Check this out! "Oil Cleansing Method"! - Page 6

[Ilovelife]

Originally Posted by loon13

You do not need to use castor oil for cleaning. For instance, I've read that pregnant women shoud not use castor oil.

Does anyone have info/links regarding this??

[midstreammama]

I just tried OCM for the first time.

After doing it, I have a few questions.

1. I know this will sound stupid but, should my face be wet or dry when I apply the oil? If wet, with hot or warm water?

2. I didn't notice anything coming out of my face. Is this because The washcloths weren't on there long enough?

3. I used 50/50 evoo/co. Should I notice results as soon as I'm finished? My face still feels quite bumpy, as well as still having the blackheads there. Would this be an instance where you would do it again right away? Or would you wait until tomorrow morning?

I guess everyone had me totally psyched about doing this and then half-way through it I starting freaking out thinking that I was going to wake up tomorrow with a rrreeeallly broken out face.

Reasure me, please!!!

ETA: Has anyone ever done the OCM on any other parts of their body? My neck/chest are, top of my breasts, etc. are broken out sometimes...wondering if this would help any.

[loon13]

Originally Posted by Ilovelife

Does anyone have info/links regarding this??

Well, here's one place I found it:
Castor Oil: Modern Uses for an Old Folk Remedy

And here's a quote specifically from that site:

Susun Weed, author of the book Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year, says that in traditional midwifery, castor oil is used internally and externally to stimulate the uterus, soften the cervix, and help initiate labour. She suggests rubbing castor oil on the belly and covering with a warm towel if the cervix is ripe and labour seems near. Some midwives rub castor oil on the feet to help labour along.

Now while I understand using castor oil on your face isn't the same as using it on your pregnant belly, I personally would just not take a chance. Especially since you don't have to use castor oil for this method anyway. I found it very heavy and hard to wash off. But what does not work for me, may work for someone else, of course.

The original idea was to start with 50/50 castor oil and EVOO and adjust to your personal preference. The castor oil is for cleansing, the EVOO for moisturizing.


Midstreammama: I can try to answer your questions as best I can, based on my own experience and the original article to go by...

Originally Posted by midstreammama

1. I know this will sound stupid but, should my face be wet or dry when I apply the oil? If wet, with hot or warm water?

I keep my face dry. The original article says to massage the oil over makeup or visible dirt.

Originally Posted by Midstreamama

2. I didn't notice anything coming out of my face. Is this because The washcloths weren't on there long enough?

I don't usually notice anything coming out either, unless I have a visible whitehead or something. OCM alwasy seems to draw that stuff out for me.
I still have some blackheads on my nose, but with OCM they are much less visible.

Originally Posted by Midstreammama

. I used 50/50 evoo/co. Should I notice results as soon as I'm finished? My face still feels quite bumpy, as well as still having the blackheads there. Would this be an instance where you would do it again right away? Or would you wait until tomorrow morning?

I would wait until tomorrow. Or even try this routine once a day for a few days. Give it time to see how your skin reacts. You may find you need to adjust the ratio of co to EVOO. Or do it twice a day.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

[Rebecca]

I've been doing this on and off for a while now, well, my own abbreviated method. I don't bother with the hot/steam part. I massage the OO (I add a couple drops of rosemary EO to the bottle of EVOO) into my face, rub it in for a while in the shower, and rub it off with a face cloth. I think it's half the oil and half the exfoliating with the cloth that makes my skin soft. I'm more prone to using the full on method in the winter when my skin is drier. My skin does feel tight after and I do use a light moisturizer (or a tiny bit of OO) before bed (I do this in the shower at night, and use soap on my face in the morning).

[~Megan~]

I tried this last night. My face does feel very soft today and the dryness is a lot better in the few patches that have shown up since ds was born.

[~Megan~]

question after reading the whole thread:

I have a mix that I got to make my own massage oil. Its Almond, Vit E, Lanolin, and olive oils. Do you think that would work well?

[pamamidwife]

I'm totally going to try this. After seeing this on your blog, Megan, I thought that it must have come from MDC. I'm so excited!

As an aside, I don't think that castor oil on the face - especially when mixed with olive oil or another oil - would be harmful at all to pregnant women.

[umefey]

Okay, I just did it.. I'm scared. My face looks.. erm.. normal? I'll report back tomorrow. :LOL
I used EVOO and a touch of burt's bees repair serum (All oil, EOs and vitamin e)

[Siennaflower]

I tried this last night with EVOO only, since it was all I had onhand, and I have to say it went much better than I imagined! I did not feel 'greasy' at the end, and my skin was definately glowing. I bought some CO to use tonight and I can't wait lol. I also noticed that this morning when I washed my face it wasn't as tight as normal...probably because it was well moisturized in the first place. I didn't notice any difference good or bad in breakouts...I have a few zits right now, so we'll see how it all works out in the next week or so. This is exciting lol!

[midwestmom]

ok, I tried this tonight with a 50/50 mix and loved it. I pray I don't break out! I did need a moisturizer afterwards and used alittle jojoba oil. I have not ever put so much oil on my face .

[umefey]

I'm not really noticing a change... Is it usually like an instant thing, or should I keep it up for a while??

