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
I very rarely comment online but I just had to come back and say thank you. I’ve had painful problem skin for so long (I’m in my mid 30’s now and still suffer) but after only two days of using your recipe my skin looks better and doesn’t hurt! I’m so thankful ☺️
Thank you for this!! I had to search several different pages before I actually found something posted that I trusted to be truly useable. I recently found out that I have oily skin and my oldest daughter just see up enough to start having acne so I will be getting this made on the double.
I won’t recommend it – tea tree oil is an essential oil and tamanu is a carrier oil, and you need to always properly dilute essential oils in carrier oils. You can learn more about this here: How to Use Essential Oils on Your Skin: 3 Must-Know Rules
Can I use tea tree oil instead of Tamanu oil?
How would you use this in your skincare routine ?
Hi Nadia,
How long will it take for the oils to start working?
Katie, that makes me so incredibly happy to hear!!
This face oil literally changed my life! I’ve been using it for about a year now and my acne has pretty much completely cleared up. My scars are also fading slowly but surely. This paired with an exfoliator has transformed my skin. Of course I still get blemishes but I’m now not a 30-year old with acne. Thank you so much!
Hey Nadia!! I’m new to oils and just found your blog and LOVE all your expertise! How do you store your oils? Do they go rancid? I know you mentioned adding a drop of vitamin E oil to your blends to keep them fresh, but what about the individual bottles of carrier oils? Refrigerate? Thanks!
Just made this last night. I’ve been breaking out real bad so I’m really excited to use this and hope it works. How do you apply it? With a cotton or with your hands? Do you rub it in your face or pat it on?
You’re right I just changed it – the other day with an updated version I’ve been using recently but I’m thinking now that may have been a bad idea for those who don’t have the old recipe saved! Just put the old recipe back.
Hi! I’ve been using this since 2016 with awesome results. I just went to make a new batch tonight but noticed the ingredients have changed. Wasn’t it jojoba oil and tamanu? Please let me know and the ratios. I know it was this oil as I’ve been using it a few years and I also make your foaming face cleanser which replaced my desert essence tea tree oil one I’d been buying. Thank you!