Got pesky blackheads? Slather oil on your face!

Sounds counterintuitive doesn't it? It's called the Oil Cleansing Method. I've been doing it for a week now and I notice a big difference in the look and feel of my skin. I've had blackheads on my nose and chin since I was about 12 years old and I could never get rid of them. I'd wash my face and they'd be right back. I could still see them. Even masks didn't really work. With using this oil stuff they are starting to go away! I keep running to the mirror to check and yeah, it's seriously working. My pores are still big, so I have empty holes in my face but I suspect that will change once all the gunk gets out.

I have acne prone skin that's oily, dry, and normal in some spots. Though I haven't had a problem in awhile, I get cystic ance too. It's only been a week but so far so good, no pimples no nothing execpt glowing skin and empty pores.

I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil (yes, the stuff you cook with) mixed in with a little Castor Oil (yes, the stuff that makes you poop). I also mix in a little tea tree oil because that's always helped with my skin.

So who's going to try this?

http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/
http://www.thebeautybottle.com/index.php?opti on=com_content&task=view&id=6&Ite mid=2

edited to add the following

Okay, for those of us who are having problems here are some Trouble Shooting tips.  I would add this to the first post but since it's been edited by a mod it won't let me.  Boo.  Maybe I'll add it to my second post. 

Anyway, everyone's skin is different.  You have to find what works for your skin.  Same thing when you use commerical facial cleansers...you have to figure out what works for you.  If you're having breakouts that you believe are related to OCM try these Trouble Shooting Tips:

1.  Your skin doesn't like EVOO (or whatever oil).  Try different oil.

2.  Your skin doesn't like Castor Oil.  Does it work without castor oil?  Some people do a modified version of OCM without castor.  Some people have luck with just EVOO or Jojoba (or whatever). 

3.  Your skin doesn't like the ratio of EVOO (or whatever oil) to Castor.  Change your ratios around.

4.  You're not spending enough time rubbing the oils in.  Give it at least 5 minutes.  Take some you time and enjoy.

5.  You're not getting enough dirty oils off your skin.  Spend more time with the rag on your face and take more care to get the oils off.

6.  Your skin does not like your washing off technique.  Lay a hot rag across your face.  Hold it in place.  Let it sit there until it cools a little.  Gently wipe your face.  Repeat.  Don't scrub.

7.  Your skin doesn't like the hot rag approach.  Try doing OCM in the shower and forgo the hot rag.  Instead, rub your oils in for AT LEAST 5 minutes then wash with water only.

8.  You're not soaking your wash cloths in dish soap and very hot water for a long time before sending them through the washing machine.  Laundry detergent cannot get the dirty oils out of your rags.  Dirty oil rags can cause you to break out.  Only use a rag once. 

9.  Your skin is too dry.  Try using plain EVOO (or whatever oil) as a moisturizer.  Or try bumping down your % of castor oil.

10.  Are you over washing your face?  Are you using your normal harsh cleanser in the morning then doing OCM at night?  Try washing your face with just water in the morning.  It's not gross, trust me.

11.  Are you under washing your face?  Are you washing your face with water only in the morning and doing OCM at night?  If you have time, do OCM in the morning and at night.  If you don’t have time, try using a light cleanser in the morning.  Look for one that's oil based.  You could probably find something good at a health food store.  

12.  Are you doing OCM everyday?  Try doing it only once every other day.  Maybe everyday is too much for your skin.

13.  Are you NOT doing OCM everyday?  Maybe you should try it.

14.  Maybe your skin needs extra pimple busting power.  Try adding a few drops of EO to your mix.  I highly recommend tea tree oil.  Other all around skin helpers include lavender, rosemary, geranium, and rose.  Do some research and see what might help you.

Update:

I've been using this for 3 days and my skin feels wonderful. The addition of the instant milk works great. I've revised mine to be milk and EVOO only.

ok im hitting the kitchen. my skin is prone to break outs and being oily but also gets really dry. The best cleanser i ever used was a oil by a japenses company but cost £100 so i couldnt afford to keep buying it.

myloss, glad to hear you've found what works for your skin.

