Oil Cleansing Method (OCM)

This method did not work for me. If you're on the fence about this, personally, I don't think it's worth the risk. A few days into the OCM my face started to break out in closed comedones on my cheeks.. I have NEVER broken out on my cheeks, ever. Until trying the OCM. These comedones took forever to come to head, at one point I counted over 50 on my cheeks, and they left me with horrible, deep red pigmentation marks. It's been 6 months since I stopped and some of the marks have yet to fade. Again, this is not worth it.

I tried oil cleansing on my torso using a mixture of Castor Oil & Olive oil (heavier on the former). I didn't notice any big changes at first, then my skin rapidly broke out (like after a week) in what almost looked like sores. I haven't had acne like that in years. I tried a number of dietary things to clear it, and also sprayed my torso with sea salt water nightly (I do this on my face, which has kept it clear for years). Not much made a difference... ...that is until I read about Vitamin D3. Another acne-sufferer posted his success with it, using a combo for VitaminD3 & Vitamin C. He was taking these for other reasons, and noticed it also cleared his acne. I take about 10,000 mg of D3 and 500 C each day (he used less of the former). It's been about 6 weeks and the change has been so up-lifting. It was slow to start, but then picked up. I must note that I added Vitamin C to my routine at about week 4, and thats when i really saw some fast changes...might be due to the 2 vitamins interacting, or just that D3 needed about 4 weeks to really work. I know you're supposed to wait a few months (at least 3-6) before writing a review of a method, but just thought i should let folks know.

I'm actually very surprised by all of the positive reviews. I will just start out by saying that this method is NOT for all skin types. I have very sensitive acne prone skin. I have tried everything on the market and have gone to dermatologists with no luck. I've been on birth control for hormonal irregularities and that has helped tremendously in the past. Now, being a freshman in college and having a highly stressful job, my body is undergoing stress that it has never dealt with before. In reaction to that, my face is breaking out worse than ever so I wanted something natural to help reduce it a little bit. I tried the OCM for about a week. First few days were great. I saw improvement in my skin's appearance and I loved how my skin felt. Fast forward to the fifth day, I woke up and my face was completely inflamed. Little red bumps all over my cheeks, face felt scaley and itched like crazy. I was extremely disappointed, I wanted this method to work. I will just say this, if you have sensitive skin, I don't recommend this method. I'm not against trying it out, but I will share the warning signs that I saw before my skin became irritated. Usually when I try something new that works for my skin, I will see an immediate improvement that is consistent. After the third day I saw new blemishes forming and I noticed that my face felt hot. If a product actually works, this will not happen. I should have stopped the method right then and there but I didn't listen to my body and am now paying the price for it. I also noticed that my face was actually becoming very dry. If you are wanting to try this method, I recommend only doing it every few days, on a small area of your face. Maybe just try it on your chin or one cheek just to see how your skin reacts. If you are suffering with the same irritation I am, I will share with you what I recommend on doing. What I am doing as of right now is just letting my face heal on it's own. I wash and steam my face with a warm wet washcloth, nothing else. No soap, no oil, just warm water. Afterwards, I moisturize my face. This is working for me so far. After I see that my face has healed back to the way it was before, I will go back to my normal cleansing method. The reason I am not using soap on my face right now is because my skin is already irritated and I am worried that it will make it worse. I do wear makeup, but I've noticed that gently washing my face with a warm washcloth does take it off. Another thing I recommend is a very mild soap called Black Tie soap made by the Black Sheep Soap Company. You can find this soap on [link removed] if you look under Black Sheep Soap Company. It is meant for acne prone skin and it has helped so many people. The soap is made with all natural oils and it has completely cleared my acne in the past when I wasn't so stress prone. It balanced out my skin's oil production but I still used a moisturizer with it. This is the method I will essentially go back to when my face heals. I just wish I would have stuck with it.

I never had perfect skin, but to me (**me prior to OCM**), a bad breakout consisted of 3 maybe 4 zits. I discovered the OCM and was hyped, hoping it would put an end to those occasional "bad breakouts" because I have always been very anal and overly concerned with my skin. **Side note, in 5th grade a boy in my class called my pizza face because I had a weird rash/zits/irritation around my nose. I'm 23 now. That shit will stick with ya. Don't be mean** So I did plenty of research on the OCM and decided to give it a go. I began breaking out almost immediately, but I stupidly told myself to power through because many people starting the OCM have a brief purge phase. After about 2 months, my skin was at an all-time low, I was out at least $70 (from trying a couple different blends/oils), and my self-esteem was annihilated. I finally gave it up and returned to my regular acne-fighting facewash. When this didn't help, my classmate suggested I see a dermatologist (was so nice of her to point it out) but I decided she was right. That happened almost 2 months ago. The derm I saw wrote me up a little plan-of-action, which I've been following religiously for those 2 months. Yet, of course, my acne has somehow managed to get worse but derm lady said give the Differin gel at least 12 weeks before giving it up. Just at the beginning of this week, she decided to double the dosage of oral antibiotics I've been taking. ALL BECAUSE OF THE DAMN OIL CLEANSING METHOD. I strongly strongly urge people to steer-clear of the OCM and also Differin gel because this has been the longest, most itchy, irritated, and depressig 2 months of my life. I would do anything to have back my skin prior to the OCM :(

