clean their faces, but if you google it, you will find it causes a lot of people to break out – too harsh!
I agree about the microfiber cloths. I’m still working on my OCM blend, but I use cloth diapers on my daughter and in that sense, using the microfiber inserts or microfiber cloths against their skin is an absolute no-no. It causes major irritation and can even cause microscopic cuts on the skin. If it’s not safe to put against a baby’s bottom, I also would not use it on my face.
I love microfiber cloths (I use e-cloths b/c they work just as well as Norwex but are more affordable), too. I thought it would be great to use an extra one to clean my toddlers face after meals since we go through so many rags for that purpose, but I have noticed that every time I use the microfiber on him, his face would get little red bumps. Every time. So I’m bag to regular cotton rags for him. Still love the microfiber for cleaning!
oops– *back* (not “bag”)
Ditch the castor oil completely and see if that helps. If you are struggling with dryness and angry skin, it sounds like the castor oil is the problem.
You could also try using only one oil at a time- it’s a lot easier for me to troubleshoot when I’ve removed some variables. Use just grapeseed for a week, then just jojoba for a week.
Stop using face scrub daily!!!!!!!!! You really should exfoliate once per week, especially if you have sensitive/acne-prone skin. It is so harsh and you need to give your skin a break.
I have weird skin that I’m never sure how to label. It tends towards a sheen of oiliness if I don’t do anything to it for awhile, but if I even just wash with water, it feels crazy tight and unhappy. It’s pretty sensitive and breaks out easily (particularly at That Time of the Month), and OCM is seriously the best thing that I’ve ever done for it (well, except for that one LUSH product that they discontinued three months after initially releasing it, that I still haven’t forgiven them for…).
I use 1/3 castor, 1/3 jojoba, 1/3 sweet almond oil, and do OCM in the shower every morning. I apply to my face, then turn the water on and wet my washcloth, and steam my face twice in a row without really wiping, then do one good wiping pass, rinsing the washcloth between each of these. I use thyme-infused witch hazel as a toner, and straight jojoba oil for a moisturizer – at least until I get around to picking up some tamanu oil!
Seriously, thank you for teaching me about the OCM a year ago. Best skin ever.
I use a mix of Apricot Kernel Oil and Jojoba on a daily basis, and I’ll add a drop of castor oil if I had a particularly gross day. I use a microfiber towel, and I hand wash it after each use, and clean it by boiling with soapnut powder once a week. I moisturize afterwards with jojoba oil that’s been cold-infused with german chamomile. It’s been so awesome. I recently started OCM on my upper arms, because my KP has flared a bit, and it really seems to be helping.
Hi Michelle. I have acne on my upper arms also, and all over my back and shoulders. I did wonder if i’d be able to oil cleanse on those areas. When you do your upper arms do you just do it the same as you would your face?? and do you use a different oil mix??
Thanks. 🙂
Hi – I am just reading about OCM and haven’t tried it yet, but I saw your comment and wanted to mention that since going mostly grain-free (maybe having grains at one meal once a week), my upper arms have cleared up for the first time since my teens. I’m 35. HTH.
I had used the OCM with EVOO and castor oil. My skin broke out horribly. It has taken a month of trying other things to get back to normal. I am trying OCM again with Sunflower oil and a couple drops of Melaleuca Oil (tea tree oil). In three nights I have seen wonderful improvement but still have a ways to go. Elisa – How do I find out about the grain-free diet? Please share. I have the same upper arm and back issue and am 36.
I was thinking about this, and it might be my coconut oil intake (which went from 0 to about 2tbsp/day) which cleared up my upper arms.
For learning both about coconut oil and going grain free, I HIGHLY recommend The Perfect Health Diet book.
I have been thinking about it since I posted this reply, and it might actually be my intake of coconut oil (I went from never having any to about 2tbsp/day) that cleared up my upper arms.
Either way, to learn about coconut oil and grain free living, I highly recommend the book The Perfect Health diet. The authors also have an excellent website http://perfecthealthdiet.com/
I need some advice please ladies.
I’m 32 and have struggled with acne all my life. I have terrible scars all along my jawline (very oily skin). I started OCM 4 weeks ago and am my acne has only gotten worse. I started with just olive oil and castor oil at and 80/20 ratio. I also moisturise with grapeseed, argan and lavendar oil. I expected my skin to go through an adjustment period, but thought it’d only br a couple of weeks. But i wake up almost every day with a new spot or 2 under the skin – and they are VERY sore. When i oil cleanse i do my face and all of my neck. But the spots seems to be coming further down my neck?? The further down i wash and apply oil, the further down the spots come. I’ve changed up my oil blend here and there. I’m now using castor, olive, argan, grapeseed and tamanu. Is that too much? I’m going to try a new blend minus the olive oil and see if that makes a difference. I’m also struggling with my back and shoulder acne. I realise i can’t oil cleanse there and wondered if anyone out there had any tips re that. I’m thinking that maybe my shampoo/conditioner is a major factor in that, and maybe even my hair sitting on my shoulders and touching my neck might be a factor also??? I just don’t know!!!!
Sorry for the long post – any advice would be FAB!
x
With widespread acne like you describe it would be wise to check your hormones and diet as it may have little to do with what you are putting on the outside but be coming from the inside, a hormonal imbalance or a food intolerance (to many salicylates will make me break out still, I’m 33) can be the source.
Sorry, me again 🙂 I should also mention that olive oil is higher in salicylates than oils like sunflower, so that may be the problem in some people. If putting it on your skin gives you breakouts and you are having other symptoms of salicylate sensitivities, headaches, migraine, stomach/intestinal problems it would be worth looking into a trial of a low salicylate diet.