Chelseagirl, be sure to keep us updated.

now I can't wait for the grocery store to open, lol. I bought a blackhead scrub and it just made me break out. I'll try just about anything to get these blackheads! This is war!

Hi everybody.   Try googling   Prostaglandins for acne . Omega 3 oils are great for regulating oil and softening skin...menopause symptons also...I'm gonna try the oil washing method also. Thanks

I first read this forum yesterday and got so excited!! I have battled black heads and acne since my early twenties (teen yers were great). I have tried so many different things, and they either just didn't work or made me break out more.  My dematologist had me to start using Oilatum soap, and the acne improved, but my face became really dry.  I'm still to scared to put any commercial moisturizer on my face for fear of more breakouts.  Then I read all the postings here and looked around the web for even more information.

I bought jojoba oil and cold pressed castor oil last night on my way home from work.  I tried it for the first time this morning.  My skin feels wonderful!! I do have a few questions though.  How do you know you have it all rinsed off? I used a hot wash cloth and wiped after allowing the cloth to cool on my face.  But my skin is extremely sensitive and even gentle wiping felt like I was taking off my top layer.  And it took several passes to get what I tought was all of it off.  I still felt a little slip, but I was really starting to feel raw.  Does anyone else have this problem? How did you get around it?

Also, I have acne on my arms, chest, shoulders, and back as well.  Would you use the same mixture for body as you would for your face?  I really hope I am able to do this.  I really like the thought of using a non-chemical methd of washing, treating, and moisturizing.

ah definitely doing this tonight. i have done scrubs with honey sugar and evoo and made my skin so smooth and gave it a great glow. i don't know why i stopped, probably out of lazyness unfortunately.

but if it will get rid of blackheads, i'm all in!

I saw someone mention using Safflower oil in lieu of EVOO. Would this be ok? I happen to have a bottle on hand. I have very oily skin.

So, I would use 50/50 (Safflower & Castor Oil). I'm going to purchase tea tree oil as suggested use for acne prone skin.

Thanks for all the informative information. By the way, I had just started using only Jojoba oil on my face, and noticed the forever-present blackheads on my nose starting to diminish. This was before I knew anything about this method.

Thank you = )

Dana, I hope this helps your blackheads.

StaciMae, there should be a slight slick feeling on your face.  I've read about others who had problems with wiping the oils off.  It seems they just rinsed in the shower and that was enough to get the oils off.  Was the water you were using too hot?  Maybe a baby washcloth would be more gentle if water only doesn't work for you.

Your body could take a stronger dose of castor oil than your face.  I've never OCMed my body, but I'm sure it would work (might be a PITA).  Let us know how it goes.

Chibi, this works great for blackheads, for me at least.  The idea behind it is "like dissolves like."  Since blackheads are mostly oil (sebum; our skin grease) it makes sense the best thing to dissolve them would be an oil.  The beauty industry doesn't seem to grasp that idea though.  Good luck!

Wendy, that should be just fine.

I have very oily skin, and purchased tea tree oil, lemon oil, and tangerine oil for use in my OCM. Hazlenut oil was recommended as a carrier oil, said to be good for astringent properties and oily skin.

Has anyone tried it? I hate to spend more money if not needed, but it sounds divine. If you've tried it, does it leave a oily residue? I really like Jojoba oil.

Thank you,

Wendy

Original Post by jennmary001:

I have been doing this for almost a year now.   I get compliments daily on what nice skin I have. 

I use a mix of grapeseed oil, tea tree, lavendar oil, castor, avacado oil, and rosemary oil.....and usually either a bit of EVOO, almond, or apricot.  Just depends what I am in the mood for.  I make a new batch about once every 2 weeks. 

I also do a sugar scrub every 2-3 weeks with 3 kinds of sugars (white, brown, and raw) mixed with my regular facial blend and peppermint oil added.  It makes my skin nice and tingly and exfoliates nicely. 

