DIY All-Natural Face Oil for Acne-Prone & Oily Skin
Acne DIY Skincare & Beauty Essential oils Face Oils Natural Beauty
This DIY All-Natural Face Oil for Acne-Prone and Oily Skin combines the best carrier oils and essential oils to keep skin clear by fighting blemishes and reducing oil production. Yes, applying oil to your skin can actually reduce the skin’s own oil production! Learn why it works + grab the recipe!
Some things are just real head-scratchers…
Like how putting oil on your face can actually make your skin less oily and less break-out prone.
It took me years of frustration and poisoning my body with chemical-laden skin care products before I finally experienced this last one firsthand.
I always thought that oil in skin care products was to be avoided at all costs.
So putting straight oil on my face? Oh heck no.
But then I got desperate. And I did it. And it worked. And now I’m hooked!
P.S. Want to take all the guesswork out of it? I’ve bottled up my best face oil blends — the Body Unburdened Beauty Blends — just for you. Beauty Blend No.2 is my best-seller, formulated to gently but effectively transform blemish-prone skin.
So how exactly does oil help to keep skin clear?
Face oils help to keep skin clear and blemish-free in a few different ways.
1. Face oils help to regulate the skin’s own oil production
The skin produces oil (a.k.a. sebum) as a natural moisturizer. Sebum is totally natural and even necessary, but excessive sebum production can increase the risk of blemishes. Applying oil to the skin can help reduce the skin’s own production of oil.
Important note: excess oil production is often a symptom of hormonal imbalance. You can learn more about this and how to balance hormones naturally in my book Glow: The Nutritional Approach to Naturally Gorgeous Skin.
2. Face oils are rich in antioxidants, which prevent skin sebum from oxidizing
When the skin’s own oil or sebum oxidizes, it becomes extremely comedogenic or pore-clogging. More and more, this is becoming recognized as a primary cause of acne and breakouts. Most face oils are rich in the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E, which prevent sebum oxidation.
3. Face oils breakup the gunk in our pores
When it comes down to it, a zit is really nothing more than a sticky mess of oil and dead skin cells. And since like-dissolves-like (in other words, oil and water don’t mix but water and water do mix as do oil and oil), applying oil to the skin can actually help to break up this sticky mess and clear it from the pore.
4. Face oils soothe and moisturize the skin
By helping to reduce inflammation and moisturize the skin, face oils help blemished skin heal more quickly and help reduce the risk of scarring.
Applying oil to my face was a total game-changer for me!
My breakouts became virtually non-existent.
Yes yes, I’m now one of those lucky ladies who gets to freak out when she gets one little zit before her period and it feels AWESOME.
Want to know the feeling? This simple face oil for acne and blemish-prone skin can help you get there!
DIY All-Natural Face Oil for Acne-Prone & Oily Skin
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons jojoba oil
- 1 tablespoon tamanu oil
- 6 drops lavender essential oil*
- 6 drops frankincense essential oil*
*This is a 2% essential oil dilution (in other words, the essential oils make up just 2% of the total final mixture)
You’ll also need a 2 oz. glass bottle with glass dropper.
Why these ingredients?
- Jojoba oil: a light oil that is easily absorbed. It mimics the skin’s sebum, tricking it to produce less oil.
- Tamanu oil: has strong anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antibiotic, and antioxidant properties, making it ideal for acne sufferers. It also helps regenerate skin cells, helping to heal broken skin and reduce the appearance of acne scars.
- Lavender essential oil: has powerful antibacterial properties and also helps calm inflamed skin.
- Frankincense essential oil: has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory benefits to the skin, making it ideal for acne-prone skin. It is also a natural toner, decreasing the appearance of pores and evening skin-tone.
Directions
- Add all of the ingredients to the dropper bottle.
- Put the cap on and give it a little shake!
- Apply 4-6 drops to clean, dry skin.
Yes, it’s as simple as that!
Interested in other carrier oil and essential oil options?
Have fun and get creative! You’ll find all of the information you need in these blog posts:
- How to Make A Custom Face Oil Blend
- The Top 10 Essential Oils for Skincare
- The Best Face Oils By Skin Type
Be careful with the use of tamanu oil! If you have a nut allergy, or suffer from oral allergy syndrome and are sensitive to nuts, this oil IS NOT the oil for you. The brand I looked at in the health store I went to had the warning on it (I don’t remember the brand now because I didn’t buy it because I do suffer from OAS and am sensitive to certain nut oils). But you definitely have to read your labels. And there are a few other warnings on the internet stating you shouldn’t use this oil if you are sensitive to or allergic to nuts.
Hi Nadia, I recently stumbled upon this recipe. I’m new to the world of EOs and I need a little bit more clarity with your instructions. If I’m using a 2 oz bottle as you suggest, do I still need to dilute the Lavender before it goes in the bottle? My other oils are already ready for direct application.
