I’ve been having a crazy terrible time with my face breaking out lately. Usually I can blame the normal hormonal acne, but this time I think I have an idea why I’ve had an unusually harder time. A few weeks back, I was reading rave reviews on Dr. Bronner’s Magic soap. I was interested in making my own face wash. So I talked to a lady at the local Sprouts and she loved the stuff too so I was sold. I bought the lavender scent because well, I like lavender. The ingredients (if you can find them on the bottle – poor graphic designer who had to do this label) listed are: Water, Organic Coconut Oil*, Potassium Hydroxide**, Lavandin Extract, Organic Olive Oil*, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Lavender Extract, Citric Acid, Tocopherol * CERTIFIED FAIR TRADE INGREDIENT ** None remains after saponifying oils into soap and glycerin.

I began washing my face with straight-up Dr. Bronners soap, no dilution, no nothing. Full force oil-cleansing method – let’s do this. It smelled great and felt great. Then about a week later I started getting terrible acne so I made a “Blemish Buster” oil blend from my Young Living oils and started using that (recipe below). It did start helping but I was still breaking out. I didn’t know what the deal was. I was furious. (Which if you’re interested in Young Living Oils, I highly recommend you become a wholesale member and start using the heck out of them – they are SO AWESOME! Here’s my link to sign up and my member number is 2270261 – end of quick marketing plug!)

So this was my exact Google search: “What kind of carrier oils are better for acne?”

And this is what I found out: If you have acne-prone skin, you need to use an oil that is naturally higher in lanoleic acid and lower in oleic acid. Say WHAT? Great, thanks but what the heck does that mean? Well this nice lady, Dawn Michelle, from her blog called Minimalist Beauty broke it down by oil. So if you have oily skin like me, you would want to use a base cleansing oil from this list:
Safflower Oil (Organic)—Oleic–8-30%  Linoleic–68-85%
Black Seed Oil—Oleic–22.6%  Linoleic–55.6%
Hemp Seed Oil—Oleic–10.71%  Linoleic–56.48%
Evening Primrose Oil—Oleic–8.4%  Linoleic–72.6%
Pumpkin Seed Oil—Oleic–23.3%  Linoleic–57.2%
Rosehip Seed Oil—Oleic–13.9%  Linoleic–44.1%
Grape Seed Oil (Organic)—Oleic–16.2%  Linoleic–70.6%
Soybean Oil—Oleic–22.72%  Linoleic–52.97%
Wheat Germ Oil—Oleic–12.1%  Linoleic–58.4%
(Please note that wheat germ oil is one of the highest ranking oils on the comedogenic list so results may vary using this oil.)

While EVOO and coconut oil are great for other people with normal or dry skin, I need to change my method and QUICK! So after my next trial, I will update you (I’m sure you’ll be dying to find out). For now, Dr. Bronner will have to be a hand cleanser.

Oh, and if you’re interested in my blemish buster oils recipe, here it is:
5 drops Melaleuca Alternifolia (tea tree oil)
5 drops lavender oil
3 drops rosemary oil
2 drops lemon oil
Fill the rest of the 5ml bottle with carrier oil (I am using Jojoba oil but am about to switch to possibly grapeseed or evening primrose oil).
Dab on 3-4 drops at night.