Thanks for posting Julie. 🙂
I did consider altering my diet but didn’t really know where to start. Plus, the spots only got worse when i started OCM. So, i took out the EVOO from my mix completely and now just use castor, grapeseed, argan and tamanu oil. That was 3 days ago. I took a pic of my skin just so i could look back and compare. All i can say is WOW!! The difference in my skin is amazing!!! Only in 3 days! Plus i started sleeping with my hair tied up. I have an after pic too – if i could post both pics here i would. I do still need to re-think my diet so thats my next priority, then hopefully i’ll notice a difference on my back and shoulders.
Thanks again Julie,
Debs
Hi Debbie 🙂
So happy the OCM is working for you now. Have you heard of Kimberly Snyder? Her website and book is amazing! She has had acne in the past as well as other health issues but has changed all that through diet 🙂 She also explains how to transition from wherever you are at to a healthier you. Although she is now vegan, her book has options for meat eaters too. Just thought you might want to check it out 🙂 xx
I’ve been doing OCM for a week now so I’m still feeling it out. It started out of frustration with my skin that seems to be going through something I haven’t been able to resolve yet – more breakouts in my late twenties and early thirties than ever before with long-lasting hyper pigmentation.
Then I came across Caroline Hirons over at beautymouth and she said something interesting: sulfates and foaming face washes alkalizes the surface of the skin, creating a breeding ground for bacteria. She recommends cleansing balms and the like, but those are so freakin’ overpriced. So I decided, hey, I’ve got a bottles of almond oil from the Indian store and tea tree oil! I’m going to try that, see if that changes anything.
So far, I’m noticing a few clogged pores, which are easily resolved with a salicylic acid/witch hazel toner. I’m really enjoying how my skin doesn’t feel dry and tight immediately after washing, I haven’t had to slather on creams and lotions for the last few nights before going to bed.
I’m going to pick up a bottle of castor oil this weekend and maybe order a small bottle of tamanu oil from Mountain Rose Herbs. Pretty excited, people. Thanks for the great follow-up post on OCM!
I know of a possible reason that jojoba oil might be an issue for some folks. It’s not actually an oil. Jojoba oil is really a type of liquid wax, and waxes and oils are not immiscible (they don’t dissolve each other like two oils would).
I am unsure exactly what problems this could create, but I could see it potentially being an issue if there wasn’t another oil added aside from castor oil.
I blogged about it last month — it works great for me, and I just tweak it a little from summer to winter. I haven’t tried essential oils in my summer blend yet. I do use a “regular” cleanser occasionally, partly to use up what I had in the house a year ago, and partly because every once in a while, I’m too tired to deal with OCM.
http://survivingthefoodallergyapocalypse.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/whatever-wednesday-oil-cleansing-method/
http://kyokushin-aoki.sakura.ne.jp/www/tvojdi.php
hi, just wanted to say i never experimented with any other oils, just olive oil as my ocm, followed by coconut as a moisturiser, both have worked incredibly. in fact, most people seem to get along fine at least with the olive oil. i guess because its in most peoples kitchens then its more often the first ocm oil people try. i would suggest that the ratio of problems with olive oil is no higher than any other, and would encourage everyone to use it at least for a few days!!!
I love the OCM! I have dry sensitive skin and have had black-heads since junior high. Everything I tried for black-heads was too harsh for my skin. I use 1 part castor oil to 8-10 parts (depending on the season) olive oil (gasp!) and sometimes I add an EO, something for dry or aging skin. For the first time since junior high I have more skin than black-heads on my nose. And that is a pretty big deal!
I started OCM back in mid March (using castor and “bad” olive oil) & two weeks in I developed redness and bumps on the right side of my chin and cheek area near my nose. I didn’t think this was related because it was only in one area of my face. It continued to get worse so last week I went to the dermatologist. He said this was a type of inflamation related to oils and I was more prone to it with my Crohn’s disease (there’s a name for it, but I don’t remember.) I am now on an anti-biotic and he gave me a cream and I’m using CeraVe for a cleanser. I’m so sad. Before my trip to the Dr. I bought apricot and sweet almond oil. Would those go over better? I’m so nervous to try again. The rest of my face looked great except that one area. 🙁
Olive oil and a few drops of castor oil work wonders. Love love love the OCM!
Ive been using ocm for the past year or so and I absolutely love it. I have very oily acne prone skin and use a blend of grapeseed oil and castor oil with a few drops of tea tree. In the summer i use a 3 to 1 ratio of castor to grapeseed but in the winter i find the castor oil to be too drying so i switch to 50/50. Initially when i started i would use it morning and night but now only at night and i find my skin is less oily. You definitely have to experiment with it to find the right balance.
Welcome back!!
I’ve been doing this for about 2 years now and will never go back to regular face soap.
My skin is on the dry side (especially in winter.) I find a 10% castor oil and 80% carrier oil works best. I’ve experimented with grapeseed oil, apricot kernel oil and sweet almond oil. I like the apricot kernel oil the best. The other two were okay but they seemed to sit on my skin. The AKO absorbed better.
In the winter, I wash my face at night and follow up with 1-2 drops of straight argan oil. In the morning, I wash my face with water only and add a couple more drops of argan oil if I’m feeling dry.
In the summer, I do pretty much the same but I find I don’t need to follow up with an oil for a moisturizer. If I do, a little of whatever carrier oil I’m using is sufficient.
One thing I have found is that I *cannot* use a commercial face soap or lotion anymore, even once in a while. I once used a sample I got and it was a disaster. My skin took a good month to get back to normal after that.
I really need advice. I’ve been wanting to try OCM since I saw the post last year. I’m 49 and I guess my hormones are changing – again. I have cystic acne and take a daily antibacterial antibiotic (yes, it’s that bad). I’ve been afraid to try OCM because of the cystic acne, very, very sensitive skin and also combo skin that has become even more oily on the forehead and nose. I also have a few wrinkles since I guess I’m “aging” 🙂 I need help deciding what to use. I live in the humid and mostly HOT South. We have a short mild winter. Where do I start? Any recommendations are appreciated.
