Turn off the faucet for a minute. Put your facial cleanser away. Instead, today, grab some oils and slather them on your face. Massage them around. Let them lounge luxuriously. Now, turn the faucet back on – very warm water. Dunk a washcloth in it and then slowly wipe the oil off your face.

Guess what? Your face is now as clean as it needs to be. It’s radiant. Gorgeous, dahling. You’ve just used the oil cleansing method.

But how does it work?

You know how your skin – all of it – secretes oil? Even if your face feels dry, it still has oil on it.

Well, according to chemistry know-how, like dissolves like. So, effectively what you’re doing is dissolving and wiping away all the icky dirty oil from your face and replenishing it with clean, nourishing oil.

There’s no harsh chemicals involved. No suds. Nothing to actually strip your skin of its oil.

And this is good, because when you strip your skin of its sebum, it goes into overdrive, trying to create more. Which leads to clogged pores. Blackheads. Whiteheads. Just plain old irritation.

And that, in a very brief and succinct nutshell, is how the oil cleansing method works.

How to Cleanse with Oil

To get the most out of your oil cleansing experience, you’ll want to follow

these directions pretty precisely. One of the most important things to

remember: Remove all of the cleansing oil when you’re done-or else you’ve

just added more oil on top of the dirty old oil you were trying to remove.

How to Cleanse Your Face with Oil

• Assemble what you need: You’re cleansing oil, a washcloth, and a

sink. Turn the water on and splash your face a few times.

• Remove the safety cap and pour out a quarter size amount of

cleaning oil in your palm.

• Massage this oil all over your face, in circles, moving upwards for

2-3 minutes. Make sure to cover all aspects of your face and under

your chin.

• Leave this oil on for 30 seconds to 1 minute. By now, you should

have pretty hot water coming out of your faucet.

• Wet the washcloth with the very warm water (as warm as your face

can stand without burning or discomfort) and apply the washcloth

to our whole face, letting the warm water soften the oils.

• Wipe your face clean with the washcloth (remember, get off all the

oil) by wiping and rinsing the washcloth several times.

• Splash your face once more with water and make sure your skin

neither oil nor too slippery. It should feel soft and supple with a

very moisturized texture, but not slick.

• Moisturize, if you feel it necessary. You may not, and that’s fine too.