Oil cleansing may sound counter-intuitive, especially to those already concerned
about oily skin and acne. Read on to learn about the benefits and find out if it's right for your skin.
Oil cleansing is an ancient practice that has survived for thousands of years and is not as uncommon as some may think. The next time you're shopping for a facial cleanser, take a closer look at the ingredients and you'll find that a great deal of them contain an oil as one of the top 5-7 ingredients. Especially those that focus on age-defense and dry or dull skin.
A LITTLE SKIN SCIENCE
Our skin is comprised of oils, fats, and waxes. The base layer of our skin, the hypodermis, is made up of subcutaneous fat and is what keeps skin looking plump and firm. When we age, this layer thins out and skin starts to sag. Our dermis layer contains oil glands that keep skin hydrated and smooth. It also keeps the water levels in your cells balanced. The oils in your dermis keeps excess water out, while the acid mantle (a layer of sebum, sweat, lactic acid, and fatty acids on the surface of your skin) keeps too much water from evaporating. Adding oils to our skincare strengthens these systems and keeps our skin healthy and strong as we start to age.
SOAPS DISSOLVE OIL AND FAT
Now that you know your skin requires oil to stay youthful and dewy, think about how important it is to preserve and fortify the natural oils it produces.
Washing your face and body with soap (aka surfactants) is commonly thought of as a healthy practice, and while people have been using different types of soaps for thousands of years, those ingredients haven't always been as aggressive as what we use today.
Think about washing a dish covered in oil. You run hot water over the dish and the surface oils dissolve and run down the drain. Then you add a little dish soap, give a little scrub, and viola, the oil disappears. Give the dish a final rinse and it’s squeaky clean.
Sometime during the 20th century, someone decided that’s just what our skin needed and here we are today, scrubbing ourselves down on a daily basis. Soap and warm or hot water are the exact opposite of what we should be applying to our delicate, oil-loving cells. What we're doing is aging our skin faster and breaking down our protective barrier and microbiome, exposing our skin to pathogens, elements, and pollution. We think soap is a wonderful, magical product that helps in so many ways, we just believe that it should be used as a tool, not as the rule.
MYTH: PEOPLE WHO DON'T WASH WITH SOAP EVERY DAY ARE STINKY AND DIRTY
TRUTH: In general, we don’t need to wash our bodies with soap every day to be clean, we've just been taught for so many years to think we do. Although soap comes in very handy after certain activities, say a camping trip, a day in the water, a day of gardening, etc... in general, skin washes clean with water alone. This is important to keep in mind for the more delicate areas of the body, including the face, neck, and chest. These are areas where the skin is thinner and more delicate and can be easily dried out.
What about your face?
Most of my clients balked at my suggestions to cut down on their facial cleanser, saying they've been advised by other skincare professionals to wash their face twice a day for clear, healthy skin. A lot of these are my acne-prone clients who wash and wash and never see positive results. My clients who decide to give it a try start seeing noteworthy results in as soon as one week. Oil cleansing won't clear up hormonal acne, but it can ease the irritation and redness and help heal the irritated skin and clear up the existing bacteria while you're working on solving the underlying issues.
Have you ever noticed that your face feels tight after washing?
You might think this is the result of shrunken pores or tightened wrinkles. What's actually happening is your skin has been dried out to the point that it isn't able to retain the appropriate amount of water. Doing this day after day leads to chronically dry skin, and dry skin leads to accelerated aging.
Is the skin on your body flaky and/or itchy on a regular basis?
Try going a few weeks without using soap on your arms, legs, and even your torso and you'll find that moisture will return and the itchiness will subside. For your washing routine you're better off with warm water alone than you are with even the most natural soap on the shelf. The results of over-washed, dried out skin are dehydration, loss of elasticity, irritation, deepening of wrinkles, flakiness, and a disrupted acid mantle.
If you disrupt your acid mantle enough, you’re much more prone to chronic redness and irritation, sunburn, acne, cystic acne, and skin disorders like dermatitis and eczema. That said, we do still believe in giving the pits a dash of soap as needed. And occasionally the bits, but you don't want to over-do washing the those areas because you can easily throw off your pH which is needed to ward off infections.
IS YOUR DAILY SHOWER ROUTINE AGING YOUR SKIN?
Maybe? I know I'm giving off a "soap is the devil" vibe. Truth be told, I love it as much as the next person. I love buying it, smelling it, lathering it up, but not using it every day has brought moisture and youth back to my face and body and I highly recommend giving it a try.
WHAT OIL DO YOU RECOMMEND?
