Late last night (when I should have been sleeping) I came across the The Oil Cleansing Method. This morning I tried it with plain old olive oil from the kitchen. It feels great! The science kinda makes sense. I don't think I'd try it if I had adolescent oily acne.
If you put oil cleaning method in a google search you'll find info and technique.
Margaret? I'm going to go hunting about rosecea. I have a friend who has that and I think she'd be interested in some holistic methods.
I have super oily skin---about every half hour it looks like it had a run in with the Exxon Valdez. Seriously, I'm powdering and blotting CONSTANTLY. Any ideas?
Check out the DHC website. I love their stuff and their Olive Virgin Oil (that's really the name!) is purified so you don't get break-outs like you can from the stuff in your kitchen.
I have very dry skin but I have read that very oily skin can be the result of skin trying to naturally hydrate itself. Call the DHC 800 number and get some free samples! One of the catalogs had a story from a woman whose oily skin freaked out when she moved to Georgia. The Olive Oil worked for her, contrary to all logic!
I cannot believe how dry my skin has become from cleansing with pure plain old olive oil! And it is cleaning my pores. Next, I'm going to try castor oil and sunflower oil mixed. I kinda think I'm on to something here.
As for the rosacea? ... my friend avoids spicy foods and alcohol and just uses very gentle soap. Sorry, I'm not much more help.
Just popping in with my 2 cents after seeing the thread on the main page.
I am a "green cream" believer. Have been using it for a while and my skin looks wonderful. At 52 my skin looks better than it did at 30. greencream.com
I got pretty lucky and inherited my grandmothers skin. The women is like 76 and she looks like a 50 y/o or a sleepy 40 y/o. The only thing she has ever used is Ponds Cold Cream. I have used that before, but it was so heavy that I couldn't stand it. I would like something that goes on and disappears. My skin is very fair and even with sun screen I burn, so I know I need to be more proactive about skin care. I am using a firming night cream now, but it is heavy too. Other than being sensitive to the sun, my skin is normal. I have been looking at products in the store and the neat ones are geared towards oily or dry skin. I have tried some of them, but they do weird stuff. I am only 27, so I don't think I need any of the fancy wrinkle creams. Any suggestions on something that is light weight and will help prevent aging? (even the stuff that says it goes on with no residue leaves a film. It feels like it's not absorbing into my skin or something.) I am a grad student, so the budget is pretty tight.
DHC was mentioned a lot above, and I also use this line. The Deep Cleansing Oil, the Washing Powder, the Acerola line as well as other various items! My DH also uses it - the same items that I do. Great stuff. I also play around a lot making skin care at home! I found this "recipe" awhile back and it's fantastic - basically a yummy alpha-hydroxy treatment:
Papaya Peel
1 cup fresh pineapple
Half-a-cup fresh papaya
1 tablespoon honey
Puree fruit together. Add honey and mix into a smooth paste.
Pineapple and papaya contain natural enzymes and alpha-hydroxy acids that remove dead skin cells while the honey moisturizes the skin. Steam your face a little to open pores. Leave mask on 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse completely.http://www.squidoo.com/CompleteSkinCareTherapy
I know when I'm eating a diet of whole foods, high antioxidant fruits and veggies, whole grains and essential fatty acids and not eating excess sugar, my skin is nearly perfect. Literally from the inside, out. If I start straying, besides my waistband and rings telling me so, my skin changes. Texture and color. Like Candogirl mentioned above, heredity plays a part, as does lifestyle. But I think diet is HUGE. At least for me it is.
I have PCOS and Insulin Resistance, and along with that my hormones have been out of whack. Thus, I have terrible pores, oily skin, terrible acne, blackheads and cystic acne.
Ive tried every medicine perscription and over the counter, and not much has worked for me. None of the acne or pore minimizing creams etc from regular stores (Walgreens etc) to the fancy dept store counter products (Lancome, Clinique) have ever worked. Ive also tried Arbonne and Proactiv.
So, I found that Retina basically just tore up my skin. The antibiotics Ive been on for so many years, they dont work. The topical antibiotics cause reactions that drove me crazy.
The only thing Ive found that works well is a Panoxyl bar, which is just a bar with peroxide in it. But when its TOM or Im stressed out, nothing stops the cysts or acne from happening.
Anyone have any advice? I dont know where else to turn, Ive been to my primary care and a dermatologist, they just throw Retina and other creams and pills at me that havent worked.
