Make-up Monday...for last week's Wellness Wednesday!

Recently I was complaining to one of my girlfriends about my not-so-compliant skin.  It has been far from blemish free lately, regardless of the different tricks I had been trying to make it crystal clear.  Stress, hormones, diet, dirt, oil...all of these things can contribute to not-so-pretty skin.  So, back to my girlfriend.  She brought up an email that one of her friends had sent her, with a video attached describing the oil cleansing method.  Sounds weird, but the method claims the best way to clean your skin is with oil.  Naturally, I did a bit of research and here is what I came up with.

Thanks to some super-smart people who call themselves chemists, we know that like dissolves like.  Water dissolves water, oil dissolves oil.  Water does not dissolve oil and oil does not dissolve water.  Okay, got it.  So believe it or not, our skin purposefully produces oil.  We need it to help maintain a protective barrier from the cold, harsh outside world (a little dramatic, I know) to make a long story short. 

When we wash our skin with soap and water, we are essentially stripping our skin of its natural oil.  Ever wash your face with cleanser or a bar of soap and after drying off with a towel you notice that tight, dry feeling?  Sure you have.  Well, I'm assuming you have.  I definitely have!  Looking back, I was using all of these products (most of them as natural as possible even) that just kept drying out my skin, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why my skin was still super shiny and oily by mid afternoon...

So I gave it a shot.  And boy am I glad that I did!  My skin has been super soft and mostly clear since I started this cleansing method a few weeks ago (unfortunately this method doesn't cure the occasional hormonal blemish, I'm still working to find something to help with that!).  There are different combinations of different types of oil you can play with to find the perfect cleansing concoction for your skin.  Right now, I'm using a mixture of castor oil and extra virgin olive oil.  I start with a dry face (makeup still on) and pour a decent amount into my hand.  I massage it all over my face for about a minute, turning the sink on to get the water nice and hot.  Next I grab a washcloth, soak it with hot water and then plop it on my face for about 30 seconds.  Then I wipe away all of the dirt and makeup and I'm set with a soft, clean face.

We are all familiar with olive oil.  It is packed with a wide variety of antioxidants and healthy monounsaturated fats.  Along with its many benefits when consumed orally, olive oil is a natural, deep penetrating moisturizer that helps regenerate skin cells and softens the tissues.  Wikipedia even cited a study that was done on mice, that showed application of olive oil immediately after exposure to UVB rays had a preventative effect on the formation of tumors and skin cancer.

Castor oil...I hadn't heard of this one before.  Castor oil is a vegetable oil obtained from castor beans.  It can deeply penetrate the skin due to its low molecular mass.  It is packed full of triglycerides, moisturizes the skin and has anti-inflammatory properties.  Castor oil is also antibacterial in nature.

You can get creative and play with different types of oil.  I wanted to start basic to make sure my skin reacted nicely to this method (I'd recommend doing the same if you want to try it).  I'm thinking about adding a bit of rose hip oil.  Rose hip oil contains vitamin A, which helps delay the effects of skin aging, assists with cell regeneration, and promotes collagen and elastin levels (woo-hoo fountain of youth! -just kidding).  I really like this cleansing method.  I've been using less moisturizer and my skin has been very docile compared to before.  Bonus for the ladies - this cleansing method even removes eye makeup!