DIY Cleansing Oil vs Garnier Clean + Nourishing Cleansing Oil

Warm up:
I've been following the OCM ("oil cleansing method") for a few years now. I was at a breaking point with my skin when I decided to give the OCM a try. At the time. I considered my skin to be oily and acne-prone. I had been treating my skin with Neutrogena Oil-free Acne Wash since high school (for more than 15 years!). Though I would get shiny throughout the day, I has a chronic dry spots from overuse of salicylic acid in the Neutrogena face wash. I hated how my makeup would cling to these areas-- not cute. I guess I stuck with this product for so long because I never considered that my skin type could have changed over the years or that such a harsh product wasn't really necessary for me anymore. The dry areas seemed to magically disappeared when I ditched the acne wash and started the OCM.

I did a ton of research on the OCM before I worked up the courage to put oil on my "oily, acne-prone skin."
It just seemed counter-intuitive to me. For all these years I've been only going for oil-free washes, moisturizers, cosmetics-- you name it. The fear was that oil was bad and will clog your pores, leading to breakouts. I wasn't taking any chances. But I had to do something about the tight, itchy, flakey skin I was experiencing. Enter: DIY cleanising oil.

For the last few years I've been pretty loyal to my homemade blend of oils: 2 parts castor oil, 1 part sunflower oil, and 1 part jojoba oil. I make this mixture right in the vessel that I use to store it. The traditional method of using cleansing oils is to incorporate steam and a wash cloth into to your cleansing routine. Then shortly after I started oil cleansing I fell victim to the Clarisonic craze (and, people, it's a craze for a reason-- love my Mia). I started using my Clarisonic Mia in place of my fingers to massage the oil into my skin. Then I use a hot/warm wet washcloth to steam and remove the oil, pat skin dry and moisturize. After using the OCM for just a short time, I definitely saw some amazing changes in my skin: no more dry/dehydrated, flakey spots, my skin cleared up from my usual chronic breakouts and my fine lines around my eyes and mouth were barely noticeable. I would now call my skin normal/combination. I am a total convert.

Main event:
Recently, I've been hearing a lot of buzz from the beauty community about new drugstore cleansing oils. Up until now, you could really only get them from high-end brands or making then yourself. Though is it very cost-effective to make your own cleansing oils at home (it's prob about under a dollar's worth of ingredients per 3oz mixture), I was curious. My sister told me that she wanted to try the new Garnier cleansing oil so I figured that I might try it too (peer pressure? monkey see, monkey do?).

The Garnier Clean+ Nourishing Oil Cleanser is marketed as being for dry skin. It contains Jojoba and Macadamina oils. Looking at the ingredient list, mineral oil is the first listed ingredient, so if you're sensitive to mineral oil this product is probably not for you. It also contains a few chemical emulsifiers. Emulsifiers are added to oils so that they can be rinsed off easily with water. I feel like this sort of defeats the purpose-- my skin felt stripped after using this product. Also there's a pretty strong scent to this cleansing oil, smells very fresh & fruity, I actually liked the scent. Though it might not be appealing to all, especially those who are sensitive to fragrance.

I gave this product a couple of weeks to woo me but it's a no-go for me. My skin looked and felt dehydrated. I went right back to my DIY cleansing oil. Maybe if I'm looking for variety I should try making another DIY oil recipe rather than resorting to commercial products. Or maybe I should just stick to what works and just leave well enough alone. If it ain't broke...

Love,

Michele