The Oil Cleansing Method

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!

Good/bad habits

I recently read this really good article in a magazine about breaking bad habits and also,forming new ones. I have lots of bad habits but I didn't want to overwhelm myself with bad habits to tackle so I focused on two small ones. The main points the article went through to break your habit were:
- Find the underlying problem that causes the habit to happen
- Look at all the positives of breaking your bad habit
- List how you will tackle the habit and stop doing it
- Think of a reward you can give yourself for breaking the bad habit

The first habit I want to break is, always forgtting to take my fish oil tablet in the morning.
Underlying problem: I'm always in a rush in the mornings and then I forget it
Positives of breaking habit: tablets will make me healthier, ensure I get my daily dose of omega-3's and keep m bright and alert for the day.
How to tackle: make sure not in a rush in the morning, put a note on the fridge to remind me to have it each day.
Reward: I get to use my pimple spot cream if I take my fish oil tablet(extremely weird reward but it works for me, as I definitely don't want any pimples!)

Speaking of fish oil, they now have some new-fangled fish oil tablets in the stores that are eco-friendly and I LOVE anything that is good for the environment, so as soon as my fish oil tablets run out I'll be buying these new ones. They only use small fish varieties that are not endangered and have a faster reproduction rate,and it's all done in controlled fisheries.

The second bad habit I want to break is not drinking enough water.
Underlying problem: I just don't make time for it and forget it and prefer other drinks more.
Positives of breaking habit: My skin will be less dry, I'll be more alert and refreshed throughout the day, less stressed and have many other health benefits that I don't know about :D
How to tackle: Have a glass of water every morning, bring a bottle of water with me when I leave the house each day, have a glas of water when I come home and have a glass of water with my dinner.
Reward: I get to drink my water out of these really pretty glases we have but when I have normal beverages I have to drink them out of plain glasses. For some reason pretty things appeal to me!

After seeing this water count iPod App I really want an iPod Touch. You just tap one of the empty glasses each time you drink a glass and try to finish 8 by the end of the day. It would be a really great little incentive!