attempting the oil cleansing method.

for the better part of last week, i've been cleaning my face with oil.  yep, you heard it correctly- oil.

my younger sister is dealing with oh-so-wonderful teenage acne & my mom was contemplating getting her on something a bit stronger to help keep it at bay.  having gone through the very same thing when i was a teen- and knowing she'll most likely outgrow it soon, i asked my mom to hold off while i did some research for a more natural solution.

those of you that know me know i do my best to keep things as natural as possible in our food, home and life- and i'm usually not too taken aback by some of the more holistic remedies.  thanks to pinterest & a few of the blogs i follow, i'd heard of people cleaning their face with oil before and to be honest, was definitely guarded to this rather odd solution.  cleaning oil with oil?  it didn't make sense.

but, instead of scoffing once again, i googled everything i could about the oil cleansing method (or ocm).  much to my surprise, there's a lot more information out there than i thought & while the theory behind it made sense, i couldn't for the life of me wrap my head around it.  so i did what any normal person would do- decided my sister and i had to try it for ourselves.

despite my better attempts, finding castor oil was quite the feat.  after visiting a couple grocery and drug stores, i finally found small bottles at cvs.  i picked up two in addition to the grapeseed oil and tea tree oil i purchased at the grocery store.  following this method, i blended the oils and essential oils into small bowls.  i figured after a few weeks, i'd upgrade to a pretty soap dispenser or something if i liked it.

the first week has been nothing short of interesting.  the castor oil is way more drying than i anticipated- so i'm still experimenting with my perfect blend.  i have to say however, i love the process.  i love the soothing method of massaging the oil onto my face after a busy day and better yet, placing a steaming towel over my entire face until it begins to cool.  it's such a great end of the day routine.  and while this adds an additional 3-5 minutes to my nightly routine, it's now 3-5 minutes that i really look forward to.

according to crunchy betty, it will take 2, possibly 3 weeks for my skin to adjust to this method.  luckily, so far (with the exception of a gnarly pimple on my chin) so good.  i'll continue to document this process as my skin changes (or doesn't) over the next couple weeks to keep you updated on this seemingly nutty approach.