I love jojoba (Ho-ho-ba) oil – and if you didn’t know already, Wild Hazel is actually another name for Jojoba! I named my business after it because I believe in it that much. The main reason for my obsession is that jojoba has been the number one successful ingredient for my clients of all ages, with all different skin goals, simply because it works and creates beauty in its wake. It has truly amazing properties that plump up your skin to make it healthier, clearer, more elastic, less tired looking, and dewier, to name a few. If you want to know more about why I love jojoba so much, I've dedicated a whole post to it here.
WHAT ABOUT OILY SKIN?
I’m standing by it. Oily skin, more often than not, is skin that’s over processed with surfactants (soaps) and chemicals, and is trying to regain balance by over-producing oil. When you put the brakes on the soaps, chemicals, and exfoliants, and start using a healing, anti-inflammatory oil, like jojo, your skin will eventually calm down and naturally balance out. Oil cleansing also cleans out pores by dissolving dirt, debris, and excess sebum. Once you wipe it away, you’re left with healthy, glowing skin.
ACNE PRONE SKIN?
Oil-free skin does not equal clear skin. Being gentle and taking the less-is-more approach will get you closer to clearing up acne. Soaps exacerbate acne by drying skin out and further irritating it. When breakouts are caused by bacteria, jojoba is actually your best friend. Not only does it clean out the pores like I mentioned above, but it contains high levels of antioxidants, like vitamin e, which reverse damage and will help your skin heal faster. It’s anti-inflammatory, meaning, all that angry, irritated skin will be soothed in no time. And the best part is that it’s highly antibacterial so it absorbs deep into your cells and goes to work from the inside out. Even the toughest cystic acne caused by bacteria will calm down and start to fade after daily use of a healing oil.
HORMONAL ACNE?
Hormonal acne will still benefit from oil as a cleanser and moisturizer, however, things are a bit more complex than what you’re putting on your skin. With hormonal acne, issues with the endocrine system (hormone system) need to be addressed when starting your journey to clear skin. You can jump to this article to read more about the endocrine system and how it affects the skin.
DOES OIL CLEANSING REALLY SLOW THE EFFECTS OF AGING?
Heck yes! Any one of my clients over the age of 30 will tell you that breaking up with their face wash and adding jojoba into their daily routine was the best thing they've ever done for their skin. I've heard countless stories about how a spouse or co-workers commented on how much fresher and younger my clients looked just in the first week or two. By incorporationg oil cleansing into their routines, we've successfully tackled the biggest concerns, including crow's feet, "elevens" between the eyebrows, furrow lines on the forehead, rings around the neck, and tired skin on the chest, arms, and shoulders.
WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM OIL CLEANSING?
Practically everyone, even babes, can benefit from moving away from the traditional, sudsy cleanser to straight oil or even an oil-based cleanser that doesn't contain many or any surfactants (soaps). People struggling with dryness, dehydration, irritation, and wrinkles will benefit immediately and should seriously consider this switch-up for the health and appearance of their skin.
WHAT IF JOJO DOESN'T VIBE WITH MY SKIN?
There are other stable oils that are perfectly acceptable alternatives to jojo. Squalane (not squalene) is also considered skin identical and is a popular substitute for jojoba oil. The main differences between squalane and jojoba is that that squalane isn't antibacterial, so it's not going to clear up acne bacteria. If you opt for squalane, I recommend using an additional product that will help with the acne such as a mask with fruit enzymes, or toners with AHA, BHA. There are essential oils you can dilute with your squalane to address breakouts, like tea tree, lemon myrtle, or lavender; however, please be extremely cautious with essential oils and dilute properly (3-12 drops per ounce is approximately .5% to 2%). Overusing essential oils can lead to sensitized skin which can open you up for lifelong skin disorders like dermatisis.
Besides antioxidants, the biggest pro squalane has to offer is that it's lightweight and can be a good introduction oil for those who are suspicious or nervous to delve in. Meadowfoam seed oil is highly stable as well and is safe for most skin types - it's also a protectant from UV rays!
HOW TO OIL CLEANSE:
It works relatively the same as a traditional cleanser.
Use damp hands or a damp cloth to apply jojoba to your skin.
Gently massage it in.
Rinse with luke-warm water or gently wipe impurities and excess oil away.
Repeat as needed.
Reapply more oil as a moisturizer, or apply moisturizer over it.
For removing makeup, repeat as needed until the makeup is gone. Easy peasy.
THE TAKEAWAY
Whether you’re struggling with dry or dehydrated skin, an oily t-zone, breakouts, aging, redness and irritation, or you simply want a fresher complexion, simply adding a stable oil like jojo, squalane, or meadowfoam to your daily routine will make a world of difference. If you want to take your skin to a whole new level of fresh and dewy - replace your foamy cleanser with oil and you will see healthy, younger looking skin in no time.
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