Growing up, we were taught that an oily face equates to a greasy face, and what do we think of when we hear the term ‘greasy’? It’s a word with a wide variety of connotations but first and foremost, we think of dirt; unwashed pots and pans; unkempt hair; contaminated waters. Oil has long been lumped with a villainous arc in the story of skincare, one I intend to rewrite with my personal experiences at Earth To You…

If any of you are familiar with OCD, you’ll know that - much like everything else in this world - the condition and its symptoms exist on a broad spectrum. Like the ever-changing weather Ezgi spoke about last week, it sits over me like an indecisive sky whose altering states are something I have to always be prepared for. 

So how on earth did I face this challenge of ‘Barnaby vs. Oils’ during my first “official school week” (as Ezgi and I are jokingly calling it) at Earth To You when my hands, the very things I obsess over being constantly clean, are now the main instrument in applying and maintaining my newfound skincare ritual… ?

And not only that, but in the intense summer heat, where my body begins to feel like the hot Likya stones we sell, and certain OCD compulsions become further triggered through changing body chemistry. Like sweating in the dense, humid air - filled with sweltering city dirt.

Well, I have started using the Flow Ritual set. And my initial hesitancy and fear of being covered in an oil, this foreign film on my body that I would otherwise keep so unnaturally [over]protected (because of what my intrusive OCD thoughts tell me) have been completely quashed.

My skin drank in all the Raw Jojoba Oil and Face Elixir upon first use, as though it had been stranded on a desert island for years and just uncovered a coconut tree spilling with water. My OCD had told me that the oil, for all its positive benefits, would conjure an uncomfortableness; that it would trigger an alarm system with its presence, alerting my compulsions and habit of catastrophising with the thought of dreaded sticky residues. In fact, it was the complete opposite - it was welcomed by both body and mind - as I fed the good bacteria I have now come to welcome on my face and body.

That’s right, OCD… you heard me. I said bacteria is good.

Perhaps this is the start of teaching my mind to do the impossible and fight the obsessive loops and invisible mental rituals that hijack it every day. That which denies me the opportunity to be present in the moment.

Perhaps this is my time to stop and smell the rose… mist.

SO… if I can alter my attitudes towards oily skin, then maybe you can too.