Blog posts : "ocm"

OCM - The End

As I mentioned in previous posts, I stopped using the oil cleansing method. It stunted most nodules (cysts) from forming, however, it left my skin looking very unhealthy and it gave me a lot of white heads -- something I don't normally suffer from. In the end, I tried using a scant amount of oil, I tried steaming more, I tried washing my face with water afterwards, and so forth. It just wasn't working out. I hated how lackluster my skin was looking at the end of two weeks.

I usually stick with facial cleansing methods for 3 or more weeks before I throw in the towel or decide to keep going, but this was just getting to be too much. My face turned more red than it ever had from angry breakouts and it was just becoming painful... It was like trading the painful nodular acne for pustular acne. Nodules hurt like heck because they are so deep, but the pustular (white-heads) hurt because there were just so darn many of them.

On the brighter side, I found out that olive oil works incredibly well as an eye makeup remover. It takes waterproof mascara right off!

Right now, I've started the "Detox" kit I got from Beauti Control - it was actually a free gift for hosting a party. I was ridiculously relaxed lastnight after following the Detox kit steps -- make your tea, put on your mask, pour your bath with the bath oils, etc. I ended up in the bath  -- which smelled fantastic -- sipping on tea and drinking My Sister's Keeper, which I received from my mom on my birthday <3

In the end, the bathtub felt buttered up from the oils, but my skin felt amazing and so did my soul. I can't wait for tonight when I get to do it again :)   It also has a foot cream and a body cream, which also smell amazing.

Go Back

Oil Cleansing Method... Doing it Wrong?

I've been using the Oil Cleansing Method for nearly two weeks now... I have days that are just awesome, but I also have days that are just terrible. Today is one of those days. I woke up to a few painful spots on my face, whiteheads galore, and even a numb area on my chin. Yep. My acne will actually give me numb spots because of how deep it starts.

I had really, really high hopes for the oil cleansing method. I think I made a mistake by doing it every night. I'm now going to start doing it 2-3 times per week. On days that I don't clean it with the OCM, I'll use the cetaphil cleansing bar -- it's a non-soap that is non-comedomegenic.

On a brighter side of things, I actually haven't had a big issue with nodules since starting the OCM, sans the one that is cutting off sensation to a small area on my chin. There is a smaller-than-normal one starting on the side of my nosal bridge, which is pretty painful.

I still have high hopes for this one working. If this fails, the next step is oral antibiotics (nope, not acutane).... I'd like to avoid those as much as possible, since I'm a regular blood donor, but I will be selfish about this if I need to be! It's painful, darn it.

Go Back

Oil Cleansing Method

Yeash, how long have I been doing the oil cleansing method? I think it's been 11 days... Almost two weeks! Wow! It's going pretty good. I've learned that I started off using wash clothes that were WAY too hot for the steaming step. This created blotchy red skin, since I was burning myself without realizing it. Even though your skin won't tell you it's burning, you're still at risk for damaging it. Woopsies!

I've adjusted how I manage the cleansing method. I'll go into more details later, but I wanted to post something before I headed off to practicum just because I hadn't really mentioned anything about the OCM lately. I've had one single nodule break-out since I've started, which is pretty significant since I usually have one or two breakouts every other day. A few nodules were even surpressed and reverted back. I had one holy mother of all nodules on my chin that lasted three weeks which has finally gone into remission.

I'm not in love with my skin, but it's starting to look a lot better so I'm pretty darn happy!

Go Back

OCM Day 7?! Wow!

Alright... So tonight will be the seventh time I've cleaned my skin with oil. So far... No new nodules forming under my skin, and a few of them actually reverted. The bad side is that my skin doesn't look terribly healthy. It's not that it's greasy looking or anything, it's just missing a certain luster about it. Maybe it's just the terrible diet I've been eating lately - nothing but junk!

I have had a few small white heads pop up, likely because I'm not spending enough time steaming and removing the excess oil.

All in all... I'm not really sold on the oil cleansing method. I said I'd do it for 3 weeks, so I will continue to do it for 3 weeks. It's pretty good and it's cheap to do, but it's definitely not perfect!

Go Back

Oil Cleansing Method Day... 2?

So today is the third day since I've cleaned my face with anything other than soap paired with harsh chemicals. I'm really apprehensive about posting anything terribly positive... Because I don't want to jinx anything. I have 3 current nodule break-outs on my skin, which are from last week. I had two forming on Sunday when I started this and today, one is completely gone, and the other is small and not red. The pores on my nose look amazing.

I found out that oil is great at removing water-proof mascara! Fabulous :D

So far, I'm pretty content with it. I feel as though my skin is less oily during the day. Usually come afternoon, my skin is incredibly greasy and oily looking. Yesterday, it wasn't too bad at all. It was still kind of oily, but not nearly as bad as normal.

I'm trying to take daily pictures so that I can put together a neat little collage when my 3 weeks is up. I missed last night's photo because I crashed pretty hard after my daughter was in bed. I had only received 2 hours of sleep the night before and was back on my feet for most of the day in light of practicum.

I'm pretty happy with the OCM so far... I just hope that my skin continues to adjust to it like it has been.

Go Back

Oil Cleansing Method Day 2

I've only washed my face with oil once, but this is technically day two. Last night, I did the oil cleansing method for the first time. It was definitely not what I expected. My face was not oily at all at the end of it, which was just a complete shock to me even though I read about how that is expected. It's just weird to think that you're putting oil on your face and yet your face doesn't get oily.

This morning, I woke up and splashed some cool water on my face and patted it dry. That's a bit of a step up from the 30 minutes I used to spend washing, waiting 10 minutes, applying benzoyl peroxide, drying for 10 minutes, then applying moisturizer.

My face doesn't feel that bad today. I thought it would be greasy feeling, but it's not much different than normal for me... It still gets oily/greasy near the end of the day. This is just the second day, so the nature of my skin has not yet changed to accommodate this new style of cleansing.

I'm really antsy to see how this will work out!

Go Back

6 blog posts