Homemade Miracle Oil Mix (Nails/Hand/Body)

Ever since I  learnt about the amount of chemicals that have been added to skincare, I've been on the search for the healthier option. And this lead me to making my own. After the success of making my makeup remover, I got more confident and started experimenting with more things. After a couple of experiments, I got what I call The Miracle Oil Mix. I started giving this to friends and family this oil mix cos I love it so much, and I'm glad they love it too.

I call this The Miracle Oil Mix for its extremely moisturizing properties. I especially love how it restores my skin after it has been "tortured" after housework. I have not totally changed all the household products in my house, so there's still a couple of harsh detergents lying around the house, such as the dishwasher. Trying to finish it up before making my own (yes, the frugal part of me decides to continue using than to waste). I'm not sure about you, but my hands always feel super dry and uncomfortable (because of the dryness) after all that washing and scrubbing. Most moisturizers doesn't work that well for me. I've tried l'occitane, crabtree and evelyn, bodyshop and other brands but they just don't quite make it. My hands still feels dry after application. 

This oil mix is the only thing so far that makes my hands feels super moisturized and good. I love it! Hence I termed it the Miracle Oil Mix. I used this like a "intensive serum", when I feel my hands or body needs that extra boost of moisture/hydration and it always work. 1 drop allows me to moistruize my hands, fingers, and I took the chance to give my hands a simple hand massage, and even use it as a cuticle oil, rubbing it to my cuticles. I used to have dry/cracked cuticles, but they look pretty happy now ever since I started on this oil mix. When my body feels dry, I massage it on my skin.

1 thing though. I have to be honest. It does take a little time to be absorbed so you'll have oily hands/fingers/body for a while, say 5  mins? It doesn't bother me, but in case it bothers you, this is a disclaimer.

When I use it on my body, especially my elbows and stuffs, this oil mix works like a perfume too. I've added some essential oil to it which smells really heavenly, and works as a natural perfume that doesn't give one a headache. Sure, it's not really lasting, but its ok! I can always reapply! :)

Ingredients:

Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Organic Jojoba Oil

Organic Almond Oil

Essential Oil (I used Lavender, but you can add any essential oil of your choice)

The proportion I used is 30% Coconut oil, 30% Olive oil, 20% Jojoba oil, 20% almond oil, and about 15 - 20 drops of essential oil (if you want stronger smell, add more).

If you need to know in terms of number of drops, just change % to drops. This is not a fixed formula. This is the formula that works for me, but feel free to experiment and tweak the proportions a little. Don't worry. It's not going to explode or something, so have some fun! :)

Natural Makeup Remover - Castor Oil & Jojoba Oil

People with oily skin are afraid of oil. And the thought of putting more oil on our skin freaks us off. I know, cos I'm one of them. Even though I've heard of the benefits of using oil on our skin for a while, I never quite have the guts to try it.

I grew up with acne, and very oily skin, though facial therapist will say my skin is super dehydrated, which causes the oiliness since the skin think it's dry thus produce more oil to balance it. People with oily skin are always told to avoid oil, and having a greasy face means we tend to want to wash our face more, which agrevates the problem, since the already hunger-of-water skin gets even drier, hence, have to work harder to produce more oil.

I once hear from a friend that people with oily skin shouldn't blot their face with blotting paper since it will make the problem worse. I never used to understand that, since face blotting seems the only way to keep our skin looking oil-free;  facial tissue never seem to be able to quite do the job.

Recently, after spending quite a bit of time researching on natural living and to reduce toxics in our lives, I decide to give oil cleansing a try and made my own makeup remover oil. I'm so glad I did, cos it's one of the best discovery and experiment I've ever made. Not only does it remove makeup beautifully, it makes my skin less oily! YAY!

Oil is good for oily skin, as it helps to balance the oil sebum on our skin, so it actually prevents more oil from being produced. My DIY makeup remover is one of the best makeup remover I've ever used. It cleans really well with no residue. You know how some makeup still hangs around after you've removed them, especially like lipstick and eyeliners? I remember how I'll sometimes look like a panda with eyeliner streaks below my eyes even after removing my makeup, and it takes some effort to thoroughly remove them. I'm reminded of this again, after i had to use a commercial makeup-remover as I was travelling, and did not bring my oil along. Big Mistake, and it made me miss my DIY makeup remover so, so much.

The BEST SIDE EFFECT I got from making my own makeup remover is my already thick and long eye lashes, became even thicker and denser. This is because of the benefits of castor oil (I'm using NOW Castor Oil from here), one of the ingredients I used for my makeup remover. In fact. there's only 2 ingredients in my makeup remover: castor oil and jojoba oil.

Castor Oil is a must-use, as it cleans off makeup really well. But you can't use it on it's own as it's kinda dry (yes, it's drying despite being an oil), and it's not a easy-to-spread oil (if you know hokkien, it's kind of "siap"). So always mix castor oil with another carrier oil. I use jojoba oil (I'm using Aura Cacia, Organic, Skin Care Oil, Balancing Jojoba), but you can use coconut oil, almond oil or olive oil. Be open to experiment a bit, and see which works best for you. I've read in some places with people raving about coconut and olive oil, while others say it breaks them out, so do some trial and error, and I'm sure you'll find a combination that works for you.

