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Friday, March 28, 2014

The Great Oil Experiment (with DIYs)

Bombasine.com- DIY Face Oil and Cleansing Oil
Don't forget to label your bottles with old publicity stickers! Or, you know, actual labels.

The concept of washing your face with oil sounds very strange, but it makes sense - the basic idea is that the oil dissolves the excess grease and grime on your face, without stripping it and drying out your skin the way soapy cleansers do. Moisturizing with oils seems similarly frightening, but most people report a decrease in breakouts rather than the expected increase- apparently not all oils are as comedogenic as our own delightful skin oil.

As a fan of skin oils in general, I've been meaning to try oil cleansing for awhile now. I'll admit my usual face-washing routine is pretty lax (I usually just splash some hot water on there in the shower, and occasionally use some Dr Hauschka's Cleansing Cream which I buy entirely because it smells AMAZING and for no other real reason.) I occasionally use coconut oil to remove make-up, but that's not quiiiite the same (though this method will remove make-up very well.) Likewise, I'll occasionally use coconut oil in lieu of lotion for moisturizing, but I've never tried actual "face oil."

Now, if you go out and buy face oils, for cleansing or (especially) moisturizing, they will run you into the realm of ridiculou$$. The ingredients are usually obscenely simple (sometimes, it's just a tiny fancy bottle of a pure oil that they're charging $50 for, when you could get twice as much for a third of the price at a hippie grocery store- looking at you, argan oil.)

Anyway, that makes them natural candidates for DIYing! Here are my very simple recipes for both- I recommend putting them in a little eyedropper bottle (which you can usually find at the sorts of hippie grocery stores that carry the oils- I got everything necessary at Whole Foods.)

Cleansing oil:

2 parts Grapeseed oil
1 part Jojoba oil
A few drops grapefruit essential oil (or EO of your choice)

Many people like to use castor oil for cleansing- apparently it works a little better than other sorts, but it can also be drying and since my skin veers towards dry, I went with gentler grapeseed (which is also good for balancing oily skin.) Jojoba is more moisturizing, but also usually pretty safe for oily skin. Depending on your skin, you can tweak the ratios of lighter and heavier oils (some Googling will give you waaaay more info about what different oils are good for than you ever wanted or needed.)

As far as EO's are concerned, you'll be washing it off so it's mostly about whatever you like. I love the smell of grapefruit EO but it's not one I necessarily want to leave on my skin all day, so this is a good chance to use it.

To use a cleansing oil, take a few drops and massage them thoroughly into your face (if you're wearing make-up, be sure to give those areas some extra attention). Grab a washcloth, run the tap water nice and hot (not burning, obviously, but good and cozy), soak the cloth, and press onto your face for a few seconds. Rinse the cloth, repeat. Try not to rub too hard- the hot water well melt the oils off, taking the dirt, grime, and skin oil with it.


Moisturizing Oil:


4 parts Jojoba oil
1 part Grapeseed oil
A few drops lavendar essential oil (or EO of your choice)

You'll notice I used the same oils- that is called "not spending a freaking insane amount of money at Whole Foods." I went heavier on the jojoba because I want this one to be more moisturizing than the cleansing oil was, but again, you can tweak this using whatever oils you need to for your skin type.

As for EOs, here's a quick and dirty guide*:

For dry/aging skin: Geranium, Lavendar, Neroli, Rose, Birch, Rosewood
For normal/combination skin: Lavendar, Rose, Sandalwood
For oily skin: Pachouli, Myrrh, Rosemary, Ylang Ylang
For acne-prone skin: Lavendar, Violet, Rosewood, Rosemary, Tea Tree, Chamomile
For sensitive/irritated skin: Lavendar, Chamomile, Ylang Ylang

Bergamot and some other citrus oils are useful for oily or acne-prone skin, but they can make your skin more sensitive to UV light, so I wouldn't recommend them for anything you're going to leave on your skin. Neroli is apparently an exception, and sweet orange and grapefruit may or may not be okay...but might as well play it safe. On the flip side, apparently some EOs like lavendar, Roman chamomile, and myrrh as well as sesame, coconut, and olive oil actually offer some UV protection.

Another note on EOs: Go easy!! A little goes a long way. 

*Disclaimer: I haven't used all, or even most of these. Please research whatever oil you want to use before committing, in case my ten minutes of Google research was mistaken.

To use the moisturizing oil, put a few drops (like, two) in your hands, rub them together, and then pat all over your still-damp face, aftershave style.

So how's it work?


One day later...
My face felt really soft when I went to bed last night. Skin looks pretty decent today- hard to tell after just one use though. One thing to note, if you're not extremely careful, the oil does tend to work it's way into your hair, especially if you have bangs- no big deal (it's probably really good for your hair) but you'll want to make sure you can shower before going out the next day.

