10 Jul Oil Cleansing: A Natural Beauty Secret Revealed
Mention oil and perhaps you’ll think of a yummy salad dressing perhaps, or maybe your favourite pampering skin moisturiser. But oil as a facial cleanser? Don’t we cleanse our skin precisely so it will have that flawless oil-free matte look? To clear away built up oils and unclog our pores? With so many cleansing products on the market jostling for our attention, it has become largely accepted that we need to thoroughly wash away all our natural, supposedly bad, pore-blocking oils from our skin, before we replace it with yet… more oil! It turns out that when it comes to cleansing, oil may be your skin’s new best and most natural friend.
All About Sebum
Sebum is the name for your body’s own natural waxy oils, and is produced by sebaceous glands found all over below the surface of the skin, like hundreds of secret little oil reservoirs. Your skin uses it to regulate its moisture content naturally as well as keep it nourished. Sebum also protects your skin from bacterial and fungal infections. It’s like a mutable delicate “extra skin” that your skin creates to self-regulate and protect itself.
Sebum production is at its peak in our teenage years and for some, made us want to permanently hide under our beds with skin issues such as pimples and acne. Sebum can get clogged in our hair follicles as dirt and grime accumulate on our skin, and may also sometimes be overproduced because of hormonal imbalances.
As we age, sebum production decreases, so should we completely strip away this waxy layer, when your skin seems to think it’s a good idea? It is our skin’s natural defense. Ruthlessly lathering away all trace of this body oil can disturb your skin’s balance enough for it to retaliate with a compensating rush of excess sebum that defeats the object. More oil, more ruthless cleansing… you get the idea.
Oil Cleansing
That’s where oil cleansing comes in. Oil cleansing is a way to work gently with your skin’s own balancing mechanism that can have splendid beautifying results. The idea with oil cleansing is to use natural oils to cleanse, and balance the skin’s own oils. You are using oil to dissolve oil, so that as you clean away the old, dirty sebum that has accumulated on your skin, it is replaced by fresh, nourishing and hydrating plant oils, leaving your skin clean, soft and glowing. Starting to sound appealing?
The How-To of Oil Cleansing
Oil cleansing is so simple, that all you need is a face cloth and a bottle of your favourite organic carrier oil.
Our favourite oil cleansing choices:
You’ll have to find which one your skin loves, or find a homemade custom blend that whispers, “this is the one”. You can even add one or two drops of essential oil to the bottle, such as potently rejuvenating organic rosehip oil or antibacterial and balancing lavender oil. Or for a rare treat, some Namibian myrrh.
- Apply your chosen oil onto your face in circular motions for a few minutes, and indulge in a bit of blissful massage that will soften and dissolve sebum and dirt.
- Soak your face cloth in very warm water and slowly wipe the oil off your face.
- There you go! Exquisitely soft, clean skin.
Your skin may take a week or so to adjust to oil cleansing, so have some patience, this little beauty trick has the potential to clear your skin of excess oiliness, blackheads, whiteheads and pimples and soften your skin to a youthful glow you’ll adore.
Skin-Loving Oils our Customers Rave About
“Love it & can’t live without it! I use it to clean and moisturise my acne-prone skin every night. Soothes the skin and doesn’t irritate sensitive skin. Its 100% better than commercial facial products.” – Glenys
“I’ve been using the Soil Jojoba as part of my oil cleansing skin routine and I am really happy with the results. This jojoba is wonderful.” – Janie
“Certainly worth keeping in the medicine cabinet. I use it for mixing with other base oils for the oil cleaning method for my face.” – Janice
“Have used this as a face oil once a week and can see my skin is brighter and less dry. Great for my combination skin.” – Varsha
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