I’m one of those poor souls that has to put up with both acne AND wrinkles. I swear, once I turned 30 my skin decided to get back at me for all the years that it was rather normal. So I went through all of the different brands. I think ProActive was the only one I didn’t use. I ended on Philosophy. Their basic products made my skin worse than it had ever been. It turned me into a glistening ball of oil and I got a new breakout every day. Everyone kept telling me how wonderful it was so I tried changing to another line they carried. The results were….meh. Too dry, my skin started to look chapped. The moisturizer wasn’t enough to make my skin look healthy again.
Then I started getting into all the alternative homemade personal care products. The baking soda shampoo and apple cider vinegar conditioner were the beginning. Then I learned how to make cold-process soup with Maya from Soul Flower Farm. There went the commercial body washes. Another batch got made with our farm-helper Brandy during a meetup. We definitely have enough soap to last us awhile.
But I still needed something for my face. The cold-process soaps that I had seemed a bit harsh for my face so I wanted something different. On a whim I stopped by a soapmaker’s booth at the farmers’ market. I got to talking to her and ended up purchasing two goats’ milk and oatmeal bars.
But I needed a moisturizer. I had heard that coconut oil was really good for your skin. We have a bucket of food grade virgin coconut oil so I decided to give it a try. You can also get non-food grade coconut oil, but I’m hesitant to use it not knowing if hexane was used to extract the oil or not. With the food grade virgin oil, it’s cold pressed and not refined or exposed to any heat.
I knew caffeine was good to reduce redness and I wanted to add some oatmeal as well. I put a tablespoon of fresh roasted coffee and 2 tablespoons oatmeal and put them through the coffee grinder until they were a fine grind. It was a hot day so the oil was already melted (coconut oil is normally a solid fat with a melting temperature of 72 deg. F). I put the coffee and oatmeal in a cheesecloth bag and steeped in the oil for 10 minutes. I squeezed as much oil out of the bag as possible and threw it out.
I immediately noticed a difference. My skin is so soft and supple and it seemed to be clearing up. I haven’t gone a whole month yet using this new program, but so far I’m totally impressed with how my skin is responding to these two relatively simple products. I can’t say it will for everyone but it’s definitely worth a try.
So you apply the coconut oil that now has coffee and oatmeal to your skin, discarding the solids? Do you apply it before you go to bed, or after washing your face in the am?
I'm so excited to read about this because I am having similar acne issues in my late twenties after having relatively normal skin earlier. I may have to bite the bullet and get some coconut oil.
Alice, I put the coconut oil on after washing my face in the morning.
Coconut and oatmeal sounds good, and right for a problem skin. BTW Yardley has an oatmeal skin range I used to use. Now I use Body Shop products.
I'm totally giving this a try. The combination sounds like the perfect prescription for my 41-year-old, red and acne-afflicted face. One question: Do you use foundation? I feel the need to cover up (for the above reasons) but don't want to negate the benefits of the coconut mixture. Maybe I'll use it at night instead…?
Cornelia, I don't actually wear foundation. My skin hates it.
Sounds like a great combo! I've always had uppity skin. It doesn't seem fair to endure break-outs and wrinkles, but I feel your pain! Glad your soap seems to be helping though. I'm actually looking forward to making my own soaps. Between the bees, and hopefully future goats, it will be fun to try, and good to know what's actually in my soap, and actually be able to easily pronounce all the ingredients 😉 I planted some Provence lavender this year hoping to incorporate that into some future soap-making ventures too.
Acne AND wrinkles. LOL, I can relate. Damn 30s. 😉 I settled on sweet almond oil cleaning and I'l never go back to soap and water cleaning. Cleaning your face with fat, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, keeps the dermis so much happier. Apparently in France water is considered very drying, so women there avoid getting their faces wet. (Don't know if this is true…just something I heard.) Love coconut oil, I bet you smell fantastic too.
I'm totally giving this a try..
Thanks for sharing..
I started making the staggeringly simple recipes from A Sonoma Garden last fall and my dry, acne ridden skin has never felt better – Water, Olive Oil, Emulsifying Wax and Fragrance. I'll find you the recipe, if you are interested. Takes 10 minutes to make.
Birgitt
I have also tried alternative personal care products and they work well. I have also tried baking soda as a shampoo and usually follow it up with a vinegar hair rinse to balance out the hair's pH and seal in the cuticles.