I love the idea of using organic oils on my skin as a cleanser and moisturizer. And I did that for almost four months with the oil cleansing method, but unfortunately it ended in disaster.
For the first three months using the oils was heaven. My skin was so soft and glowing, and most of my cystic acne disappeared. However, into the fourth month I realized the oils were clogging up my pores big time.
I ended up with a BAD case of cosmetic acne. My skin was clogged over my entire face, with a multitude of blackheads and hard whiteheads over a lot of my skin. And I kept getting these small pimples on my cheeks as the gunk tried to make its way out. It took me the next six months of being incredibly gentle on my skin to clear it up.
This of course doesn’t happen to everyone that uses the OCM or natural oils to cleanse or moisturize their face. There are countless testimonials from both girls and boys on the net that rave about using simple oils or natural products that are packed full of oils on their skin. They claim that the oils actually help unclog their pores and dislodge stubborn blackheads. So why did my skin have the opposite reaction?
I have a few theories, and you may have even seen the videos I did after my OCM disaster which explain a couple of them, like perhaps it was the humid weather in Brisbane that didn’t work well with the oils and clogged me up. Whatever the reason is, my bad experience with the OCM has made me vary wary of using oils on my skin in the future.
Even when I know that a list of ingredients in a product is full of organic oils that all have low ratings for pore clogability, to be honest I’m still very hesitant to use that product on my skin, simply because it contains so many oils.
The problem with organic skin care …
So I have a bit of a dilemma with natural skin care products, because most of them are packed full of natural or organic oils. It’s almost like they’ve all followed the same formula - mix a few organic oils together in a pot, and sell it as a cleanser or moisturizer. It’s strange to me that it’s so hard to find a product that is not mostly oils.
I would love, love, love to be able to pick up and use any organic skin care product with confidence. I feel as though my skin is so acne-prone and so sensitive that I have to be super careful with any product that I use on my skin. It’s annoying to me because I know there are many organic products out there that contain a ton of healing natural oils that I just can’t use.
When I do find a product that is organic, not full of oils, AND doesn’t contain any pore clogging ingredients, then I’m so ridiculously excited because these products are so incredibly rare.
So when I find that magical natural, organic skin care product that does not contain a heap of oils and does not break me out, I’m going to stock up on a whole crate of them in case they go out of business. Just in case I can’t find another brand!
Fran Kerr is the founding editor of High on Health. To cure your acne, sign up to Fran's FREE acne cure mini-course or download her latest how to guide, Eat Away Your Acne.
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21 responses ↓
Hi Fran! like I said you should check out a skincare line called Pevonia Botanica a friend of mine uses it and said it helped clear her skin up.
Hey Fran,
Yesterday I came across this product and now I am eager to try it. It’s called 100% pure Organic Acai Berry Antioxidant Facial Cream.
http://www.100percentpure.com/facialtreatment_acaiberrycream.html
Although the ingredients contain nothing but organic essentials, I still am a bit scared to try new products. I was wondering if you’ve ever heard of these products by 100% pure, there are tons of them. They also sell them at Bath and Body Works. There were pretty good reviews on makeup alley as well….so maybe I will give it a try and let you know how it goes!
I had a similar experience with OCM and I am still suffering the consequences. It clogged up my cheeks (where I never had acne before) resulting in spots small and large, which are now leaving me with red scars and blemishes all over my face. I’m not sure how to sort it, my skin is so sensitive I can’t use anything like salycic acid on it, even paulas choice 1% made it worse. Argh, OCM is the worst thing I ever did!
Hi Francesca- It did take me a good six months at least to improve the quality of my skin. And the first four of those months I had persistent mild acne from how clogged up it was.
Did you use some kind of anti-bacterial with the paula’s choice? Sometimes where there’s a lot of gunk in there, and something like salicylic acid starts to draw it out, too much bacteria can get in there and form a pimple.
But if it was a skin sensitivity or an allergic reaction to the SA, that’s something different.
I’m currently trialling an amazing moisturizer at the moment. So far it’s been the BEST EVER product I’ve used. It’s 100% raw and 100% natural, is a natural anti-bacterial and is not made on oils so will definitely not clog pores. Since using it for a week my skin has improved by a lot so far. Look out for my review in a couple of weeks.
Hi Fran just a question; When you went to Fiji with the shiseido spf 55 did you have to use the oil cleanser shiseido makes for the sunscreen or did it wash off okay?
Hey Fran! I noticed I got loads of tiny milia-like pimples all over my forehead after using the OCM method. And that was early this year. I’m not even sure if its milia or just clogged pores but its stubbornly stays there for forever! Every few weeks it breaks out really bad then clears out a little. Then the whole process starts all over again. Do you have any advice ? Any would be much appreciated(:
Zack- It comes off really well with the Philosophy cleanser
Lynn- Read my article on how to get rid of whiteheads. It’s a recent post.