Hey 🙂 I’m also having a problem with aging and acne, Im 35. I use grapeseed oil on my body because I have keratosis pilaris (chicken skin they some times call on; on the backs of the arms)and commercial creams are often too occlusive & cause horrible, inflamed bumps. I guess because grapeseed oil is mildly astringent (so I have read) it doesn’t cause my skin to get those bumps and they in fact, clear them up.
My hormones are changing as I am 35 and my skin is so sensitive and reactive, I am at wit’s end. I’ve decided to try the grapeseed oil on my face. Why not start there? I did it this evening…try it with me and let’s compare notes 🙂
This might be a bit controversial but I use pure castor oil and I don’t find it drying at all. I love ocm so much. I started in October, using equal parts of castor and peanut oils a few drops of tea tree and it was fine but I wanted to experiment so I tried olive oil (it was fine, but my skin wasn’t soft) and sweet almond oil. I used and liked the almond for a couple of months but in the end my pores were blocked (no breakouts just very visible pores). So I gave pure castor oil a go, have been using it for four months now and I adore it. I GLOW and my skin is not dry. I also use moroccan argan oil twice a week as an overnight moisturiser but I can go without it and my skin still doesn’t feel dry. I tone daily with rose water.
My skin is naturally neither dry nor oily, slight olive complexion with freckles in summer. Before I started OCM I never really had problems with my skin but it was dull, a little blotchy and coarse feeling. Now it is soft and dewy. I’m in my early 30s.
Does anyone else use just castor oil?
My oily, congested, acne prone skin absolutely loved the OCM with a blend of half jojoba, half castor oil. My eyes however have not. Oil cleansing cleared my skin up and made it clearer, smoother, more supple, moisturized, and healthier than ever before, but it also made my eyes totally blood red, dry, and super irritated to the point where I have had to discontinue oil cleansing. Has anyone else had this problem? I tried to stop using it around my eye area to remove eye makeup but felt even not using it around my oculars it was still somehow able to migrate in and mess my eyes up. I have also done what seems to be irreversible damage to the skin under my eyes when I was gently removing my eye makeup with OCM and a baby washclosh, the gentle wiping seems to have broken capillaries there (I have super sensitive skin) and given me relentless redness under my eyes that will not go away now for the past 2 years. Any advice on dealing with this?
I think a washcloth may be too harsh for the skin around your eyes. I think a cotton pad might be less abrasive. Could you use a different oil for removing eye makeup? Lastly, how much oil do you put on your face? When I do it, I don’t use lots so it doesn’t migrate near my eyes beyond where I put it. I hope any of that helps or inspire someone else to write you with suggestions.
I combined the Oil Cleansing Method and Honey Face Wash. I use 100% Jojoba Oil first, then layer the honey on top of it. I soak a washcloth in very warm water and leave it on my face for a minute (the steam feels so good!) Then I use the same washcloth to remove everything thoroughly. I also started doing this by my kitchen sink (instead of my bathroom sink) to avoid clogging the drain (it’s happened before).
It really only takes me 5 minutes or so to finish up my whole routine, in case you were wondering.
I’ve started my OCM method journey (in my first week) and I’m both fearful of what seems to be the inevitable breakout but also excited for the also inevitable amazing results. I have oily and acne prone skin and my former routine was to wash my face twice a day (before OCM I was using neutrogena grapefruit foaming scrub, which my skin really liked). I work out most mornings and I doubt that I’ll have time to go through the whole OCM process every morning. In the original post Crunchy Betty advises against switching between store brought facial cleansers that contain sulfates or sulfides. I’m not sure how I’m going to cleanse my face in the morning now. What do other people do after workouts? Are there store-bought products that work well with OCM? How do I tell if a store-brought product is sulfate free?
She was absolutely NOT kidding about mixing the OCM with store-bought cleansers. But something that you might want to try is putting a bit of honey in a little travel bottle and taking it with you to work out. If you want, add a little castile soap (love baby-mild/unscented by Dr. Bronner’s) to make it sort of “soapy”. When you’re done working out, wash your face with honey just like you use a store-bought cleanser! Just rinse with lukewarm water and DON’T get it in your hair. If you need a little moisturizer after, use a couple drops of your oil mix. It’s perfectly fine to wash your face with honey sometimes and OCM other times because there’s no chemicals involved, and the chemicals are the problem.
Hope that helps! I’ve been using a combination of the two for a while (honey in the morning and OCM at night), and my face has gotten so much better! Used to have an oily/acneic complexion, and now it’s balanced out!
Unaware of the benefits, I used to use almond oil to clean my face after a night out, because it removed my makeup so much more easily than all those great “makeup removers”. I used pure almond oil at the time because it was the cheapest most abundant stuff I had (I picked up some quality cheap almond oil while in India) and even after cleaning it off, my face would be nicely moisturized.
I highly recommed pure almond oil, because its all you need to both cleanse and moisturize in one go. But because I like to sleep with Argan oil on my face, I now use a mix of Castor and almond oil to clean my face.
Thanks heaps!!!
Just found your blog. Great tips. Wanted to mention that almond oil mixed with neem is great for skin. Removes wrinkles and softens better than most.
I’ve only been doing this a week, but I find that 25% castor oil and 75% grapeseed oil work really well for my super sensitive, combination skin. It’s nothing fancy, and not too expensive as I already get the grapeseed oil to use as eye makeup remover ( no make up remover is gentle enough). My skin hasn’t done anything too exciting, but there are no new break outs (yay!) and nothing horrible has happened (double yay!) so this is already better than any cleanser I’ve used…
I DID have a bit of trouble with greasy bangs (I wash my hair once every three days, and condition between) but after switching the order of my shower, that problem went away too.
