oil cleansing

sarahf

Hi,

Of course, this is really not an "ask the beautybrains," but an "ask Lindygirl" question;) I've never used anything special to remove my mineral sunscreen (and makeup w/ mineral sunscreen), but I recently thought it might not be a bad idea to do. I get my skin reasonabley clean with a Paula's choice creamy cleanser (which purports to remove makeup), but I do feel a little residue. Usually, by the time I apply my nighttime treatments, my skin feels fine. Still, I thought I might try an oil cleanser as an experiment. My questions are which are best oils or oil cleansers, and how do you use them? Today, I tried olive oil on a face cleansing pad, followed by the creamy cleanser. I think this worked pretty well for me. Any suggestions, though, would be appreciated. I'm a minimalist so I like to keep things simple.

Thanks, Sarah

lindygirl1960

Hi Sarah!

I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil - EVOO - (as you know) to clean my face. I have been cleaning my face this way for over six years now. Recently I began trying it mixed half and half with Grape Seed Oil and have found that works for me as well. For reference my skin is oily and sensitive. Until I started using oil to cleanse I had regular break outs.

My way of using oil to cleanse is very simple. At night I take about a tablespoon of oil in the palms of my hands and rub it onto my face. I massage it in to loosen my makeup and then remove it with Kleenex tissue. I repeat the process to make sure I have removed all the makeup. I then take a clean wash cloth, wring it out in hot tap water and use it to gently wipe my face to finish removing the oil. There is a slight film of oil left behind, but it works out fine for me. I then apply my night time treatments. Most nights that is a retinol product. One or two nights a week it is either an AHA or BHA product.

In the morning I take a cotton round, dampen it with hot tap water, add a half teaspoon or so of the EVOO and wipe my face with it. Once in the shower I rinse my face with water. When I get out of the shower I use a home made vitamin C serum and follow that with sunscreen. My primer and makeup go on after the sunscreen settles in.

Notice I didn't say I wash my face. I don't. I clean my skin with the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I have found I don't need to use anything else.

I keep the oil in small travel bottle on my bathroom counter. It is very simple to use. It is economical. It works for me. It may not work for others. All I can say is the first time I read about it I thought it was about the nuttiest idea I had ever heard, but I figured I didn't have anything to lose by giving it a try.

The Brains had a link a while back to a site that gave the comedogenic ratings of many different items. Oils are included. The list may help you decide if there are oils that may work better for you.

http://www.beneficialbotanicals.com/facts-figures/comedogenic-rating.html

Hope that helps!

(Keep me posted Sarah. I am interested to know if this works well for you or not.)

:)

sarahf

Thanks Lindygirl! I have tried the olive oil. I may be too faint of heart to put up with the messiness of using it for everyday--I picture sticky olive oil residue getting all over my bathroom lol. And I do feel like I want it off my face after I use it, so I feel driven to use a mild cleanser afterward. But I will say, it does do wonders for removing waterproof eye makeup, as you have pointed out. So I'm going to at least keep some in my bathroom for that purpose. I may not want it all over my hands and face on a daily basis;) I think you're braver than I am when it comes to new experiences and textures...

lindygirl1960

Just think of all those lovely anti-oxidants that EVOO contains!! I figure if it is good for your insides it should benefit you skin too.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/318266-is-extra-virgin-olive-oil-good-for-you/

I thought it sounded awful the first time I read about it. Until I tried it. And then got such good results. So here I am 6 or so years later still using it!

Ally E.

have you tried cleansing oils? it would do the same as olive oil, but wouldn't be messy at all. i use shu uemura and kose, but prefer shu uemura. i used cleansing oils to remove my waterproof sunscreen, but notice double cleanse works just as well, by the second time i use my face wash and do a round with clarisonic - everything is removed. how many times do you wash your face at night sarahf?

sarahf

I had a dramatic bad reaction to shu uemura (rosacea). I got a sample from sephora of the shiseido product. I liked it, but they gave it to me in a flip-top jar and most of it went all over my bathroom floor, so I was only able to use once. I agree, the only problem with olive oil is the messiness/stickiness factor. Points for effectiveness and skin-friendliness, I just can't deal with having it all over my hands.

Typically, I only wash once because gentle cleansing is where it's at for my rosacea. But I use a cream cleanser that contains oils, so it does remove nearly everything. I feel I'm getting by with it, especially because rosacea is a bigger problem for me than acne (I'm not much acne prone).

lindygirl1960

@ Sarah I always wash my hands after I tissue off the extra virgin olive oil. I was concentrating on explaining the process of cleaning your face with the oil and it never occurred to me to mention that washing my hands after cleaning the makeup off with the oil is a part of it too. Sorry about that.

sarahf

I hear you. What I found is that even reaching for the hand soap with it on my hands made me feel like I was getting the whole bathroom sticky...Call it an OCD thing.

Ally E.

sarahf, whitening serums and BHA really helped with my rosecea, I rarely get a reaction nowadays. I also use AHA/BHA cleanser. one would think it'd aggravate the condition, but it actually calms it down, the same with my mum.

sarahf

I'm afraid Ally--AHA is what triggered my very first rosacea symptoms, and I've never been able to tolerate BHA. But I am using azelaic acid and niacinamide to treat my melasma patches. I go through stages of using retinol, but it's pretty hard on my skin, so I'm skipping it while I use the azelaic acid.

Ally E.

i tried using niacinamide serum, didn't see any results and so when the tube ran out i never repurchased. is it working for you?

sarahf

I'm not relying on niacinamide on its own, just something that happens to be in my products. There have been studies showing azelaic acid 20% to be as effective as hq 4%, so I'm trying that because it doesn't irritate my skin too badly and I'm afraid hq would. Nothing has worked for my melasma, I'm not even sure it's all epidermal (it may be in the dermis which would mean topicals might never work; I'm pretty sure at least part of it is dermal, according to what I remember the derm telling me after looking at it under a wood's lamp).

Hyspin

Oh I didn't know that about azelaic acid. I definitely need to keep note of that. I just curious Have you heard anything about the effectiveness of tretinoin? I remember reading in, Cosmetic Dermatology for Skin Color, that tretinoin was an affective skin lightener for dark skin.. But I don't usually see it mentioned when I am looking to even out skin tone or lightening skin tone.

sarahf

Yes tretinoin can work--related to retinol which is avail otc but is hard on my skin. I tried combining azelaic acid and retinol and my entire face hyperpigmented from the irritation...

Hyspin

Oh that is horrible were you able to correct the hyperpigmentation after it happened?

sarahf

I think it's fading gradually. It isn't that obvious to anyone but me--it kind of looks like a very light fake tan lol. Just a bit more pigment than I know I had on my face before I nuked my poor face with products. And when I say nuked--I am VERY gentle with my products. I use a mild moisturizer that contains retinol, and I don't even use it full strength--I dilute with a neutral moisturizer. My skin is just crazy sensitive.

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