Please welcome my sister Kelsey to the blog. She put together this guest post on how she healed her own acne using real foods!

At the beginning of the year I wrote about my struggles with acne and the whole food solutions that finally worked to heal it. I am back again to share one of my favorite facial cleansers with you. Unlike some of the products you find at the store, this simple homemade cleanser actually does its job; it removes all of that yucky stuff from the skin without harming it. 

I have tried my fair share of face washes over the years and have had a difficult time finding the right one. They were always either too gentle and didn’t remove enough, or were too harsh and dried my face out. I eventually decided to give olive oil and coconut oil a go. I had read about oil cleansing in my research when trying to find a natural approach to my acne treatment but I thought, hmm seems odd that I would use oil to clean my face when the skin industry is so persistent in saying that I need to rid my face of oils in order to clear my imperfections.

Why should you part ways with typical store bought face washes?

The skin care products that are on the market today are designed to strip your face of oil. When that happens, your skin tries to repair itself by over-compensating and replacing more oil. Essentially these products land you in a harsh cycle of drying your skin out and then leaving you with more oil than when you stared. This is an uncomfortable and unproductive method for skin care. 

So why use oil? The method of oil cleansing involves massaging the face with a combination of oils and then removing them with a warm hand towel. It seems weird to smear oil all over your face—I get that. Believe me when I first began I thought, this is crazy I am going to clog my pores! However, it didn’t…shocker! For so long I had spent money on the silliest products, ones that irritated my skin, when all along I could have reached into my pantry and saved both my money and my complexion! 

The concept behind this method is that the oil you use on your skin will help carefully and slowly dissolve the oil that is stuck in your pores without stripping the face. Then when a towel is used to steam the face, the heat and moisture will open pores and allow the oil to be removed gently. This method of cleansing is used to help protect and moisturize your skin, not damage it like many other face washes. 

It is important to stress that there is no one solution that works for everyone's skin. It took me a lot of time to figure out the proper balance of nutrients, products and care routines to restore health to my own skin. While coconut oil can be a saving grace for some people, others find that it increases breakouts when used on the face. Test out this recipe and see what works best for you! There are many other oils out there to try such as castor oil and argan oil. Coconut oil has worked well for me and it whips up nicely as described in the recipe below.

DIY Whipped Coconut Oil and Olive Oil Cleanser

Rather than taking a spoon and globbing oil on my face in its raw form, I like to whip oils together to give them a nice consistency. Whipped cleansers are easier to work with and go on your face smoothly. It is definitely worth the extra effort! Check out this video for a little extra help with whipping oils.

Ingredients 

1/4 cup virgin coconut oil 

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 

Directions

Start off by whipping the coconut oil. Once it has reached a light and fluffy consistency slowly add in olive oil. Again, whip until soft (as if your beating egg whites). Place in a jar that has a lid.

To use, scoop out about 1/2 tablespoon or so and lightly cover your face. Massage the oil into the skin in small circles. Run a hand towel under hot water (but not hot enough to burn or hurt yourself). Ring out the towel and place gently over your face. You can also put a dry towel over that to help keep it warmer. After about 10-15 seconds remove towel and dab off any excess oil. Continue with your daily skin regimen. This can be done at night or in the morning. Place the closed jar with the remaining oil mixture in the refrigerator to best maintain its texture.