No shampoo mamas--Tell me about your skin

[bubbles]

If you need to move this to the March no poo mamas thread, ok, but I am hoping it can be its own thread as the other one is soooooo long.
For those of you doing no shampoo, can you tell me how it has affected your face? I have oily skin and acne. I have it under control with stuff that I really don't want to use on my body. I have tried everything "natural" with no success. I am wondering if no shampoo will help my skin to balance out over time as it does your hair. Anyone with oily and/or acne prone skin have experience to share?

[yequanamama]

I might not qualify as one with oily/acne-prone skin anymore - having babies has cleared me up pretty well. But I'll share what's made my skin even better (before beginning this regimen, I usually had a pimple or two a week. Now I might get one every other week.)

I stopped washing with soap at night! Instead I splashed with warm water and washed with soap in the morning. I live in a very dry climate and thought this might help with the drying, and it did. But it didn't fix it. Now, you might prefer to wash at night and splash with water in the morning, but the idea is a lot like the no-poo idea: don't strip the skin of its natural oils and it won't work to overcompensate.

Just recently (like last week) I started cleansing with (I know this sounds yicky, but it's been working!) jojoba/olive oil with cedarwood and lavender oil added. I no longer need a moisturizer and I've had no breakouts. Other cleansing bases I've heard recommended are yogurt, honey and clay. These EOs are good for helping oily skin:
Cederwood
Clary sage
Cypress
Elemi
Geranium
Jasmine
Lemon (careful in the sun if you use this)
Neroli
Patchouli
Peppermint
Rosemary
Rosewood
Sandalwood
Tea tree
Thyme
and Ylang Ylang

I'm posting the "recipe" for mixing base with EO on the no-poo March thread. If you're interested, you can check it out there.

Good luck!

[bubbles]

Thanks for all that great info. I saw the recipe and will try it. I am interested in hearing about other mamas and how their skin reacted. How long did it take to adjust?

[ja mama]

Oh you don't want to hear this. Sorry. I'm either 6 or 7 weeks into the no-poo thing. Just this week my face has stopped breaking out on my forehead, where it never broke out before. I haven't used soap (other than washing my hands) in about 5 years, but I use mousturizers and makeup. This week my face feels 'normal'. I was going to post it in the no-poo thread, but was waiting a few more days to make sure it's good again. But it's definitely less dry and oily than when I used poo, now that I think it's adjusted. Even during the adjustment it seemed better, but broke out on my forehead.

[Jessviola]

i have dry hair and combination skin and haven't had any bad effects on the skin from the no poo. i haven't been using bs on my hair since the first couple tries but i have been using bs on my face every 2-3 days. my scalp hasn't gotten greasy at all so that's probably a big factor in why my face is ok.