How does oil cleanse your skin?

Oil cleansing might sound strange, because conventional skincare products and regimes advise us that in order to avoid blemishes, we must rid our skin of oil entirely, then replace it with unnatural oil-free substitutions (yep, those synthetic moisturisers). Even anti-ageing products are advertised as oil-free. But I have a question for you. Have you ever seen any oily skin have a face full of wrinkles? I haven’t.

I am one of those oily faces. My skin was felt very oily as a teenager, and, full of anxiety about it, I was washing my face with antibacterial soaps, foamy cleansers twice a day. They didn’t help. I endured painful lumps and blemishes flaring up on my face all the time.

Later I learned that after you strip the oil from your face, your skin tries to repair itself by replacing it. This creates a cycle of dryness, oiliness and then ‘grease bomb’. Each time you strip the oil away, your skin over-compensates for the lack of moisture by creating more oil. Further, these products are scented. We now know that added fragrance is one of the top skin irritants. Even “unscented” products usually have a fragrance: you will see this by checking the labels.

If we understand what our skin is telling us, we can understand how to control it and get the clear skin we hope for. Your skin naturally produces oil to heal, protect and moisturise your skin. Contrary to what we have been told, oil itself is not the reason for blemishes, pimples, cysts, zits or blackheads - these are the result of many other factors such as hormones and dead skin cells. We need to work with our skin, not against it.

Oil cleansing speaks to your skin. It helps cleanse the daily build-up, soothes and balances your skin.