It’s a new year! Time to try something new…for me, I realized my 2013 Beauty Resolution the other night while standing in my bathroom holding an empty jar of the overpriced face moisturizer I bought before my wedding. I told myself – nope, you are not buying a new jar of this. Instead – I will try something different…that’s more affordable and more natural.

I am working 2 new treatments into my daily routine. I’d like to thank my sister, Katy St. Marie for introducing me to both – she has become a go-to resource for healthier lifestyle products.

My sister, Katy Lou and her hubby, John

Face Wash:

• The Oil Cleansing Method:
  • This is actually a homemade ‘wash’ – but it kind of flips what we’re used to in terms of face wash on its head. No more suds or foam…or even cream wash…the reality is a lot of the face and body wash products we use strip the oil from our skin –  “leaving our largest organ trying to repair itself by replacing the oil stripped away. This leaves us in a cycle of being tight and dry followed by the inevitable oil slick. Each time we strip the oil away, our skin over-compensates for the lack of moisture by creating more oil. On top of the drying effects, these products are highly-scented. Fragrance is one of the top skin irritants and strangely enough, even the so-called “unscented” products usually contain fragrance. See for yourself and check the labels.” (courtesy of http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com)
  • So I am using – an oil cleansing mixture of 1 part ORGANIC OLIVE OIL to 1 part CASTOR OIL. You can change this up depending on your skin type i.e. more olive oil for dry skin / more castor oil for oily skin. Both can be purchased for less than $10 at a local health food store. Katy originally found the recipe on Pinterest – more details found here – excellent real-life review of oil cleansing method. For a container, Katy recycled an old moisturizer pump bottle and put the mixture in there:

My oil cleansing container, thanks Katy!

• What you need to do the oil cleansing method:
  • • Oil mixture
  • • Clean wash cloth
  • • Warm water
• How to do it: put a few pumps in my (clean) palm, rub it around to warm it up, then massage all over my face and neck, you can totally get it around the eye area, it does not irritate and will help remove eye make-up. Once massaged in (say a minute or 2), wet your wash cloth with warm water and wring out, take it and drape it over your face so that the steam helps open the pores for deeper cleansing. After this, I typically swipe the cloth around and remove the excess oil – but don’t rub too hard!
• This cleanser is free of parabens and chemical additives that are too often found in our beauty products. The US actually has some of the most lax beauty/cosmetic product and ingredient regulations – some ingredients in our beauty and household products are banned in other countries. With that said, I cannot claim to completely  avoid these things, but I am trying, over time, to minimize my exposure to such things that have been linked to illness, including some cancers
• For now I am doing the oil cleansing method 1x a day at night. The above link(s) are great resources for The Oil Cleansing method, which much more information. They recommend you don’t do it too frequently – so for now, I’m sticking with 1x a day and I’ll continue to exfoliate every other day (I use the Clarisonic with a bit of this)

Face Moisturizer

• Hooray for Brallywood Butta® Luxe Intensive Facial Crème by Pristine Beauty ($36 for a generous-sized pump bottle @ Pristine Beauty / some Whole Foods or specialty stores/boutiques, check Pristine site for exact locations)

Pristine Beauty Hooray for Brallywood Butta

• What drew me in the most about this brand is that it was founded by a breast cancer survivor who initially created her own beauty-care products (after much research) because she had trouble finding natural, chemical-free products in stores. It started out as a way to make personal care products for herself and rolled into a product line free of parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, propylene glycol – cruelty free and vegan…made for anyone, including those going through or recovering from cancer treatment. If you’re interested, read more here
• Pristine offers a bunch of other products including a hair serum and deoderant which I am also going to try & review
• I use Brallywood Butta morning and night following my cleansing. I love the pump because I don’t have to worry about contaminating the cream with my fingers. The cap keeps it secure and clean. It is also a great amount of product for the cost – my sister had her first bottle for almost a year – using around 4 pumps 2x a day
• The cream is very moisturizing but not greasy. It has a mild citrusy smell from the natural tangerine and lemon oil. According to the site: “It soothes, calms and heals rosacea and eczema. This crème will even out the skin tone and make it brighter and more luminous, while minimizing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. You will see the consistency is like a makeup primer. It glides on, minimizing pore size and will not settle into fine lines.”
• I will be reporting back in a couple weeks about it’s longer term effects. I’ve only been using it for a few days at this point. So far my skin feels super soft and I love being able to smooth this all over my face and neck and not panic that I’m using too much product (which I used to do when it cost me approx. $150 per oz!)

Do you have any beauty resolutions? Have you or would you try the oil cleansing method? How do you work more natural products into your beauty routine?