Can you cleanse face with an oil? Read about my OCM experience

Have you ever come across OCM? It’s a natural way of removing make-up and cleansing skin – you use oils for that. Yes, you can see right, you can cleanse face with oils!

I was taken aback when first heard somebody came up with this idea. I thought it was impossible for a greasy oil to thoroughly cleanse the skin and I rather thought it would make my skin worse. Since I’m a fan of testing new things, I felt I had to try it despite the doubts.

Oil-based face cleansing

Cleansing face skin with oils (OCM – oil cleansing method) has been known for ages. Already in ancient times people appreciated the cleansing properties of oils and their additional conditioning effect.

Today, we like to reach for alternative methods letting us give up on foam gels and cleansers filled up with detergents. All for the good of the skin so it’s worth giving a try. Even more so because oils are widely available whereas the procedure is very easy to perform.

Cleansing oils – characteristics

Can a vegetable oil act as a cleansing oil?

OCM can be done with pure oils, natural, cold-pressed and unrefined. All you need to do is create your blend using castor oil (detoxifying effect) and other oil e.g. almond oil. The method is connected with the principle “like cures like” (greasy oil does away with greasy sebum and make-up products).

Still, there are ready-made facial cleansing oils which additionally include an emulsifying agent – a substance that turns oil into a light emulsion and makes removal of impurities easier.

The choice is up to you. Personally, I’m more into natural oils for OCM since I avoid all kinds of additives in my skin care products.

Principle of oil cleansing method

I’ve already said we can effectively cleanse the face thanks to oils (tested on my own skin, details below). Now, let me explain the principle of OCM. It’s very easy!

Fats make the best match with other fats and that is why oils easily pick all kinds of impurities and nasties from the skin: excess of sebum, leftovers of foundations, moisturizers, silicones, etc. Along with the dirt, the oils “attract” dust, toxins and all awful things building up on the face throughout the day.

You must have noticed that waterproof make-up bi-phase removers are based on… oils!

OCM: how to cleanse skin with oils?

The very first step is obvious – you need to create a blend. You need light oils for dry skin whereas oily skin goes with thicker oils (more castor oil, 30%-40%).

Once you have your face cleansing oil, no matter if it’s home- or ready-made, you can get down to OCM.

• Firstly, dampen the skin using warm water.
• Rub the oil between the hand palms and apply to skin.
• Massage the face for two minutes or so.
• Once the oil dissolves make-up, rinse it with warm water.
• Keep rinsing until skin is clean.
• If your skin is oily, use a mild cleanser gel as well.
• Move on to next skin care steps.

Do OCM oils really work?

To my surprise, they do!

Before my first OCM face wash, I was skeptical. Greasy oil for cleansing sounds like nonsense but after the first try my approach changed since I spotted it really worked and didn’t leave my skin oily. Nevertheless, I didn’t feel fully convinced.

Still, I decided to test the method for 2 weeks to see if it would give any positive effects. And it did! I was shocked to see my face got smoother and softer. Now I’ve got fewer blackheads and my skin doesn’t break out that much.

OCM is my favorite face wash. Of course, I still reach for a gel cleanser from time to time (when I’m out of oils). 🙂