The oil cleansing method, explained.

Oil cleansing sounds counterintuitive for most people. The instinct, built by decades of skincare marketing, is to strip oil from skin — to get it "clean," meaning dry and tight. A foaming cleanser with a satisfying lather becomes the proof of effectiveness.

The problem is that this instinct is wrong about what skin needs, and about what clean means.

The chemistry

Skin produces sebum — a lipid mixture that includes squalene, wax esters, fatty acids, and triglycerides. Sunscreen, as most people now wear it daily, is largely oil-based. The oxidised debris and environmental residue that accumulate through the day bind to this lipid layer.

Oil dissolves oil. This is basic chemistry — like dissolves like. A well-formulated oil cleanser dissolves the sebum, the sunscreen, and the lipid-bound residue that accumulates through the day. It does not dissolve the skin's water-based components or disrupt the acid mantle.

Most foaming cleansers use surfactants — typically sulphates or similar compounds — that are alkaline, with a pH around 8–10. Skin's own pH sits between 4.7 and 5.5. Every time an alkaline cleanser is used, it temporarily disrupts the acid mantle and the skin's microbiome. The skin recovers, but repeated daily disruption over time may affect barrier resilience, particularly in people already prone to sensitivity or dryness.

An oil cleanser does not use alkaline surfactants. It emulsifies with water and rinses clean without the pH disruption.

How it works in practice

Massage the oil onto dry skin — this is the key step. The oil needs contact with dry skin to work through the sebum and residue. Add a small amount of water to emulsify: the oil turns milky as the water reaches it. Rinse completely. No stripping, no residue.

Contrary to a common concern, properly emulsifying and rinsing an oil cleanser leaves no film on the skin. The emulsification is what makes oil cleansers rinse-clean; they are not like applying a facial oil and going to bed.

On double cleansing

Double cleansing — an oil cleanser followed by a water-based cleanser — became popular as a method of ensuring both oil-based and water-based debris were removed. For people who wear heavy, long-wearing makeup or very high-SPF sunscreen, it may add value.

For most people using a modern, well-formulated oil cleanser, a second cleanse is unnecessary. It adds a step without adding meaningful benefit, and a second surfactant cleanser after an oil cleanser reintroduces the pH disruption the oil cleanser avoided.

One thorough step, done well, is enough.

Why it is the ritual's first step

Cleansing is the most consequential step in any skincare routine — not because of what it adds, but because of what it removes. Everything applied afterward depends on the skin surface being clean and receptive. A product applied over inadequate cleansing is diluted by residue.

The oil cleanser is first in the ritual because it is the most important step. The treatment serum and the moisturiser are applied to skin that has been prepared for them — not just wiped or rinsed, but genuinely clear.

That is the logic behind the order: cleanse first, then tend.