Beautiful and Smooth Skin, Thanks to Oats Face Cleansing Routine

I tend to splurge on skincare products because I believe it's an investment. As long as it has really good reviews, I don't hesitate on spending a part of my paycheck on them... just as long as it actually works. So when a friend suggested oats as a face cleanser to help clear out red patches caused by a reaction of my sensitive skin, I was hesitant. I mean, slapping breakfast menu on to my face can't be better than my face wash, a concoction of a well known dermatologist right? Boy was I wrong...

I decided to give oats face wash a try since HY got bored of having rolled oats for breakfast. I hate to waste food and though I can always mix the rolled oats into my muffin batter, I thought using it for skincare test is better for my skin and for my waist circumference (no muffins to finish off).

What's the benefit of oats for skin? Well, it's natural with no added chemicals that can irritate sensitive skin and oats is known for calming inflamed skin. Its rough texture also acts as natural exfoliator for you skin that I believe is safe enough to use on a daily basis. You simply adjust the amount of water you add to adjust its texture. For coarser texture, use little water. While if you just want a gentle exfoliator, you can ground rolled oats or use oats flour. Alternatively, you can soak rolled oats in water for a couple of minutes until they soften before using it on your face.

So I started experimenting with the rolled oats to clean my face. After using it for almost 2 months, I just wished someone has told me about this sooner. You can use it anyway you like, but this is my preferred way of using oats as face cleanser and this routine works for me. 

1. I blend my rolled oats with a grinder/blender until I get a coarse powdery consistency. I make a batch of ground rolled oats and keep it in a mason jar with small spoons in my bathroom. You can use the rolled oats as it is, but the skin makes it tougher for it be soften with water and it doesn't feel too soapy when you're rubbing wet rolled oats on your face. It could make a good scrub though. The most important thing is to get a good plain oats. You can also use instant oats such as Quaker Oats, or if you're picky like me, use good organic oats. If you can, choose oats that has no flavor or dried fruit pieces for this purpose.  

2.  When washing my face at night, I always start with a make up remover. I've been using make up cleansing oil for years and swears by it. I do use different products, depending on their availability. But most of the time, I use FANCL mild cleansing oil.

3. After all my make up is removed, I use the oats to clean my whole face. I always do double cleansing as using the make up cleansing oil on its own is way to oily for me and tends to give me breakouts. So I always wash off the remaining cleansing oil off my face. To start you don't much, I put  a teaspoon of ground rolled oats on to my palm and add a couple of drops of warm water until the oats are damp. Leave it for a couple of seconds then squeeze the water on to my other palm and rub it on my face. The idea is to use the water from  the oats as a prewash for your skin. Afterwards, I rub the mushy oat powder (that look more lika a porridge) all over my skin and neck. Continue to massage it for about a minute or two, then I leave it on to dry on my face for a couple of seconds. When the oat is almost dry, you can rub or scrub it out of your face.

4. You will be left with a powdery face. All you have to do is just wash the powder of your face. It will be emulsified once you splash water on to your face. You can massage it again but just make sure you wash it all off at the end.

5. Dry your face and moisturize immediately to lock all the oats-goodness.

The result can be seen from your first try. For skin will be soft and smooth. It's not drying, but doesn't make my oily face oily at all. My skin redness disappeared within 2 weeks and I have continued using ground rolled oats since then and couldn't be happier. It's natural, cheap, always available in my pantry, and cleanses my face really well even my parents and in laws complimented my skin nowadays.

Other than face wash, you can use oats for various beauty routine. I will share some of my all natural recipe for healthy and youthful skin in another time.