Green Friday #8

Its been a while since I have done a Green Friday, things have been crazy here at Casa De Irish Mom. Today's Green Friday is dedicated to face care. There are so many natural and clean ways to take care of our faces, yet when it comes to taking care of ourselves for some reason we tend to be neglectful.

One of the first things to do is drink plenty of water. So easy, but so seldom done. I have noticed when I have a good week or so of consistent water drinking my skin looks so much better. Not to mention all its other great effects on our bodies!!

Another thing is to remember to wash all the impurities off at the end of the day. I know, duh!! Our mothers taught us this, and our mothers DID this. There are so many impurities in the air and in the foods we eat, that it is so much more important for us to this. I have been much better about this lately, but honestly for years I was a huge slacker, well now I am paying the price. I can't get those years back on my face, but I can help prevent them from coming with a fury. I to this day remember my mom massaging her Ponds into her face as she smoked, she probably loved the irony in that.

Blog hopping a couple of weeks ago I came across this site, I have found tons of useful information on their message board, but the Oil Cleaning Method (OCM) has really made my skin clearer and so much softer than it has ever been. I use 20% Castor oil and 80% extra virgin olive oil with a few drops of tea Tree Oil. When the oils I have mixed run out, I will try the sunflower oil recommended. I had some major break outs initially, but read that it was expected, so I stuck with it. They went away, and my skin has less redness (read IRISH mom) and my black heads are gone. The oil slick on my nose is gone. The biggest change is its softness, I love how soft my face has become.

I think the traditional facial cleaners we use tend to rob our skin of all it natural oils, this causes our skin to overproduce the oils to make up for what was stripped away. With OCM, the oil is massaged into the skin and helps to dissolve the oil that has hardened with impurities in the skin, steam then opens the pores allowing the oil to be removed. I have been doing the OCM 2-3 times a week for about 4-5 weeks. I have been using Cetaphil (not so sure how green this is but its what I have been using) in between. I only splash my face with water in the morning.

The OCM may not be for everyone. do some research and see if its for you. Feel free to share your green beauty routine, I'd love to hear it!! What natural products work for you??