Today I thought I would talk about the Oil Cleansing Method, or at least my version of it. I've been intrigued by the idea of cleansing+moisturising with oil for about a year, when I first heard about it on MUA. To me, even though I have dry skin, oil = clogs and greasy skin!
Not so.
Most carrier oils, especially jojoba oil, mimic sebum, the oil our skin secretes naturally. Sebum has many functions - it lubricates the skin, prevents moisture loss and even helps with healing of the epidermis. Not bad ey!
I have stubborn comedones on my nose that I've had for literally 10 years! Tried AHAs, BHAs and even PHAs (polyhydroxy acids such as mandelic acid) and still nada :( So, eventually, I bit the bullet and bought some jojoba and rosehip seed oils.
Ok, jojoba oil is great for oily skin for the reasons I mentioned above. Somewhat counterintuitively, applyling sebum-like oils to your skin does not make your skin even more oily! Your skin recognises the oil, and inhibits any more sebum production. So you end up with moisturised, matte-yet-glowy skin.
Rosehip seed on the other hand, contains retinol-like molecules (retinol being a Vitamin A derivative. Retinol is great for mature skin as it speeds up cell turnover and so effectively exfoliates your skin, getting rid of dead skin cells and making your skin smoother and more radiant, and pores smaller.
Ok so what do I do? The classic Oil Cleansing Method suggests adding 1 part castor oil (a very powerful oil that gets right down to your pores and clean them out) to 3 parts something else. I didn't get round to buying castor oil, and thought I'd just cleanse with jojoba oil. While this is very effective at removing makeup etc., it hasn't made a difference to my comedones :( I will buy some castor oil and get back to you though!
In the evenings I use jojoba oil to moisturise, applying it to damp freshly-cleansed skin. On the nights that I use mandelic acid (every other night), I cleanse with jojoba oil, which leaves my skin nice and soft, remove it and apply mandelic acid. After ~20mins I reapply jojoba oil and leave it on. I have to say though, it is better to apply to damp skin as it sinks in a lot faster!
In the mornings, I wash my face with warm water, apply my Nufountain Vitamin C serum ( <3 ) and moisturise 20mins later with rosehip seed oil.
Both oils have a faint but pleasant odour, and an oily texture that sinks in very quickly. I'd recommend both of them as moisturisers - I tried using my old Roche-Posay Melt-in Creme yesterday (a very heavy moisturiser) and my skin felt really dry and tight! I don't think I'll ever go back to a 'normal' moisturiser now, unless I was on holiday and wanted something with a high SPF.
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