Oil Cleansing

Oil.

It's usually something you associate with cooking, right? Well, it's also very beneficial to your skin.
Whenever you tell someone that oil is good for their skin, even oily skin, they look at you with both surprise and skepticism. Why? Because we have been made to think that oil will create more oil on the skin, when actually, it does the exact opposite.

Water penetrates water. Oil penetrates oil.
We all have different skin-types and pH-balances; and there is an oil out there that suits every single one.

When it comes to skincare, we try to make our skin go from being either of the extremes, to normal, but a lot of commercial skincare products out there end up stripping our skin of it's vital oils, especially those with oily skin. When you strip an oily skin-type of it's oil, the skin goes into shock and creates more oil to compensate for the dryness. It also doesn't help that a lot of people with oily skin never moisturise either.

It's all about pH-balancing. Conventional cleansers are heavily alkaline based whilst our skins acid-mantle is more on the acidic side, so those cleansers actually work against your skin and try to change the overall pH-balance. Those people who use alkaline cleansers and rave about how good they are, have altered their skin's pH. When they go to use pH-balancing products, their skin will fight back and probably break-out.

Washing and hydrating your face with oils is a good step towards good skin. Here are a list of oils to use with each skin type. It can vary, and like with skincare products, you need to experiment to find the perfect one for you. Oil Cleansing is best to be used at night since it gets the bulk of your makeup off, then you follow up with another cleanser.

Oily - Hazelnut, Castor, Argan, Tamanu and Jojoba are good oils for oily skin because they level out the oil balance.

Combination-Oily - Extra Virgin Olive, Avocado, Hazelnut, Argan, Castor, Tamanu, and Jojoba.

Normal - Extra Virgin Olive, Avocado, Argan, Castor, Sweet Almond, Rosehip, Tamanu.

Combination-Dry - Extra Virgin Olive, Avocado, Argan, Castor, Coconut, Tamanu, Macadamia.

Dry - Extra Virgin Olive, Avocado, Castor, Argan, Coconut, Tamanu, Macadamia.

Acne-Prone - Rosehip, Castor, Avocado, Tamanu, Argan, Hazelnut.

Sensitive - Apricot Kernel, Rosehip, Grapeseed, Coconut, Argan, Jojoba, Tamanu.

Mature - Rosehip, Carrot (Beware, will make you orange. ;P), Avocado, Argan, Jojoba, Tamanu (Especially good for mature skin), Extra Virgin Olive.

When using Extra Virgin Olive Oil, make sure it is truly extra virgin. There are some brands out there that claim it is virgin, when in fact it is a blend of both Virgin, Olive oil and Extra virgin. Extra Virgin is needed since it has all of the anti-oxidants, unlike those that have been filtered.
Don't use Coconut, Peach Kernel or Olive Oil on skin that is oily or prone to acne break-outs.

A good place to get oils from is Fushi, their oils are extremely high quality. All of their bottles are amber glass with built in droppers, so you wont end up wasting anything. They are also at very good prices too.
A good place to get castor oil is from Pukka Organics, the brand that makes tea blends also. It is the highest quality I have come across.

It is important to use high quality because you are paying for sustainable farming, fairtrade and not harming your own skin with herbicides and pesticides. Make the right choice.

Do you oil cleanse? If so, what oils do you use and has it improved your skin at all? Comment below.