I’ve been doing the OCM for several months now, and I’m loving it! I use the “Exquisite Stuff” cleansing oil from Crunchy Betty on Etsy. I was very hesitant to wash my face with oil since I’ve had acne prone skin since the age of 12 (I’m currently 27), and slathering my face with oil just seemed counter-intuitive… but I’m sooo glad I tried it. Once I started OCM, my skin began to feel softer, look more even toned instead of being splotchy and irritated, and my pores appeared smaller.
HOWEVER, it did not seem to help much with my actual acne. I get those awful, cystic pimples around my jawline and chin that I have seen several other people commenting about… I do think I’ve finally found a solution though, and may be worth a try for anyone else out there with the same problem. For a long time I thought it was “hormonal” as this is what I kept reading…. but I thought it was odd that my acne never seemed to improve, or really change at all, when I was pregnant, breastfeeding, on the pill, not on the pill, etc… my point is, none of these hormonal changes seemed to have any affect on my acne, so I started thinking maybe it really wasn’t hormones but possibly something in my diet. I had tried giving up sugar in the past with only limited results. After doing a bit of research online, I decided to try cutting out sugar AND dairy from my diet. And it worked! I went a solid month and a half without a single new pimple cropping up, which is the longest I’ve gone in the last 15 years. About a week ago I started slacking off a little on my new clear skin diet, and immediately this monster breakout popped up. I’m definately going to try and stick with it from now on though. I’m really not sure why dairy seems to have this affect on my skin- I’ve read that it has something to do with the way the body processes the sugars in milk? But I don’t know if that’s true or not.
Love OCM. I’m one of the rare ones who can use coconut oil. 🙂 I use 1/2 coconut oil, 1/2 castor oil, and I add in a few drops of tea tree essential oil for acne purposes.
I tried the OCM, honey wash and just rinsing with water for about 2 1/2 months. I don’t have good skin, I usually have some form of a pimple and have never been able to rid myself of blemishes. I tried different combos with the castor oil. First I started with just castor and jojoba, then i tried adding tea tree, then I tried adding grape seed oil, then olive oil and argan oil. I started getting those white pimple like bumps and would still break out. I would exfoliate using baking soda and ACV toner or the almond and oats scrub. Nothing seemed to help. I was unclear how long to give each combo before trying a new combination, so I was probably remixing every week and a half to two weeks. Eventually I had to stop because my skin had not looked that bad in a while and the texture looked worse than ever. It’s been over two months and my skin has not recovered, it looked better before I started the OCM.
I was hoping it would work so maybe now knowing some more of your tips I’ll give it another go over the summer, but I have to admit I’m scared of what will happen. Any suggestions?
The first time I tried OCM resulted in an epic fail. First day? Loved it! But over time (and not much of it) I noticed I was getting small bumps on my cheeks — the one place I don’t normally break out. Worse than that, it ruined my overall complexion. My face didn’t look clear & bright. Even without any obvious breakouts my skin looked dull and slightly mottled. It took several weeks/months to get it back after quitting OCM.
I tried it again a second time, but cut it short out of fear: we were having our first pro family photo in over 20 years. I wasn’t about to screw that up.
I’ve been attempting it again, albeit very slowly and cautiously. I always love OCM the first day. My skin feels both moisturized yet clear of any oil or gunk and my complexion looks great. Right now I’ve settled at doing it once every week or two.
One note: I also have keratosis pilaris, and I wonder/suspect that my outer layer of skin does not shed as it should, contributing to possible build up and trapped oil. Perhaps that’s part of the reason this is not working long term for me. But I’m still carrying on little by little!
Stacy – I sometimes add a little baking soda the oil before I use it. It creates a scrub and helps exfoliate. I love this method and do it about once a week.
use a product with AHA & BHA in it help with exfoliation, like a face mask with both ingredients
I struggled with severe acne as a teenager and then consistent breakouts during my early 20’s. I’ve tried everything in the book. I was on antibiotics trying to tame the breakouts and had to stop because my husband and I were ready to try for a baby. Once I got pregnant, I was using very mild cleansers on my face. Not only were they not getting all of my make up off, my face was a mess with breakouts! I started the OCM with castor oil and jojoba oil. My face was EXTREMELY dry, red, and itchy, but my breakouts were clearing up. After about a month of really dry skin, I swapped my jojoba for sweet almond, and it worked wonders!! I’ve been using that combo ever since. And I try to do the baking soda scrub followed by the vinegar at least once a week. In addition to my face clearing up, my skin is no longer covered in oil at the end of the day. The OCM is the best treatment I’ve ever found for my face and it’s certainly the most inexpensive!!
I’ve been using OCM for a year and a half and I love it! I use 1/3 castor oil, 1/3, sunflower oil, & 1/3 apricot seed oil. I use this combo every other day and follow it with a spritz of rosewater and moisturize with straight argan oil. I know everyone says you don’t need to moisturize after OCM, but I live in a really dry climate and I do.
I’ve always had pretty good skin, but OCM has evened it out. I used to have super dry skin between my eyebrows and a lot of oil around my nose, but no more. It is all even and glowy now. The one downside is that I get more monthly hormonal breakouts with OCM, but Crunchy Betty’s thyme toner is totally keeping that at bay.
I’ve been using OCM since December, and I am amazed at the difference. I have very acne-prone skin and I use grapeseed and castor oil with great success… until the past couple of weeks.
I’ve been getting lots of little whiteheads and pimples on my chin- little clusters. Any help? Advice? I have neem, tea tree and lemongrass oils on hand as well.
Could it be a change in your diet or stress causing the breakouts?
Just started OCM about 3 weeks ago and I LOVE it. I’m 35 and have always had a hard time with my skin. It hasn’t happened over night but I am seeing a definite improvement in my skin. I have way fewer blackheads and my pores are starting to look not quite so cavernous. I do 1 part castor oil, 1 part avodado oil and 1 part jojoba oil. After cleansing, I moisturize with a rose hip/vitamin E oil with just a tiny drop of lavender essential oil (mainly cause it smells so good and helps me sleep). Love it love it love it.