I still swear by natural base creams as excellent all over body cleansers, make up removers and shampoo. These do unfortunately contain oils such as Macadamia Nut, Sweet Almond and Sunflower.
Interestingly, I recently bought a natural makeup remover that contained the same ingredients as the base cream plus some essential oils for fragrance and Jojoba oil instead of Sweet Almond. The Jojoba oil was too much and made my skin break out. I didn’t think the type of oil would make such a difference.
I didn’t use an antibacterial with the Paulas Choice, I think I might try it again on a small area of my face and see how it goes. I had a nasty reaction to some Oxy with salycic acid once which made my skin red raw but I think perhaps that was just too strong. I’m currently using tea tree oil but it is only 1% so I’m not sure whether that is strong enough to make any difference at all? Also, if other oils clogged my pores (jojoba and castor) is it possible the tea tree could too? It’s so hard to know what to do for the best! Thank you for your advice anyway, I’ve just started on your eat away your acne guide too and so far so good! :]
Francesca- Nice name! 1% is not strong enough for a spot treatment but okay for a moisturizer. You want to use around 20% for spot treating.
I’ve never heard of TTO clogging pores so I think it’s fine. You don’t use a lot of it on your skin anyway
Hi, Fran,
WELEDA ROSE FACIAL Cleansing Lotion did awesome job for my skin.
Although I don’t like : Glyceryl Stearate SE.
And all time favorite, very affordable : Blue Green Algae with Grape Seed Extract Facial Cleansing Lotion.
awesome job, Fran!
Hi Fran! I’m curious, would you recommend the OCM for a weekly treatment? I’m a bit hesitant to try it because of the effects it has had on people in the long run. My acne is not bad, a few bumps here and there and some white and blackheads around my cheek and nose area, but nothing too life-threatening. =) Do you think that OCM would hurt more than help my acne? I know it will definately help my skin become more healthy, but what do you think about starting the OCM as a weekly or every third day treatment? I’m just very hesistant to try anything new for fear of worsening my case.
Hi Caroline, there are so many mixed opinions with the OCM so I can’t make that decision for you. Have a read of all the information on my blog about the OCM, and in the links I provide then make a decision.
Thanks! I’ll do that! =)
I’ve got hyper-allergic skin and up till now, not a single skin care product has really worked for me. So I’m gonna give this a shot one of these days.
Would it be okay to start off with 15% to 20% castor oil(just a few drops first) and with some other forms of oils like jojoba oil? Or I might simply remove castor oil from that formula and use jojoba oil and sunflower oil instead. Castor and grapeseed oils sound a bit too drying.
Also, no EVOO because of potential adverse reactions.
Btw, would using high-grade oil brands like Desert Essence, Heritage and Aura Cacia help reduce possible allergic reactions? ‘Cos I know that many low-grade oils are cut or distilled with other substances so there’s a good chance of allergy reaction.
Hi Yuri, just make sure the oils have 0 chance of clogability. I used high grade organic oils and the coconut and olive oil still clogged my pores
But on the other hand, many acne sufferers have had great success with the OCM.
i do the OCM once weekly, twice at most, aminly because i am bad at every-day-discipline … But in this case it’s perfect cause OCM is supposed to not be done on “human”daily basis on your skin.
Hi fran!
great website!
I am very very tempted to try the african black soap. It has gotten quite good reviews on makeupalley. However, i think one of the main ingredients is palm kernel oil, and try as i may, i cant seem to find out if its comedogenic? I have oily acne prone skin and like you, i’m afraid of using oil based products! :S
I recently bought the bee yummy moisturiser from your website, so far so good, i love that it absorbs so well! i’m not sure if its helping with my spots though. Do you know if St. john’s wort oil is comedogenic?
Hi Wei,
No, the st john’s wort oil is not comedogenic, I’ve been using bee yummy for well over a year now and it’s been great for my skin
Not a miracle product but it definitely doesn’t make my skin worse.
As for the black soap, I can’t find info on palm kernal oil either. But go with the testimonials because they’re good. I also made the decision to stock that product because my suppliers had so many repeat customers who loved it because it helped so much with their skin.
Hi Fran,
I would like to give the african black soap on your website a try, but it has coconut oil, soybean oil and shea butter! I read that the first 2 oils can be highly comedogenic!
hey there.. please help me!., i have been using OCM for 2 months now. the first month was amazing but now it’s sooo much worst. even my skin texture is totally damaged and i have acne on my cheeks now (i never had them there). and a lot of scarring, and in my forehead a lot of very small bumps.. please help me , what should i use now?, i have dry skin and its winter time so im finding it hard to decide what to use.. PLEASE HELP, its just a month now before my sisters’ wedding and i dont want to look like this!!, i hate OCM
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