If you have any kind of growth THROW IT AWAY. And be sure to sterilize your bottle, equiptment, and workspace next time to prevent bacteria growth – and try not to get any water in the blend!!
Has anyone experienced a stringy growth in this mixture? It looks really gross and I’m not sure what went wrong. Help?
Go for it! Let us know how you like it.
So I want to mix, joboda, tamanu, Lavendar, frankincense (your favorites from this website) but also add carrot seed oil. What is opinion on that?
Hey Natalie, love this mixture! I store mine in a cobalt glass bottle in an air conditioned room, but after about three weeks something started growing in the mixture. It appears stringy and blue/grey in color. Do I need to throw it away or can I continue to use it? And is there any way to prevent this in the future? Thanks!
Hey Hannah! Apricot kernel oil is great for dry skin – that sounds like a good combo! I’m in the midst of finalizing the recipes for blends I plan to sell in the near suture, and apricot kernel oil is one of the oils I’m using for a couple of the blends!
Hi Nadia! I love your posts and have been wanting to create my own mixture for some time now. I know the mixture above is for your skin but I was wondering your thoughts on using a mixture of jojoba and apricot kernel oil. I have combination skin that tends to be more dry, especially living in Colorado! I’m just not sure if these two oils together is even a good starting place. I appreciate any advice you may have! Thanks.
Hey, Lotta! Well we all have different skin and you should do whatever is best for your skin. It seems like you’ve tried a few different things. Maybe just go back to whatever it was that was working for you.
I don’t personally do oil cleansing method. I make a wash with castile soap and honey, and then apply my oils as a moisturizer. My skin loves that. Just another option for you to consider. But again, we’re all different so what works for me may not work for you, and the same goes for other bloggers who’s advice you may read!
I hope someone still reads these comments..
My skin gets very oily during the day and I have blackheads and acne that comes every now and then. I have been trying OCM for about 3 weeks now combined with honey washing. I then moisturize with an oil sometimes with aloe vera sometimes only the oil. At first it worked good, my skin did not get oily and I had much less acne breakouts. But now my skin is starting to get oily again during the day. Why is that? I didn’t see any adjustment period as often mentioned, could that be what is going on now? Have anyone else experienced this method working great for a longer or shorter period of time only to be oily again later (weeks/month)?
I do my OCM with castor oil: safflower oil 1:4 because I experienced dry patches on my cheeks with a higher ratio of castor oil. At first I moisturized after the cleansing with coconut oil but now use safflower oil. My face really fells like it needs a moisturizer both after OCM and honey wash. I’m thinking about adding some essentials oils, could that help?
I was so happy to have found something that made my face less oily but now when it’s not working as well any longer I’m really bummed out. I hope somebody can help!
It depends on the amount of carrier oil you use. I like to do a 2.5-5% dilution since essential oils are VERY strong.
Great info. I actually just made this dyi facial moisturizer before I found your blog. Since I am still pretty new and learning about essential oils my question is I used 15 drops of lavender and 15 drops of frankincense in the base oil of jojoba and tamanu. Did I use too much of the essential oils?
Just wanted to pass this along after many years of trial and error. I have sensitive, acne prone, oily, combo skin.
The absolute worst thing for my skin is olive oil. I finally realized that short-chain fatty acids (omega 3’s) were ruining my skin. I know that this won’t apply to everyone. So anyone with skin like mine, try the jojoba, castor oil, even petroleum is better than omega 3’s. There are a lot of little yeasts, and other critters that live on healthy skin in harmony but if you feed them omega-3’s, they will “take over”.
YAYYYYYYY! Missy, your comment totally made my day! I’m so so SO happy to hear it!
And LOL about the EOs… I feel ya 🙂 If you’re ever interested in spreading the word about them and joining my Young Living team, let me know!
Nadia,
I started using your skin recipes and no longer have an oily face. It happened overnight, I swear. Literally everyday ALL DAY my face isn’t shiny. I NEVER thought that would be possible. Now, on top of that, I see fewer zits and the many many, deep, dark, hideous scars left from years of acne (at least 33 years) are going away after only 1 month of natural skin care. If ONLY I had known sooner. I swear I’m going to have to designate a whole rack in my bathroom for just essential oils. I’M AN ADDICT!!
Hi, Mir! Good question. I talk about essential oils here: The top 10 essential oils for skincare
Definitely check out the end of the post too, where I talk about the importance of diluting essential oils — you definitely want to use a carrier oil or butter. Good luck and have fun!
Hi! I have acne prone skin and make face masks using tea tree and lemon oil (combined with honey and cinnamon). Do you have any idea if this is a good/ effective combo? I also want to make a moisturizer. I have cocoa butter with jojoba oil in it. Would that make a good moisturizer if combined with tea tree and lemon for my acne prone skin?
Sometimes, but now I really only use my face oils at night. I talk about my whole skincare routine here: My Super-Simple All-Natural Skincare & Beauty Routine
Do you put this on and then your makeup over it? Thanks