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
Well you can do whatever you want! 🙂 I personally just use it at night and use it as my moisturizer.
Hi Nadia… Do you use this at night or during the day..? Should I wear it or leave it…and just put my make up on top as usual.. What should I do?
Hi! Instead of using this oil blend recipe as a moisturizer, can it be used to do an oil cleanse as well?
Hi Nadia,
So happy to have stumbled upon your website! I have struggled with pimples/blackheads since I can remember. I tried using different oils when I was younger, however I didn’t know which ones to use and never stuck with them long enough. Anyway, all this to say, I just bought these oils off Amazon and will be making this mixture as soon as they arrive!
My question for you is, is getting a facial a bad idea? I’ve never gotten one, but feel as though I have SO many clogged pores. I’ve had a very healthy diet for pretty much my entire life, so trying to find natural products to clear my face has always been the really big struggle.
Also, I read about how you use castile soap. If I were to buy a castile soap bar, are there any specific ones you would recommend?
Looking forward to hearing from you and looking forward to trying this oil moisturizer! Crossing my fingers that it will work wonders 😀
Thanks a lot!
Sofia
Hi- is there something I can replace the Frankincense oil with?
Hello! I recently began using this oil blend (4 drops) at night after toning my face with witch hazel and then finishing with Mario Badescu rosewater spray. While my skin is INCREDIBLY soft and supple when I wake up, I’ve been noticing more bumps on my cheeks. Not pimples by any means, but like…when I look in a mirror with a slight shadow, I can see a lot of texture (clogged pores). Do you have any advice on how to combat this? I’m thinking about cutting back to 2-3 drops. My totally uneducated guess is that maybe my skin can’t handle the amount of oil so it can’t absorb it…or possibly my skin is just adjusting? Thank you so much!
Hi Nadia
Can you help me with blending these oils
Argan oil 30ml
Apricot oil 15ml
Frankincense oil 15ml
Geranium oil 15ml
Palmarosa oil 15ml
Carrot seed oil 5ml
Roman chamomile oil 1ml
Tamanu oil 15ml
I have an oily and acne prone skin.
Thank you 🙂
Hi Nadia –
Can I use tea tree oil instead of lavendar oil in your face oil recipe? I have oily acne-blemish prone skin. And if i use the face oil at night as a moiturizer, should I wash my face with a face wash in the morn?
Hi, Bess! Well you can add some vitamin E oil (https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/vitamin-e-oil/profile) to help preserve the delicate fatty acids in the hemp seed oil. Be sure to check the proper dillution, as advised by Mountain Rose Herbs.
Please help~ I want to make a diy mixed face oil with hempseed oil and tamanu oil for my acne skin, but I’m not sure how to store it between use. I’m very confused because I know hempseed oil needs to be refrigerated after opened but the tamanu oil after refrigerated will become solid like butter. Help~~~
It’s just not my personal preference – I like some suds! But so many people swear by it, and since I do love oils I wanted to include a how-to Oil Cleansing Method post. There’s no harm in trying – if you’re not a fan, you can simply use the oils to moisturize like I do 🙂
Hey Nadia
Just wondering why you don’t use the oil cleansing method in your Beauty routine instead of an actual cleanser? I see that you’re using the charcoal soap instead so I was just curious because I’ve been thinking of trying oil cleansing which is how I found your site so just trying to get all info possible- thx!
Hello,
First off, I love your website!! I have found it so helpful that I have made a whole note of your blog posts! Thank you so much for them!
After reading up about the oil cleansing method on your website and a few others, I’ve been trying it as well. I’ve been using a mixture of – 1part Castor oil + 2part Jojoba Oil + drops of lavender oil and Tea tree oil.
When I used the same mixture, without the castor oil, I had very less breakouts. It has been 2 weeks now of adding castor oil to the mixture because I read that it cleans its more.
Currently, these are the oils I have:
Sweet almond oil
Jojoba oil
Castor oil
Coconut oil
Extra virgin olive oil
Avocado oil
Tea tree oil
Lavender oil
Argan oil
With this set, is there any combination I could use by substituting tamanu oil and frankincense oil from your blend to try?
I would be extremely grateful if you could help me with this, but I do understand that you are overwhelmed with work!!
So, either way, THANK YOU SO MUCH!
hi, i donwt have tamanu oil, with what can i replace it?
Hi Nadia! I just found your blog and am loving all of your advice and ideas so far. I have been experiencing adult acne for the last few years and have tried everything! I have finally decided to go off of the birth control pill and try to get my “body unburdened”!!! I have a question about blending these oils (first time here).. how accurate do the measurements have to be? I found it difficult to get everything into the bottle (it was messy) and the EOs came out of their bottles faster than expected! Also, I sterilized the bottle and dropper but not my measuring utensils.. is that a problem for keeping the blend from going rancid? Thanks so much!
Hi, so excited to try these oils I have just recently gotten into the diy;) just wondering, lately now that I’m in my thirties I am struggling with body acne and scarring and I wondered if u had any suggestions?
Do you have any suggestions for oily hair?? Started using this oil on my face and I love it!!! Now I just need something for my hair
You should always follow the dilution ratio outlined here: The Top 10 Essential Oils for Skincare