Oil Cleansing: DO NOT use olive oil or coconut oil

Posted by Courtney Henslee on Jan 7th 2015

I hate to be such a party pooper, but I am really serious about staying away from olive or coconut oil to oil cleanse. This is a fad. I have noticed that other small makers of skin care products, like me, are coming out about olive oil and coconut. Let the truth be known. Both of these oils are great at the very beginning of use. Perhaps this is because it is the first time someone is oil cleansing and an improvement would be had with just about any oil. But beware that in a month or two, maybe even three, that clear skin is going to go downhill and you'll be looking everywhere but at the culprit. 

Coconut oil usage, in itself, is a craze. I am not negating that it's better than putting chemicals on your body, but it also has been showing to clog pores and can even create some of the skin problems it claims to fix. Olive oil is very much the same. Both of these oils just do not have the type of fatty acids that heal very deeply. However, coconut oil is very very important for internal health and *this* is where miracles happen. I will write another article on that though.

Olive Oil is an interesting animal as well. It does contain an important component to skin care, squalene. While this one component is good, the rest of the oil shows minimum benefit and often makes acne worse in the long run. 

You know that I am all about natural remedies and I have no qualms at all about telling you things to do for free that do not mean purchasing anything from me. I warn you against these two oils because there simply could not be any more misinformation possible. Here is short and easy to understand synopsis about olive oil damaging the integrity of skin after just a few weeks!!

For coconut oil, I seriously can find only actual study (surely there are more that the internet is hiding from me) on its efficacy. I am sorely dissapointed with the way the study was conducted and coconut oil was only put up against mineral oil. Yes, it's better than mineral oil, it does kill bacterial, but it's simply not the most effective and is slightly comodengenic (clogs pores). 

I implore you to try almost anything else. I make an oil cleanser that is very multi-purpose and has benefits far beyond just cleaning. If you are going to take good care of your skin, take great care and don't educate yourself with facebook memes or anything that doesn't cite science and/or lots of personal experience. 

Oil Cleanse Directions

1. Wet face with warm water. I like to do this in the shower to be sure pores are quite open. 

2. Apply oil to face with deep massaging motions. Facial massage also tones muscles and can really change the aging process. Keep your face fit while you wash!

3. Rinse with warm water. This is not really a rinse as much as you are warming the oil on the skin and dissolving more of the sebum and blackheads. 

4. Wipe face with a clean washcloth that has had no fabric softener use on it. You can also use a warm damp paper towel but my earthy nature implores you to use paper towels made of recycled paper. 

If you still feel too much oil is left you can wipe again with a dry paper towel, but this really wastes the good oils you put on in the first place. 

I recommend oil cleansing at night and leaving what feels like extra oil on your skin and sleeping while it absorbs into the skin. You will wake up with baby butt soft skin.