Castor oil will seriously suck the oil out of every pore on your face if you’re not careful
Alright kids, I’ve been doing some research and it’s time to share what I’ve learned so far.
I’ve got these polka dots on my nose, except they’re not really polka dots — they’re blackheads. My kid calls them polka dots and I like the sound of that. But I want to get rid of them and I have been unsuccessful in my attempts thus far.
In the past I’ve been squeezing them and just recently I tried some Biore strips. Squeezing isn’t really working and the strips were a bust.
But then I ran into a little home remedy courtesy of Domestiquette. She actually found the oil cleansing method via a post at Simple Mom.
Here’s the basic run down.
1. Mix castor oil with olive oil and rub it onto your dry face for a few minutes.
2. Wet a washcloth with hot water and put it over your face until it’s room temperature.
3. Rinse the washcloth and gently wipe off the oil.
4. Do this daily and watch your skin clear up.
The concept here is that castor oil draws dirt out of the pores and olive oil moisturizes the skin. The steam allows your pores to open, the castor oil draws out the bad oil and the olive oil hops in there to leave everything silky smooth. Got that?
Here’s what I did.
1. I used just castor oil because girlfriend’s face is oily. I focused only on my nose ’cause I’m trying to get rid of the polka dots, remember?
2. I heated a bowl of water in the microwave for three minutes and then set it on the table. I leaned over the bowl and draped a towel over my head to create my own little sauna. I stayed in there for about five minutes, until my face was dripping with water.
3. I squeezed as many blackheads as I could and washed my face with Dove soap to get rid of the excess oil.
4. I did that three days in a row.
Here’s what happened.
On the first day I was able to squeeze out a lot of blackheads. Good riddance, suckah.
On the second day it was harder to squeeze out the blackheads. The army of blackheads was reduced but not eradicated.
On the third day my nose came this close to shriveling up and falling off my face. I have learned the hard way that castor oil draws every ounce of oil out of your skin. Good oil and bad oil. All of the oil.
My nose began to peel like I had a sunburn. I ended up using Aquaphor on my nose and my upper lip in an attempt to stop the crazy peeling. Yeah, when I sat there in my makeshift sauna the water collected on my face and dripped down from my nose to my upper lip then back into the bowl.
So my upper lip was crazily chapped as well. It’s taken about five days for the peeling to stop and I have squeezed out a few more blackheads in the meantime.
However, I am not deterred. I will go back into the ring for another round. Next time I plan on mixing some olive oil in with the castor oil. As usual, I’ll report back later.
Tags: Things I over analyze
Okay, I read this via Domestiquette months ago and I just couldn’t believe it. I got way too technical with it in my thinking about emulsifying agents, surface tensions and what not. (It happens when your mother has a degree in food science.)
But castor oil has been used for generations in all sorts of home uses and I do use o.o on my hands when I’m in the kitchen (the acrylics are hell on my cuticles) so I’m going to give it a go because my nose could use some drying out. I’ll also report back…as soon I remember to buy some castor oil.
I didn’t even consider emulsifying and all that jazz, it just seemed crazy to put oil on oily skin, but hell I’m convinced castor oil will jack me up on its own.
I need to buy EVOO because all I have is Crisco vegetable oil.
No olive oil in the house ?!?! I consider it a necessity, inside and out. Those good fats are important.
Thanks for posting. Please let us know if the olive oil/castor oil mixture keeps your nose from shedding.
PS – what is castor oil???????
Castor oil is the stuff they used to give you in hospital as a purgative. It’s made from the seeds of the castor oil plant and contains ricin, a poison that was used in the subway bombings a few years ago. It’s pretty safe in oil form, though. Just don’t drink it. ;)
@fek I am excited to see what the olive oil does to the mix. Like Solomon said, I’ve always heard that castor oil is used mainly as a laxative.
@Solomon Now having said that, I know you need to drink it to encourage the laxative effect, but you mentioned it has ricin in it. And I know from my freaky shows that ricin is a type of poison. Thank you 48 Hours.
Regardless, I think the concentration is low enough in castor oil that it is safe enough to ingest but you won’t catch me drinking it.
I think it’s in pretty low concentrations in the oil. I think the seeds are dried and ground, or something, to get the strong stuff.
I think the oil is the sort of stuff you don’t drink twice. ;)
Castor Oil is good for what ails ya. At least that’s what my mom used to tell me.
I have always heard that, but never made castor oil’s acquaintance until this experiment. I cannot imagine ingesting it. Evah.
When I took a few Tbsp. of castor oil, trying to start labor, I told my mom about it. She had taken castor oil to induce labor with her first child. She said she thought she had drank the whole bottle.
It could be that her memory fails her, but if not – heck, that explains why it worked for her and not for me. Sheesh – a whole bottle. I could never do that.
I don’t dare taste the castor oil I bought. It stinks and I cannot imagine that orange juice would cut the flavor. Yuck.
Fascinating! And to think I was going to pay big money to go get a facial next week. I am so buying castor oil.
Where does one buy castor oil? Can you get it at the grocery store? In the meds section or the olive oil section?
I bought mine at Rite Aid but you can get it at any drug store (CVS, Walgreen’s, etc.) I’m not sure if a grocery store has it. I think so, but don’t quote me. It was in the laxative section at Rite Aid, on the very bottom shelf. It was very inexpensive, under $3.
