If you’ve never heard of the oil cleansing method (OCM), you’re not alone. Most of us use some variation of soap, cleanser, toner…yet after reading up on OCM, it sounded just weird enough to be awesome. I love the idea of using simple, edible and inexpensive ingredients to care for my skin, so I decided to give it a try.

I’ve been using the OCM for about 6 weeks now and not only does my skin feel clean afterward, it feels soft & supple (and I didn’t break out at all or feel like my face was greasy).

How to:

Here’s the abbreviated version of what you do. If you want more explanation, check out the OCM website here:

• Choose an edible carrier oil that you can combine with castor oil (the primary cleanser: yes, castor oil has superhero cleansing powers). Options are olive oil, sesame oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, or coconut oil. Go with high quality, organic oils (it is going on your face after all).
• Create your personal blend. The optimal amount of castor oil and carrier oil  will vary from person to person, so a bit of experimentation is in order. According to the oil cleansing method website: 

           Some suggestions in creating your blend of deep cleansing oil:

Oily Skin: Try a blend of 30% Castor Oil to 70% Sunflower Seed Oil.

Balanced Skin: Try a blend of 20% Castor Oil to 80% Sunflower Seed Oil.

Dry Skin: Try a blend of 10% Castor Oil to 90% Sunflower Seed Oil.

And remember that you can use other oils besides sunflower seed oil.

• Squirt about a quarter size amount of oil into your palm and rub hands together, then massage oil gently into your facial skin.
• Get a soft washcloth wet in hot water and then squeeze out excess water. Apply to face like you are steaming the pores open for about 20 seconds. Remove once it cools and repeat a couple times.
• When you’re done steaming, gently wipe your skin (do NOT scrub the oil off). Rinse a couple times with warm water and finish with a cold splash. 

That’s it. Pretty simple process even with the whole “figuring out your personal blend” piece. I started with a really small amount of oil in a glass bowl because I didn’t want to waste oil if I didn’t like it. It was easy to adjust the oils this way until I found a combo that felt really nice to my skin (which happened pretty much right away).

I know it sounds strange and is certainly different than what you’re used to, but I encourage you to give it a try. It’s actually easier, cheaper and better for the health of your skin than what you’re likely currently doing.

I look forward to your comments! 🙂