What is an oil cleanser and what are its benefits?

Oil cleansing is one of the best ways to cleanse your skin each evening. It's great for all skin types and helps to thoroughly remove all of the dirt, oil, and makeup from your face. Oil cleansing is especially beneficial for people with dry skin, as it helps to remove the excess oil without stripping your skin of its natural oils.

Here's why oil cleansing is so great for the skin

• First, it's gentle and natural. Oil cleansing uses pure oils to dissolve the dirt and oil that accumulate on the skin throughout the day. It's a much more natural way to cleanse the skin and tends to be less drying than soap, perfect for anyone that finds regular cleansers a little too harsh on the skin.
  
  
• Second, it's effective. Oil cleansing is a great way to deep-cleanse your pores and remove all traces of makeup and dirt. It leaves your skin feeling refreshed and healthy, with a radiant glow.
  
  
• Third, it doesn't strip your skin of natural oils which is great for all skin types. Dry skin lacks oil and so we want to keep as much of our natural oil on the skin as possible, oily skin produces excess oil but if we strip away that oil then our skin can produce even more oil to overcompensate, so oil cleansing is great for both dry and oily skin.

How to use an oil cleanser in your skincare routine

Oil cleansers of today are so much easier to use than the old OCM (oil cleansing method) where you would use pure oil on the skin and scrub it off with a hot flannel. Now most oil cleansers contain emulsifiers which transforms the oil in to a milk cleanser on contact with water, meaning the cleanser can be easily rinsed away. Simply massage on to dry skin, add a little water and either rinse away or wipe away with a damp face flannel. Oil cleansers can be used to remove make-up, even tough waterproof mascara so it's a cleanser and make-up remover all in one.

When should you use an oil cleanser?

You can use an oil cleanse both morning and evening, you can use it to double cleanse or is it as your first cleanse to remove make-up and follow with a second cleanser.

Don't oil cleansers feel uncomfortable on the skin?

You only need a small amount of cleanser so it shouldn't feel as though you've dunked your face in an oil fryer, massaging the oil in to your skin can be really relaxing, it's like you're giving yourself a facial massage each time you cleanse.

Wouldn't oil make spots worse?

No, firstly the oil is being removed so when you use a modern cleansing oil, no oil is left on the skin. While spots, particularly acne are not usually caused by dirty skin, if you sleep in your makeup or don't cleanse properly then there is a chance of your pores becoming blocked and breakouts occurring.

Did you know that pollution prematurely ages our skin?

Another reason we need to make sure we're thoroughly cleansing our skin before getting in to bed!

Oil cleansers are a busy persons best friend!

Whether you work long hours or you're a parent that drags themselves up to bed exhausted, oil cleansing makes things so easy, pour/pump on to your hand, rub all over your face, rinse! If you're wearing make-up, do this twice. If you don't want to splash your face, use a face flannel. Because oil cleansers remove make-up including eye make-up it's your eye make-up remover, make-up remover and facial cleanser all in one, one bottle of cleansing oil is all you need if you can't be bothered with any fuss.

When is the best time to cleanse?

Don't leave it too late, if you cleanse just before bed that's when you're more than likely going to be too tired and you'll convince yourself that getting in to bed is more beneficial than cleansing, after all sleep is the most important thing we can do for our body's right? Yep I hear all the excuses so cleanse early evening, if there's only one thing you do for your skin, make it an evening cleanse because it really is so important to take the day off.