What I know Now.

When I first started the OCM I said I might make a pre-mixed bottle of my oils.  Wrong wrong wrong was I!  I don't think you should ever do this and here's why.

Skin is ever changing.  When I started the OCM I used half jojoba half castor and one drop of tea tree and my skin felt perfect.  After about 2 weeks it started feeling oily so I increased the castor oil.  Well over the past week I have increased the castor oil everyday until finally I used only castor oil.  Guess what.  My skin was great after that, not dry at all.

Another thing I did.

Last night I cleansed with only tea tree oil.  I would not recommend this to anyone with even slightly dry skin but if your oily and acne prone like I then you might give it a try.  It is strong and gives your skin an extreme cooling sensation.

The biggest lesson here is to not be afraid to change your ratios.  Next week who knows what I'll be using. If you feel oily bump up the castor and if you're feeling dry give the jojoba a few extra drops.

I'm still very eager to try Crunchy Betty's Honey Cleanse.  I'm in the process of moving and have been swamped with all involved in that but Honey Cleanse and Bare Mineral purchase is coming soon.

A Makeup Issue

I typically wear very little makeup.  Concealer under the eyes, eye liner, a little blush, chap stick, curl the lashes and go. When I want to get a little more fancy I add loose powder, eye shadow, and mascara.  With all of the holiday occasions lately I have been wearing more makeup than normal.  This has presented a problem.

If I OCM in the morning in the shower then I have to do it again at night to remove the makeup.  I think only once a day is better.  I've had a few blemishes come up this past week.  They go away pretty quickly and are nothing compared to the ones I would get before I started the OCM but it has still been disheartening since I was doing so well.

I decided to up the Tea Tree Oil to 3 drops and increased the amount of Castor Oil to about 60%.  I hope this will get me back to perfectly clear skin.  But it still leaves the makeup problem.

I'm thinking I need to seek out new makeup.  A more natural skin friendly powder that won't ruin all of my OCM goodness.  This is going to be challenging and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Happy Cleansing!

Can We Talk About Hair?

So I'm starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of the OCM.  I'm ready to do something about my hair now.  Just as I considered my skin oily I consider to hair oily as well.  If it's not washed at least once every 24 hours it gets pretty bad and I have to bring out the dry shampoo to save the day.  I'm such a believer in the OCM now that I feel like a similar regimen must work for my hair as well.

The oily scalp and dry brittle ends have got to go! Who has suggestions??

The First Compliment!

It finally happened.  I had lunch with a friend that I haven't seen in about a month and 20 minutes into the lunch he said "well your skin looks great".  Oh I was so happy and I proceeded to tell him all about the OCM.  I've been telling pretty much everyone I know whether they care to hear it or not.

I'm still mostly doing the OCM when I take a shower.  It's definitely easier that way.

Here's the latest...

A bit of a change.

Over the past few days I have been doing the OCM in the shower.  This means a few things.

• I don't do it everyday.  I've been doing it every other day and it has been working just as well.
• It is easier to do in the shower.  The water is hot and there is a nice steamy environment for the face. I still lay the washcloth over my face, after all that is my favorite part.  
• The 50/50 jojoba and castor oil ratio with a drop of tea tree oil is still doing the job.

My skin is feeling great and I love the fact that I don't have to worry about it being super oily mid day or even on day two!

Day 2.

Today was great.  I did not apply any moisturizer this morning because I didn't need any!  Throughout the entire day my face maintained a nice not too dry not too oily look.  Usually by mid day I'm bringing out the oil absorbing sheets but not today.

I did have one new small zit come up on my chin but the existing ones seem to be getting better.

Tonight I did the same cleansing that I did last night.  Same 50/50 jojoba and castor ratio with a tiny drop of tea tree.  I applied a small amount of jojoba to the strange dry spots on my checks and a tiny amount of tea tree oil to the zits after the cleanse.

So far so good.

The First Cleanse.

I have to admit that I was planning to start the OCM - we know by now that OCM stands for Oil Cleansing Method - a night ago when all of my oils had arrived but I chicken out.  Well tonight ladies and gentlemen, I did it! Ahhh.  Here are my details.

• It doesn't smell good.  It's not unbearable but it's not exactly pleasant.  But hey it's all natural.

• It does feel good.  It's like giving your face a little massage.  That part helped take my mind off the smell.

• I used a head band to keep my hair out of my face but I also tried not to massage the oil too close to my hair line.

• The hot rag steaming part was my favorite by far.  I rinsed my rag and repeated that step 3 times because I liked it so much.

• I tried to be as gentle as I could while wiping the oil off.  I rinsed my rag and repeated this step 3 times to be safe.  I also paid close attention to my hair line, neck line, eyebrows, sides of my nose and upper lip to make sure I really got it all off.  They say leaving oil residue can lead to breakouts so I want to be safe. 

• My skin does feel soft, and not too oily not too dry.  I think the ratio - 50/50 with a tiny drop of tea tree - was pretty good, for now at least.  

• After I finished I rub the top of the tea tree bottle with my finger and then rubbed a tiny amount of it on the largest zit currently occupying my face.  

• The recent cold weather has caused a strange dryness on my checks.  You can't really see it but it feels funky.  So, I rubbed a tiny amount of the Jojoba oil into my checks after the cleanse.  

I'm even going to show you a picture.

You're welcome.

Until tomorrow.  Happy Cleansing.