DIY facial - any tips?

[CJ2010]

My skIn is in a bit of a state at the moment. I have very dry, red cheeks, greasy forehead and chin, but the worse bit, is my nose. I have loads of deeply ingrained blackheads and it's horrid! What can I do?

ATM, I just use a face wash twice a day and I always remove my make up a night. However, my skin never feels 'clean' those blackheads are really annoying me! Please help!

Have you tried OCM? Very cheap and it certainly helped my oily skin shift black heads. Now if I could just stop getting an outbreak of spots every month I'd be happy! :)

That's interesting, thanks for the link. My skin is terrible and I can't afford to go to a salon for a facial, so I need good products I can buy to use at home.

Hows that going to work? I can understand the blending of another oil with your own to wash out/dilute the sebum (the Romans did that for years before the invention of soap) but how does rubbing your face with a plan cloth get rid of all the oil?. Oil is hydrophobic, you need soap to properly clean all the grease and grime off your face, all thats doing is diluting it?.

What can I do about these stubborn blackheads on my nose?

I do the OCM too, but as a regular facial rather than a daily cleansing method. My skin is dry all over which is easier to manage thna combination skin, I suppose. Between 'facials' I cleanse and tone with rosewater and moisturise with argan oil. My skin really is better than it has been in years.

DP has very oily, acne prone skin and he does the same as me, but cleanses with witch hazel and moisturises with jojoba oil. His oil cleansing mix is different too. But, again, his skin is the same all over. He's only been doing it a week or so but things are definitely improving.

A lot of moisturisers can be quite pore clogging IME, since switching to an oil for moisturising and doing the regular OCM facials my black heads are an awful lot better. The argan oil (or something I've been doing) seems to have dramatically reduced the appearance of some old (tiny) scars on my face too, I'm pretty sure I look a wee bit less wrinkly too.

Do you wear foundation? If so you really do need to double cleanse - whatever method / products you choose to cleanse with. Once to thoroughly remove the make up and then again to cleanse the skin.

Ryoko some people do like to add an emulsifier to their cleansing oil mix so it can be washed off with water. I find the steaming hot cloth method quite adequate myself, as does DP. I like to do a quick cleanse / tone with rosewater after to be sure I've go rid of all the (by then) filthy cleansing oil, but TBH it's almost certainly unnecessary. I know all the oil is gone because my skin feels dry after and I need to moisturise (you know, that feeling). Also, I use a lot of avocado oil which is dark in colour, you can see in coming off on the hot cloth.

Heck - sorry for the essay!

issimma - did you try the aspirin masks, I can't remember? They can be helpful. Rosewater helps too. I know I'm always banging on about it, but it really is amazing stuff.