Help with OCM :(

[xraisonxdetre]

Everytime I do the oil cleansing method, I get really small, skin colored bumps on my forehead. I know there is supposed to be a purging period, but I have been doing it for a month now. At first I thought it was maybe because I was not washing off the oil well enough, but today I especially made an effort to wipe the oil off my face with warm water and a towel. I can notice a big difference on my nose, the pores do look smaller (at first anyways..a couple hours later, they look back to normal), but my forehead seems to just hate it I really wanted this to work but it seems to not be working any help???

[xraisonxdetre]

ok..apparently I have been using wayyy too much castor oil. I have oily skin and have been using 75:25 castor:evoo. I posted on another forum and was told that a good ratio for oily skin is 30:70 castor:carrier oil. does this seem right?

[karen]

I've read ratios of 25:75 for OCM with castor and olive, but I've never personally tried it...castor is just such a heavy oil that I just couldn't wrap my head around putting it on my face. It wouldn't surprise me if it was doing wonderful things for your skin, but it also wouldn't surprise me if it did something strange to your skin...

You could also try switching the other oil- grapeseed is a lot lighter- that might be good. The big thing with keeping pores smaller is hydration- if your skin isn't hydrated they open back up quickly. Of course, I also know a place where you can get some pre-mixed with an emulsifier so that it's easier to rinse off...

[xraisonxdetre]

Karen! Thank you so much for responding

I'm going to try the ocm a couple more times with the correct ratio and see how that helps..as of right now, I don't think it is doing too much good for my skin. I bought the pore refining toner, and am using that and the super serum, and even in just a few days, I can see slight differences. I loove it. I have a question regarding this place that has this awesome grapeseed oil product (HAHA ), it would work to mix that in with the castor oil and then washing it off would be easier all together? Because thaaaat would be amazing

[Cupcake]

Hiya. The 'thing' about OCM is that the oil spread on your face for the purpose of cleansing sticks to the makeup, dirt and dead skin cells, grips it and removes it as it's washed away, this cleans your skin more thoroughly than a lot of other cleansers. The 'thing' about castor oil in OCM is that it's the most viscous oil. That means that it's the stickiest and thickest. There are a lot of different oils - usually called carrier oils as they are commonly used in aromatherapy to dilute (or 'carry') the essential oils in preparations. Some are very thick and gloopy like castor oil, some are very thin like grapeseed. As well as the thickness and texture of the oil being important, the oils all have slightly different nutritional benefits because they have vitamins or nutrients that 'feed' the skin in different ways. Even more info, some oils absorb into the skin and some don't - the ones that don't are commonly used in massage, for example. Everyone has different preferences; mine is to use neat Jojoba oil as that is the closest of all the commonly available to the skin's own natural oil, called sebum. You can use a mix of oils to get a texture you like, or to make a recipe to get the benefits of using several oils for their different nourishing nutritional properties.

Where a *lot* of people go wrong with OCM is that they follow incorrect information about how to remove the oils. Oils do not dissolve in water without an emulsifier added to them - as with SN's Apricot Cleansing Oil. To remove regular oil in the oil cleansing method, you need hot water and a muslin cloth - that means you need heat and friction to melt and rub away the oils - both potentially cause damage to the skin. You soak the cloth in the hot water... and then you can do the next part different ways. Some like to lay the steaming hot cloth on their face to allow the heat to open their pores for just a moment. This is not suitable for everyone, especially if you have a tendancy towards redness or broken veins / capillaries because the heat will cause damage to the skin and, of course, risk scalding / burning the skin. Or you can fold up the cloth (I use mine folded over several times to make a small pad) and then gently but firmly buff away the oils. That's not pressing the oils into the skin, quite the opposite. You're wanting to lift the oils onto the cloth and away from the skin.

The most important thing is to remove every last trace of the oils from the skin because this oil is full of dirt and grime. Where a lot of people go wrong is thinking they can rub the remaining residue into the skin if they either lay the cloth on their face to steam the pores without removing the oils thoroughly, or don't do a thorough enough job in buffing away the oils. Sometimes the oils will leave a little residue on the skin because the water was not hot enough to melt them. There is another problem, water hot enough to 'melt' the oils can damage skin. A sensible thing is to follow with a foaming cleanser to ensure the dirty oil is washed away. Why not rub it into your face?? Simple - because it's full of dirt and if you pressed that back into your face, you'd be pressing into your pores all the dirt that you were trying to remove from your pores in the first place - and more likely to clog your pores and cause spots. A couple weeks of OCM and people suddenly get spots - this is usually why.

The mystique of OCM is that oil grips dirt and cleanses your skin better than most cleansers. But removing the oils is a problem, so a wash-off oil such as SN's Apricot Cleansing Oil or others will help remove the oil with no hot water damage, no residue of dirty oil and no fuss and awkwardness. You can still follow with a foaming cleanser just to make sure if you want.

I hope that helps cover some of your questions about OCM.

[xraisonxdetre]

Thank you! Yes that was REALLY helpful I think my biggest problem is getting all the oil off. I do try to get all the oil off using hot water and a towel, but I guess I haven't been doing a very good job. I thought that using a cleanser after defeated the purpose of doing the ocm because the oil is supposed to be the cleansing step. I see now that using a gentle cleanser to remove all the oil is fine. Again thank you so much!

[Cupcake]

Glad to help. Don't worry about it, I tried the castor oil mix once and it took three - yes, honestly I swear, three good latherings with a foaming gel cleanser to get rid of that stuff off of my skin. How anyone thinks a hot cloth steam will shift it, I'll never understand. I binned the bottle as I won't use it (and I sincerely don't want to keep the bottle of castor oil around for it's other purpose - as a laxative!).

Using a gentle cleanser to remove the oil is fine. Oil is gentler than some harsh chemical-laden cleansers and that's part of the purpose of using oils to cleanse along with the fact that it's sticky gloopiness is what binds the dirt and draws it off of your face more effectively than most other cleansers, but if you're going to add a gel cleanser (I do) something like Kiss Gel Cleanser from SN is formulated carefully so that there's nothing harsh or hard on your skin in it. Or if you don't want that, just look for something simple and gentle because your oils are doing the hard work for you, the gel is just to shift the last dregs of residue.

[Licketysplit]

Thank you Cupcake! Excellent post about OCM. Can you believe it, I once tried using cooking-grade Grapeseed oil on my nose, and I woke up the next day with more whiteheads lol. So much for experimentation.

[Ryvyan]

I'm on the other side of this fence: OCM means never using a facial cleanser ever again because I feel that some facial cleansers would unwittingly (even with care taken to ensure ingredients are in order) strip off the oil too aggressively.

My friend had the same issue using EVOO and following up with facial cleanser, and I gave her the following advice: After you rub the oil on, place a hot/warm towel over your face (I do about 30 sec to 1 min, depending on my mood and repeat once, not necessary though) and wait till it gets a little cooler and as you remove it, gently use same towel to rub (gentler than 'gentle rub') your face until it does not feel crazy-oily.

What I find to work best is a good rinse of your face with colder water after you have done the above.

Said friend managed to get the oil and makeup off easily with just two tries (she was using a white towel) and it was not that oily.


Overwashing is a problem; your face always need some oil and to be honest, dirt should not be too much of an issue because it has been removed from the surface of your skin. Contrary to what Cupcake said, I do not believe that the dirty oil will be 'pressed back' into your skin. Your pores are not fragile.

When I don't have make-up on, I just pat warm water on to remove dirt then cold water during shower. Everything in moderation.


Hope this helps.