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.

The Necessary Tools.

1. Oils.

You must have the Castor Oil.  It must be Unrefined - if it says Expeller Pressed you're good to go as well.  I'm using Now Solutions Castor Oil 100% pure versatile skin care.  It's a 16 oz bottle that I ordered from Amazon for $15.12.  Can you buy it at your local drug store - probably - could you get a smaller bottle - definitely.

Now for the "Carrier" oil, a.k.a. the other type of oil you choose to use.  The most frequently recommended carrier oil is EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil).  My friend recommended Jojoba Oil to me because she said it smelled better.  I'm using an 8 oz. bottle of Jojoba Oil by Acne.org that I also got from Amazon for $21.65.  You could probably find this at a health or beauty store but if you live in Small Town USA like I then the internet is probably going to be your best bet.  Now, you could also get a smaller bottle of this.  If you want to research other Carrier options here are a few helpful sites.

http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/
http://www.crunchybetty.com/nitty-gritty-on-the-oil-cleansing-method

One last addition to the mix is going to be Tea Tree Oil.  This is the acne fighter.  I'm using a 1 oz bottle of Jason Tea Tree Pure Natural Skin Oil ordered from Amazon for $9.75.  This should be your smallest bottle.  Use the sites above to research other additives.  There are different oils for everything: acne, anti-aging, dry skin, etc.

2.  Rag/Wash Clothes.  A new one every night, thank you cleanliness.

3.  Hot Water.

4.  A Mixing Ratio.


This is an experiment.  There are no set ratios.  The dryer the skin the less Castor Oil and vice versa.  I consider my skin Oily.  I'm going to start 50/50 Castor and Jojoba with one tiny drop of Tea Tree - they say a little goes a long way.  I'm going to eye ball the mix in my hand for at least the first week to see what ratio I like the best then I might pre-mix a small bottle after finding my very own personal ratio.  Hooray.

5.  The Process.


Step 1.  Wash your hands.
Step 2.  Start running Hot Water.
Step 3.  Put a quarter sized portion of your oil mix in the palm of your hand.
Step 4.  Rub the oil between your hands to warm it.
Step 5.  Massage the oils into your face.  Really massage.  Keep massaging.
Step 6.  Wash the oil off your hands and wet your rag with the hot water.
Step 7.  Lay the hot rag over your face and let the rag stay until it reaches room temp. Re-wet the rag and repeat.
Step 8.  Gently rub the oil off your face with the rag.  Rinse the rag with the hot water and repeat until all of the oil residue is off your face.

Done.

In the beginning.

In the beginning there was skin and the skin was unruly.  I'm 22 and as long as I've know what zits are I've had them.  We've been through a lot together but about two weeks ago I decided I really had to end the relationship.  The dermatologist gave me some cream -it could've been mayonnaise for all I knew- Pro Active - made the skin too dry - everything on the skin care aisle at Walgreens - made the zits invite 3 friends to the party and the latest warrior Murad - always let a small army stay and fight.

Over this past summer I saw lots of girls washing their faces -I worked at a theater.  I couldn't help but notice one girl who never washed her face after the show -meanwhile I'm bringing in a different cleanser every night.  I finally had to ask why she never washed her face and why she had not one zit! Grr.  She was very open to the question and proceeded to tell me all about the Oil Cleansing Method.  My skin crawled at the thought of cleaning my face with oil -after all wasn't that the stuff I was trying to get rid of- yet I was very intrigued.

I wasn't intrigued enough until about two weeks ago when I knew I had to do something.  I don't want to have to carry around concealer with me 24/7.  I don't want to have to wear make-up if I'm feeling too lazy to put it on.  I want beautiful skin! People have it! I've seen it and I'm beyond jealous!  So here my journey begins.  I'm scared and not really sure what is going to happen, but I've also never been more excited to wash my face.

The reason I started this blog is to share the details.  I did hours upon hours of online research on the Oil Cleansing Method.  I found lots of information - obviously enough to start the regimen - but I feel like a lot of details were left out.  If I'm going to rub oils all over my face I want to know everything about it.  So, I promise to tell you everything.  I do not promise to spell everything correctly.  Sorry :)