OCM ruined my face..

Oil cleansing method (OCM) is apparently this amazing new way to clean the face without the harsh chemicals and supposedly leaving the face moisturized, blemish free, etc.  I've never really had a problem with acne and even during my teens, my break outs weren't really serious compared to my peers... Now in my thirties, I was getting these odd one or two pimples only during that time of the month...

Until one day I tried tea tree essential oil straight on my face to fix two pimples that showed up before my period.  Instead of just spot treatment, I applied my whole face with straight tea tree oil.  BAD IDEA, my skin felt raw the next day, it was as if the essential oil "ate" through a layer of my skin.  To fix it, I searched online and came across the OCM... that's when my skin went from bad to worse.  The worse it has ever been in my entire life.

My face became peppered with angry red papules! It was so insane that a friend asked if I ate something that caused an allergic reaction.. That's right, my cheeks and forehead were wearing a rash.  I've never seen my face with so much acne and felt anxious whenever I saw my own reflection in the mirror.  I finally searched online and realized the OCM isn't for everyone and some unlucky people like myself have skin which do not tolerate being cleansed with oil for whatever reason.  One similarity among us, which aggravated the situation, was we all seem to be rather persistant and naive.  Believing that when the blemishes and acne was getting worse from the OCM it was because the skin is going through a phase called the "purging" stage.  Somehow the skin will miraculously get used to this way of cleaning and poof be clear and beautiful.  Honestly I don't know why I thought my skin would tolerate this. Seriously, growing up, my clothes always had to go through an additional water rince after being washed because my skin was so sensitive that residue from detergent would make my skin itch and red.   My skin also didn't tolerate certain soap very well and would peel if being expose to the soap too long.  I have SENSITIVE skin, and I knew this.  So I don't know why the hell I thought when my skin reacted to the oil that it would be a sign of purging instead of it trying to tell me STOP this madness.

The crazy thing is how I clued in to stopping was because I went on a business trip and didn't bring the oil with me and notice how my skin started to get better over that week of not cleaning with oil.. I cleaned my face with the bath soap the hotel provided with is scented and not even a soap specially made for the face.

It's been a little over a week since I started cleaning my face with an Ayurvedic soap and it seems to be helping to tone down the redness.  There are also less new papules developing.  My face is getting really dry but I just let it be since I want the skin layers to just peel off hoping it may fix the hyper pigmentation created by this OCM experiment.

Things that I'm doing which I *think* may be helping with the healing:

  1. Wash my face only with an Ayurvedic soap for problem skin.
  2. Apply fresh aloe gel before bed.
  3. The "half" caveman method of not washing my face in the morning (this is suppose to leave the natural oil of the skin which is better than any moisturizer).
  4. Apply sun screen in the morning during work week.
  5. Eating clean (which I was doing before)
  6. Try not to worry too much about it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First post for 2013

Wow, I've been really bad with posting on this blog.  It's well into 2013 and this is my first post.  A few things has changed since my last post.  I have a gym membership and I try to go at least 3 times a week.  I have been pretty good so far. As the weather is getting warmer, I am eating out more and more... It's hard to say no to a beer on a patio and then consequently to a restaurant meal.  I usually try to eat home as I eat healthier when I cook my meals.  There's something about paying $ for a salad.. Salads are just so easy to make and cost a fraction of what they charge at the restaurant.  I rarely eat salads at home, but when I do, I go all out... With roasted beets, goat cheese, etc.  So often restaurant salads don't event look appealing to me, unless it's a very upscale restaurant with creative ingredients. I have watched 2 documentaries on fasting.  One's "Eat, Fast and Live Longer" and the other "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead"...
Read more

Vegetarian Turkish Moussaka

I think to most people, "moussaka" is the Greek version of the lasagna but layered with eggplant and ground beef, potatoes and bechamel sauce.  I was one of those people too, until I visited Turkey.  I remember seeing moussaka on the menu and was sooo excited for it, until the waiter served it in front of me.  I thought.. "Hey, he messed up my order".  But nope, he didn't.  Turkish moussaka is a stir-fry.  It has eggplant in it as well but taste very different from the Greek moussaka.  Tonight I tried my own version of the vegetarian one,  replacing ground beef with tofu.  The taste of meat does add that little something to the dish, so I honestly have to say the vegetarian one is not as good.. but it's pretty good! Turkish Moussaka a la vegetarian! 1 medium eggplant cubed (I used Chinese eggplant sometimes) 1 green bell pepper cubed 1 medium onion cubed 2 cloves of garlic minced 4 Roma tomatoes from a canned tomato (I use one that has...
Read more

Crab and Lobsters

I haven't been a very good vegetarian lately, as it is lobster season here in Nova Scotia.. So I bought 2 lobsters and a crab the other night.  They were alive and I had to cook them.  I honestly felt terrible when I threw the crab in the boiling hot water.. I felt this sadness as the crab struggled to hold on to the side of the pot, not wanting to get into the pot.  I wonder if it knows.  I am pretty sure that I won't be cooking crab anytime soon, since I felt it was a pain too trying to get the meat out and the labour wasn't worth it, in my mind for the tiny bits of meat. As for the lobsters, they were really good, and some how I didn't feel as bad cooking them.  Maybe it's because they didn't fight/move as much when I put them in the pot.  But had a phone call with my mom yesterday and she tried to make me feel bad for "killing"/cooking the lobster.  (She's a vegetarian).  She told me to buy it already cooked if I really want to eat it that b...
Read more