Help with OCM

[Jecca]

I had never heard of the Oil Cleansing Method until last week, but it made a lot of sense to me and I wanted to try it out right away, especially to see if it would tame my oily skin. So I went out and bought a whole bunch of stuff, and started using the oils four days ago. I'm liking the way it works so far, but my skin is still getting oily a couple of hours later.

What I've been using so far is a combo of about 75% castor oil and 25% EVOO, with a squirt of jojoba oil and a few drops of tea tree oil. I've been slathering it on my face, then steaming it with a hot washcloth, and massaging my face for a good long while to clean and try to remove blackheads, then wiping it off. My skin feels great afterwards, though maybe just a little tight. But a few hours later, shine-city just like normal. I was thinking that maybe I'm drying out my skin too much and need more EVOO. I don't know. I tried putting on a very light layer of jojoba oil afterwards one night, but I feel like that made it worse.

Am I doing something wrong? Do I need to just give it more time?

Thanks,

Jessica

 

[Jobunny]

Hi! Castor oil can be pretty drying (I found this out because I use it on my eyebrows, but if I put too much on it drips onto my eyelid, which then gets dry and scaley - gross!) - I think it's recommended for acne-prone skin perhaps because it is drying? I know when I have acne I don't want something drying though because I find it makes it worse.

I love OCM, I use it because I feel it gets my sunscreen off, and then I use a foaming cleanser to get the oil off. My method is: rub plenty of oil on face, massage in etc, then use a baby wipe to remove the oil and makeup/sunscreen which has been dissolved by the oil, and then I use my foaming cleanser to clean my skin. I feel like OCM gets the stuff off my skin and the foaming cleanser gets the oil off my skin and cleans my skin. Does that make sense? Anyway it works for me!

Then on my damp face I rub in a couple of drops of apricot oil. I don't know if oils have any moisturising properties of their own so much, but because I rub it in on a damp face, it seals the moisture in. Some people do this with vaseline etc, it's the same principle. You can also pat a couple of drops of oil over your nighttime moisturiser if you use one, to seal it in.

Maybe you're becoming oily because you don't use a cleanser after the oil - I've tried it that way too but didn't like it because of the oilies! I don't do the steaming etc thing because I found it took too long, made my face red, and didn't actually make a difference.

Try using a dab of foaming cleanser after you've wiped the oil off your face, and try the jojoba on damp skin.

Also, EVOO is lovely (although makes me want salad) for OCM, but any oil works in the same way. I like grapeseed if I want something with a thin consistency, but at the moment I'm using sunflower - it smells kind of salty if that makes sense, you can add essential oils to it if you want though, but it's really syrupy so it makes an awesome makeup/sunscreen remover, I like it the best out of the ones I've tried.

Also, about the Tea Tree oil - I think you can use it every day if it's very very diluted - so don't put a few drops each time, but put a few drops or so in the whole bottle, it can be pretty drying and might stress your skin out a wee bit. That's just my opinion - I like things to be simple, I really don't think skin needs a million and one products to look good!

Whoa sorry that was so long! Keep experimenting and try and find something that works for YOUR skin. You don't have to use tea tree and castor oil because someone else does, just find whatever you're comfortable with!

 

[vitaeZ]

I think you have your ratios backwards, thereby stripping way too much oil out of your skin, and it's trying to compensate and oiling itself back up.

I've been doing OCM for a couple weeks, but *just* switched to Castor/Olive oil.

I typically have pretty oily skin, and I'm using a 25% Castor/75% Olive mix.

Here's where I found info on ratios for different skin types: The Oil Cleansing Method

Make up a new batch, using a much smaller ratio of the Castor oil, and see how that works for you!

Good luck!

 

[magosienne]

IMO the castor oil is not the best choice because it has a really thick and well "greasy" texture some other oils don't have. just my personal preference but i prefer using oils that will be absorbed by the skin without leaving it greasy. so far my faves are macadamia and coconut, sweet almond at night.

 

[acneXpert]

Gram flour is an excellent remedy for oily skin.

 

[Kathy]

Ditto to reducing the amount of Castor Oil you're using. Try going to 50/50. I use 50% castor oil and 50% Sweet Almond oil and that seems to work well for me. But, you really just need to play around with the ratios and find what works best for your skin type.

 

[Fatimah]

I've been interested in trying out OCM for a few months now...the problem is my skin is sensitive to olive oil and gets seriously irritated by it...It makes me break out in a rash, it doesn't matter which part of my body I apply it on...I tried it on my scalp and hair as a conditioner, i only left it on for 5mins before I rinsed off, but my scalp started weeping out pus for a whole week after that...ouch and yuck...tried using it on the left side of my face once a few years back and got the worst cystic acne on my left cheek...so yeah, evoo is a strictly no-go zone for me...can anyone suggest what kind of oil would suit me? i have combination face skin, with dry skin on the cheeks and around the mouth.

 

[mistli78]

Originally Posted by Fatimah /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been interested in trying out OCM for a few months now...the problem is my skin is sensitive to olive oil and gets seriously irritated by it...It makes me break out in a rash, it doesn't matter which part of my body I apply it on...I tried it on my scalp and hair as a conditioner, i only left it on for 5mins before I rinsed off, but my scalp started weeping out pus for a whole week after that...ouch and yuck...tried using it on the left side of my face once a few years back and got the worst cystic acne on my left cheek...so yeah, evoo is a strictly no-go zone for me...can anyone suggest what kind of oil would suit me? i have combination face skin, with dry skin on the cheeks and around the mouth. Fatimah, I don't know if you can get it in Saudi Arabia but I use Jojoba Oil and I love it, it feels really oily at first but then it makes your skin so soft.

 

[Fatimah]

Originally Posted by mistli78 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Fatimah, I don't know if you can get it in Saudi Arabia but I use Jojoba Oil and I love it, it feels really oily at first but then it makes your skin so soft. ooh...yeah we have that here...i'll try it out one of these days...i'm so afraid of breaking out, on the hand i don't wana miss out on something that could turn out wonderful on my skin lol...thanks for the tip mistli, i'd mainly like to smooth out those tiny rough bumps and dry patchiness i've been getting around my nose and cheeks...i usually have combination/normal skin, but the weather (plus my coffee addiction these days) has been drying my face out...ugggh....is ocm helpful for dryness btw, or is it just for oily skin?