I have some questions about DIY skincare for oily skin.
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Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:56 am

This is my first post at this forum. I'd been a member at MUA awhile back and recently rejoined there. I found reference to this forum in one of the posts I found there.

I'm really interested in DIY skincare and would like to try some of these recipes I found here, and I have a few questions. But first, let me tell you a little about myself and what my skin has been through in the past several months.

I'm 51 and have had oily skin since puberty. I keep thinking I'm going to finish puberty at some point and my skin will settle down, but it hasn't yet. LOL. A few months ago, I had chemotherapy for breast cancer (Adriamycin/Cytoxen). One positive side-effect was that, during the course of my treatments (4, at 3-week intervals) and for a couple of months following the last treatment, my skin seemed to normalize in its oil production. I could use Olay serums, etc., and had beautiful skin. No oil slicks.

Well, around the first of March (this would have been a little past two months after my last chemo), my skin "woke up" and almost seemed to have a rebound effect with the oiliness. I went to a conference one Saturday and used the same skincare/makeup regimine I'd been following all through chemo and by noon, I looked like I's smeared lard on my face! So now I'm stuck with trying to find a way to tame my wonky oil glands! And having hot flashes from chemo-pause isn't helping at all.

So . . . having read the threads here about OCM and the DIY recipes, I'm willing to give that a shot and see if I can't get some of the oil to settle down and get my skin to balance itself out. From what I've gathered from reading here, oily gals should use the EVOO/castor oil in a blend of 25/75 for cleansing. Then ACV toner, Vit C serum and then some oil blend (forget what she calls it) that CareKate has come up with - I remember she uses Kuikui nut or hazelnut and then puts in YlangYlang and several other EO's that are good for oily skin. And an aspirin mask 2-3 times a week.

Here are my questions:
1. Exactly what does the Vit C serum do? Is it like AHA? Is it a necessary part of skincare?
2. I see that CareKate recommends using propylene glycol if you have oily skin. Can this be bought at a pharmacy/health food store/etc., or does it have to be purchased or ordered from a supplier for beautycare supplies?
3. How much serum should be used at a time? Two or three drops?

I'm excited to try this stuff. I bought the ingredients for the ACV yesterday. I had an old recipe from MUA where it calls for the Vit C powder. I guess that got taken out because of skin irritation. I would like to try to make the serum, but I want to be sure that I can get the ingredients.

I also have been using mmu for awhile (one good thing), but I hate having to blot and reapply finishing powder to keep the oil slick down.

Thanks in advance for your help!

CD

Thu Apr 13, 2006 12:37 pm

Bumping. HELP, Please!

free skin care · Thu Apr 13, 2006 1:14 pm

Hi ColoradoDreamer,

So sorry you're having problems ... both with your skin and your health. I do hope that everything is OK with your health now? I know that it's a long process and you'll have to wait five years or so before you can claim to have been "cured" ... but hopefully everything looks good on your tests.

Now, Vitamin C serum is important because it helps your skin deal with any free radical damage to your skin. Any antioxidant serum is designed to help your skin reject free radicals, generally from sun exposure. Vitamin C also helps to even out your skin tone ... and I've found that it's an essential part of my "regime".

It is not, however, like an "AHA" ... it doesn't exfoliate.

I make my own ... from Carekate's recipe ... and it's great.

As for propylene glycol, I live in Canada and purchased it through a local pharmacist. They ordered it for me because they were low on it themselves ... but usually they have a few bottles in stock. A large bottle cost me less than $8 Canadian ... so it's not expensive at all.

I use 3 to 4 drops in the morning for my face... one drop each for both sides of my face ... one drop for my neck ... one drop for my forehead and nose [in case I missed those areas].

I will also use a couple of drops for my hands and lower arms. In the summertime, when more of my arms are exposed, I'll use Vitamin C for my entire arm.

I'm 54, and I had a couple of age spots ... one on my hand and one on my arm. The Vitamin C has helped to fade these spots ... as well as helping to prevent new ones.

Suncreen, of course, should also be worn ... but I put that on last.

Do try the OCM ... it helped me "normalize" my oily skin.

Hope this helps

Mary

free skin care · Thu Apr 13, 2006 1:23 pm

Welcome ColoradoDreamer!

I'm hardly the most experienced here, but here are a few comments

1. My advice with Vitamin would be to build it up slowly, i.e. don't jump right to a 20% formulation.

2. I bought my propolene glycol (and a lot of other goodies) from personalformulator.com. It might be available at a drugstore, but I never have much luck finding what I want at my CVS, so for most of my DIY goodies I've turned to the web.

