Source: oilyskinblog.com via Jayme on Pinterest

There has recently been a lot of buzz about the oil cleansing method among the hijabi set. The ever so lovely Amena Khan did a wonderful little video tutorial on the oil cleansing method, and I could not resist trying it! Yes, I know I am a sucker for all things beauty, but I promise you that this is definitely worth trying.

I have to say, I was already pretty happy with my cleanser (I used Chantecaille’s Rice and Geranium Foaming Cleanser) coupled with my Clarisonic face brush. However, I was being lazy with charging my Clarisonic and was just washing my face without the brush. Needless to say, I broke out on my face so I needed to change up my skincare routine a little.

It was just what I needed to try the oil cleansing method.

However, after reading a lot of blog posts about the oil cleansing method, I had a few takeaways. The first is that castor oil is the typical carrier oil for the cleansing method. However, if you have acne prone skin or sensitive skin, castor oil may not be ideal. I would say start off with castor oil, but tweak it to suit your own skin’s needs. The second is that you can use any mix of oils that work best for your skin.

The oil cleansing method is all about the idea that “like dissolves like.” This means that oil should dissolve the oil that is clogging your pores and the root of your bad skin issues. Remember, there are other things such as dead skin cells and bacterial inflammation that is also causing your skin issues. So the oil cleansing method promises to dissolve the stuff clogging your pores while avoiding harsh chemicals found in traditional face cleansers that can strip away your skin’s natural barrier of protection. I know from personal experience that stripping away my skin’s natural oils only forced my skin to produce more sebum (oil in the skin) and caused more breakouts.

I decided to try out two different combinations of oils. The first was 2 parts extra virgin olive oil, 1 part almond oil. The second is all almond oil and 2 drops tea tree oil. For now, I think the tea tree oil combination is working out better for me. My two pimples (I know, TMI!) started to calm down and I also noticed that the redness is going down a lot faster. As a woman of color, I also grapple with hyperpigmentation and scarring from acne as well. Well, I can honestly say that after trying the oil cleansing method, my dark spots are actually healing a lot faster than with any fancy cream (trust me, I tried MANY of these; including Clinique’s).

I think the true test is that I find myself really debating whether I even want to wear foundation or concealer because I feel like it masks my own natural glow!

The best part is that not only is the oil cleansing method natural, it is a heck of a lot cheaper than what I was spending on my original face wash.

If you are interested in the oil cleansing method, check out this great starter post on the oil cleansing method on Nature’s Nurture blog