The 40-Cents/Week Custom-Blend Oil Cleanser

Cleansing oils really seem to be taking the beauty industry by storm recently. Every time I look at my blog roll, it seems like I see that another beauty line has introduced their own version. The concept, based on the idea that the oils (lipids) on your face are lipid-soluble rather than water-soluble and should, therefore, be dissolved easily and gently with other oils, is really attractive - who wants to put harsh chemicals on their face if they don't have to? The prices of these cleansing oils, however, all look painfully expensive: Shiseido - $25, L'Occitane - $22, Shu Uemura - $34.

But never fear! The Oil Cleasning Method has been around a lot longer than the cleansing oil fad, and it can be implemented on the super duper cheap. All you need is 2-3 ingredients, all found at your local grocery/drug store.

• Castor Oil - $5
• Vegetable oil of choice (popular ones include EVOO - $6, sunflower Seed Oil - $8)
• Tea Tree Oil (optional) - $8

All you do is mix the oils, massage them into your face, steam your face with a washcloth, and wipe the oils away (longer explanation here). The vegetable oil helps penetrate your pores, the castor oil adheres to the excess oil in your skin, the Tea Tree Oil helps kill bacteria, the steam makes your face sweat, and the sweat pushes the oil back out of your pores. The result: bye-bye clogged pores!

The ratio of oils will vary by individual, but this is a good starting point (from the link above):

• Oily Skin: Try a blend of 30% Castor Oil to 70% Sunflower Seed Oil.
• Balanced Skin: Try a blend of 20% Castor Oil to 80% Sunflower Seed Oil.
• Dry Skin: Try a blend of 10% Castor Oil to 90% Sunflower Seed Oil.

I used to pre-measure my oils and keep them in a special bottle I found at the 99 Cents Only store, but I found it messy and restrictive - some days, my face was more oily, and some days it was more dry. Now, I just dribble out the droplets that I need onto a flat cotton pad (I worked it out to a quarter size of Castor oil, four drops of Camellia Oil (my vegetable oil of choice), and one drop of Tea Tree Oil for a normal day). This way, I don't have to bother transferring the oils to a new bottle or anything, and I can add or subtract from the formula based on current needs.

I used to struggle mightily with cystic acne, and I used to dry my skin out with ridiculous amounts of salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide. Oil Cleansing has not only managed the cysts wonderfully, but it also keeps my skin so much more moisturized that the wrinkles that once threatened (at the ripe old age of 19 - yikes!) have gone away. Double awesome.

The best part? These three bottles of oils will last me the whole year, provided that I don't contaminate them (by putting my fingers on the dispensers, leaving them open to the air, etc). That means I spend a grand total of $21 for the hear on cleanser - a whopping $0.40 per week. Now that's a deal!