Could someone explain the oil cleansing method in very simple terms

[TheOriginalNutcracker]

I'm not normally this daft, but I'm finding it haard to get my head around this, but I would love to try it.

I have combination skin, with an oily forhead and under my eyes, and then dry around mouth/chin and sides of nose.

So, where do I start, what do i need, and what do i do with it ???

It's not complicated, honest!!

To give it a go to see if you like the process you need:

sunflower or olive oil from your pantry
a muslin
hot water
a hairband to keep the oil out of your hair

So:

Put on hair band
Massage some oil into your face (no need to remove makeup or pre-cleanse in any way)
Keep massaging your face for 5 to 10 minutes
Run your muslin under HOT water and put it on your face until it starts to cool. Make it hot but not uncomfortably so.
When your muslin begins to cool gently wipe the oil off your skin.
Repeat the muslin process twice more.
Use toner to remove any traces of oil left.

If you like it then you'll need some castor oil, plenty of muslins (clean one each time) an carrier oil(s) of your choice. Amazon is good.

Good info to help choose your carrier oils here

More on info and links on this thread

Order castor oil and almond oils from Amazon.

Tie hair back of face - dip your finger in each of the oils and massage into face for at least five mins.

Use hot muslin cloth to wipe over face.

Ta da!

Thank you

I am a bit nevous about putting oil on an already partly oily ace, but i'll give it a go.

Weirdly it helps and makes skin gorgeous. Just use a hot muslin to remove. Oil is actually very cleansing so makes sense.

Depends on your skin type anniemac, if the olive oil is working well for you there's no real need to change. If your still having dryness you can try a more moisturising oil and / or reduce the castor oil percentage. But, once your skin is clear you can knock off the castor oil and just add it occasionally for an extra deep cleanse, it's drying and not essential after the skin has cleared.

I'm using avocado because I have (largely) dry, aging skin with rice bran oil because it's cheap and thins the castor and avocado nicely.

Hemp oil (goes rancid very quickly) and macadamia oil (also doesn't have a particularly long shelf life) are also great for dry skin. Olive oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil and sweet almond oil are good all rounders. Jojoba and grape seed are very good for oily skin. Quality, unprocessed oils are important. AFAIK coconut oil is best avoided on the face as it can clog pores.

Jojoba oil good for spots

Right, how often are you oil cleansing? 3 or 4 times a week is plenty TBH, you can do it more often of course but keep the castor oil to that as a max or it'll dry you right out. Maybe use a more hydrating oil if you want to do it daily. I cleanse with rose water in between oil cleansings, it works fab for me (but I don't use foundation).

Once your through the clarifying phase you can use castor oil (mixed with whatever carrier) for a deep cleanse, say, weekly or fortnightly. Follow it with a clay mask for extra oomph if you fancy.

If you want to try another oil for cleansing then I'd go with avocado because of the more hydrating oils it has the best shelf life and isn't too pricey, you can use it as it is or mix with your olive oil (or maybe almond, sunflower or rice bran).

Are you moisturising? I think most people with dry skin do need a drop of something in some places, you only need to moisturise where you get dry. Argan oil is suiting me right now but any oil / moisturiser you fancy is fine.

Can you mix the oils in a bottle so you've got maybe a weeks supply or do you have to pour out a little of the oil each time you do it?

Either is fine!

Keeping them separate obviously gives more flexibility but it's a (tiny) bit more of a faff.

If I have dry skin and olive and almond oils in he house, can I just use them or do I need to add in avocado or castor or something else?

Which brands of oil is best to use?