I still remember the day I saw the commercial.
I was sitting in my living room on the couch, and a woman pointed to her cheekbone and said, “Do you feel oily HERE?”
Yeah, I nodded.
She pointed to her flawless side-burn area and said, “But extra dry HERE?”
YEAH! I nodded.
“Combination skin can be wah wah wah…” It was all a blur after “combination skin.”
I finally had a name for whatever was going on with my face. I would wake up everything morning with a face so oily I would have to wipe it with tissues… but the edges of my face were so dry they were FLAKING OFF, and it was gross. I was in High School, and there was nothing worse than being asked, as a 16-year old, “Hey, what’s wrong with your face?”
My self-esteem was taking a sucker punch to the flaky face.
I still remember lying about my dime-sized zit on my chin to people… “I fell…”
I hate lying.
And now I finally had an answer to the “what’s wrong with your flaky face?” question.
“Combination skin,” I would say and sigh and wave my hand carelessly in the air… like I knew what I was talking about.
“Oh…” the women were always sympathetic and the guys had too much ego to admit they had no idea what combination skin was or meant.
Anyway.
The best products for my skin are Mary Kay products. Hands down.
However: economy, kids, diapers, money, food… I need to use something other than Mary Kay if I want to eat. It comes down to this: I can have flawless, glowing skin or I can eat.
Naturally, food trumps vanity because I’m not 16 anymore.
My face quit flaking when I quit using medication for my acne (which was off the charts, promise), and I’d lately been washing my face with BAR SOAP (I know, I know…) and moisturizing it with a pot of St. Ives Moisturizing Cream.
My hormones have been fluctuating, and I’ve been breaking out. The bar soap wasn’t helping, but what could I do? Nothing. I couldn’t afford to do anything.
And then my brother suggested I try something he’d heard about from our Sainted Aunt Julie (hi!)… you mix olive oil with castor oil and rub it on your face at night only.
It removes your make-up.
You don’t need to wash your face with cleansers. You don’t need moisturizer.
I decided to give it a try, and I had a friend ask me to blog about my results, so I’ll be honest. Very honest.
#1) I still believe Mary Kay is the best product for my skin; HOWEVER, this process comes in second.
#2) I don’t believe I’m the best test subject for this because I still have combination skin. Someone with oily skin or dry skin or normal skin would probably fair better.
#3) I’m saving so much money.
#4) I feel good about knowing what’s going on my skin. There’s not a gigantic list of unrecognizable ingredients in what goes on my face. It’s straight up: EVOO and Castor Oil and a few drops of essential oil (lavender or melaleuca).
#5) If you store the oil mixture in a clear container on your bathroom counter, your husband will assume it’s urine and get a little freaked out.
#6) I once watched a few segments of “My Strange Addiction” in the which a woman was addicted to drinking her urine. She also brushed her teeth in it…
#7) I’m getting off topic.
#8) I have noticed some holes in my face left by old black heads. They seem to “fill up” faster with this oil method which isn’t really a problem because I don’t care about it very much. If I did care, this would be a problem. Oil filled holes in my face? NOT the most attractive thing, but I wear make up. So it don’t bother me none.
#9) My skin feels a little like baby skin.
#10) I can touch my face as much as I want without having to worry about oil and zits and all that nonsense.
#11) I’m saving SO much money since I always keep a vat of olive oil on hand and only paid $3 for castor oil.
#12) I bought my castor oil at Wal-Mart.
#13) I still have acne. It’s manageable and not too bothersome.
#14) I’m going to continue this oil process for the foreseeable future.
#15) My other sainted aunt Julie asked to borrow castor oil and I haven’t forgotten (hi!). I’ll get it to you… I swear!
#16) I am not following the routine like I’m supposed to because I read it wrong and just realized today I’ve been doing it wrong… even so, I’m still relatively pleased with my results.
#17) Some mornings, I have to rub the smallest bit of oil on my face because my skin is too dry. Other mornings, I have to splash a little Witch Hazel on my face because my skin is too oily (combination nation!).
#18) Buy Witch Hazel when you buy Castor Oil. Hopefully you already have Extra Virgin Olive Oil on hand because it is amazing stuff for cooking and massaging and life.
#19) I’m going to start doing this oil routine the EXACT way the woman says to on the website I’m about to link to. And after a few weeks, I’ll report again.
#20) I appreciate going to bed without make-up on every night. Before doing this, I would always fall asleep with make-up on my face because washing my face twice a day dried it out and I was always over compensating with too much moisturizer AND I can’t afford make-up remover.
#21) Make sure you sleep on a pillow case you don’t care about and can be washed frequently… just in case you don’t get all the make up off or some of the oil comes off onto the pillow case.
Here’s my results. Don’t expect to be wowed… but DO expect to be wowed that I’ve been applying OIL directly to my face every night and I currently am NOT sprouting acne everywhere.
If you’d like to try it out, you can get the info by clicking HERE.
It’s recession-friendly.
I love that you took progressive pictures! I actually got my own castor oil, and Jill and I have been following this method for a little over a week. Wow! If I had known how easy it was to avoid acne as a teenager . . . Jill’s blackheads have cleared up, her acne is lessened and my skin is so much better, even my old acne scars. I followed the directions for oily skin. Thanks for the testimonial.
Um….Hi.
Remember me? The one who used to comment on your blog ALL THE TIME and then disappeared off the face of the earth, but who still loves (and stalks) you?!
Yeah. That’s me. Anyways, this is sort of a comment over the past few….well, months, but probably year–
I. love. your blog. Never do I cry, laugh, or sigh quite as much as when I’m reading the way you put my EXACT feelings and experiences into words in a way that I never can.
Thanks for sharing.
And yes, I want to try the olive oil thing. I have dry/sensitive combination skin (oily nose, zitty chin, and dry everything else). I’m excited to try this out!!
Love this! Thanks for such a honest account – I knew I could count on you!!! ;) I am going to have to continue to consider this. I am a chicken!!!