Latest Hippie Weirdness: Oil Cleaning Method

Yea! Clap*clap*clap!  It's time for the next installment of hippie weirdness.  You were probably stopping by here in search of cute Christmas photos, and I assure you they are forthcoming, but, WHEW!  Christmas is a lot of fun but a lot of work, and by the way, what was I thinking, planning to "catch up on the blog" in the month of December?  I must've lost my mind, so we'll just consider that an ongoing project.

Anyhoo.......
This is easily my favorite of all the hippie weirdnesses so far.  I switched up the way I wash my face earlier this year, and I've been doing it this "new" way for about nine months or so.  It's a far cry from the heavily Noxema/Oxy/Biore filled days of my teenage years - you know, the days when my skin was probably naturally youthful and beautiful, but I tortured it with all manner of picking, chemicals, soaps and masks in an effort to improve it.



Here's what I do now:  mix equal parts extra virgin olive oil and castor oil, rub about a quarter-sized amount into my face, get a wash cloth steaming hot,  place the hot wash cloth on my face for about one minute, and then when I'm through I just wipe away any excess oil with the cloth.

It may sound weird, because you're probably thinking it will make your skin totally greasy, clog your pores, or just not get you clean.  But I'm telling you, it's awesome, (and you shouldn't write it off just because you have oily skin, either).  The heat makes it feel like a little mini-facial, like you're really pampering yourself.  Plus, it removes makeup really well.

I used to use an Oil of Olay daily moisturizer but haven't been using any moisturizer since switching to this method of face washing because it keeps my skin supple.  (I'm open to suggestions, though, because I could probably use the sun protection, especially in summer.  Of course, these days I rarely seem to make it outside, but that's a subject for a whole different post!)

The only downside of washing my face this way has been that the extra 30 seconds it takes is sometimes more than I have to spare.  (Self care really should be higher on my list, I know, but often times it's not.)  In a pinch you can cheat and do it in the shower, but I really prefer not to - something about lying down with the hot wash cloth on my face feels so luxurious. 

I'm not going to go into the ins and outs of oil cleaning, but if you're curious about why it works, or how to tweak the oil ratios for oily or dry skin, then read this link. 

So, who's gonna give it a shot?  C'mon, it's cheap, easy, and you will not regret it!  Do report back.

Oh, and here's a small dose of Christmas to reward you for making it through this post. : )


{Christmas morning, playing with their new light panel.}


{December 26th: roller skating in the kitchen in new Tinkerbell skates, wearing a new vest and clutching the pink beluga and a green balloon that Santa brought. And don't you DARE tell her it's a dolphin.}