Saturday 23 February 2013

Fighting Oil with Oil

**UPDATE: I have stopped using this method. I finally figured out why my skin was acting up; since it's straight up hormonal, there isn't much I can do to make it stop, except ride it out (miserably), until my hormones balance themselves out again. I also stopped wearing makeup unless I had to, to try and let my pores breathe and figure out their shit. (Like I said, I was pretty miserable. I'm sorry, but who enjoys going out in public with a face full of blemishes and no makeup to hide them? Not I.) I will probably give this another go once my skin is normalized again, but for the time being I just wasn't seeing enough results to continue, and really, when my face was already a mountain of regular blemishes and cystic acne, putting oil on my face just no longer appealed to me. I still use coconut oil every couple days mixed with sugar to act as a scrub, and use it sparingly at night for moisturizer, but like I said, until it all clears up, I am sticking with my Neutrogena naturals purifying cleanser. This one, here.**

 

Stress affects all of us differently; for me? Stress affects my face the worst. I lovingly sum it up with the phrase : "Stress is an A-hole to my face." If I am dealing with something stressful, the first thing to happen is I get a few "underground pimples" - you know the ones, they're mean, sore, red, look like you are sprouting a unicorn horn on your face, and the only thing to remove them is time. They're special.

With my exam this month, my face has been worse than I have ever seen it. I told my mom I was being cursed with the hormonal acne I had escaped in high school. It's a viscous circle, the worse my face became, the more makeup I piled on to hide them, and the more my skin fought back. So, apart from drinking water like it was my day job to "flush" them out, & eating anything from the earth that was considered to be "skin food", I was running out of hope and really, as vain as it sounds, feeling really ugly.  My girlfriend was in town around this time with her newborn, and she was using coconut oil in lieu of diaper cream. I love coconut oil; I use it as a hair mask and love it in my cooking, but I've never considered using it on my skin. It's oil. No way am I taking that risk. But Rae told me she uses it to remove her makeup, and uses it for almost everything. Intrigued that night when I got home, I settled down to do my favorite research: Googling natural beauty regimens. If you are interested, these were the sites I found the most helpful. I have looked at probably 15 websites and blogs with so many different reviews/tips on this method, and have only found one bad review about how a woman's face reacted.

To sum it up briefly, the idea here is that oil dissolves oil. Cleansers, soaps, exfoliants, peels, they all claim to help your skin and clear it up and smoothen/soften/heeeal; what they're really doing is stripping your skin's natural oils and protectants, making your body produce more to compensate. To top it off, if you have sensitive skin like I do, the chemicals and fragrances cause your now vulnerable skin to be irritated and create buildup to try and "protect" the pores. IE, blackheads, whiteheads and little bumps. I have been using just coconut oil for that past two weeks and I am LOVING the results. My skin feels like butter, is not oily nor is it dry, and my skin literally is glowing. You can't expect anything to work overnight, so my skin is still getting back to normal, but is healing so much faster, and nicer than it has in years. I have started trying a new blend of Castor Oil & Grapeseed Oil; the castor oil has a thicker property to it, but is made up of antibacterial, anti-fungal, and clarifying properties. If you do not balance the castor out, your skin will actually become more dry. This is where the grapeseed comes in. I am choosing that because it is known to fade acne scars, and even out skin tone (it is chock full of Vitamin C). You can also use Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Jojaba Oil, Almond Oil or Coconut Oil. I get all of my oils from the health food store, to ensure it is 100% pure.  I use the ratio of 1 1/2 parts Caster Oil to 2 1/2 parts Grapeseed Oil.

How-To: Take the same amount of the oil blend as you would a cleanser, and massage into your face. Take a washcloth and get it good and hot, but not so hot it will scald you (duh.) Leave the cloth on your face until it cools down, to really open your pores and let the oil get deep and down to business. Use the washcloth to gently massage the oil and dry patches off. That's it! I only do this at night, and you will find you don't even need a moisturizer after! If I do feel the need for a little bit more moisture, I just take a little bit on my fingertips and pat my face lightly. IMG_0785IMG_0788IMG_0791Have a great weekend! I have now sufficiently wasted enough time, and finally need to clean my poor neglected home. Sigh, I can only ignore it for so long! Xo, B

2 comments:

  1. Michelle Little1 March 2013 at 02:33

    Hi Doll!!

    The NOW Tea Tree oil is also AMAZING!

    Drinking and using Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar as a toner also works miracles (balances hormones... ie.. hormonal acne!)

    The NOW brand zinc is also a life saver when it come to the underground hormonal little f*kers that show up! (boosts immune system and wound healing)

    LOVE your blog girl keep up the good work!

    xo
    -Michelle

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  2. Hey girl!
    I didn't know you ran a blog! Amazing! Anyways this post naturally caught my attention because I'm a long time fighter of acne and since the summer I have introduced my skin to Argan Oil from the organic store, no need to spend hundreds on the Argan from sephora, but it has made a world of difference in my skin. Acne has started to clear and heal and oil has subsided a bit... I use it overnight as a moisturizer. Highly recommend to check it out!
    Hope to see you at Christmas xo

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