It actually sounds conterproductive…using oil to cleanse your face.  How can smearing oil all over your face help with breakouts and oiliness?  Well, if you can think back to that Chemistry class you took ions ago, you’ll remember that like dissolves like.  So, oil will dissolve any existing oil from your face and replenish it with clean, nourishing oil.  In general, when you wash your face with a regular cleanser, be it a gel, foam or cream, you are stripping your skin of it’s natural oils.  We tend to think that we must rid our face of oils so that we won’t breakout.    But, what we’re actually doing is sending a message to our skin that it doesn’t have enough oil and as a result, our skin ends up produces more oil to compensate for the oil you just washed away using your cleanser.  Basically, your skin becomes confused.

The basic concept of the Oil Cleansing Method is that the oil used to massage your skin will break up sebum and grime on the surface of your skin.  Your skin gets clean without stripping its natural moisture the way it does with most traditional cleansers.  And YES, oily skin people can use this too!

You can try this method in 2 easy steps:

1.  Massage a few drops of oil onto dry skin.  Massage it well to break up all that stuff on your face.  A good minute should do the trick.

2. After your done molesting your skin…(ha)…either rinse your face with warm water or use a wet washckloth (soaked with almost hot water) and wipe the oil off.

Most people report not needing to use a moisturizer afterwards, because skin feels balanced and supple.

Cleansing Oils to try:

Origins Clean Energy Gentle Cleansing Oil

I’ve been using this for the last two weeks and so far so good.  It’s light and the smells refreshing.  I use it in the mornings on dry skin, but I think I may be switching it to nighttime use soon.

Ahhh…the one that started it all.  Shu Uemura created this after working as a makeup artist years ago.  The result was an oil based cleanser used to remove heavy makeup completely and effectively, while maintaining skin’s moisture.  This was the first product I tried when experimenting with oil cleansing.  A bit pricey, but I liked it.

A deep cleansing oil that uses Olive Oil and Vitamin E to clean and nourish.  I’ve never used this but the reviews are amazing!

Have you ever tried this method?