It’s also really thick. It’s definitely an oil, just thicker than vegetable oil, which is what I expected.
Ha, I had the same question as Erin. Please to report where you got it.
I am interested to see if this works. I have a load of blackheads on my nose, and generally I just leave them be. But I would love to have clearer skin. I AM in my 30s now; I’d like to look like it.
I got mine at Rite Aid in the medicine aisle with the laxatives. It was on the lowest shelf and I bought the Rite Aid brand for $2.89 I think.
I think you can get it at the grocery store also, but I’m not positive about that.
The only cure for for blackheads that I’ve ever come across is “Biore” strips. Purchasable at your local drug store. I love seeing the little forest of black stubby trees come off with the strip. But it works!
Stupid blackheads!
I might give that another try. I might have left mine on too long. It was dry and then I had to re-wet it and then it just came off as a paste. Yuck.
I just googled it and dermatologists recommend Salicylic acid or glycolic acid. Talk to your pharmacist.
Aren’t you helpful, LJ? Thanks!
I heard somewhere that duct tape works just as good as Biore and it’s cheaper and you probably already have a roll in your house. I haven’t tried it yet though. If anyone has tried it, let me know.
My son has horrible, disgusting blackheads on his nose. I mean, they are huge! I don’t think I could get him to do the oil treatment, as it is I had to threaten him with loss of privileges just to get him to pinch them. (He is such a wuss!) I thought for sure one of them was going to take over his face. Huge!
Man I want to try duct tape now, but I’m afraid. Will electrical tape do the same thing? I don’t have duct tape, but I do have black electrical tape.
They say that duct tape gets rid of warts, too. It didn’t work on the wart on my foot. This was what I tried when I first got that sucker back when I was pregnant with YS and swimming laps regularly.
I would think that it would have to be duct tape and not electrical tape, since duct tape completely seals, whereas electrical tape seems more breatheable (is that a word?).
(shudders) That’s just part of the reason why I hate swimming.
I do like the little Biore strips, but they’re really only good for getting the general gunk out of my pores. They don’t do much when I have a really major blackhead. I got one of those little metal hook-things that they sell at drugstores that you’re supposed to press around the blackhead, and it works okay, but that and the Biore strips seem to just leave holes where the blackheads were and they fill in again.
One thing I’ve found that does seem to help a lot is the Bare Escentuals Skin Revver Upper. That stuff is fantastic. You can get it at any Sephora or Ulta. Doesn’t really stop the blackheads from forming, but it seems to keep them smaller, and also makes my skin feel better in general (smoother and less greasy — and boy do I have greasy skin.)
I think, now that LJ said she loves the Biore strips, I’m going to have to give those another try. I did let the thing dry completely on my nose and then had to re-wet it to get it off. It had a gummy paste when I finally got it off, so I’m thinking I did it wrong.
Check out the oil cleansing method. It is AWESOME. I have been using sunflower oil/castor oil for over a year to wash my face and using pure sunflower oil as a moisturizer. I have very oily skin and this has been a god-send – no more oily zones, no more need to touch up with powders through the day – even on the hot, humid, mucky days!
Wow, that’s impressive, Jo. I am going to have to give this another solid try with olive oil in the mix; lord knows my face needs it.
This is a nice story, CG. Gees, sorta wish I was eating my breakfast when I read it.
I think you meant you sorta wish you were NOT eating your breakfast when you read it. But maybe it was appetizing and would have been like a sprig of parsley on your scrambled eggs.
Glad you enjoyed. Or not :)
I know this is off topic, but…
Hey, do you feel like a winner today? :-) Whatcha gonna do with your prize?
YES! YES I do feel like a winner, Tim!
I did backpedal to say that it’s the nougat that really jacks up a Milky Way. I do love caramel; really I do. So now that I can test this for real, I know I’m gonna love it.
And you’re not gettin’ my Caramel Milky Way, if that’s what you’re getting at. I might consider giving you the red lei from Jamaica, God that sounds filthy. It would go great with the shaved beaver pics, wouldn’t it?
Ha ha, no thanks. Unlike some men, I won’t accept just any old dirty lei. I’m rather particular. Some of the patrons at the bar might be interested tho.
(laughs) It’s good to know there’s *some* sort of an audience who will tolerate a dirty lei. Just in case.
CG! OMGsh. Your skin [not equal!!] kitchen counter!
Please please please try it with 30% castor & 70% olive. That’s the mix for oily skin. Holy smokes.
What I have found is that since I’m not stripping every ounce of oil OUT, my skin doesn’t feel the need to react violently with oil production. GINGAH… my skin is not producing the oil in such heinous quantities.
All I know is that the more you strip-strip-strip, the more your skin is going to misbehave. I had no blackheads from day 2 using the olive oil, no need to squeeze. There are no words for just how BAD my skin was. Hubby compliments my skin every day now.
Be kind to your face…
I have dialed back the castor oil and my nose is no longer peeling, but I gotta say I still have some polka dots.
However, I am committed to giving this a solid try for the month of March before I give my final declaration on this.
[...] may recall that I jumped on the oil cleanse bandwagon back in February. At that time I was using too much castor oil and not enough olive oil. The actual [...]