Seriously....my skin looks better than it ever has, including the year when I tried proactive.  :)

hi, I just found out this forum tonight, and i found lots of information regarding blackheads. i have lot of blackheads on my nose and face too, and i have been trying many products. i see that many people recommend the oil treatment here, but i dont understand how it works, and how to use those oils (tea tree, jojoba, and castor). do you use them to massage your face, or just put them on and leave it for the night? and also what is EVOO and OCM mean?

thanks

OCM = Oil Cleansing Method
EVOO = Extra Virgin Olive Oil
CO = Castor Oil
TTO = Tea Tree Oil
EO = Essential Oil

You massage the oils on your face and then wipe them off with a towel.

Take your oil of choice (like jojoba, grapeseed, sweet almond, EVOO, etc) and mix it with castor oil.  If you have oily skin try around 40-50% castor oil.  If you have dry skin use less (like 20%).  Then add a couple of drops of essential oils if you want to (lavender, tea tree, and rosemary are good for treating acne and blackheads).

Here is a hypothetical oil blend recipe for someone with normal to dry skin:

1 Tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon of Castor Oil

3 drops Tea Tree Oil

That's 75% EVOO, 25% CO.  I don't count the TTO in the percentages.

You mix the oils.  Then pour some into your hand.  Then you rub that onto your face and massage it in for 5 minutes.  Then you get a washcloth and get it wet with clean hot/warm water.  Then you lay the towel on your face and sit back and relax.  Once the towel has cooled you gently wipe you face.  Repeat until you can only feel a slight amount of oil on your skin.  Then you're done.

thank you so much, do you follow with any lotion? and how often do you use the ocm ^_^

I do it every day.  I don't need lotion afterwards.  It leaves my skin nice and soft.  If you find that your skin is tight or dry after cut down on the amount of castor oil you use in your mix.

Hi,

I don't have any blackheads, but notice that as I get older my pores are getting bigger.  Not on my nose or any particular area - all over my face. 

Did you find that this method helped close pores? 

Thanks.

Hi,

I use the OCM for a few day now, but my blackhead doesnt seem like going away. in fact it's getting more. I used 75% EVOO and 25% CO with few drops of TTO the first day, i got more blackheads the next AM. so i increase the EVOO to CO ratio to 3 to 2 (3 teaspoons EVOO and 2 teaspoons CO) for a few day. blackheads don't go away. any ideas why?

thanks

Agaac, not sure.  Mine look smaller.  Not sure if the oils actually shrink them or if it's just the fact that there isn't as much gunk my pore and that's making them smaller.

Micky, what do you mean you have more?  You sure there is more, or is all that sebum coming to the surface making it look like there is more?

If you want to try this method you need to give it a few weeks for your skin to adjust. 

Maybe your skin doesn't like something in your mix.  Play around with it.

You could always do a home facial too.  Lots of recipes available online.

Maybe your skin needs a good exfoliation.  Try mixing the oils with some sugar and do a gentle sugar scrub.

I tried this over the weekend - castor, EVOO and TTO.

It did dissolve some of the stuff towards the surface but didn't get the stuff deep down.

Because of some other's reactions I didn't want to do it again for a few days to be sure I wasn't going to break out all over (I haven't) Its also TTOTM and I didn't want to think one was the other.

I did feel a few come out as I was rubbing, but not from the worst spots. I rubbed a good 15 minutes (fingers were numb lol) and did the washcloths 4-5 times.

Next time I plan to add some sugar and make it a scrub.

I've been using straight olive oil for about two months now.  I don't have blackheads, but I've had cystic acne on my chin for about 15 years.  I've tried Proactive, Accutane, antibiotics, over the counter EVERYTHING, etc.  Just to make me more miserable, I also have a bacteria that invades every pimple and prevents them from healing.  Instead of drying up, they turn into scaly patches of skin that last for months before finally going away. 

Just the olive oil alone has worked wonders for me.  I've had no cystic pimples at all.  I have had some small whiteheads, but they dry up quickly.  And the dry, scaly patches are totally gone.  I actually had no pimples at all until the weather changed and got warmer and more humid.  Maybe I'll try a little castor oil to dry me out a bit during the summer months.

In the past when I've tried new products I'll sometimes have a few weeks where my skin clears up and then the breakouts will start again.  This seems to be a real solution.  AWESOME!