I've used the oil cleansing method and it works really well for me (I have combination skin - fairly oily in the t-zone and very very dry on my cheeks. I also have rosacea.) I use a combination of 1 part castor oil to 3 parts olive oil. The reason I don't do it right now is that I got tired of going thru a fresh washcloth 2x a day in getting the stuff off my face. But it did work really well.
I also use Finacia for my rosacea rather than metrogel. The metrogel was too harsh, I think. The Finacia does a lot better at keeping the red down.
Mostly I try to use natural products on my face as much as possible. I'll use masks made of eggwhites and honey to moisturize, oatmeal mixed with avocado to exfoliate and moisturize, etc. There are a ton of things you can mix and apply to your face that are natural and work really well. I grow my own herbs and make my own toners and rinses as well. It saves on money as well as making me feel that I"m living a more natural life style.
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Last edited by PhotoChick; 05-12-2008 at 10:58 PM.
I have extremely sensitive skin and am cautious about chemicals since your skin absorbs 60% of what you put on it. I have been using Avalon Organics products, but I'm looking for something different. I was out of moisturizer today and used pure almond oil (I use it in my hair) and I was amazed at how well it absorbed. My skin was not greasy at all!
I'm going to look up DHC to see if it is free of all the chemicals I try and avoid. I have to be careful or I get eczema really bad.
I have extremely sensitive skin and am cautious about chemicals since your skin absorbs 60% of what you put on it. I have been using Avalon Organics products, but I'm looking for something different. I was out of moisturizer today and used pure almond oil (I use it in my hair) and I was amazed at how well it absorbed. My skin was not greasy at all!
I'm going to look up DHC to see if it is free of all the chemicals I try and avoid. I have to be careful or I get eczema really bad.
zenor, it looks like DHC has parabens and glycols, but it does appear to be SLS-free (though the ingredients it does appear to have for foaming agents i've never heard of so i can't tell if they're naturally derived or not) there are a number of ingredients in the cleansing milk that I don't recognise that concern me a little.
if you have super sensitive skin, evan healy is good brand to consider...a step up price wise from avalon, but super pure and incredibly gently. I use the blue lavender cleansing milk as a cleanser and it doesn't irritate my acne prone skin at all.
I have PCOS and Insulin Resistance, and along with that my hormones have been out of whack. Thus, I have terrible pores, oily skin, terrible acne, blackheads and cystic acne.
Ive tried every medicine perscription and over the counter, and not much has worked for me. None of the acne or pore minimizing creams etc from regular stores (Walgreens etc) to the fancy dept store counter products (Lancome, Clinique) have ever worked. Ive also tried Arbonne and Proactiv.
So, I found that Retina basically just tore up my skin. The antibiotics Ive been on for so many years, they dont work. The topical antibiotics cause reactions that drove me crazy.
The only thing Ive found that works well is a Panoxyl bar, which is just a bar with peroxide in it. But when its TOM or Im stressed out, nothing stops the cysts or acne from happening.
Anyone have any advice? I dont know where else to turn, Ive been to my primary care and a dermatologist, they just throw Retina and other creams and pills at me that havent worked.
Does PCOS disqualify you for Accutane? I had horrible cystic acne when I was in my teens. I went on Accutane for 6 months, and I've had clear skin ever since (with the occasional minor pimple around TOM).
My biggest skin woe is clogged pores in my nose. The only thing that removes them temporarily is Biore strips. It's so gross. One time I went to get a professional facial and the lady didn't have any advice for me. She wasn't even able to remove the clogs. She just told me I was dehydrated I could drink 2 gallons of water a day and still have clogged pores. Ugh. It's so frustrating.
Jelly - can you get some fresh herbs? Get some lavender and boil some water. Throw the fresh lavender in and do a steam with a towel over your head. Don't put your face too close to the water - you want to steam, not poach your skin!
The lavender is moisturizing as well as being mildly antiseptic. The steam will help open your pores. Then, once you've steamed, try the oil wash with maybe 1/2 castor and 1/2 olive oil .... the castor will def pull impurities out of your skin.
I have clogged pores around my nose and chin (that damned T-zone again) and I do this about every other week. You can do it weekly if you want, but I wouldn't steam more often than that or it'll really dry you out.
I could drink 2 gallons of water a day and still have clogged pores. Ugh. It's so frustrating.
