Cleansing with oil

People ask how you can do all of these "green" things, and the answer is that you can't do everything, and you certainly can't do everything at once. So I am continuing on my holistic journey one step at a time, as I have always done. And when I start something new, there are always a few random reasons that it comes to the forefront. This one is completely based on logistics and money.

I have realized that I have gone several days without washing my face (by wash i mean doing my whole AM/PM cleanse/tone/moisturize routine that I have been wedded to for a very long time - I do wash with water when I am in the shower...) and my skin looks the same really. I spend an awful lot of cash on skin care products and I'm not sure it is much different than using nothing.

The last time I was seeking out new skin products was when I was pregnant with Peanut. My hormones went a little nuts and I had dry skin and pimples at the same time and I had flashbacks to college. Like most people, I had issues with my skin when I was younger and had a period of time where I really scrubbed it to get it clean. Now I know that I could have been so much nicer to it and it would have looked much better. I ended up finding some really wonderful products and have felt really good about my skin through two pregnancies and everything in between. I did have to relearn how to wash my face though - that less is more and gentle washing is way more effective than a scrub. Washing with a lotion or cream cleanser vs. a soap would have horrified my 20 something year old self, but it really feels and looks so much better! Oh well.

The other reason this is coming up now is that I am running out of my products and rather than go and order more I've decided to try the Oil Cleansing Method. I figure if I look the same, and it is less ingredients, less expensive, and it is easier, then why not? Basically, you use oil and very hot water to clean your skin. Sounds easy (a little scary though) and cheap - a bottle of castor oil and a bottle of sunflower oil should last the whole year based on the instructions. What is that - like $6? Compared to the several hundred I am sure the other stuff costs? Hmmmm. The cheap part of me likes this so far. This idea was discussed a lot a few months ago on the national loop of the Holistic Moms Network and I was intrigued then, but had all kinds of cleansers to use so...I shelved the idea in my brain for later use.

Well, now is the time. Last night was my first day of trying this and I have to say, it felt really good! A nice face massage, a hot towel - very relaxing. After I patted the oil off (it did come off without scrubbing) my skin felt dewy and looked like magazine skin - kind of airbrushed. Today, it feels neither oily or dry, not tight or saggy, but just nice. And it looks - well - the same as usual. Which is a good thing in my book.

So why is this holistic or green? Well, it decreases the amount of production and processing of all of the products I used to purchase. It saves my skin from all of those ingredients (ever read the back of your face lotion or toner? Can you pronounce all that?). It encourages my body and skin to balance itself (your skin is the largest organ of your body) and helps me be better in tune with my health in that way. I now only need to purchase two items that I can find easily in the grocery store, that come in glass bottles that I can recycle or reuse, so the waste from washing my face is less. And I save A LOT of money. Which is always green!