Spring’s that time of the year when we feel the need to recover from a long winter and look at our personal health from a fresh perspective.
Don’t you love putting warm winter jumpers away to dig out lighter clothes? We take care of our house, we spring clean but it’s also important to take care of our skin.
The cleansing oil method is a super effective, minimal and zero waste method to clean, purify and moisturise your skin and best part about it is you can do it yourself with your own DIY cleansing oil.
How oil cleansing can simplify your skincare routine – and reduce waste
Let’s admit it. We’ve all been through that phase of using a million different detergents with the promise that they can illuminate and purify our skin, get rid of excess oil or fight acne. The reality is that detergents are formulated to clean your skin, but they also strip the natural oils from your skin.
When this happens, our skin works hard to produce more oil than normal, causing oily skin and blemishes.
Instead, the oil cleansing method works based on the idea that “oil is able to dissolve oil”. If we choose to simply dissolve our original oil (the sebum) with new and pure natural oil, we can clean our skin without disrupting its balance.
What’s best is that oil cleansing is suitable for all skin types.
All you need to make your own diy oil cleanser is a blend of oils of your choice, a reusable glass dropper bottle, and a cotton or bamboo fibre cloth pad. You can cleanse your skin before going to bed or in the morning, and you can even use it to remove your make-up.
It makes it the perfect method to adopt if you want to switch to a more simplified, minimal, natural skincare routine.
How to choose the right oil for your DIY oil cleanser
When choosing which oil works best for your skin, keep in mind the following parameters when creating your diy cleansing oil.
Oil quality
First and foremost, it is extremely important that you choose high quality, cold pressed oils that have not been obtained by chemical extraction methods. When possible, choose unrefined and organic.
Related: How To Make A Solar Infused Herbal Oil
Oil properties
Although you can definitely use an oil cleanser with just one oil type, a balanced mix of oils can really do wonders for your skin.
This is essentially because every oil has a unique fatty acid profile, which donates exclusive properties to the oil.
While some oils might have similar properties, other oils might lack something you can complement with another oil.
Comedogenic scale
Have you ever heard of the comedogenic scale? On a scale from 0 to 5, it is based on the absorption rate of an oil and measures the likelihood that it has to clog your pores. That being said, we should not be choosing an oil based on this assumption alone.
Some oils with a higher comedogenic scale (for example, avocado oil) might do wonders for extremely dry skin.
Some other oils, like castor oil, which has a very low comedogenic rating, might be drying to the skin. This is why we love mixing different oil types that can bring the right balance to the skin.
The 4 oils strategy
To create an effective and balanced diy oil cleanser you can apply the following “strategy”:
1. Cleansing Oil
Ideally, the base of your diy cleansing oil mix should be an oil with cleansing and antibacterial properties. The star oil with these properties often used in the oil cleansing method is castor oil.
Castor oil has amazing astringent properties and works beautifully in drawing impurities that can cause potential acne breakouts off your skin. The quantity of castor oil you can use will depend on your skin type. Start with 30% of your whole formulation and work your way down if you have dry skin.
Too much castor oil can be drying, so use it sparingly if you have dry skin. If you have extremely dry or very sensitive skin, you can completely skip the castor oil and add a little bit of coconut oil instead, which has natural amazing anti-bacterial and cleansing properties.
Keep in mind that during cold temperatures the coconut oil will solidify. You could use fractionated coconut oil, which does not solidify, but keep in mind that this will have a different fatty acid profile to coconut oil.
2. Core Oil
Choose the oil that works best for your skin type! Add up to 50% of this oil to your castor or other cleansing oil base.
Depending on your skin type, you could choose between hemp seed oil, grapeseed oil, sweet almond oil, olive oil, etc. If you want, you can also mix two different oils at 25% each.
3. Luxury Oil
Finally, for the remaining 20% you could add a more luxurious oil with unique properties. These are normally also very expensive but can truly top up and complement your oil blend in a unique way.