I’ve started doing this for just over a month now and my skin’s still breaking out :/ I’ve been getting spots in places I never used to get them (especially around my chin and temples) and then dry patches on either side of my nose! I’ve been using a mix of jojoba and castor oil, so maybe I’ll switch to grapeseed or something. So frustrating though! I just want nice skin ;___;
same thing happened to me while i was on my jojoba/castor mix! my face was angel butt perfect the first week and then i broke out hugely across my chin and temples. i got so freaked out that i abandoned ship after 2 more weeks of that mess. it took a year and a trip to the dermatologist to get my skin under control. i’m sad because i really wanted love OCM. i’ve been moisturizing with an argan/tamanu blend for 2 years now and my face loves that, so maybe my problems lie with the jojoba and castor oils. i don’t know about giving it a another go any time soon though, i think i’m traumatized 🙁
I just posted a comment, but I wanted to let you know that I had a very similar reaction to the castor and jojoba mix. The creases of my nose got so dry that the skin would peel off in patches! And it it itched like crazy! I replaced the jojoba with sweet almond oil and it made all the difference in the world!! I hope that helps.
Oh, this is me too! No major breakouts, just lots of white plugs on my whole chin area. My temples break out too and my nose is SO flaky. Can’t figure it out, I’ve been using OCM for three months. I started out w/ Castor and Olive oil. Switched to hardly any Castor oil. Now I just use Grape seed oil after reading about how sick castor harvesters get. I’ve been using Avocado oil for the past week, my skin seems to like it better. I do it all in the shower, use a regular washcloth. My skin feels soft, but I don’t feel like I’ve achieved the “amazing” that so many gals get. I tried a tiny bit of Castor last night w/ my Avocado oil, so far so good today. I have dry patchiness and I used to be SO oily. Although I have been way less oily since I started using Bare Minerals for the last eight months. I think OCM makes the grime come up out of the pore, which is a good thing, but I feel it takes so long for it all to clear out completely, all over my face. I guess it’s a work in progress. I still feel like my pores are SO large. I have also been using Argan oil afterwards but stopped because I finally figured out that was making me so red afterwards. Guess it’s a nut allergy? So I’m going to stick w/ seed oils or something else. Thank you Girls, for writing your trials and tribulations with OCM, VERY helpful!
I should add that I stopped rubbing so much w/ the washcloth because I found that it was making me dry/flaky. I just carefully wipe the excess w/ a washcloth now all over in the shower. Still flaky but not as much, I’m not quitting OCM, I’ll figure something out, I’m bound and determined to.
I love OCM and have been using the ratio two parts olive oil to two parts castor…works great for me. I also use that same ratio as a face/body moisturizer…however i don’t need to moisturize my face after doing the OCM because it really leaves my face perfectly moisturized. LOVE OCM!!! Will try other oils….I use olive/castor because it is what I had.
I’ve been doing OCM for nearly 3 months. I decided to go straight for Hazelnut oil instead of castor (simply because of what I read about the way castor oil is produced/extracted) and Jojoba oil. I started off doing 1/4 hazelnut and 3/4 jojoba and it worked amazing for the first 2- 3 weeks (no skin detox effect) then I started breaking out 🙁 Played with the amounts of oil and added a few drops TTO and nothing has helped. I will say that I do have hormonal acne that I am trying to combat through diet, but I have been breaking out in clusters in places I usually don’t and I get the little bumps others have mentioned. I have combo skin that is slightly oily/normal in the t zone and dry everywhere else. I tried to go back to my former skin care products (Derma E) and they are now too drying. I’m a little overwhelmed with all the choices of what to try next. Any suggestions would be super helpful! Thank you!
Try skipping the jojoba.completely and sub out grapeseed or almond or hazelnut instead. Jojoba is a love-it-or-hate-it kind of oil, and some people really have trouble with it.
Thanks for the feedback!
My favored OCM mix is equal parts castor/avocado/jojoba oils. It has had a massively beneficial effect on my cystic acne. I still get one once in a while, but it helps them heal faster and without as much pain or scarring. I do moisturize afterward with 2 drops of avocado or jojoba oil, depending on the season, and will add in a drop of argan oil to that when I’m looking red, or needing an extra healing boost.
After OCMing for about a week, I found my pores looked bigger. I found that adding cold water splashes (I usually do about 10) after finishing the OCM helped reduce my pore size.
I am having the big-looking pore issue too. I will try splashing with cold water after I cleanse. Thanks for the tip!
You’re welcome!
I gave up on the olive oil, too, for the aforementioned reasons. Switched to sunflower seed oil…bonus that it’s locally grown! My 40-year-old sensitive, combination/acne prone skin has never looked better since using OCM the past 18 months. Living in MN, I change my formula with the weather and reduce the Castor Oil to maybe 30% in the winter and up it to 50% in spring/summer. Fall just depends. I enjoy honey cleansing, too, especially summer and fall. I do use a fair amount of exfoliation with the wash cloth on my chin when I wash, otherwise I notice I’m apt to break out. I moisturize with Rosehip Oil, generally straight up and seldom on my chin. Now that my skin is in good shape, I don’t wear make-up very often.
This very dry winter I ended up with eczema around my eyes, I’ve had issues with it in the past on my arms. Now that spring FINALLY seems here to stay I can calm the redness with lanolin. Nothing else works that was in my arsenal other than cortisone creme that I resorted to for a short time lest my husband be turned in for domestic abuse; I looked like I’d been battered a bit. Next winter I’ll try straight sunflower seed oil around my eyes for OCM or maybe even olive oil if I still experience the eczema.
I’d love to know what others have found that works for their facial eczema…maybe another post idea for CB 🙂
How do you do honey cleansing?
If you search the site there are a few posts about it. Basically, you put honey on your face. Then you can leave it on for a little bit or just rinse it off right away 🙂 The more unprocessed the honey is, the better (and the posts can give you help with the terminology and stuff!)
