Oil Cleansing Method (OCM)

I tried this with three different types of oils. The one thay worked for my skin was grapeseed oil. The ones that did not work were Olive and Coconut. But the oil that works depends on your skintype

I have been using OCM now for three weeks, every night and not using anything else on my face except a little sudocrem on some cystic acne that won't budge. While I can't say for sure that my acne is much better, the redness and soreness I was experiencing before has almost completely stopped. I mixed 8tsp of Olive oil and 3tsp of castor, with 5 drops of peppermint and 5 of tea tree oil. My boyfriend thinks it has made a big difference but I seem to have lots of little black heads, which I didn't notice before. Although that could be because I was preoccupied with the cystic acne, which was really inflamed and very painful. Personally I think it definitely will be different for everyone, and for me, my skin couldn't get much worse so I was willing to give anything a try! The ingredients are relatively cheap and must be better than slapping a handful of chemicals on your skin, right? I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, but it's stopped my acne from being so painful, even if it hasn't eradicated it completely. My skin is much softer and feels less grainy and in need of a massive exfoliation, and I feel better for using something natural and not chemically harsh. Obviously, you have to be prepared for negative effects too.

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 recently reviewed this product below and a few weeks later feel that I have to come back and correct my glowing review. The first month or so using OCM was wonderful, but during the second month, I began to notice many more small clogged pores and blackheads (comedones). In the last few weeks, I've developed several papules and larger, redder zits... including on my cheeks, where I haven't had them in months and had just started to nicely recover from scarring. :( I've very recently switched back to my old regimen of Dove soap and topical Retin A (that had been working until I made the switch) and am hoping to have this mess cleared up soon. I should also probably note that in the last month, I've gone from spring in a cool, dry Northern part of the country to summer in a hot, humid, Southern city. That change and the constant sweating, sunscreen, and makeup on my face have probably not helped. Anyway, I have to echo many people on here who warned us to stop OCM as soon as you start having a bad breakout. I regret waiting as long as I did.

I read about the OCM and I decided to try it. I loved it. It made my skin look glowing and toned. I used EVOO and Castor oil. I just eyeballed the ratio, but it shouldn't be more than 50/50, which is a lot. The castor should be about 10-20% depending on your irritation level. I am also switching from EVOO to sunflower oil, because EVOO is rated a 2 on comedogenic and sunflower is a 0. I only did EVOO tonight because it's all I had on hand and I was excited to try this method of washing. I am still working out how often I am going to do this. A lot of people only do it 2x a week. I'd like to do it every day because I can't seem to find a good moisturizer and cleanser that actually aren't comedogenic, despite what they claim on the label. I'm surprised I am the first person to review this since it's been around for awhile and it's all over the web -- even on this board. Weird.

I may have gotten lucky, because the first oil I tried was olive and it hit the spot! About myself: I am 36, my skin was always far from flawless, but with certain skin care products I was able to keep it at about 75% flawless for the most part of my adult years. It looked nearly flawless during my pregnancy in 2011 though. Since those blessed times I've switched different skin care products and just couldn't seem to find my skin's soulmate. My skin was just okay, thankfully there's nothing that Bare Minerals can't cover, right? Well, this past spring I got hit hard with rosacea (it used to surface but not often), dry flaky skin, painful breakouts that would not go away and if I tempered with them I'd get scars that would not diminish and would stay for weeks!! My skin was red all over, with dark purple-ish bumps. It was dry and itchy, reacting to everything I've used before with no problem, I'd apply a moisturizer and it would hurt... The whole thing seemed like a never ending nightmare! Until I gave the Oil Cleansing Method a try. Again, I think I got lucky because the first oil I tried was the right kind for me. I used olive oil every night for about two weeks before mixing castor oil in and I learned that I can only use one drop of castor oil per 2 Tbs of olive oil. Anything more than that causes a pimple or two. In the mean time, I tried other oils just because I am curious and love trying new things and also because of the hype surrounding the OCM all over the internet. I tried avocado - too thin for me, my skin feels dry after OCM. I tried hemp seed oil - caused allergic reaction, as I'd start massaging it in I'd feel little bumps appear out of nowhere and I'd stop and try hemp oil in a day or two, same thing would happen and I quit it after a few tries. I tried jojoba oil and don't get me started on how it wrecked havoc on my poor face! My face turned bright red as I cleansed it with jojoba oil! Similar thing happened with sweet almond, sesame and apricot oil. Olive oil is the only oil that I tried which brightens my skin, cleans my pores, diminishes fine lines little by little, reduces redness and castor oil makes my skin look and feel hydrated. So, when I wash my olive/castor mix off my face, my skin is bright, plump and clear of redness and blemishes. I am extremely happy that I finally can look at myself in the mirror without nearly having a heart attack haha and I am happy I started off with the oil that worked for me. The only con is that olive oil is a little heavy and my OCM takes about 20 min every night but hey, beauty requires sacrifices ;)

Wow, so my journey with the OCM started on such a ridiculous high -I was on cloud 9 just imagining all the smug confidence I would have prancing about with my amazing new clear skin!! :/ I started it accidentally on holiday - I was previously doing Dan's regimen and had been doing for about 3 years - lapsing a bit for the past year or so after going on Dianette so not having to be too strict with it, but now off birth control and the sun was breaking me out but drying me out - I'd brought almond oil for my hair so used that a couple of nights to slap on then massage the dry flakes off with a muslin cloth (at this point I'd never even heard of cleansing your skin using oils!) Looked up benefits of oil on skin when I got home and discovered OCM - that's it i was looking into every night and bought pretty much everything going! - Castor oil, EVOO, rose hips oil, avocado oil (which again worked incredibly at first - my skin was clear, vibrant, my pores were so small and I used it as a base to my makeup - God's honest I had the skin of a pre-pubescent angel!!) Anyway doesn't the bubble always burst??! I wasn't as unfortunate as some people who woke up with a painful pizza face :( ...rather I started breaking out gradually and also had lots of dry patches which I couldn't understand despite buying the castor oil none of the mixes I used were actually drying...? Anyway after persevering with it for a lot longer than I should've done - mainly because i was clinging on to this 'your skin may get better before it gets worse' business when really in the back of my mind I couldn't envisage that happening.....eventually I reluctantly stopped completely - even using a tiny bit as a makeup base which I really enjoyed, back to Dan's regimen and going to add in the glycolic acid as suggested, already my skin's a lot better after the damage OCM did - I guess we're all just searching for the one magic treatment that's simple, cheap and natural (and of course other-worldly in its ability to cure you of acne!)

I used 20% avocado oil 20% Grapeseed oil, and 40% castor oil, and added 2 or 3 drops of tee tree oil. In the morning use a hot towel to open my pours and then rub it in, then wipe it off. At night I would sleep with it. It started out great, my pores started to shrink my skin would glow and then it stopped working.. My skin is still not flaking but I feel like I have more acne then before. I think its worth a try but didn't work for me. I am 22 and got acne when I was 20 so my acne is random.

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 :(