I stumbled upon the 'Oil Cleansing Method' quite some time ago, which claims that using a combination of oils to cleanse your face will leave it free of blemishes and imperfections. The idea that I could clean my face with something so simple and inexpensive was very alluring. There are plenty of organic mass-produced, environmentally friendly beauty products out there but they're usually uber expensive and it's difficult to find ones that actually work and if they don't suit your skin you've wasted your money and the product just ends up going into landfill. So, my current fascination is with natural household pantry items, which usually consist of only one ingredient, that you can use on your face and body.
I would recommend using your oil concoction one a week or every fortnight; too often and your skin will feel dry and tight. The oil definitely doesn't make your skin oilier as most would assume. Conversely, it actually 'eats' the natural oil on your skin and washes most of it away when you wipe the rest of the oil concoction off your face.
Making the mixture is ridiculously easy; simply add 80% olive oil to a jar with 20% castor oil(which I bought from a pharmacy). All I did was put in four tablespoons of olive oil in a small jar, along with one tablespoon of the castor oil and then repeated this process until the jar was full.
To use:
1. Splash a little water on your face to moisten the skin.
2. Pour a roughly 50 cent sized splash of the mixture into your hand and rub your palms together to warm the oil.
3. Apply mixture to your face, gently rubbing in using a circular motion.
4. Lie a washcloth drenched in hot water over your face. The steam helps to lift the oil off your skin.
5. Wipe the oil off your face using the washcloth.
6. Rinse the washcloth and repeat steps 4 & 5 another 3 times to completely get all the oil mixture off your face.
The mixture really helps to get rid of impurities and with continued use your skin starts to become much smoother, clearer and fresher!
I love the oil cleansing method so much that I decided to make up a batch for my close friend, Chloe. A little preserve jar and a pretty ribbon made it a sweet present. I'd definitely recommend the oil mixture as a small birthday or Christmas present as it's cheap, practical and when presented in a cute jar can look very unique.
I'll be trialling a couple other natural beauty products in the coming weeks so it would be really great if you guys could test out these 'recipes' with me and let me know how they work for you!
