OT: Applying Oils to Face

Hey all

So I just recently (like a week ago) started paying attention to my facial skin, since all this talk of oils on your scalp made me realize the face needs love too.  Until then all I did was wash it in the shower with soap and water, never used moisturizers, exfoliated, anything like that.

Before I list my routine, my question is can I apply too much of these natural oils to my face?  I noticed I have a leathery skin texture (looks like UV photodamage, and probably only noticeable to me) on my forehead and the area under my eyes on either side of my nose (this area is always red too, no idea why, doesn't bother me but whatever).  The skin on the rest of my face and body is fine.

I apply extra virgin olive oil in the mornings with some tissue paper (sometimes I'll gently massage a bit into my face with my hands instead) a few times a day, then before I shower, I'll cover my whole face in coconut oil (the good kind) including right under the eyes, and then wash it off with soap and water in the shower (mostly because it ends up in my eyes).  After that, since the soap totally dries out my face I assume, I apply a little bit of olive oil with a tissue again as before.  Before bed I'll just rinse my face with warm water and no soap.

I'm going to do raw honey masks mixed with MSM powder periodically too.

Can this be bad in any way for my facial skin/complexion?

Thanks

I think the only bad part of this is washing your face with soap in the shower. Unless it's a very gentle soap (goat's milk soap, for example), this will dry out your skin.

In my experience if you're applying oils to your face you don't really even need to wash them off with soap, just use a clean towel to wipe your face down after you shower and get rid of the all excess oil.

At the moment I'm using castor oil on my beard area to try and stimulate a bit of growth. It feels really good.

Yeah, castor oil... Wow, that stuff is messy. How do you go with that in your beard? How much do you use and how long do you let it sit for? I have tried castor oil as well and it is incredibly messy.

I find that nothing cleans my skin as well as cheap vodka on the corner of a towel, as a light daily scrub. It removes oils, kills bacteria, and is not toxic like rubbing alcohol.
I use the tea tree oil on my hair and face. They say that the demodex mites like to live on the nose and eyelashes. I use pure oil , but most people recommend diluted to 50%, but I rub pure tea tree down across my eyelashes. It really barely stings or irritates my eyes, it surprised me.
I use a few other hard to get oils on my face like tumeric, bergamont, jojoba, and cinnamon. Mostly I take time to include my face in my head massage. I find it really a benefit so far for helping with darkness under my eyes and firming my skin.

Renky wrote:Yeah, castor oil... Wow, that stuff is messy. How do you go with that in your beard? How much do you use and how long do you let it sit for? I have tried castor oil as well and it is incredibly messy.

I don't actually have a beard but I keep about 2mm of stubble, so it's not as messy as you might have thought. I just use about half a teaspoon full, rub it in and leave it in overnight. I'm seeing if I can get some of the lighter hairs on my face, particularly in the mustache area, to go dark.

I've tried putting it on my scalp but because it's so thick it's hard to actually get it down to the roots of your hair. I've just been putting it along my temples and hairline to see if it does anything.

Alright thanks guys, and yes that's what I was thinking, the only bad thing is washing with soap. I suppose the skin will just absorb what it can and then leave the rest to be wiped off.

Maybe flax oil could be an option?
Since it´s not thick and greasy like the other ones, and penetrates the skin easy like emu oil.
Has a best before date though, and has to be used inside 2 months when opened (the pure one).

Hmm, maybe I'll give that a try, I kind of thought I'd try to avoid high PUFA oils even topically though, but I'll look into it, thanks!

EDIT:  I'm really starting to think I have rosacea or something, I never thought about it but the area on both sides of my nose under my eyes is very often very red, and has a leathery like texture, whereas the skin on the rest of my face is totally fine.  I actually don't mind the redness, but the leathery skin texture bothers me, so I'm going to see a derm.

I also realized that my face does indeed get very hot, and I do have a sort of butterfly flushing pattern.

I've had rosacea and it is mostly gone now. What I learned is that it is connected to gut health. Probiotics would help.
http://bodyecology.com/articles/is-rosacea-connected-to-your-gut-health

Re oil on face...I wash my face with olive oil Haven't used soap on my face in many months. I just apply the olive oil all over my face
and then wipe it off with a washcloth soaked in hot water. This page says not to scrub it, but I do rub it a little bit with the cloth.
http://www.survivorjane.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80:olive-it-radiant-hair-and-skin-&catid=56:grooming-aids-in-survival&Itemid=64

Delphine wrote:

I've had rosacea and it is mostly gone now.  What I learned is that it is connected to gut health.  Probiotics would help.
http://bodyecology.com/articles/is-rosacea-connected-to-your-gut-health

Re oil on face...I wash my face with olive oil  Haven't used soap on my face in many months.  I just apply the olive oil all over my face
and then wipe it off with a washcloth soaked in hot water.  This page says not to scrub it, but I do rub it a little bit with the cloth.
http://www.survivorjane.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80:olive-it-radiant-hair-and-skin-&catid=56:grooming-aids-in-survival&Itemid=64

Yeah I just tried not using soap to wash my face in the shower today for the first time. I put on a nice layer of coconut oil before hand, then just washed it away with the water and my hands and I was surprised that it was almost all gone, so much so that I rubbed some olive oil on my face later

Renky wrote:Yeah, castor oil... Wow, that stuff is messy. How do you go with that in your beard? How much do you use and how long do you let it sit for? I have tried castor oil as well and it is incredibly messy.

i would like to try out castor oil for my hair- how much do i need to use per day?

Swisstemples recommends 1-2ml orally and just covering the area topically. I wouldn't go over this as you'll start to get a laxative effect from it.

Olive oil is especially very amazing for your facial skin. It keeps skin moisturized and gives it natural glow.

Elsa P wrote:Olive oil is especially very amazing for your facial skin. It keeps skin moisturized and gives it natural glow.

Yep

I've mostly found oils make my face worse, give me blocked pores / blackheads, even after rinsing off... though not tried olive oil

I like aloe vera, awesome stuff and non oily

Columbo wrote:I've mostly found oils make my face worse, give me blocked pores / blackheads, even after rinsing off... though not tried olive oil

I like aloe vera, awesome stuff and non oily

Aloe Vera actually burns my face skin and makes it red for a long time, it is quite potent. I am experimenting with Castor oil and in it is comedogenic and leaves my skin nice and moisturized, as oppose to Coconut oil which gave me instant acne and hair shedding as it block the pores.

I'm also experimenting with raw honey face masks, will try dissolving some vitamin C capsules in a mixture sometime too. My issue is the scaly like skin texture on my forehead and next to my cheeks and on my nose, so that's where I'm putting the masks.

johndoe1225 wrote:I'm also experimenting with raw honey face masks, will try dissolving some vitamin C capsules in a mixture sometime too.  My issue is the scaly like skin texture on my forehead and next to my cheeks and on my nose, so that's where I'm putting the masks.

Just asking since your are going to dissolve vitamin-c capsules.
Why are you using supplements that is easily found in whole food, even on your skin?

Sage 1 wrote:

johndoe1225 wrote:I'm also experimenting with raw honey face masks, will try dissolving some vitamin C capsules in a mixture sometime too.  My issue is the scaly like skin texture on my forehead and next to my cheeks and on my nose, so that's where I'm putting the masks.

Just asking since your are going to dissolve vitamin-c capsules.
Why are you using supplements that is easily found in whole food, even on your skin?

Well for oral consumption, I'm taking at the very least 2 grams of Vitamin C a day which isn't really convenient to get from food.

As for topical, I also use lemons and stuff to rub on my skin, but tablets would be more concentrated