Several days later...
So far so good! My face tends to get more or less moody depending on the time of month, but the oil doesn't seem to have made anything worse, and it's at least as moisturized as with the lotion I was using before. My pores seem cleaner than they did with normal facewash, possibly because I use the oil more often (I didn't want to overdry my skin with soap.) The biggest downside? The required washcloths. Normally I just wash my face in the shower and splash some water on there to rinse, but that doesn't work as well with the oil (I tried it, but it was much harder to get the oil off without a cloth.) I'll just have to be diligent about laundry and maybe buy a few extras.

In conclusion...

Totally worth a try. The ingredients aren't that pricey if you think of how far they go- the EOs are the priciest part, but they last a long time and have many applications... and honestly you could probably skip them if you wanted to, but they make the process rather nice. Keep your other oils in the fridge unless you're using one with a long shelf life- that way they'll stay good longer.

Would love to hear your guys's recipes and results- I'm a sucker for DIY skincare/beauty stuff!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

OOTD: March 25

Bombasine.com- Shirt: James Perse / Tee: Mossimo / Jeans: Grane / Shoes: Aldo

Shirt: James Perse
Tee: Mossimo
Jeans: Grane
Shoes: Aldo

(None of those are direct links since I think all of these things are from at least one season ago. Sorry. Slow fashion! Woooo! (I don't think that's what slow fashion means.))

Good 'n Casual.

Bombasine.com- Shirt: James Perse / Tee: Mossimo / Jeans: Grane / Shoes: Aldo

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Mountains and Crystals

The last few months I've been dabbling with watercolors and gouache... finally got my scanner set up (though admittedly, these scans still aren't very good.)


watercolor- Bombasine.com

watercolor- Bombasine.com

watercolor- Bombasine.com

It's been about 7 or 8 years since I dropped out of art school and switched to psychology. It feels good to play with color again. 

watercolor- Bombasine.com

watercolor crystal- Bombasine.com

Super into crystals and such lately. Not the healing-energy-spiritual-whatever side of crystals, though that's all well and good. I just like geology and think they're damn pretty. And fun to paint. 
watercolor crystals- Bombasine.com
Experimenting with linework over watercolor... I have some mountains done the same way but they won't fit in the scanner and piecing wasn't working out so well. I'll have to photograph them sometime.


watercolor- Bombasine.com
 

Friday, March 14, 2014

Meanwhile on Twitter...



The internet is positively filthy with "spring fashion" posts right now, full of pastels and flowers and what-have-you. I guess I'm one of those dull birds who doesn't really change her wardrobe seasonally, except for the addition of slightly warmer layers in the winter and a bit less clothing in the summer. Gotta admit- it's easier (and cheaper) that way, heh.

Monday, March 10, 2014

OOTD: March 10th. Batty bat!

Bombasine.com: Sweater: J Crew / Shirt: cheap Chinese knockoff / Jeans: STS Blue / Boots: Rampage / Hat: handknit (design by Alexandra Tinsley)

Sweater: J Crew 
Shirt: cheap Chinese knockoff 
Jeans: STS Blue 
Boots: Rampage 
Hat: A sneakpeek of a new design that'll be out very very soon over at Dull Roar

Pink and purple, not a common color scheme for me (or at least, adult me. Six year old me was ALL ABOUT pink & purple.) I find that lately I'm very drawn to both blacks and charcoal grays and other very-dark shades, and super pale, borderline super feminine colors. Only certain ones, though- salmony and peachy pinks, "tea-stained linen", rosy-beige, foggy-gray-blue, seafoam green. 


Bombasine.com: Sweater: J Crew / Shirt: cheap Chinese knockoff / Jeans: STS Blue / Boots: Rampage / Hat: handknit (design by Alexandra Tinsley)

Friday, March 7, 2014

Next Halloween?

Gothic Lolita




Get it?? Gothic Lolita! Hehehehe. Too bad Halloween is basically winter here...

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

OOTD: March 4th

Plaid shirt: OP/Ocean Pacific - Tee: Random shady vendor - Jeans: Grane - Boots: Franco Sarto - www.bombasine.com

Plaid shirt: OP/Ocean Pacific 
Tee: Random shady vendor 
Jeans: Grane 
Boots: Franco Sarto


Plaid shirt: OP/Ocean Pacific - Tee: Random shady vendor - Jeans: Grane - Boots: Franco Sarto - www.bombasine.com


The tee is from a random, print-to-order t-shirt vendor at the Gibraltar Trade Center, which is a place that sort of...defies description. Picture a strip mall mixed with a warehouse mixed with a flea market... kind of. I call it "Five Wolf Moon".

In any case it amuses me to wear a bunch of super cheap-o clothes with nice boots. This plaid shirt, which I realize now is probably from Walmart (I got it at Plato's Closet, I think) is one of my all-time favorites, fraying hole in the seams and all. Ditto the jeans- a cheap Macy's brand that I also got at Plato's and love the crap out of. I'm terrified of the day they finally fall apart.

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