I found that I was getting allergic eczema from both sweet almond oil and apricot oil. Took a couple years of trial and error to figure it out on my sensitive skin. Just because something is “natural” does not mean it is harmless.
No reaction from avocado or olive oil for me. I finally needed prescription cortisone cream to heal.
You may need to do patch tests with your oils.
I think those tiny little bumps everyone is talking about are your garden variety clogged pores. Not close enough to the surface for the dirt to oxidize and turn black (blackheads) and not inflamed enough to truly be a pimple. I get them, too, and would do nearly anything to get rid of them. Nothing seems to help. But…back to OCM. Even though I still have the occasional pimple (or 5, who’s counting?), I love my OCM! I use 2/3 castor oil and 1/3 jojoba oil with about 20 drops of TTO and 10 of lavender (I make about 4-6 ounces at a time). Love how my oily skin is all gone with this combo! I also use the honey wash in the morning and rinse it off in the shower…my skin is silky soft!!!
I prefer the Honey Face Wash for every-day use, and then I use OCM (straight castor oil) if I’m broken out. I have extremely dry skin, so I follow up whichever method with a moisturizing oil blend (Sweet Almond Oil, Baobab Oil, Rosehip oil, and a few drops of Lavender Essential oil). It works beautifully! My skin has never looked better!
I’ve been using Pumpkin Seed Oil. That and Sweet Almond Oil is what I happened to have on hand when I decided to try the OCM. I loved the way the Almond oil made my skin feel and it cleans wonderfully, but I started breaking out in big clusters of little pimples after using it. So I decided to try the Pumpkin Seed oil instead. I love it. I now use the OCM everyday, I use honey and sea salt every couple of days, and the apple cider vinegar as a toner on most days. My teenage daughter complains of the smell so I don’t use ACV when I plan to go anywhere. lol I rarely have breakouts now. I cannot find the Pumpkin Seed Oil locally anymore though. 🙁 I guess I am going to have to do some research to find a similar alternative.
So the honey and sea salt is a scrub? And does the ACV help with flakiness? My skin has been extremely flaky since starting the OCM and I wonder if I just need to exfoliate a little better.
I also had severe reactions of sensitivity and swelling to sweet almond oil.
You’ve inspired me to give OCM another go. It was working really well with me in the past, and I would add a baking soda scrub. I only did this in the shower, once a day or so. I am having some skin issues, so I’m going to order some of the oils you recommended next time my co op does an order. I also have the little “bumps” other posters are talking about. I’ve always had them, and so has my mom. Annoying! I’d love a post to address ways to deal with them!
It’s funny that you should post this, as I was just thinking about changing my OCM! In your first post I was raving about coconut oil, because for a time it really did work, but now I’m thinking that’s just luck. I’m not back to horrible break outs, but certainly some annoying bumps on my cheeks. Thanks for all the info!
I did the oil cleansing method for about 4 months with jojoba, castor and a little tea tree oil. It cleared things up wonderfully, until it didn’t. Lately I keep having these compulsive breakouts on my chin and jawline that I can’t seem to keep at bay. I’ve been trying a little castile soap, honey face washes, mayan healing clay masks, honey aspirin masks…I just don’t know what’s going on. Have you heard of this happening to anyone?
This has been happening to me too but I’ve read that it’s most likely hormone related and no face wash regimin is going to fix it 🙁 So I’ve been looking into supplements to try to balance my hormones… What I’ve read is that acne around or below the mouth is hormones, T-zone and upper face is a washing problem-and OCM definitely helps with that area for me. Hope this helps!
What kinds of supplements?
I started taking Vitex (aka Chaste Berry). My understanding is that it supports the endocrine system so that it is able to naturally balance your hormones. Unfortunately it takes a few months so I don’t know if it works yet!
Fascinating. I’ll have to look it up. I hope it works out for you!
I have very oily skin that is prone to breakouts, and I have some redness, uneven skin tone, and scarring from years of fun acne. 🙂
I mix around 1/2-2/3 castor oil, fill the remaining half/third with jojoba and sweet almond oils, a splash of vitamin E oil, TTO, lavender EO, rosemary EO, and sometimes a touch of argan oil.
My skin has never looked better.
I use a mix of 2 parts grapeseed oil to 1 part Home Health sweet almond oil (which also has peanut oil, lanolin, and vitamin E). I follow it up with a few drops of Crunchy Betty Royally Flawless Facial Oil Moisturizer!
I use a mix of castor, sweet almond and jojoba oils, with a few drops of tea tree oil in the bottle. I had breakout problems at first because I was not getting enough oil/grime off. When I first read about this is was suggested to steam your face with a hot washcloth for several minutes. Now, while I don’t mind massaging oils on my face during some of a good TV show, I am not taking the time to hang out with a washcloth on my face, hoping something will happen. I use a TEENY amount of my favorite mild cleanser on my face to remove the bulk of the grime without stripping my face. Not squeaky clean, just clean and moisturized. I’ve been doing this for @18 months and I love it now. I’ve also found jojoba is one of the few things that does not cause my face to break out and I use it on my lips, around my eyes, and just in general when I need extra moisture.
Great post–I wish I had it 6 months ago. Your tips are spot on. Through a lot of trial and error, I have found my perfect mix to be 4 parts hempseed oil and 1 part tamanu. I infuse the hempseed oil with dried thyme for about 4 – 6 weeks.
I still have breakouts during stress or that time of the month, but it’s much more controlled since I started the OCM.
Many thx for sharing!
Have you tried evening primrose oil in your mix? It’s supposed to work wonders for balancing hormones. Much of my acne is hormonal so I’m using (as a moisturizer) a jojoba, almond, tea tree, lavendar, and evening primrose blend. I just whipped it up so can’t report on its efficacy just yet. I wash with castile soap.
