Hey there pretty ladies!

I’ve had some questions recently on my Facebook page ( which you can check out here) regarding oil cleansing. I’ve recently started to use oil to cleanse my skin at night. I’ve used  Jojoba Oil (bought at Trader Joe’s) and also Sweet Almond Oil, (bought at Caputo’s–you can find it in many regular grocery stores). I think using oil to cleanse my skin is helping to balance it. Typically I struggle when the seasons change, because my T-zone remains oily, I get blackheads on my nose and jawline, AND my nose and cheeks get dry! Not pretty! While I just jumped into oil cleansing, I am not an expert on it. Luckily, I have a go-to skin care guru I can turn to when I am in need of more thorough answers.

Enter Jess D. She is a licensed Esthetician and the girl knows her stuff! She is a bad-ass pixie with a graduate degree in library science, too. I knew she would be the perfect resource to answer all your questions, and of course, I learned something too. Here is what Jess has to say about oil cleansing…

“Oil cleansing: The idea of oil cleansing is that instead of constantly stripping oil away from your skin, which just ends up producing even more, you’re providing your skin with good oil to balance everything out. There are a few different bases that can be used. Jojoba oil is great because it closely mimics the skin’s natural sebum. Sunflower oil is also recommended because it’s very light. I love olive oil in the winter because it’s rich with antioxidants and good fats, even though it smells like I should be cooking pasta. Everyone’s skin is different, so what works for one person might not work for another, so it can take some experimenting to find out which oil works best for your skin. The trick with oil cleansing is to mix the oil with a little bit of castor oil. Castor oil can actually be drying to the skin, so the more oily you are, the more you should add, or add just a tiny bit if you’re dry. You can create this ratio by mixing the oils in a cute little pump bottle, or if you’re lazy like me, you can just pour it right in your hand. You can also add a few drops of essential oils like lavender or tea tree oil to make it fancier.

So you slather on the oil base/castor oil mix onto your face, and start massaging it in. Massaging it for 10 minutes works, but if you have the time to work it in for longer, that helps to get out the blackheads. I haven’t experienced this myself, but supposedly if you sit down and take 20-30 minutes to massage the oil mixture into your face while watching TV, you’ll feel all the gunk expel right out of your pores, which is pretty much the best thing ever.

To take off the oil mixture, wet a wash cloth with warm water and let it sit over your face for a minute to steam out your pores, then gently massage the oil off your face. This will also exfoliate your skin. Once you’re done, you really don’t need to add any extra moisturizer, although using a toner is a good idea to tighten your pores back up. Since this is the uber-natural way to wash your face, I recommend using apple cider vinegar, which works as a fantastic toner.”

Thanks Jess! And until you start beauty blogging on your own, I will be glad to retain you as my skin-care expert!

Have you tried oil cleansing? What did you think?