Cleaning my FACE with Olive Oil

Yep, I started the Oil Cleansing Method a few weeks ago and I'm completely floored how well it works!  Have you heard of it?  I found out about it from a mom's group on Facebook, someone mentioned it and I was intrigued.  I went to the trusty internet and found some really great links to read up on it. 

Basically, your face needs its natural oils to stay healthy and looking good.  Washing with chemicals strips away the oil and in turn, your face starts making more to make up for it.  Hence the dry skin/pimples cycle we are all probably familiar with.  So instead of chemicals, you use...oil.  The basic mixture is using castor oil and extra virgin olive oil, but there are lots of other oils you can use for different needs.  A good link I found was here, she tells you some good mixtures for problem skin and shows a video of herself doing it. 

My skin is usually just dry all the time.  I break out here and there, but I was constantly feeling tight and dry and itchy.  My quest in life had been to find the perfect moisturizer--something thick but not greasy, that stayed on my skin but didn't feel too heavy.  I didn't think it was possible. 

So I heard of the method and tried it one night.  I just used the olive oil at first, because I had it on hand.  You put a quarter size dollop in your palm, and use your fingers to rub the oil all over your face.  Really take your time and get it in the pores.  Then take two washcloths, get them super hot (but not enough to burn you, duh) and place them on your face to steam away the oil.  This is my favorite part!  I can just feel the pores opening and the oil dragging the crap away.  Then you wipe off your face, rinse the washcloths, and do it again.  You are left with bright, glowing, soft skin.  I don't even USE moisturizer anymore!  If I feel a bit tight, I take a tiny amount of my oil mixture and rub it in where I feel dry. 

OH MY GOD, you guys!  This is a life changer for me!  For one thing, I used to always "forget" to wash my face at night, waking up to smeared mascara and feeling pretty crappy.  But with this, I just love to take the time, I love how my skin feels afterward, it's like a mini-spa treatment I get to do by myself after the kids are in bed. 

Right now I am using a mixture of castor oil, extra virgin olive oil, and grapeseed oil, but I think I need to nix the castor oil.  I had been just using olive oil and grapeseed oil and after I added the castor oil it just seemed too harsh on my skin.  I think I'll just go back to the olive and grapeseed oils.

So basically, all you need is your oil, a bunch of washcloths, and hot water, and you will get this amazing skin!  I love it!  All in all I think it was pretty cheap, as the olive oil was $9 for a big bottle, which I used 4oz of, and a 4oz bottle of grapeseed oil was $4.  I think the avocado oil I looked at was way more expensive, like $12 for 4oz, but still!  With all the face washes I would try and moisturizers I had on hand, and they all cost $10 each...and didn't work.  I got a big pack of washcloths from Target, I think it was $5 for ten of them?  Or something cheap like that.  And I got a plastic pump bottle at Whole Foods that holds 8oz that was around $4. 

Seriously, read up on it!  It's awesome!  One of the crunchy hippy things I can really wrap my head around!