Well this is very weird. For the last couple of days, my face has been much oilier than usual. I don’t know if it’s the OCM doing some kind of rebalancing, but I’m going to have to quit using my Camellia & Copaiba oil for a few days to see if it dies down. I’ll be gutted if I have to stop using it permanantly, especially as I forked out £20 for a full-size bottle only three weeks ago.
Not only am I oilier, but my skin feels a bit rough too, like I need to exfoliate. My acne isn’t giving up either, although at least the whiteheads are small and I’m not getting the nasty boil-like bumps I tend to suffer from. I’m going to try using my facial cleanser after the OCM just to make sure the oils are definitely being removed - it’s very gentle (and all-natural of course) so it shouldn’t do any harm. I also tried using the Angel Face Scrub yesterday with apple cider vinegar instead of water, but I applied the Camellia & Copaiba oil straight after so I may have negated any positive effect. Will try that again tomorrow I think.
I also bought some Agnus Castus (chasteberry) capsules from Holland & Barratt today. Not sure I should be starting these in the midst of a skin crisis, but they’re supposed to help with hormonal problems and I’d like to get them well into my system before my period starts. As my acne does seem to be primarily hormonal, I’m hoping they’ll help. I’m trying to increase my water intake too - so far that’s just resulted in lots of trips to the loo!
Apologies for the lack of recent updates BTW. I’ve had speed issues with my ISP all week and dared not use the computer lest I throw the cable modem at the wall in annoyance.
Tags: face, moisturiser, ocm, skin
4 comments so far
Ooh careful, this is kind of what happened to me with the OCM. After about a month I noticed my face got bumpy, and then I quickly developed a ton of blackheads and whiteheads. It’s been 7 weeks since I stopped the OCM and my pores are still clogged and I’m still getting minor breakouts. However, I think I left too much of the oil on for my sensitive skin. I’m seeing a dermatologist in a week so it’ll be interested what they say about the OCM.
Vitex agnus-castus is awesome. My sister uses it and it completely clears her PMT acne, it takes a good 2-3 months to kick in though.
I’ve been using it for about 3 months, my cycle has been a lot smoother (I’ve had a perfect 28 day cycle almost down to the hour since I’ve been on it), but it hasn’t done much for my skin. Which just proves to me that my mild acne is more due to clogged pores and not hormones!
I used to take a combination of evening primrose oil, fish oil and vitex agnus-castus when I only suffered from PMT spots, and the combination of supplements would COMPLETELY clear my PMT acne
Hi Fran.
I am a bit worried that the OCM isn’t working optimally for me. I think as Helen mentioned in the previous post’s comments, I’m probably overloading my face with too many new things and need to step back and take things one at a time. I did use my facial cleanser last time and I’ve only had one spot appear since, so it looks like I’ve not been removing the oils off my skin as thoroughly as I thought.
I’m actually not sure about using the agnus castus now - I read a few days ago that you shouldn’t take it while on the pill as it affects the same hormones. Do you mind if I ask if you and/or your sister are using the pill?
I tried taking some fish oil supplements last year and my acne was really bad so I came off them. I think I was trying too many different things at once again though, so I’m not sure if they really were the culprit. I’m not currently taking any supplements at all, guess I’m a little bit nervous about trying again lol.
I look forward to hearing how you get on with the dermatologist.
Yeah that’s the exact mistake I made. I tried too many different things at once and I damaged my skin because of it. I think us blogger girls just want to try everything and write about it, it becomes a little obsession
None of us are on the pill. You’re right, I don’t think you should take it when on the pill, and I don’t think it would do anything anyway. There are a couple of brands of the pill that work will at clearing the skin. Are you on either of those?
You may have had a reaction to the fish oil. Flax seed oil is another option, but yeah - too many things at once. I was at a stage last year where I saw a naturopath, Chinese herbalist and ayurvedic consultant all around the same time. I ended up with a heap of stuff to take and I doubt they’d all work that well together. I got so stressed with it all that I stopped taking everything, and just focused on eating well, exercising and relaxing for a couple of months
Hi Fran, sorry for taking so long to comment back, still having internet issues here and doing things online is getting to be really stressful.
I’m on the mini-pill. I only started it two days ago, but I’d been on it for a few years in my early twenties and it’s the only pill that’s really suited me.
I did try Dianette, which is often prescribed for those prone to acne, but I didn’t see any benefit and it totally messed up my cycle.
Yeah, I think it was the fish oils that didn’t agree with me. I really do need to moderate what I use as well, as I have a bad habit of trying multiple products to see which one works fastest lol.