3. You might want to consider a Hyarulonic Acid serum also, it helps your skin retain moisture, and I've had a lot of success with it.

4. I broke out from OCM after a week or so... don't know if it was purging, or something else completely unrelated. I think it was due to the Castor Oil though b/c I've used the other oils I mixed it with on their own and have had no problems. Anyway--even though you're very oily, you might want to try a 50/50 mix at first, see how it goes, and then tailor up or down from there.

5. I had a lot of luck normalizing my very oily skin with Dr. Hauschka products, so you might want to try the homemade version of the cleansing cream that carekate provides a recipe for. I used their normalizing day oil, and I still have some of that, so I haven't tried the homemade aromessance Ylang Ylang (w/ the kuikui nut oil) that you're referring to yet (even though I made up a small batch, because I want to add things slowly to my routine), but I've heard it's great.

6. Carekate recently wrote about the wonders fo clay, and I have to second that. I add kaolin clay to my aspirin mask and am very happy with the results.

Good luck!!!

free skin care · Thu Apr 13, 2006 1:47 pm

Hi there,

I found that the homemade Decleor Ylang-Ylang Aromaessence helped tone down my oiliness. I use Ylang-Ylang, Geranmium, Rosemary and a bit of Chammomile (for inflammation) EOs in my forumula. I also use half and half of Kukui and Hazelnut oils.

I also use the Homemade Dr H Cleansing Cream and this along with the aspirin mask has helped a lot with oiliness AND keeping my pores clearer (they get clogged SO fast). I also use a gentle foaming cleanser at night before using the DHCC to remove my makeup.

Have you thought about changing the foundation you use? What do you use?

I am also on Rx Tazorac and Benzaclin so those help with my oilies as well. I started taking Aldactone a month ago and have seen even more reduction in oiliness. But you may not be interested in medications. There are plenty of others on this forum that don't use Rx meds and have had a lot of success at reducing oiliness with the DIY recipes.

I tried the OCM and was loving it until two months into using it (around mid February) little bumps started appearing on my cheeks, chin and forhead. They started purging themselves and my face was a complete mess and is just now starting to heal and the bumps disappear. I don't know if it was the OCM or the sudden increase of stress I was dealing with or the addition of a vit C serum into my regimen but I stopped the use of OCM as well as the Vit C. Since the bumps seem to have subsided, I am slowly introducing vit C back. I don't know about the OCM yet. Kind of afraid to try it again. Who knows, maybe my skin didn't like the Olive Oil. (My skin is SO reactive! Rolling Eyes

). I wouldn't think that the OCM could have really brought to the surface that many clogs to purge b/c I have been on the Tazorac which had purged my skin already. Perhaps the OCM brought out even more deep gunk? (Ewww- gross!).

Best of luck and I, too, hope your health is better! Smile

Thu Apr 13, 2006 2:43 pm

Thanks, ladies. This information helps a lot. I'd thought I would check with local pharmacies (and possibly a health food store) first for the propylene glycol and see what luck I have there. Then, if all else fails, I'll try ordering online.

I should have known that about the Vit C. Laughing

I used to be a consultant for a major cosmetic company and we were always touting the Vit C cream. And I'd forgotten about the antioxidant qualities of the Vit C. Chemo brain! What can I say!

Thanks for the suggestion for going 50/50 on the oils at first. I will probably try that and see what kind of results I get.

Oh, and the foundation I use? I have some Glissade and Voile from Aromaleigh. I like the Glissade best, but that's what I was wearing the day I broke out in the oilslick. Razz

I hope that, once my skin normalizes, I can go back to this one. I also have bought the Neutrogena mineral powder (the jury is still out on this one) and the Physician's Formula loose powder. I like it, but I'm still not sure if it's a keeper. Again, once my skin normalizes, I hope to settle on something definite and stick with it. I know what I want to use; I just want to be sure it's still going to work for me. Wink

Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:50 pm

Note to self: Wal-Mart in Small Town, Texas is NOT the best place to shop for ingredients for DIY skincare. I thought I'd ask a pharmacy technician if they carry propylene glycol. She wanted to know if I meant that new diet pill. Um, no, it's a liquid used in making skincare products. She asked another tech; neither of them knew what I was talking about. In fact, they looked at me as if I'd just sprouted horns! Need to make a run to Whole Foods when I go to Dallas on Monday for my dr's appointment!

Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:58 pm

I managed to find a local source for propylene glycol! I went to a Target store in another town and asked the pharmacist about it. He could order it for me! It should be in Monday. I have all my other ingredients for OCM, ACV toner, and the Aromessence thingie. I'm excited to start mixing lotions and potions and getting to work on my wonky skin!

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