I did OCM for about 6 months and got horrible cystic acne on my chin. I have never broken out like that before (not even as a teenager). My face became hypersensitive, very reactive and very dry. I stopped using castor oil after about a month (far too drying) and ended up using sweet almond, jojoba, grapeseed or a mixture of the above. I added different ingredients to it: lavender, tea tree, palmarosa, etc. I pretty much did everything that the original Crunchy Betty post recommended and still, horrible skin problems. I stopped using the OCM about a month ago and began using the Sensitive Skin line from Dermalogica (which is helping immensely) to calm my skin down.
If you are at the age of menopause, your skin changes can be brought on with menopause. Even if you’ve been using the same things on your skin for years, suddenly your skin can become sensitive to them with the hormonal changes.
I haven’t tried the OCM yet, but I was wondering… if you don’t recommend EVOO for this, how do you feel about it as a moisturizer? I’ve been using EVOO as a moisturizer on my face and even in the shower. I haven’t noticed any issues, but is this just me? Should I attempt to fly? Or can I recommend this to others without feeling too bad?
Oh, lady! If EVOO is working for you, do not stop using it. Definitely stick with what you’re getting great results from.
channeling R Kelly: I believe I can fly / I believe I can touch the sky / I’ll think about it every night and day / When I put olive oil on my face. \ welcome back, btw. I missed you. xo, ab
HA. I snorted. Out loud. My cat jumped. It was awesome. Thank you. <3
Okay, I’ve searched through so much of the site looking for the info you posted previously on cleansing with grains since honey gives me bumps, but I can’t find that post. Can you direct me to it?
I am a big fan of OCM. I have combination/oily skin, so I am currently using castor oil as a base, sweet almond oil and jojoba oil. I also add a dropper-full of argan oil. Once I wash my face with it and wipe most off, I spritz my skin with rose water and voilá!
I will add that I do 1/3 castor oil, 1/3 jojoba and 1/3 almond oil. More than that and the castor oil starts drying my skin out.
I used to use the OCM, and I loved it. I used 2/3 olive oil (the organic brand from Costco) 1/3 castor oil and a few drops of TTO. Worked great!! The only reason I stopped using it is I got lazy… It takes time to do it right!! I now use a cleanser from Real Purity that I love, but I plan to go back to OCM when I feel like I have more time.
SO glad to see you are back 🙂
OCM is also what brought me to Crunchy Betty, and I’m so pleased to see a follow up! When I started using OCM, my skin was oily and acne-prone. After using it for a few months, I discovered that my skin is actually really dry! (Though sure enough, if I use a traditional cleanser or treatment product on my face, BAM! Instant oiliness! It’s true what they say about stripping your face causing an overproduction of oil!) I tried a TON of oils in different combinations, and finally settled on 1/2 castor oil, 1/2 avocado oil (with a bit of TTO mixed in). I actually usually follow it at night with honey, and in the AM I use the oatmeal/almond facial scrub, and then use a bit of my oil mixture to moisturize (I start with rosehip seed oil around my eyes, and then blend whatever is left in my hand with the OCM mix).
I find that OCM has left my face less oily and shiny and the rest seems to have evened out (texture and color) so that I don’t need as much makeup anymore. The exception is my chin! No matter what oil combination I tried, my chin always ended up with lots of bumps (I hesitate to even call them pimples, because they’re almost closer to a rash than a breakout, except that stuff can be extracted from them. Gross, sorry!) In the original thread and in the forums I’ve seen a lot of people complain about the same thing. Has anybody found a solution to that problem?
Yes! I have this too! I have black heads on my chin as well as little bumps that aren’t really blackheads and aren’t really pimples, yet if i squeeze them I can get stuff out. They drive me nuts and I can’t leave them alone. Does anyone know how to get rid of these?
I have those bumps! They drive me nuts, I’m desperate to get rid of them.
Use a scrubby cloth and be sure you get ALL of the oil off. And moisturize with a 0 – clogging oil, such as hemp seed or true linoleic safflower or sunflower oil (NOT the high oleic you find in the grocery store–you HAVE to look on line and find an oil that is high in polys and low in mono fats). I really think if you have blackhead or closed comedone (whitehead) acne, it is really that simple. Over a few months, the oil will change the content of your own sebum from oleic (blackhead and whitehed forming, hard/sticky sebum) to linoleic.
Cleansing grains in the morning. Have you tried that at all? Maybe just a little bit of gentle exfoliation would help. I’ve heard of people with the bumps (also with the honey wash), but most everyone I’ve talked to either “adjusts” to the OCM and doesn’t have them anymore, or finds they go away after using something like cleansing grains or just water and a washcloth in the morning.
Try it; see if it helps; report back. Let’s find the ultimate solution and (well, color me Tim Gunn) make it work.
cleansing grains like the daily exfoliator in your book? Or do you have other recommendations?
Yep! Like the daily exfoliator in the book (or like the ones we sell in the Etsy store).
Are there recipes for the cleansing grains somewhere in the blog?
I have been using the oil clensing method with great success for two years now. As I have PCOS I thought that spots and combination skin were something that was down to hormonal imbalances but I tried this because I thought it was ANTI AGING as well. IT IS! Within five days wrinkles were reduced, but also my skin was soft, not too dry or oily, blackheads were lifted and I only get spot (fewer) around my period now. I use a slightly different method though.
I mix five oils that I looked up and read were good for skin:
Grapeseed oil. castor oil, almond oil, coconut oi, olive oil. I mix these in equal parts and then I add some oil from vitamin E capsules.
I pour some of the oil blend into a plastic mini shampoo container and warm it in a mug of hot water.
I apply and then wipe off with a damp facecloth and then massage in a little more as a leave in moisturiser.
I use one side of a face cloth one day and the other the next. Then it goes into the laundry. I wash them with the rest of my laundry with no problems.
I hope this helps.
Oh yes, if I use the honey wash in the morning, the bumps get worse! It’s only if I use it after OCM that I get good results (which is weird, but I go with it!)
