OCM

     I happened to see a tweet that piqued my interest last week. A local mom in her late 30s mentioned that she needed a new skin care regimen. I love anything and everything makeup and skincare. I was a Mary Kay (GASP!) consultant for eight years and honestly did enjoy it. I have no desire to ever sell anything like that again, however, I feel I learned a lot about the subject and am grateful for those years. I still tell people that I learned more in MK about people and communication skills then I think any classroom could ever teach.
 I am digressing.
      Back to the point. I also am mid 30s and have just accepted the fact that I will never have beautiful skin. There, I said it! HA! I'm okay with that. I am going to do everything I can to take care of it though. I am convinced that my problem skin is the result of doing too much to try to fix it: too many harsh cleansers, toners, and tons of acne gels and spot treatments. Its especially harder now that I am aging and my skin is getting a little less oily. The same things I have been using for years now are not working anymore!
     While my skin hasn't been that bad, I don't love it and would love for it to just be a little more fresh. This is where the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM) comes in. I have NEVER heard of this and was not too keen on the idea at first, being that I have oily/combo skin. I don't put oil on my skin - ever. The more I read the more I realized that maybe that is my problem. I could add certain oils to my skin that will help with specific problems. I read a lot of information on several different sites and tried one concoction tonight. I'll let you know in several weeks if I like it. I will be honest and say I'm not expecting anything big, but these are pretty much household products and I feel much better about them being on my skin.
     You can read more about the different oils and their purposes here or here among a few other places you can Google.  I'm going to tell you what I did and I'll see in a few days if I need to alter it any. I used 2oz of Castor Oil, 1oz of Grapeseed Oil, 1oz EVOO and about 10 drops of Tea Tree Oil. I poured all of this in a 6oz plastic travel bottle I bought from Target. I shook it a little to blend it and voila. Done. I read that Castor Oil is said to be good for skin problems, and is said to pull out the bacteria from your pores. EVOO is a moisturizer. It is suggested if you have drier skin to switch these ratios. You can start with 3:1 parts of EVOO and Castor Oil. I switched out one of the EVOO parts for Grapeseed Oil which is supposed to be a light conditioner for the skin that will not clog pores. It was suggested for oily skin. The Tea Tree is for acne or blemish prone skin.  I poured about a quarter size amount in my hands and massaged all over my face, for about a good minute. I then got a wash cloth as hot as I could stand it and laid down with it on my face for a minute (more like 30 sec). Supposedly like a quick steam for your face to open the pores. I wiped off the oil while repeatedly rinsing the cloth after each wipe. I read that it is important to get all the oil off if you have oily skin so I think I might have rinsed too much. My skin actually felt a little tight and dry after. I just rubbed a light amount of the Grapeseed Oil on my face with wet fingers. The water helps it to absorb. The suggestions I read said you can do this morning or night or both. It does take makeup off great, too. I used my normal MK firming eye cream because I am a major nazi about eye creams!
     I'll keep you posted! Let me know what you think about it. Is this something you would try?

ALSO- I know nutrition is just as important for your skin. I just know more about this area! Plus, it's the easier part in my opinion!