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
Hi, Thanks for the great information. can you please let me know an essential oil which is save to be used on my 15 year old daughter who has acne which she can use it as an everyday moisturizer and if it can be used under the eyes also. thankyou again
How do you sanitize your dropper bottles?
How come you didn’t include sea buckthorn oil in this?
Yes, you can blend those (since it’s an EO and a carrier oil)! Just be sure to follow the dilution guidelines I outline here: The top 10 essential oils for skincare
I am new to essential oils. I want to try the Geranium oil on my face. Could I blend this with hemp oil? If so how much of each?
I’m a little late to the game but I’m a new reader and I have a question! How much tea tree oil would I add if I wanted to include that into this mix? Almost every single article/website/blog post about natural skin care has recommended tea tree oil 🙂
I will try these oils. I have oily skin at my age I shouldn’t but still do have trouble with some acne, so I will try them and getback to you and let you know how they work. I have been using some oils and frankincense so thank you for these.
I’d say a year if you sterilize your bottle first and don’t get any moisture in it.
Hi Nadia,
This sounds great! How long will this keep before it starts to spoil? And will I need to store it in the dark?
Kind regards,
Denice
When I first started using this oil mixture my face was less oily and cleared up a lot, but after using it for a few weeks my face is now back to being very oily and broken out – Please help! Do you think I should use less jojoba and more tamanu? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! 🙂
I leave it on like a moisturizer!
Quick question – do you leave the oil on or do you wash it off with a face cloth?
Hey Nadia greetings form trinidad 🙂 I just love your posts I found out about you sometime in November and have been reading ever since. I just got my first order of EOs (since you rarely get the good stuff down here) but I don’t have Frankincense :(. Would it be ok for my oily and acne prone skin especially here in the caribbean ti use lavender joba jobs and rosehip only?
Oh THROW IT AWAY if you suspect any type of bacteria growth! Don’t risk it. And next time, be sure your bottle, work station, and hands are very clean, and try not to get any moisture in the mix afterwards to prevent bacteria growth.
I have seen a great improvement in the overall look of my pores (including a reduction in blackheads) with this oil, yes.
Hi, Amanda! Oh no!! I’m so sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, everyone’s skin is different so it’s hard to find a one-size-fits-all solution – while this oil blend works great for me (and many other readers) it may just not be best for your skin.
I am happy so say that shortly I will be finishing an eBook I wrote just for readers like you – it’s about the internal imbalances behind most skincare issues (especially acne) and how to set them right with nutrition. While appropriate skincare can help with certain skin issues, it can never 100% resolve the issues – that needs to happen from within. Stay tuned!
Hey, Shavonne! No problem – I’m so happy to have you as a new reader!
I answer all of those questions in this post 🙂 –> My Super-Simple All-Natural Skincare & Beauty Routine
Hey! I’ve been reading something things you’ve posted and just had a couple of questions about your routine.
You said for your acne prone routine, you use the mixture in the morning. As a moisturizer? Do you wash your face in the morning? Do you wash your face at night? I’m sorry if you’ve answered these questions before but I’m a new reader and haven’t seen all of the comments yet. I’m very interested to try this! Thank you
I used this recipe for the acne face oil. It’s been one month of using now and my face is getting continually worse. I know sometimes it gets worse before it gets better but it’s to the point now where I’m embarrassed to even been seen with full makeup on. I think I have to stop using it. I have so many cysts and pimples now my face hurts all the time and it’s all I can think about. 🙁
What about blackheads?