Oil cleansing with Hemp oil has drastically healed my face in only 3 months

Posted byu/DdoesKeto1 year ago

Hey everybody! Sorry in advance for the huge wall of text. I am a reddit formatting rookie, so bear with me. (TL:DR at the bottom).

Before I get into it I wanted to say thank you to everyone that is a part of this subreddit, it has been an immense source of guidance and information for me over the last several months. It is also where I found this post which started me on my path of oil cleansing.

A little background:
Once I hit puberty, like many on here, I began experiencing problematic skin. My skin has ALWAYS been dry, tight, and sensitive. However, once I started dealing with pimples, I felt the need to treat my skin using products tailored toward oily skin and acne. BIG mistake. In the beginning of December 2017, my skin was the absolute worst it has ever been. I was experiencing breakout after breakout, filled with nasty and painful cystic pimples, pustules, and what felt like a million closed comedones.
some before pics
I couldn't for the life of me figure out why my DRY skin (with what felt like zero oil production) was breaking out so severely. Prior to December '17 (when the before pics were taken) I had used AHAs & BHAs (paula's choice), signed up for curology, and at one point even treated my breakouts as if they were fungal (lotromin ultra & zinc pyrithione bar). Everything seemed to make my face worse. Then, one day, I walked into Sephora and a sweet little lady working the skincare section (hey Jaime) felt sorry for me & my painful looking face. She suggested that it wasn't that my skin was oily and subsequently causing acne, but that my face was simply reacting from being so terribly dry & irritated. She suggested I switch to an oil based cleanser, cut out all actives, and focus on moisturizing.
Cut to me finding /u/ElectricPastries original post, I decided it was definitely worth a try to cut out all harsh products (even the cleanser I was using for 'dry skin') and switch my routine to the following:

AM:
*Splash with water
*Apply Stratia's Liquid Gold (I'm on my second bottle- I fockin' love this stuff)
*Apply a mixture of Vitamin E oil & Rosehip Seed oil (a few drops of each)
*Moisturize using Cerave in the tub
*sunscreen

PM:
*Oil cleanse using Hemp Oil (In the beginning I would massage it around for a few minutes & get 'grits'. Now I kind of just make sure I massage once all around my face)
*Using a WARM (not hot) baby washcloth, I thoroughly wipe all of the dirty oil & repeat until I feel like my skin is clean. I will also splash my face a few more times with the warm water. (I do NOT use any kind of second cleanser. I truly believe my skin can't handle anything more)
*Apply Stratia's liquid gold
*Apply mixture of Vitamin E & Rosehip Seed oil
*Moisturize with Cerave in the tub
*BONUS: on extra dry days I slap a thin layer of aquaphor on top

That is IT. I have stuck to this routine for a full three months now. I have not changed any of the products. Traditional cleanser has not touched my face. I have used zero actives. My skin has cleared up through the healing of my moisture barrier, and drastically reducing the irritation & inflammation resulting in my acne (or at least that's my guess).
My skin is no longer flaky, dry, and tight. I still am dealing with some bumps here and there as well as blackheads, but for the most part all of the gunk I had trapped beneath the surface has gone away. And it is all due to taking the approach of 'less is more.'
Before & After (bare-faced)
Before & After (with makeup)

I am an oil cleansing convert for life. My next focus is to heal all of the redness left over from when my skin was bad.... but that is mostly just going to go away with time :) Thank you again for all of the endless information (especially regarding the skin's moisture barrier) and the day-to-day inspiration. I hope my story can help even one of you.

TL:DR; My dry & flaky skin was also incredibly broken out & painful, despite using products tailored for acne. After reading a post on here about oil cleansing & a suggestion from a Sephora employee, I cut out all 'harsh' products and focused on moisturizing/healing my skin. Three months of oil cleansing and moisture have completely changed my face.