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 Nadia, this blog has really helped me. I had and still have irritating acne. But my they have now subsided. They’re not 100% healed yet but I can see them subsiding and being healed. I’ve just used this oil mixture for 3days, mornings and before going to bed. Here’s my recipe:
For 2oz bottle:
1/4 argon oil
1/4 jojoba oil
1/4 rosehip oil
1/4 Tamanu oil
6 drops lavender EO
3 drops frankincense EO
3 drops Geranium EO
3 drops myrrh EO
Hi Nadia. I find your recipes quite helpful. thank you for sharing them. I have got a question. I couldnt find Frankincense essential oil. In your recipe above can I just leave it out and use the rest? Or it might harm the overall effectiveness? thank you , Nadia. 🙂
Coconut oil is comedogenic so I don’t recommend it. Also because of the high melting point it is most often a solid. But if it works with your skin then by all means, do it!
Can you use coconut oil as the carrier oil instead of jojoba?
Hi Nadia! I have been doing the oil cleansing technique now for about 2 months, and I have been using grape seed oil morning and night. Would it be too much for me to cleanse with the grape seed oil , and than apply this DIY moisturizer? Is it light, and non-greasy enough for a daytime kind of moisturizer, say for underneath makeup? Also, instead of jojoba oil what is the next best oil to use? Can I use almond oil or even grapeseed oil?
Thanks
Emily 🙂
No I’ve never tried that oil! I just dab a little shea butter around my eyes – I’m wary of getting EOs in them.
Hi Nadia, do you use this around your eyes as well? Have you ever used wheat germ oil in any of your regimens?
Thanks
Jocelyn
Hi Nadia,
I have just discovered your site and I am very excited. I started using just the Jojobo oil and I noticed a significant difference in the amount of blackheads on my face. Now I am trying your recipe about and I added a bit of tea tree oil to it. I’ve only been using it a few days, but now I am having several breakouts. I am not sure which oil is the culprit or if this is a “purging” that can happen. Could any of these oils be worsening my acne? Do you use the recipe above at night as well as morning? Please help.
Thank you,
Alysha
Thank you! Also I’m trying to see if you mentioned it, but for scars, (dark marks from acne) which is better tea tree oil or lavender?
Hi, Tahirah. I put all of the measurements above in the post.
Hi Nadia,
About how many drops of essential oils should you add to the tamanu oil?
Sure but those are both dry oils. Yes, this is just the mix I like to use – you can make your own with your preferred oils!
Hey Nadia, can I use tamanu with rosehip oil? Then put the essetial oils in this mix??
Hi! I’m loving the comments and recipes and suggestions. Can someone tell me exactly how many drops of tea tree oil to mix with tamanu oil for face scars or should I use the lavender essential oil?
Your recommendation for red raspberry seed oil has been amazing on my acne prone skin. Thank you
Ohhh OK I’m here to help LOL 🙂
Well if you want something that sinks into your skin, def try jojoba. Maybe plain at first to see how your skin likes it, and then you can try a blend if you want.
I’ve never tried camellia oil before and am assuming you’d do oil cleansing method, right? That’s 100% your call. I don’t like OCM because I don’t feel like my skin is ever clean with it, but that’s my own thing. As for my face wash recipe – it’s totally customizable. Don’t like tea tree? No problem, just leave it out. If you do this, I’d suggest making a smaller batch though since the tea tree does also work to inhibit bacteria growth in the wash itself, which is very important when it comes to natural DIY products (and make sure your jar is sterile). On a side note, some people wash with just honey which you may like. Or maybe some honey and a little castile mixed? That sounds like a nice balance of cleansing and soothing.
Hi Nadia!! I just discovered your site, and I’m really excited to use your recipe for my moisturizer!! I just started on the path to using actual natural oils/honey on my face versus products that are made of natural ingredients. I was just wondering what you think of using camellia oil as a face wash? I’ve only recently started using it somewhat regularly, but I was also wondering if there were better options? I saw your recipe for face wash, but I’m scared of tea tree oil because I ised a tea tree oil product before, and my skin didn’t like it.. I have really oily skin, and recently, it’s been acting up even more (maybe because of the cold weather?), and I really want to get my skin on lockdown. I have tried so many different product lines (currently seeing how Tatcha fairs on my skin over an extended period of time), but it seems like my skin is rejecting the moisturizer or just doesn’t like it. It doesn’t feel like it soaks into my skin. Pleas help!! I would love to know your thoughts on all of this!!
I just buy mine on Amazon – the links are above in this post!
I was looking over the young living site, to get an idea on the prices per bottle, and I could not find jojoba oil or tamandua oil on the YL site. Do they carry these oils? If so exactly where do I go on the site to see their information on the oil?
Thank you! I am terrible at math lol. I love how the blend felt on my skin tonight. It was my first night trying it and I really hope this works. I know you added 9 of frankincense and lavender to a 2 ounce bottle. I added 10 drops of each (hopefully that isn’t too much) but I do know that those three oils do not need to be diluted to use. I have been reading a lot of your posts and appreciate all the information.