Some “luxurious” oils are, for example, argan, jojoba, tamanu oil, sea buckthorn oil, evening primrose oil, rosehip oil. If you prefer to stick to using only your core oil/s, simply up your core oil percentage by 20%.
4. Essential Oil
This is also entirely optional and I would skip this step if you have very sensitive skin.
If you want to include essential oils in your diy cleansing oil, adjust your oil base to leave room for up to 0.5% maximum of essential oils of your total recipe. I normally choose essential oils that are suitable to use on the face, such as lavender, sandalwood, tea tree and frankincense.
Among the citrus essential oils, I like grapefruit, sweet orange and neroli. Bear in mind that citrus essential oils contain photosensitizers, so make sure to wear them at night or avoid any sun exposure.
Ready to make your own DIY cleansing oil recipe?
Now that you know how to choose the oils and essential oils that work better for your skin, you can have fun and try to make your own diy oil cleanser at home.
I have included below some recipe recommendations and ratios you can draw inspiration from. Feel free to swap the oils around according to what you think works best for you!.
DIY Oil Cleanser For Combination, Oily or Acne Prone skin
30% castor oil 50% core oil: grapeseed oil, hemp seed oil, safflower oil 20% luxury oil: tamanu, sea buckthorn oil, argan oil optional: up to 0.5% essential oil: lavender, tea tree, palmarosa, lemongrass, geranium, grapefruit, sweet orange, neroli.
DIY Cleansing Oil For Normal skin
20% castor oil; 60% core oil: sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, ricebran oil, sunflower oil, olive oil; 20% luxury oil: evening primrose oil, rosehip seed oil, argan oil, jojoba. Optional: up to 0.5% essential oil: lavender, geranium, sandalwood, frankincesce, cedarwood.
DIY Oil Cleanser For Very Dry/Sensitive skin
0%-10% castor oil
80% core oil: avocado oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, ricebran oil, sunflower oil
20% luxury oil: neem oil, jojoba, argan.
How to use your own diy oil cleanser every day
Applying your oil blend could not be easier! All you need is a soft, bamboo fibre or cotton cloth. If you want to remove make up from small areas like your eyes, you can use reusable cotton roundel.
Step 1
Wash your hands well, dry them and then squeeze 4-5 drops of the oil into the palm of your hand.
Step 2
Distribute the oil between your hands and start massaging it once the face, including the neck, in circular movements. This will take you between one to three minutes.
Just enjoy it and don’t rush it. If you need to remove any eye make up, add a couple of drops of cleansing oil to a wet cotton roundel and gently scrub any make-up away. Rinse and repeat if necessary.
Step 3
Dampen your face cloth with warm/hot water, squeeze any excess water out and place the hot towel over your face for a few seconds. Repeat if necessary, making sure to cover the neck area as well.
Massage your skin before removing the cloth. If you feel you still have some of the cleansing oil left on your skin you can use a simple wet towel to scrub any excess oil off.
Step 4
Dry your face with a towel and enjoy the amazing feeling of soft, purified skin!
You can use this method once or twice a day. I personally like a more cleansing oil blend at night and a more moisturising oil blend in the morning when my skin feels super dry. By applying this method I feel less the need of applying a cream.
As with many natural switches, your skin may undergo a transitioning period and there is still a chance that you will have some skin blemishes during the adjustment period. If you feel that this method is not working well for you, try to change the cleansing oils that you are using.
I truly believe that the oil cleansing method can really simplify your skincare routine dramatically. We really don’t need as many different products – sometimes it’s the simpler things that can truly make a difference.
Many oils can be bought in glass jars, and, whenever this is not possible, you can buy a larger size bottle that will last you longer. Just make sure you read the label as some oils (such as grapeseed and hemp seed oil) have a shorter shelf life.
Marta Tarallo is the London-based founder of Bottega Zero Waste, a natural skincare blog and online shop, on a mission to reduce waste by simplifying your beauty routine.
Loved this DIY cleansing oil recipe and want more on sustainable skincare?
Check out pebble’s post about Sustainable Skincare and Zero Waste Skincare