[PapayaVagina]

I'm so sad . I had such high hopes for trying this! I've been trying it for almost 2 weeks now and then all of a sudden WHAM in the last 2 days my skin has broken out sooooooooo badly!! I've noticed that the blackheads disappeared while using OCM but white heads and pimplies are everywhere. I'm using the 75 castor oil/25 EVOO mix with long massages, and then using warm to hot water on a cloth to wipe my face off several times afterwards. What am I doing wrong? My skin is never really great but was much better using the nasty chemicals .

[Rebecca]

Papaya, maybe if you skip the castor oil part and just do it with the olive or even grapeseed (it's less greasy and more astringent than EVO). I'm sad it doesn't work for you. it's my favorite skin care luxury.

[midwestmom]

I have not been faithful to this b/c it takes more time, but it helps when I do the hot steam with a washcloth several times after massage, but before wiping. I just lay the very hot washcloth over my face until it is cool 3-4 times and rinse the cloth inbetween. Are you doing that too?

[earthenware]

Originally Posted by PapayaVagina

I'm so sad . I had such high hopes for trying this! I've been trying it for almost 2 weeks now and then all of a sudden WHAM in the last 2 days my skin has broken out sooooooooo badly!! I've noticed that the blackheads disappeared while using OCM but white heads and pimplies are everywhere. I'm using the 75 castor oil/25 EVOO mix with long massages, and then using warm to hot water on a cloth to wipe my face off several times afterwards. What am I doing wrong? My skin is never really great but was much better using the nasty chemicals .

Oh! Me too...

I was really enjoying doing this and even have a littel facial steamer that I was using after the massage and in between the hot cloth wipes (massage-steam-wipe-steam-wipe-steam-wipe) and my blackheads were looking better (even got out some whole!) but I have to abandon this for now - yesterday the few little pink spots on my face (normal for me before AF) which would normally fade away after a few days, have ALL broken out into really big pustules. It is painful and I am actually embarrassed! Some have broken open and turned into scabs.

I am not giving up on this treatment because it felt so nice and I believe in the concept but I'm going to try again at a different time of the month.

[PapayaVagina]

I'm trying to do some warm washcloth cleanings before putting the oil on. Don't know if that will help. I really want this to work but it's getting worse and worse.

[loon13]

Papaya,

I'm sorry you having a difficult time.

Maybe you don't need to do the OCM everyday. Maybe a couple of times a week is all that's needed.

You could try to stop it altogether for awhile and use water only until it subsides. I say water only, because if you use a cleanser, the cleanser might strip your natural oils, and then your skin would overscompensate with oil production. Definitely NOT what you need right now.

You might try a different combo of oils. Like Rebecca suggested, grapeseed oil is a bit more astringent.
I use grapeseed oil with a drop or two of jojoba oil. The grapeseed oil for the astringent quality, the jojoba for the soothing since it mimics the skin's natural sebum. Jojoba oil is more a wax than a true oil.

Maybe the OCM is working and the flare-ups are a sort of skin detox?
I say this because I remember I went through something similar when I was using alpha hydroxy acids some years back. I was warned that when I first started using AHA's that I might get breakouts before it got better because the dead skin cells were shedding faster and all the impurities were coming to the surface. Sure enough, I did get worse breakouts for about 2 weeks then they began to subside.

And finally, if you decide it's definitely not working for you, please don't feel badly about it! We are all individuals and the same routine does not work for everyone. (Look at the varying differences in the no-poo routines, for example.)

These are all just some thoughts I had. If you go to the link on the first page to the board that had the original OCM discussion, you might find more ideas in that thread re: tweaking the method and trying different oils.

Good luck!!

[PapayaVagina]

I think that you're right that part of it is a detox. It's getting better now, I'm glad that I've stuck with it. I hope it keeps it up . I will definitely look into buying some grapeseed oil. Maybe I could just change the oils up every couple of days and that might make a difference.

[Stayathomemommy]

i keep going back to the first link and read all those peoples posts. that has been very helpful for me. from what i understand Castor oil is not the carrier oil. its suppose to be the best for cleansing and healing. someone in the posts through that first link gave some great info in castor oils many benifits. i thought of the EVOO as the carrier oil and moisterizer more then anything.

i run hot water and plug the sink and then put my head in with a towel over it for a long time before putting the hot wash cloth on and wiping it all off. that feels so good.

and as for real problem spots.......i found OCM works best for me where i have sever acne breakouts but its almost like it makes the areas where i dont have acne worse. if i were only going to do spot treatments i would treat the acne breakouts with oil.

and like anything you do have to stick with it. i love it but that doesnt mean my skin is always perfect it still goes through ups and downs but i stopped and tried a cleanser and my face felt so ucky!!! i dont know that i can every go back to soap!

[freespiritmom]

So glad to have seen this thread today.

I have been using this method on my face for several months and will *NEVER* use anything else. I've never had a problem with blemishes but my face as always been dry in patches regardless of what I used to cleanse or moisterize. Now my skin is so dewy soft and looks so healthy and fresh.

I use about 70% EVO with 30% Castor and then add a few good drops of Burt's Bees Apricot Oil (smells so yummy and also very moisterizing). I massage for at least 4 minutes. I then use a flannel square (cut a flannel sheet into squares just for this purpose) and soak it in hot water and lay it across my face and neck until it becomes cool. I then use the square to remove as much oil as i can. I do this at least 3 times and then do a final splash of cool water on my face. I use a little oil around my eyes and on my lips and that's it. In the morning I just do cool water on my face and a light moisterizer.