Essentially, the OCM is what it sounds to be – you put oil on your face. By now you’re probably thinking, “WHAT?! OIL on your FACE?? This goes against everything that I’ve been taught about skin care!!!” It’s preposterous, I know. But, bear with me as I explain. I am definitely not one of those people born with natural, flawless skin without a single blemish in sight. I have oily skin, and all throughout junior high, I would get acne explosions everywhere on my face. The cosmetic industry told me that salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide were the way to go, as they strip the oils from your face to decrease the size of pimples. I thought that in order to achieve clear skin that my skin needed to feel dry and taut. Needless to say, the countless products that I have tried never really worked; yes, they would leave my skin feeling dry at the end of a wash, but my skin became oilier than ever. While my acne has definitely cleared up in the past little while, I still get redness and irritation on my cheeks and occasional breakout.
In short, this entire way of thinking is wrong! Stripping the oils from my face each time I washed only exacerbated the problem as my skin tried to overproduce oils to compensate for the loss. This is where the OCM comes in. Think back to what you learned in chemistry class people – “like dissolves like” – so, in other words, “oil dissolves oil.” Makes sense, right? OCM will balance the oil production in your skin by supplementing it with nurturing oils that will help your skin to look beautiful and healthy.
So what is this magical method? To start, OCM requires castor oil, which is a thick liquid that can be found in the laxative section of your supermarket of choice or the health and beauty section from a Whole Foods Store. For all you NW Calgary dwellers, I got mine from Amaranth Whole Foods Market in Arbour Lake. If you don’t live in the NW, don’t stress. Just Google “Calgary organic markets” and you’ll be presented with a variety of locations – Planet Organic and Community Whole Foods come to mind.
However, although castor oil is the main cleansing oil that we are using, we need to dilute it with a thinner oil. This is where you can get creative. Based on your skin type (oily, dry, combination), you can choose from a large selection of oils. You can obtain a more detailed breakdown of the various types of oils here. But in general, sweet almond, jojoba, olive and grapeseed oils works great for all skin types and avocado oil, although it is much heavier will works as well when diluted with one of the other oils. Most of these oils, such as grapeseed, avocado and olive can be found in the cooking oils section of your supermarket, while sweet almond oil and jojoba oil are usually in the organic health/beauty section. However, just a note when buying oils – be sure that you buy cold-pressed oils, as this means that the processing method did not include adding excess heat in order to extract the oils.
Next, based on your skin type, mix the castor oil with your secondary oil as outlined below:
- Oily Skin: Try a blend of 30% castor oil to 70% secondary oil.
- Balanced Skin: Try a blend of 20% castor oil to 80% secondary oil.
- Dry Skin: Try a blend of 10% castor oil to 90% secondary oil.
Please note that none of this is set in stone; based on how your skin reacts to the oil combination, you may have to play around a little.
This next step is optional, but you can also add a drop or two of essential oil for a nice scent and added benefits. My current recipe consists of: 2 tsp castor oil, 1 tsp avocado oil, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp grapeseed oil (clearly I had issues making up my mind), and one drop of lavender essential oil.
Once you have prepared your oil blend (I highly recommend you mix small batches and try them out before making larger ones), simply pour a quarter-sized amount onto your hand and massage it onto a dry face for a minute or so. Then, run a washcloth under some hot water (it needs to be hot!) and steam your face. Don’t try to rub off the oil because you want your pores to open up and absorb the oils; instead, gently press the cloth against your face until it cools. Repeat 2-3 times.
And you’re done! The oil residue on your face may take a few minutes to fully absorb, but tomorrow you should wake up to soft and dewy skin! I have been using this method for the past week or so and I have noticed a significant lessening of the redness on my cheeks.
Just as a side note (although this hasn’t happened to me), apparently you may unclog a blocked pore which may cause a breakout as the oils flow out, but once this happens, your pores will begin function properly again. So don’t be dismayed if you get a breakout or two when using this method; stick with it and your skin will thank you for it later!
If you have any questions about this method, such as details regarding how to store the oils or where to get them from, post them below and I will try to answer them as best as I can!