Oil Cleansing: Day One

** I wrote this 3 weeks ago, but I'm still posting it as "day one" because I wanted to give my first impressions. I'll be posting an update in just a little bit. Sorry - things came up and I wasn't able to post it immediately. **

More than likely you've heard about oil cleansing. If not, then well, it's cleansing your face with oils.

The first I heard about oil cleansing was on youtube, I believe. I began watching as many videos as I could,  from tutorials to personal reviews to information about different kinds of oils, and pinterest proved to be very valuable as well. I did a lot of research on varying skin types and how the right oils can greatly benefit your skin and the wrong oils make it worse than ever. I was rather nervous to try this method, but on the other side I knew, if everything good I was reading was true, there was a possibility of my skin becoming better than ever.

After doing all this research, I decided to order grape seed oil and pumpkin seed oil. Grape seed oil is a very light oil that absorbs into the skin quickly, fights against acne (it's high in linoleic acid which helps if you struggle with acne, as opposed to oleic acid) prevents aging, tightens skin, and contains vitamins C and E. Grape seed oil is gentle and mostly recommended for oily skin because of its light properties, however it's good  for all skin types (I myself have sensitive dry/combination skin).

Pumpkin seed oil is also higher in linoleic acid, omega fatty acids, minerals, and antioxidants. It has a balanced pH of 4.64 (the healthy pH of skin is about 5.5), contains vitamins A, C, and zinc (all great for clearing up acne), and heals hyper-pigmentation.

I just received my grape seed oil from Plant Therapy
and decided to start using just that. I figured if I started using both at the same time and it didn't work, I wouldn't know which oil wasn't the right one.

So, I dampened my face just a little and spread that oily mess over my skin. It was a little tough spreading it all over actually, which I assume is because it's such a light oil. One thing I noticed is that though it felt good against my skin, my whole face turned rather red, though again I didn't experience any other irritation. I then laid a hot cloth over my face and let it set, wiped off the oil, re-rinsed the cloth and laid it over my face again before giving my skin a final swipe, just to make sure all the oil was rinsed off.

I followed with an apple cider vinegar and green tea toner, and I have to say my skin feels very soft; after about twenty minutes, my skin started feeling a little tight, but not near as bad as usual and only a need for a light moisturizer. My mom did comment on my red cheeks and nose, however that could be because the cloth I was using was warm and not as soft as it should've been (that area of my face has been red lately anyways, so I think that might just be a new thing for me).

Anyways, we'll see how it goes! I've read it takes 2-4 weeks to start noticing a difference and by then I should determine if the oil is working for me. I expect my skin to get worse as the oil draws the impurities from the pores, but I'm hoping in the long run this method will work. It's so simple and my skin really feels great. I'll keep you updated once in a while on how the process is going!

Have You Had Any Experience With Oil Cleansing?