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
Thanks, Sherri!
love your site
I love your blog thank you for it!!
Ive been using your recipe for acne/oil skin prone skin oil cleansing method plus your one with tea tree bromers soap. Its been 1 1/2 weeks but i think the jojoba oil is not for me bc i don’t have oily skin (well my forehead maybe a teeny tiny bit) You ask why I’ve been using it if i don’t have oily skin? Good question… It was a recipe i didn’t need to figure out for myself and I thought bc i have acne i must have oily skin. But now my dry skin is showing on my face (no flaking or anything) just dry/wrinkly looking.
Do you recommend swapping out the jojoba for another oil? All of the parts confuse me on combining them.
Also, how often do you oil cleanse and how often do you use your face wash with the tea tree soap and bit of oil?
Please help!
Jenn
I use it as my moisturizer.
Do you wash it off? Or just leave it on?
Hi Nadia!
I’m new to going all natural,I’ve recently started using soap free cleansers and natural ayurvedic (ancient ayurveda) products…
Your website is so awesome with simple and natural DIY stuff.I know you mentioned to use this in the morning,but I use my light day lotion with SPF which is working for me. Can I just keep this for like 30 mins and wash it off or you suggest to keep all day? I’m sorry if it’s a repetitive question.
Really enjoy your blog…and love all the recipes especially for acne prone skin…but there are so many i want to try and wanted to know if there was a specific regimen that works for you…like when and which recipe for cleansing and when and how often to use say a bentonite clay mask or a charcoal mask…etc.
Also my skin gets irritated from lavender oil- I was wondering if i can substitute the lavender with manuka oil and get the same effect in your acne prone oil recipe?
Hey, Erin! This is what I use at night!! And I talk about my whole skincare routine in this post: My Super-Simple All-Natural Skincare & Beauty Routine
Clearly I LOVE OILS 🙂 so think it’s a great idea for you to add them into your own routine!
What do you use at night? Do you use in place of moisturizer? Do you apply after toning? I am currently using Aveda facial products, which I love, but I really want to incorporate these oils, as well.
Well it’s oil so it’s def shiny 🙂 but I think it depends on your level of comfort with shininess.
Can the DIY face oil be used as a day moisturiser instead of a night one or will it be too shiny? I’m just worried about it clogging my pores.
Well I no lomger use this during the day, just at night. I talk about this all in this post: My Super-Simple All-Natural Skincare & Beauty Routine
Do you wear makeup regularly? If so, do you wear this under your makeup?
Hey, Angela. YAY!!! That makes me so happy to hear 🙂 As long as you don’t get moisture in the blend, it should last until it runs out!
I’ve been using this for a month and I LOVE it!!! Old acne scars are fading 🙂 Just wondering how long this oil blend will last until I need to make a new batch? Thanks
Ohh! And sunscreen recommendations!
Well if you like DIY beauty, I have this recipe on the blog: DIY all-natural sunscreen lotion
And if you’d rather not DIY, my favorite ready-made sunscreen is Badger sunscreen, which has a “1” Skin Deep rating.
Hey, Ashley!
Yep, this oil blend is totally customizable… this is just MY favorite blend.
And no, these particular oils do not make you sensitive to the sun. In fact jojoba oil has a natural SPF of 4-6 (which obviously isn’t HUGE but it’s a good everyday coverage).
Hi, Dorothea. Hmmm. That’s interesting. Maybe try patting your skin dry before applying? Applying it to wet skin could be diluting the oil and preventing it from penetrating the skin. If that doesn’t work, have you ever tried shea butter? It’s super moisturizing and filled with skin-loving vitamins — I apply it over my jojoba to dry patches in the winter.
Hi Nadia,
I have some jojoba oil at home, and sometimes I use it in the evening, 2 pumps on wet skin, but in the morning my skin feels dry. Do you have any idea why? What can I use instead of jojoba oil? (I have oily skin with a lot of blackheads)
Thank you!
Not sure if you are still active on this site, but I figured I’d try hope for a reply to three questions I have… Would tea tree oil work instead of frankincense? Does this oil blend make your skin sensitive to the sun? And finally, do u have any recommendations for sunscreen??? I thank u in advance and really look forward to your reply!