Ingredients
Castor Oil
Carrier Oil (jojoba oil, or coconut oil, or almond oil, or olive oil)

For oily skin, use 70% castor oil, 30% carrier oil (if the mixture is too difficult to spread, add more carrier oil. My personal mixture is around 60% castor oil, 40% jojoba oil)

For normal skin, use 50% castor oil, 50% carrier oil

For dry skin, use 30% castor oil 70% carrier oil

Steps
1. Use a clean glass bottle (dark-coloured preferred), and pour in your mixture. Shake to mix the mixture well. If this is the first time you're doing, I'll suggest you manually pour the castor oil and carrier oil on your palms, so you can try the % mixture that works best for you instead of making 1 whole bottle and realized it's too drying/oily.

2.  If you have a dropper, use about 2 drops of oil (or pour a 20cents oil size amount of oil) on your palm, and spread it all over your face, including your eyes and lips. I usually take this opportunity to give my face a good "massage", and I love seeing all the makeup melting away

3. Wipe it off with a tissue

4. I'll usually follow up with a cleanser, then carry on with my moisturizer.

Fractional CO2 Laser

Friends who knows me in real life knows I battle with acne and scars. I've tried chemical peels, skin rejuvenation etc. to lighten my facial scars. They work, but only for a fair extent (5% maybe?). but I'm grateful they work.

Last year, in preparation for my wedding, I decide to look for ways to further improve the scars, and upon the recommendation of my facial therapist, I decide to go for CO2 fractional laser. Did some googling to see which doctor I should go to, and decide on Skinlab. To be very honest, I'm sceptic even though I've read good reviews about that in the forums. The reason for my scepticism is because 1) their website looks blah (ok, that's a job-related thing), and most importantly, alot of the search results online (other than the one in forums), are paid advertorials by famous bloggers. I've slowly grown to ignore what the famous bloggers are talking about since their blogs seems to be a space for advertorials, after adverorials, and nothing looks honest or personal anymore.

Anyway, I made an appointment to see Dr Kelvin Chua, and started on my fractional CO2 laser journey. The effects of CO2 laser is great! It improves my complexion ALOT (about 30%?), and a great by-product is my skin is fairer and brighter. The only down-side to this treatment is the down time and the pain. Unlike chemical peel and skin rejuvenation where there's no downtime at all (except having to keep out from the sun), there's a 3 to 5 days of down time (differs on individual), and it can be really painful. 

Before each treatment, they will help me remove my make-up, before putting on a layer of numbing cream and then rest/wait for 30 mins for the numbing cream to take effect before Dr Chua will come and do the laser for me.

Even after the numbing cream, the laser process can feel pretty painful (but I've a high pain threshold), but for beauty, it's still bearable. Dr Chua is very patient and nice and whenever he sees or sense I'm in pain, he will go "sorry ah, pain right" in the most gentle manner. We chat alot about anything and everything during the whole treatment, which I think is his way of distracting his patient from the pain. There will be this "beep beep" sound whenever the machine and skin touch, and also a burnt (chao dar) smell, probably from the burning of the skin or facial hair. Whole treatment takes around 20-30 mins I think? After the laser, you can opt to do a cooling mask to help soothe the pain. Personally, I find it makes no difference so I decide to save the $80. After the laser, the heat/burning sensation on the face can be quite horrible, especially if it's your first few treatment. It's so awful, that I need to park myself in front of a fan or aircon to feel better. During my first laser, Skinlab ran out of the mask, so I got to experience what it feels like without the soothing of the mask. Second time, I tried the mask. When the mask is on, it feels slightly better (slightly only), but once they remove it, the burning sensation is back in full blast, so that's why I decide that I don't need the mask since I'll need to go through the pain anyway. Usually the burning sensation lasts for about 2 -3 hours, afterwards, it's just slight pain (like you cut yourself then got wound that kind of pain). For the next 3 days, you only need to wash your face gently with water (no facial foam or whatever), and apply the cream they provide. 

Below are some photos from my treatment. WARNING: it may make you feel uncomfortable.

Day 1: Taken immediately after the laser. My face looks red/burnt.

Day 2:  The redness grows darker, and looks dark red/brown like a charred. My sister jokingly calls me "An Pan Man" because of my chao dar looking face

Day 3: The redness or chaodar-ness starts to fade off, and the scabs (which is this pixel looking thing) starts to look more obvious.

Day 4: redness or chao-dar ness is gone, and the scabs starts to drop off. I can even go out to work or run errands (but need to wear a mask and hide under the shade).

By Day 5, most of my scabs are off (with some remaining on the jaw area) and it's back to business! Will still need to hide under the shade though as you'll feel the skin is very sensitive to sun/heat.

Going for CO2 laser is one of the best decision I've made and I'm loving the results. :) Usually, I'll go for my laser treatment on Friday evening (after work), so I have the weekend to hide at home, and by Monday, as long as there's no big meetings or presentation, I'll usually be back at work with a mask on. Skinlab do give MCs so you can stay at home, but for me, I think it's ok la, I'm quite thick skin. hahaha..