Tuesday 24 January 2012

DIY Cleanser for Sensitive Skin

Difficulty Rating:
Recently my skin has become very sensitive, and reacts to certain products. So I decided to try using natural products as an alternative, as my skin is less likely to react to it (and if it does, I know to just avoid that one product).

One thing thats recommended for sensitive skin, that can also be found in products by Lush and Aveeno etc, is Oats. You can pick up a bag of oats very cheaply from the supermarket, and it lasts absolutely ages!
So you're saving money, and at the same time saving your skin from chemicals.
(-Though obviously if you are intolerant to eating oats, I'd steer clear of using this on your skin too!)

There are all sorts of ways you can use oats in your skincare regime, but this is the quick and simple way I use it in mine:

The Process

Firstly, I store my oats in this cute biscuit jar by my barthroom sink. I can't find the lid to it though - hence the tin foil! (I'd recommend keeping it covered so it stays fresh, and doesn't get damp from steam).

All you do is pick up a handfull of the oats, and then loosely clench your hand into a fist.


Whilst in a fist, you want to hold your hand under warm water. The idea is to get enough water through your fingers to create a paste with the oats.


You can see below the water becomes milky from the oats - you want to try not to let this drain away as this is good for your skin too.
-If you do accidentally let it drain away, it's not the end of the world!


Below is what the paste should look like:


Then you want to massage it onto damp skin. 
I mostly use this on my face, but you can even use this on your body when you take a shower if you wanted to.


Once you're done, you just rinse it off in warm water, or with a wash cloth (whichever you prefer), and then carry on with the rest of your regime.


Its really quick and easy, and oats make a great gentle exfoliator.

You can feel straight away how it moisturises the skin, and makes it lovely and soft.

As well as sensitive skin, oats are also recommended for the treatment of dry/eczema skin, and offer great relief to many sufferers. I've recently found I have it on my legs, and most products I've tried cause me no end of grief. Using oats in this way on my legs defintely helps to calm my skin down.

Alternative Uses

In The Bath: You can also put handfulls of oats in an old (clean!) pair of tights, and hang it around the tap when you run a bath and it will make the bath all milky. Or even just put the tights in the bath, and you can even use the oat-filled tights as an exfoliator too. - Either way you'll end up with beautifully soft skin!

DIY Oat Cleansing Milk & Oat Moisturising Cream: Do check out this great post by Voe on her blog here, where she shows you how to make these two products for beautifully soft and soothed skin.

More Recipes: You can also find more great DIY recipes using oats just through searching google/youtube.

I hope you found this post helpful.
I'd love to hear if you have any alternative DIY recipes for oats, or any other DIY recommendations for dry/sensitive skin!


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14 comments:

  1. Great post, you know from my own blog how much I go on and on about natural is best for sensitive skins. I am hearing more often about oats for eczema and I am curious because no on ever suggested this to me before (I've had eczema all my life).

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  2. I think a lot of companies put chemicals in their products because you cant patent something that's been made from widely available natural ingredients, and so there's not a lot of money to be made from them.
    And I'm not a fan of my local doctors as they tend to recommend drugs/steroid creams instead of more natural alternatives, I know other GPs (not all) will be the same.

    I've only heard of using oats in recent months, but then I was never really looking before then.

    -Its definitely you who's made me more conscious about what goes on my skin! Haha.
    I'd love to know how this works for you if you try it. My skin problems are quite mild, and only flare up if I put products on it, and this works for me. But I'd be very interested to see how effective it is on you as you've been a life-long sufferer. xx

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  3. Yes very true about the patent. Also they are cheap fillers & consumers like a bargain. With Doctors it is luck of the draw, if you get one who has an interest in eczema you can benefit greatly. I haven't used a prescribed eczema medication since 1999 (last year of uni exams caused horrendous flare up).

    I always have oats in the cupboard so I will give it a try & let you know how I get on :)

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  4. I don't use any either. I was once prescribed a cream, and was told nothing about it, and used it for ages. The when I asked for it again was told that it was a steroid cream, and it shouldn't be used for too long, and all the other scary things about it. Haven't touched the stuff since! -Haven't gone to my doctors about it since then either! :/

    Good luck with the oats! I hope it goes well :) xx

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  5. What a fantastic idea, how clever. I'm going to have to try this out!

    I've awarded you the Versatile blogger award on my blog, check it out!

    Marie x

    marieeeloves.blogspot.com

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  6. Interesting! I have a huge bag in my pantry as I use them in Apple Crumble!

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  7. Tabitha Sheridan24 January 2012 at 23:02

    Great use for oats, and so cheap! x

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  8. This looks like such a quick and easy thing to do! Will definitely give it a go. Thanks for sharing :) xxx

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  9. Let me know how it goes if you do!
    Thank you so much for the award, I'll go and check it out now :) xx

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  10. Ooh that's lucky, so you kind of get your own cleanser for free. I'd love to know if you end up trying this out! xx

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  11. I know, I still haven't made it through the bag I bought, and that even cost me less than £1! xx

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  12. Let me know if you do! Would love to know how you get on! Glad you found the post helpful :) xx

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  13. So... This is pretty just much the Bubzbeauty video in text form.

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  14. Thank you for your comment. A friend of mine told me about this technique, though they could very well have learnt it from Bubzbeauty, they didn't say. Though I doubt there are that many different techniques out there for using oats as a cleanser.
    Besides I never claimed this to be my idea, I just said this was the technique I used, and the sole purpose of this post was to help others with eczema or similar skin problems, and not to lay claim to a technique which I'm sure has been in use for centuries.
    However I will thank you for mentioning her as I just searched for her, and she seems like a great youtuber. I have just subscribed

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@ Beauty Not Just Skin Deep.