There is a serious crunchy movement going on right now. Green cleaning products, clean eating diets, documentaries that scare you away from eating beef (or anything), and a few “clean” beauty product lines. Beauty products are where I feel the world could use the most change! There are companies out there right now that are “cleaning” out their products – like Young Living, Beautycounter, and BareMinerals. But sometimes I want the cleanest slate there is. As I’ve entered this crunchy journey I’ve spent countless nights staying up way too late reading blog posts and websites learning astonishing facts, getting my mind blown and finding DIY recipes galore. I’ve ALWAYS had problem skin, and when I came across the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM) I was intrigued to say the least. I’ve had oily skin – like pools of oil forming on my nose – so cleaning my face with oil was like whaaaat?

BUT guys, it’s legit. The basic science behind it is “like dissolves like” (this was a eureka moment to me previously while I was diluting essential oils in my early crunchy days). The fresh oil you clean your face with dissolves the dirty oil that’s on your face. You massage it around for a few minutes (which feels amaze, by the way), then you wipe it away with a nice hot washcloth and voila! Fresh clean skin that hasn’t been dried out by soap.

You can find a MOUNTAIN of information on the internet about this. I read and read and read about ALL the oils you can use and what is best for what type of skin, etc. My favorite and most informative post was by Crunchy Betty, but The Hippy Homemaker  has some good stuff too.

The basic information is like this:

There are comedogenic (likely to clog your pores) and noncomedogenic (less likely to clog your pores) oils out there. If you are acne prone, stick to noncomedogenic. Honestly I’d stick to those oils anyways unless your pores never get clogged AND you have super dry skin. If you have pores that never get clogged I envy you. And I probably don’t like you.

SO.

Comedogenic Oils:

• Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Apricot Kernel Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Cocoa Butter

Noncomedogenic Oils:

• Jojoba Oil
• Argan Oil
• Rosehip [Seed] Oil
• Pumpkin Seed Oil
• Grapeseed Oil

So there’s that. The next characteristic of the oil you’ll want to consider is its linoleic vs. oleic acid content. Some people’s natural sebum has the tendency to harden, and therefore clog pores. Long story short, oleic acid is more likely to harden, while linoleic acid is less likely to harden oil in your pores. For me, since I have acne prone skin and get clogged SUPER easily, I picked oils that were noncomedogenic and high in linoleic acid. You really have to experiment, but I found my happy place with pumpkin seed oil and rosehip oil.

Let’s talk about 2 specific oils real quick – castor oil and jojoba oil. Castor oil is thick and sticky, and it is an astringent oil. It will pull impurities from your skin, but it will also dry it out. I find my face can only handle a little bit of this (even though I thought my skin was oily!), so if you have dry skin, start small! Like really small. Jojoba oil is very thin and is the most similar one to our natural facial sebum. It absorbs very well and is a GREAT base oil or starting point for your crunchy face endeavors! From there, you can experiment to see which ones work best for your face. I used each of my experimental combos for a week or two while testing. I felt that was enough time to give it a good chance to show what it could do.

Once you find your happy place, throw a couple drops of essential oils in the mix. There are a few that are GREAT for skincare. Lavender is great for calming the skin; tea tree oil is a potent anti-bacterial oil that is good for acne-prone skin (I sometimes put it directly on a zit, and it’s also in my blemish roller bottle); and frankincense is just all-around AMAZING for skin and helping it stay youthful.

I do about a 2:1 ratio of pumpkin seed and rosehip oils, with a few drops of frankincense in the bottle (I combine my oils into a dropper bottle like these ones to make it easier to use). Even though that’s my happy place, I find during summer or higher humidity it helps to add a bit of castor oil to the mix. Side note: castor oil is AMAZING for growing out your lashes and brows! More on that here.

There is one oil that’s like a secret MVP that I didn’t mention: tamanu oil. Never heard of it? I hadn’t either until Crunchy Betty enlightened me. Tamanu oil is magical. It has a history of being used for wound healing. That might not sound like a problem you have (I hope), but it’s great for that purpose because it enhances cell turnover. It also has antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties, which makes it GREAT for acne. I find it works wonders on that big cystic acne (ugh, you know what I’m talking about). If you have acne-prone skin, use it in your OCM mixture on the regular. You can also use it as a spot treatment for those big guns. And if you add add a drop of tea tree oil to that…RESULTS. I do up a little roller bottle of essential oils for acne treatment and I put a pump or two of tamanu oil in there as a carrier oil. More on that later 🙂

Even though you may not be familiar with all of these oils, you can find them pretty easily. You can hop down to your local Whole Foods, or you can Amazon Prime them to your door in 2 days (can I get an Amen?).

The frequency of oil cleansing is up to you. You can do the OCM every night if you want (that’s my routine), or once a week, or however often you find works best for your skin. It’s generally an evening routine deal, and in the morning some people just splash their face with water. I’m still too addicted to the scrubby clean feeling, so I like to use a charcoal bar with my cool spinny face brush first thing in the morning. I also ALWAYS follow any type of cleansing with witch hazel toner. I’ve tried a lot of toners and I personally prefer just plain witch hazel, but there are a lot of good ones out there (Young Living and Thayer’s are well-loved examples). But anyways, witch hazel restores the natural pH of your skin, which is so important guys. It also helps get rid of any OCM residue, which could inadvertently clog your pores if you haven’t wiped enough off!

After toning, MOISTURIZE. I used to think that since I was balancing out my face with oil and witch hazel it would just be perfect. And you know what, sometimes it is. Those magical days where the weather is perfect and I haven’t used too much hair product… But mostly I need something. In winter I need to slather my face with lotion (my FAVE is Young Living’s ART Light Moisturizer). In summer I need just a bit. MAYBE nothing if it’s a hot night and I live in a place where there’s no AC (thanks, Germany). But the bottom line is: replenish your skin. Even if you are acne-prone. Moisturized skin is healthier. Healthier skin can heal and repair itself more efficiently. Win.

One last thing – rosewater spray. Guys, I randomly picked up some rosewater spray at Whole Foods one day for $6. I casually sprayed it on my face later that day and HOLY COW. It turned my face into a smooth buttery surface I’d never seen before. I’ve since tried a couple of different ones, but the Bulgarian Rosewater Spray that I picked up initially is seriously THE best (cheapest at Whole Foods). I found a big bottle on Amazon that I sometimes use as toner, but also use to refill my little mister bottle. Magic, guys. It’s magic.

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to treat, diagnose or cure any ailments or diseases.

This post contains affiliate links for products I use and love.

Pin me!