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I know lots of people have tried it and loved it. I tried it and it did absolutely nothing for me. My skin didn't get worse, but it didn't get better either, and it was a lot more work than my usual routine of washing my face in the shower. I do use facial oils (particularly rosehip oil), and I like them, but this routine just didn't give me results. And now I'm stuck with this big bottle of nearly-expired castor oil that I don't know what to do with.
If you follow this link (from Paula's Choice), you can find a detailed critique of the claims made by proponents of this skincare routine, and you can also find a link to the routine itself, in case you want to give it a try (it is pretty cheap). I'm linking to the critique first, because the fans of this method can have a weird, almost religious, way of trying to spread the word, so I think it's better to start with the negatives before you get sucked in completely. There are people who like it, but the same thing won't work for everyone, even people who seem to have the same skin type.
Have you tried the oil-cleansing method? What did you think?
Honestly, I am fifty/fifty on this. My roommate has had a great deal of success with it while it has done nothing for me, so I think it really depends on skin type and personal preference. While I have oily/combination skin, she has very dry/sensitive skin. I say it is worth trying if you're really not satisfied with your current skincare routine, but otherwise I'd skip it.
ReplyDeleteI'd heard that it was good for oily skin with blackheads, which is what I have, and it just didn't change anything, even though I did it for a few weeks. I didn't hate my previous routine, but I wasn't totally happy. What I'm doing now is working much better, though.
DeleteOil cleansing as a precleanse has been the only thing that's been effective at unclogging my pores and blackheads. The first time I felt the blackheads dislodging was like, HO.LY. F*K. I use mineral oil to precleanse, and I always follow with a gel cleanser, though, because traditional OCM doesn't work for me. Leaving the oils on my face will cause me to break out.
ReplyDeleteSee, I was really looking forward to the unclogging pore thing, because I'd read about it, but I never had that experience. Womp womp.
DeleteI don't know why they're saying that this is good for blackhead prone skin because these oils aren't really going to penetrate that deep down into pores, nor will it help with hormonal-caused acne. The only thing I could see it helping with is restoring moisture if you're skin is dehydrated and producing a lot of oil to overcompensate that.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why they're saying that this is good for blackhead prone skin because these oils aren't really going to penetrate that deep down into pores, nor will it help with hormonal-caused acne. The only thing I could see it helping with is restoring moisture if you're skin is dehydrated and producing a lot of oil to overcompensate that.
ReplyDeleteI tried it and wrote about it at Persephone- http://persephonemagazine.com/2012/01/12/we-try-it-oil-cleansing-method/
ReplyDeleteLong story short, I broke out in painful cystic acne. A further dig around the internet tells me the quantity of castor oil I used and the jojoba oil may have been responsible for that.
At the moment my skin isn't that bad- for me. I do have a lot of what the Dermalogica girls call "congestion", blocked pores that aren't black heads, more skin coloured and when you squeeze them, either a wee sesame seed shaped bit of hardened oil comes out, or a string of white sebum. I would like to get rid of them, so am considering trying OCM again with different oils and ratios to see if it helps.
I hope you write about it again if you do. I used the Now brand castor oil, which I think is a decent one, and I didn't have any problems with breakouts. I just used olive oil with it, I think. I could have tried different oils, I guess, but the whole process seemed like too much hassle for me to want to invest in more ingredients.
DeleteIf I do, I'll let you know! I'm planning on doing it when I'm back from overseas and my cleanser runs out, seems like a good as time as any to try again!
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