Okay so first of all if you're reading this contemplating whether or not you should give the Oil Cleansing Method a go. Don't. Run the other way. Go use a mild cleanser instead like Physiogel (what i personally use) or something your skin works with. BUT if you're stubborn (like I was) and thinking to yourself, "well maybe i'm part of the LESS THAN 50% that has great results with this method! Plus I've already bought a bottle of jojoba and i dont wanna waste it" Fine, Its all up to you. BUT I strongly suggest this is the order you try it at: NEVER USE COCONUT OIL OR OLIVE OIL OK JUST DONT (Day 1) Patch test. (Day 2) Try adding a little bit of the oil of your choice to your daily moisturizer and see if it doest give you a reaction. (Day 3) Oil Cleanse Day and pray to your god that it doesnt break you out (my blend was Grapeseed oil, Jojoba, Rosehipseed, and a little hemp) (Day 4-17) Its the "Observation Phase" PATIENCE MY FRIEND. It'll save your skin. Dont use the oil for 2 weeks, wait it out in this timeframe and go use your normal cleanser first to see if the ocm will give you more breakouts than usual. I saw 3 new pimples 4 days after the ocm trial day, then 5 new ones and a monster cystic one a week after it and decided never to try it again since I almost never get pimples prior to ocm. I say wait it out 2 weeks after your first ocm because pimples take an average of 2-6 weeks to appear on the surface of your skin. Thats why some of the positive reviews on here are from people who have used it for 1-2 weeks reporting they've had smoother skin after just one wash, and the negative reviews are from people who have had initially good results within the two week timeframe, then suffered for months. So its very important to use it ONCE then wait it out for 2 weeks and use your usual routine pre-OCM during this time, if you get more than your usual breakout forget the Oil Cleansing altogether. This isnt purging only AHAs and BHAs and scrubs and peels can cause purging. If it didn't break you out congratulations unicorn! But dont stop observing your skin. Slowly incorporate it into your routine, do it once a week and not daily. NOW IF YOURE LIKE ME AND YOU JUST WANNA END THIS NIGHTMARE OF A CLEANSE ONCE AND FOR ALL, here's what I did: 1. Go back to your normal routine and toss that oil blend bottle into the bin (I assume you already have by now) and stop blaming yourself for the outcome! Blame those darn youtube reviews or something 2. Patience. The healing process might take two months. Dont go out and panic buy all the harsh spot treatments and chemicals that might make your condition worse. 3. I did two weekly masks (that I still do now) One is a clay mask, Aztec healing clay plus apple cider vinegar (Yes that one the green one everyone talks about) Now note that this might make you purge because ACV has malic acid which is an AHA. But it's only removing the damage that OCM has done. Do this once a week. The other mask I swear by is a ground coffee and honey mask. Grind some coffee beans, make yourself a cuppa coffee, use the strained grounds and mix with raw organic honey to make a scrub. Steam your face with 6 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 cups water for 5 minutes, wipe off your face, and gently massage the honey coffee mask onto your face in circular motions. Leave this mask in for however long you like. I leave mine for 1-3 hours before washing off. Dont use the clay mask and scrub on the same day of the week. 4. SPOT TREAT those pesky pimples and acne by mixing on the palm of your clean hand, 3 drops of water, 2 drops of apple cider vinegar, and 1 pea sized amount of honey. Mix em all together and use as an overnight spot treatment. Dont use during the daytime as the apple cider vinegar might be less effective if exposed to sunlight. The healing process will take a month or more but hey its worth it. As for ACV and honey and coffee grounds, you might be thinking, oh hell naw im not putting more natural products in my face anymore. Shh. Go check out the reviews on this site for those individual ingredients and see the difference in the percentage of good reviews from this OCM bs right here. Anyway, let me know if it worked for you guys! And remember, patience is key to undoing this mess. x

I tried for 2.5 months, but gave up on it now after only getting more and more whiteheads and an occasional cyst. I tried a mix of castor oil, sunflower seed oil and the last month with a little Argan oil in the mixture. I massaged it in for 10 min every night, and cleaned of with fresh new washcloth and warm water. It did get a little grit off my skin, but I could still feel a lot of grit being stuck in my pores and not coming out. I just purchased acne.org regimen and hope for better results... and hope I later on can skip the BP During pregnancy and nursing. Ocm didn't work for me and I really had high hopes that it would :-(

Ocm ruined my skin completely. I had the mildest form of acne and great skin apart from acne. I used OCM for a few months and suddenly one day I wake up to 3 cystic acne. I never had such acne. Then this started spreading on the sides of my forehead till the point I had to big isolated clusters of cystic acne with 10 inflamed bumps each side. My skin became red even the part where there was no acne and it seemed as if I had rosacea. A guy with clear skin suddenly having such bad Cystic acne, this was a disaster. This happened around 5 months ago and I am still struggling. Surprisingly only my forehead has acne and no other part of my face. If anyone has the same type of acne and has cured it, would be grateful if could get some help. Thanks

Tried the oil cleansing method because of all of the great things I heard about it, but that was a decision I was going to regret more than anything yet. I started with cleansing my face once a day with a mixture of castor oil, jojoba oil and hemp seed oil, and would afterwards moisturize with rose hip seed oil. After two weeks of treatment, my whole face is covered in inflamed pimples and cysts, and my skin is the worst it has ever been. I am so sad and devastated about the situation and I am in desperate need of advice on how to heal my face the best way possible. My skin care routine is very simple and I have eliminated all harsh products: I now wash my face twice a day with water, tone with a mixture of rose water, witch hazel and apple cider vinegar. I moisturize once at night with an organic moisturizer and as a treatment, I use aloe vera from my plant as often as possible. Is there anything I can do differently? how can I heal the scars that it will leave? I will be forever thankful for any response.

I tried OCM for about 2 or 3 weeks and I just wound up with more acne. I used a half and half mix of castor oil and hemp seed oil twice a day. I went from having a few small zits on my forehead to having acne all over my cheeks, nose, the sides of my face, and my forehead. It took months for my skin to get back to how it was before trying OCM. OCM might work for someone who doesn't have acne, but if you do, I don't recommend trying it.