Stay in Touch
Get sneak previews of special offers & upcoming events delivered to your inbox.
Sign in
03-07-2011 10:38 PM
http://www.cosmeticscop.com/the-oil-cleansing-method-for-oily-skin.aspx The Oil-Cleansing Method for Oily Skin? |
Be Very Skeptical!
If you have oily skin, acne, or both, you may have heard of something called the "oil-cleansing method," either from a friend or from browsing the Internet. In that case, you're probably wondering whether the oil-cleansing method is finally the solution to your shiny face, or perhaps an end to constant breakouts. In short, the answer is a resounding: No!
Of course, you can test the oil-cleansing method yourself, but before you jump into what is really little more than a skin-care fad and a waste of time, here are the facts you need to make an informed decision.
The oil-cleansing method is posted on the "natural" skin-care/health website www.theoilcleansingmethod.com. They passionately recommend it and provide extensive rationalizations for it as the only way to clean oily, blemish-prone skin.
The oil-cleansing method is a recipe for a mixture of castor oil and other plant oils. You mix it up yourself, rub it on your face, and then wipe it off using steam and hot water. According to the site, you're supposed to meditate during cleansing. (Honest, they really do say that.)
This cleansing method is based on the chemistry rule of "like dissolves like," which means that one substance can dissolve or break down substances similar to it. That's the rationale they use to explain how the oil-cleansing method mixture, which is composed of oils (in this case plant oils) will dissolve the oils on your skin and stop more oil from being produced, all because some oils are similar to other oils.
Unfortunately, that principle does not hold here, and so the method doesn't work. In fact, there are so many things wrong with their rationale, it's almost mind numbing.
The flaw in their logic is that it assumes oily, blemish-prone skin is simply oil on the surface, when in reality it is far more complicated than that.
Your skin produces oil in response to the hormones your body produces. The fact that this excess oil is being generated all the time explains why your skin is greasy throughout the day.
Dissolving oil from the surface of your skin cannot affect what is happening below the surface, inside the pore, or in your body, where these hormones are generated. Using cleansing oil may remove facial oil from the surface of your skin, but that's about all it can do.
Aside from presenting the idea that oil dissolves oil, the website for the oil-cleansing method also makes the statements below (shown in bold face); our response follows each statement, and explains why the information is either wrong or misleading:
Cleansing skin with oil isn't a new concept, and there isn't anything wrong with using an oil to remove makeup, but it doesn't do anything more than serve as a greasy-feeling cleanser. If the oil-cleansing method were all it took to get rid of oily skin and blemishes, every company would be selling the routine, because it isn't exactly rocket science to reproduce. But, given the complicated physiology of skin (it is the largest organ of the body) and the complex nature of acne and oily skin, a single cleansing step cannot begin to address all, or even a small portion, of the associated problems.
To be fair, experimenting with the oil-cleansing method (minus the steaming) won't hurt your skin. At worst, it will just waste your time and exacerbate breakouts. But after that, you should follow recommendations based on what published research has shown can effectively treat oily, blemish-prone skin.
Get sneak previews of special offers & upcoming events delivered to your inbox.
*You're signing up to receive QVC promotional email.
Find recent orders, do a return or exchange, create a Wish List & more.
Privacy StatementGeneral Terms of Use
QVC is not responsible for the availability, content, security, policies, or practices of the above referenced third-party linked sites nor liable for statements, claims, opinions, or representations contained therein. QVC's Privacy Statement does not apply to these third-party web sites.
© 1995-2024 QVC, Inc. All rights reserved. | QVC, Q and the Q logo are registered service marks of ER Marks, Inc. 888-345-5788