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
Thank you for your posts! its simply and very inspiring. Question… can i replace tanamu wth VCO? or any suggeations about using VCO? Thanks much in advance Nadia! Wish you the best!
I go over my whole routine here: My Super-Simple All-Natural Skincare & Beauty Routine
Are you using this oil as your morning moisturizer after washing your face? I usually wash then use an alcohol free toner then moisturizer so wasn’t sure where this oil fit in your morning cleaning routine?
That already exists! My Super-Simple All-Natural Skincare & Beauty Routine 🙂
Hi Nadia!! First of all, I am completely new to essential oils, and your site had made me want to try them right away!! I have read most of your recipes, but there is so many things to read and it is getting confusing. Could you maybe make a post stating what your morning and night routines are and attaching a link to the recipes you have posted because that would be the best page ever!!!
Hi Nadia, Great article which pushed me to actually buy the essential oils listed by you. However, i am a lil confused while reading your instructions. You have mentioned 2 oz bottle (which also I procured) and then suggested 9 drops each (total 18 drops of EO) of Lavender and Frankincense EOs. Now 2oz = 60ml = 1200 drops. So, 18 ml is only 1.5% dilution and not 3% as mentioned by you. Please suggest should I go with one Oz bottle with same quantities as mentioned by you or can I simply double the quantity (18 ml of each EO) with the 2 Oz bottle. Thanks for reading and taking out time to reply.
It may be… but I’d look into some nutritional support. Omega-3s from a quality fish oil or flax seed oil work wonders for skin and skin issues, as do healthy fats generally. Also, the gut microbiome plays a big role in skin conditions, so you may want to look into a high-quality probiotic (you want at least 10 billion bacteria count and a variety of different strains). Many people have had great success kicking their eczema to the curb with proper nutrition. Best of luck!!
You can really use whatever you want! THIS is just the combo that I like best for MY skin.
Hi Nadia, I was wondering if you could use grapeseed oil as the carrier oil instead of jojoba for this face oil?
Thanks!
I recently discovered that I have a mild case of eczema on my chin, and after going to the dermatologist and paying for the creams they suggested and having negative side effects to two antibiotics they prescribed, I gave up on them. I am looking for a good routine and natural products to use. I pinned your all-natural face oil for acne prone and oily skin, so I must ask will this be a safe and beneficial things to use on my face with eczema?
Oh definitely! I detail all of my favorite skin products and routine in this post: My Super-Simple All-Natural Skincare & Beauty Routine
I wash my face once in the morning and once at night and use moisturizer afterwards… is this routine still okay while using your oil combo moisturizer? And what kind of daily facial cleanser do you recommend? I’m 18 with dry and mildly acne-prone skin.
Hi Nadia,
Thank you I have enjoyed reading your blogs. One question what other oil could I use with the jojoba? At the moment I only have sweet almond, avocado and flax seed oil in my house, can any of them substitute well for the Tamanu oil? I am from South Africa, I have not even heard of that one, although it could be out there somewhere, it defi is not a common one on the shelves here. Thanks 🙂
Hi I decided to try making this today but I was wondering if there was a differebt oil I could use besides tamanu oil? Thank you!
It’s really up to you! I used to wear it both morning and night and would use powder makeup over it during the day (now I just use it at night and use a CC cream during the day).
Oh no! It may just be that these oils are not right for you — everyone’s skin is different.
I do have a number of DIYs for acne-prone skin here on this site. I mention a few here: bodyunburdened.com/all-natural-skincare-beauty-routine/
Awesome! Great tip 🙂
I use a half-and-half blend of Jojoba and Sweet Almond oil on my body. I mix it with filtered water and put it in a glass spray bottle. It’s super convenient and a quick way to moisturize your whole body! As for my face, I’ve just been using African Black Soap to cleanse and rosehip oil to moisturize. So far, so good.
Hi,
I found your blog and started using this oil mix hoping it would help clear my acne. It’s been a few weeks now and it doesn’t feel any better, it actually feels like its worse. How long till I start noticing results? Also, do you have any other recipes for acne prone skin?
Dudes, the key thing is to use an oil high in linoleic acid and low-ish in oleic acid. That’s why almond oil, shea butter, and apricot kernel oil can cause break-outs.
Rosehip Seed Oil is the new breed.
http://www.minimalistbeauty.com/oils-specifically-for-acne-prone-skin/