It's been quite awhile since I have posted on my blog, but things have been quite crazy lately. I don't know what it is about this time of the year, but I always feel so overwhelmed by all the things I need to do. It's so frustrating, because with the holidays approaching all I want to do is slow down and enjoy the small moments shared with family and friends. I don't know about you all, but I find myself getting so discouraged. It's like an evil catch-22. I get behind on the things I want to accomplish, then I get so depressed that I am not living up to my expectations and that causes me to get even further behind. It makes me feel so alone. I start to put what I need to get done ahead of spending quality time with Paul, family, and friends when that is what I should really be focusing on. It's taken a lot of mental effort to do things that make me happy. I am really struggling finding that balance between getting done the things I need to and making sure I am still having a happy and meaningful life. My "to-do" lists have become both my lifesaver and bane of my existence. I am a major control freak so I have had to really rely on those in my life to help me out with the things I can't get to. I am truly blessed with some amazing people in my life.
Below is one of the photos I took this past summer at my parents house. I miss having lots of land to just go and escape to. Whenever I felt overwhelmed or upset I would go up to this clearing and the whole world would just melt away. I am still searching for a similar place here in my new home.
To start with, this post was a little difficult for me to do. My face and skin has always been something I am super self-conscious about. Thanks to the blessings of my parents' genes, I unfortunately had a lot of ups and downs in my youth dealing with acne. I think mine started like most teenagers, around middle school. It got worse as I got older and ultimately went to the dermatologist. I don't know if any of you have gone to the doctor, but it is unbelievably embarrassing having someone stand over you with a bright light and list off all the things wrong with your acne. Ultimately I ended up going on birth control pills and had a regular routine of neutrogena wash and a moisturizer. By the time I left high school things were actually looking pretty good. Then for whatever reason (stress, change in water, etc), my skin went crazy again in college. It has been almost 10 years since then and I still have no gotten my acne under control like I did in high school.
I've done a lot of research on the topic and what I found out was as you get older, your skin's needs change too. I don't understand why I hadn't thought of that before. It makes perfect sense. Anyway skin care has definitely been on my mind and what are my best options. As I've gotten older I have really been trying to move towards more natural ingredients and techniques as well. (Along those lines I also have to remember that down the road if and when I become pregnant, I can't use the same cleansers I used to use with harsh chemicals.)
I am getting off topic here. So this is where I came to oil cleansing. I did a lot of research, because honestly, I couldn't get my mind around putting more oil on your face when oil is the evil culprit that causes acne to begin with! Lets start with what causes that evil acne first: 1.) No body actually knows what causes acne. Yeah, there are a lot of theories out there, but no definitive answer. This is probably why there are no perfect acne treatments out there. 2.) Over production of oil. Most people who have acne typically have an overproduction of oil, but that in itself is not the only cause of acne. This excess oil, skin cells, and bacteria get stuck in your pores and cause pimples.
Most doctors recommend fighting acne, by having you wash with cleansers that strip your skin of oil and then add more harsh spot treatments. The problem with this is that your skin overcompensates by producing even more oil. Ugh! It's a vicious cycle.
Anyway, that has been my experience. The above routine was great when I was younger, but now my skin is so much more sensitive and dry. The basic idea behind oil cleansing is that you add healthier oils to your skin so that your skin is more balanced. I have to be honest, I am not a doctor and cannot verify a lot of the claims oil cleansing makes. You can read more about it here and here. I recommend thoroughly researching before you attempt to try this. Many sites recommend certain oils to use, but some people say those same oils will clog your pores more. Again I say, I am NOT a doctor. I can only tell you what my results are.
As I mentioned I did a lot of research and I decided to start very basic. Since my skin tends to be so dry I decided to stick with almost 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil for my use.
To create my cleanser I used the following:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Castor Oil
- 100% Tea Tree Oil
- Clean Squeeze Bottle
A lot of the articles I read mentioned that castor oil is the key ingredient in pulling out the bacteria and dead skin cells. Since most of the blogs recommended use a sparse amount of the castor oil I only added about a teaspoon of castor oil with half a bottle of olive oil.
Many sites also recommend using an essential oil. The essential oil is a good idea for many reasons. First, the oil mixture smells horrible. Adding some essential oils helps with the smell. Essential oils like tea tree oil have great properties. I chose tea tree oil because it has been used for a long time to fight acne. It also has antibacterial properties that help with skin healing. Tea tree oil is very potent so I only added 2 or 3 drops!!!
Here it is, ready to go. I recommend getting a pack of washcloths so you can use a clean one each time you cleanse. You should only use the oil cleanse once a day.
I plan on tracking how things go, so I am including a before picture of my skin. Honestly my skin has been doing very well lately. I have only had a few breakouts in the last week. Most of the issues are old scars that stand out on my fair skin. I recommend taking vitamin E every day. I have noticed a big difference since I started taking the vitamin daily. Oh and drink LOTS of water! I've only used the cleanser once, but I have to say, prior to my shower my nose was covered in blackheads, but following the cleanse almost all of them were gone! We shall see! Anyone else tried this method and have thoughts about it?