I use the No-Nonsense Daily Scrub every morning, and every so often I’ll use a little baking soda in it (and then follow with a really mild ACV toner). If I get lazy in the morning and just do water, my face breaks out within 24 hours (though not really my chin, which is weird since you’d think the bumps would get out of control! But instead they just stay bumpy!) The scrub is pretty mild (I grind the almonds up really fine, partly because my cheeks and around the eyes are looking really dry and I don’t want to be too harsh, but partly so that it’ll wash down the drain easier!) Should I be using something stronger?
I get these also, and find that my skin needs more exfoliation that just the OCM gives (I use 2 parts avocado and 1 part castor oil, although with summer coming, I may use a little more castor oil). I don’t know if my skin became used to all the glycolic and salicylic acids I was using or what, but i have been using baking soda as an exfoliant about twice a week. Once I week or so I will just sprinkle a little into my oil mix for a gentle exfoliation, and once a week or so I will make a thick paste with it and rub gently for a couple minutes. And I use a toner with apple cider vinegar in it afterwards. But I was actually coming here today to get the cleansing grains recipe to try out! Oh, and like CB said, it’s important to do some sort of cleansing/exfoliation in the morning. If I try to skip in the morning, then by afternoon my face feels like sandpaper!
My skin loveeesss exfoliation, I think because before I went clean I used acne scrubs every day. I switched from OCM to African black soap because I couldn’t get rid of the bumps but that hasn’t gotten rid of them either. Any thoughts on double cleansing? Like using OCM to get off oil/makeup and then using a (natural still) cleanser to get off dirt?
I follow my OCM with honey – like I say below, if I use honey in the morning, it makes the bumps worse, but if I use it at night after OCM (and leave it on for a little while) it doesn’t seem to affect the bumps but makes the rest of my face really soft and smooth!
Use a scrubby cloth and be sure you get ALL of the oil off. And moisturize with a 0 – clogging oil, such as hemp seed or true linoleic safflower or sunflower oil (NOT the high oleic you find in the grocery store–you HAVE to look on line and find an oil that is high in polys and low in mono fats). I really think if you have blackhead or closed comedone (whitehead) acne, it is really that simple. Over a few months, the oil will change the content of your own sebum from oleic (blackhead and whitehed forming, hard/sticky sebum) to linoleic.
I wear liquid foundation & powder & I wanted the OCM method to work for me. I used grape seed oil & a little castor oil. My face never seemed clean; my pores were full of gunk, so I now use a liquid Castile soap & it is great! I only wash my face st night & it improved greatly with the Castile soap.
I prefer to wash my face with honey, specifically rose-infused honey that I make myself. (I often include ground rose petals for a bit of gentle exfoliation.) However, when I wear makeup (not daily by any means), OCM is the nicest way I’ve found to remove it. I haven’t had any problems and I don’t really know what is in my mix… I basically used the last of a few good quality oils I already had and created a 1 oz blend for OCM. (I own a bunch of oils! 🙂 ) As it gets low, I just add straight sweet almond oil since it is the cheapest and a friend uses straight almond oil with success. Therefore, it is mostly almond oil, but probably still has a bit of my original mix. I’m pretty sure I included a few drops of either vitamin E oil or meadowfoam seed oil in the original mix. They both add longevity to carrier oils.
When I travel, I include a tiny vial (5/8 dram) of sweet almond oil in my toiletries. I use it to remove eye makeup and lipstick only, so it’ll last the trip. (Most of my makeup washes off pretty easily with warm water and a washcloth, except those two areas.) I also use it as a face serum, especially around my eyes. At home, I use a different blend of oils for a face serum, but when traveling I like to condense everything and travel light!
What I do is a combo of the
I love OCM! It’s what led me to this site in the first place, so, bonus there.
My skin is mega-dry, sensitive, and prone to rosacea and acne.
I use grapeseed oil with a couple of tablespoons of ground dried thyme left in the bottom of the bottle, with a few drops of tea tree oil thrown in there as well. I can’t use castor oil at all.
Between that and the lavender oil as a spot treatment for acne, my skin is clear for the first time in my life. I’m 35. This is kind of a big deal for me!
What did the castor oil do to you? I am 43 and have broken out like a 12 year old using several different combos of oil. Castor is in both, but I was afraid to remove it.
I went back to Kiss My Face Olive Oil soap a few days ago because my skin looks so terrible. 🙁
I broke out like a crazy woman with the castor oil. But literally the day I took it out of the blend, my skin got better. And better.
I still have to tweak my routine a little with the change of seasons, etc. Sometimes I have to add a glycerin/rosewater toner, sometimes I have to moisturize with argan oil or rice bran oil, but the grapeseed/thyme combo is always what I wash with, and I could not be happier with it.
Don’t be afraid to experiment and play around with different stuff for your face- that is half the fun! I hope you find something that your skin loves!
quick question…how much grapeseed oil to the two tablespoons of ground thyme? I have similar skin issues and have had no real good success with my OCM combinations.
About a cup of oil, maybe a little more. I am bad about just eyeballing things. You can start off using it right away, as soon as the particles settle, but after a few days the oil will get a lovely shade of green. I never strained the thyme out- it is still at the bottom of the bottle. The oil is just about gone though.
It smells sooo good. And it really has helped with the acne and the dryness.
Hi! My skin is really similar to what you’ve described. I never had acne throughout my teenage years but now that I’m in my twenties I keep breaking out 🙁 How long does this mixture last? And do you do it just once a day or more? Thanks!
I usually use it at night, right before I take a shower.(Sometimes when I’m too lazy to dig out a separate washcloth I just do it in the shower.) It takes off makeup better than anything I’ve ever tried.
I usually use about two teaspoons worth of oil at a time, so the bottle lasts for a good three or four months. (I think that is actually about the shelf life of grapeseed oil anyway.)
Thank you so much! 🙂