Each visit to the beauty salon leaves me with mixed feelings because on one side I’m thrilled with the outcome and on the other, I am sad for spending so much money.
Although I don’t think that investing in my appearance is not a good idea, I can’t help but think that maybe there are cheaper alternatives.
Do-it-yourself remedies have always appealed to me, but not knowing where to start from, made me postpone the experiments way too long.
6 Ways to Make Skin Less Oily
My oily skin requires special attention, and since I want to look my best every day, I had to accept the fact that this comes with a price.
I won’t brag about finding a miracle solution, or state that from now onwards I will never visit a beauty salon, but I am glad to share my discovery.
Whether you have learned or not about the benefits of using a Green Clay Powder, I warmly encourage you to give it a chance because it could work wonders for you, particularly if your skin is congested or more oily than normal.
Stop Washing your Face
This is seemingly contrary to what we’ve been told when it comes to oily and acne-prone skin nonetheless, over-washing with soap or face cleanser made of harsh ingredients can make your skin worse.
Why? Because the oily secretion of the sebaceous glands acts as a lubricant for the skin hence provides protection against bacteria. Whenever you over-wash, you tend to strip the oils from the skin and it signals to over-produce more sebum. As a result, your face looks greasy, not fun!
Your best choice is to lessen on washing time and switch to super gentle cleansers. Which means, you only wash your face twice a day, if possible.
And for a natural option, Manuka honey is highly recommended or simply use raw honey. I normally, use this trick when washing my face by mixing 1 tsp honey and a tsp of lemon juice.
Use Lukewarm Water
Only Use Lukewarm Water – stay away from hot water particularly if you have an acne-prone or oily skin.
Hot water can irritate and can result to dry skin, thus stimulates more oil production. Make sure to wash face with tepid water and turn the heat down a notch when taking a shower.
Improve Your Diet and Lifestyle
You are what you eat or perhaps it would be more precise to say that what we eat defines who we are or what we feel.
Your diet can make such a difference in your skin hence eating well is part of the component that minimizes the risk of any chronic illnesses by 80 percent.
Which means, eating more greens and fruits while reducing the consumption of processed foods. Lifestyle changes are also one of the factors to achieve that glowing skin by getting more active, lowering your stress levels and adequate sleep.
If You Use Moisturizer, Cut Back or Stop
If your skin is already full of moisture, why bother putting more on there?
Try Oil Cleansing Method
It’s time to avail yourself to this paradoxical beauty rule: oil dissolves oil. This notion may sound unusual at first but using the oil cleansing method (you can check the procedure on this link) has the power to dissolve oil thoroughly, removes makeup, dirt, and sweat. And the good news is, it won’t strip your skin of its natural oil like most cleansers tend to do.
My personal choice for oil cleansing is jojoba oil because it is particularly best suited for oily skin. But of course, there are loads of other oils that you can use as well depending on your skin types.
Try Using Milk of Magnesium
This odd little trick has been doing rounds in forums and youtube as lots of girls swear that MoM (Milk of Magnesia) works like a dream for oily skin with no flakey residue.
You can grab this milk of magnesia at your local drug stores or pharmacies. How to use it? Simply shake the bottle, dip a cotton pad and apply a layer to clean wet skin. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and rinse it off.
Benefits of Using this Mask
Most commonly known as French green clay, is a type of mineral clay valued for its highly absorbent properties. Illite is a bio-mineral, composed of both decomposed plant material and trace minerals such as calcium, aluminum, magnesium, silica, phosphorous, copper and zinc.
Alternative medicine practitioners believe this composition makes French green clay particularly beneficial as a treatment for a variety of health concerns, and it is one of the most popular clays used in Pelotherapy.
Green Clay
French green clay has historically been used as a beauty treatment and is a common ingredient in many current-day commercial face masks.
Mountain Rose Herbs, an organic botanical products manufacturer based in Oregon, indicates that French green clay is beneficial in removing impurities and tightening the pores, toning the skin, exfoliating dead skin cells and reducing inflammation in acne.
It can also be used as a full-body treatment to soften dry, rough skin. According to this source.
Unbelievable Fix for Oily Skin
This clay mask is truly effective in siphoning the congestion out of my skin as it works as a deep cleanser while giving me a rosy, glowing complexion.
Incorporate with distilled water or preferably apple cider vinegar (which contains alpha-hydroxy and is an excellent exfoliant) to a thick clay-like texture and let it thoroughly dry before washing it off. Apply moisturizer as usual.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp green clay powder (I bought mine here)
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar (or distilled water) – you can adjust the amount to get a paste consistency.
Step by steps instructions
① Gather your ingredients. In a small glass container, put 1 tbsp of green clay powder, then add 1 tsp of Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother).
② Mix all together to form a paste-like consistency. If it’s too dry for your liking, just gradually add more apple cider vinegar. Apply using an old makeup brush on your freshly cleansed face.
③ Let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes and rinse it off with warm water. After, cleansing, splash your face with cold water or you can use an ice cube wrapped in paper towel, and run it on your face.
Apply your favorite moisturizer as usual. I like using glycerin + aloe vera mix = super soft skin.
Extra Tips:
Use this skin care routine 3 times a week if you have oily skin or perhaps you need a TLC to combat the struggle.
The green clay mask can cause dryness to your skin, so ONLY use this mixture if you have an oily or acne prone skin which is not overly sensitive.
If you have a sporadic breakouts, you may use this as a spot treatment but make sure to perform a skin patch test on your inner forearm approximately 30 minutes before application.
Every day we have plenty of opportunities to get angry, stressed or offended. But what you’re doing when you indulge these negative emotions is giving something outside yourself power over your happiness. You can choose to not let little things upset you.
~ Joel Osteen
