How to oil cleanse properly, step by step

The first time I tried it, I skipped the second wash. My skin felt clean, so I assumed it was clean. Two weeks later, my jaw had more texture than it had before I started, not less. It took me a while to understand that oil cleansing isn’t a shortcut around washing your face; it’s the first half of it.

How Do You Oil Cleanse, Step by Step?

Start with dry hands and a dry face. This matters more than it sounds like it should: water added too early breaks the oil’s ability to dissolve makeup, sunscreen, and sebum before it’s had the chance to do that job.

Warm a coin-sized amount of cleansing oil between your palms, then smooth it over your face and massage gently for about 60 seconds, giving extra time to areas with heavier makeup or sunscreen buildup, like the nose and hairline. You should feel any makeup or sunscreen start to loosen and move under your fingertips rather than staying put.

Once everything feels dissolved, wet your hands with warm water and continue massaging. The oil will turn milky as it emulsifies, which is the visual cue that it’s ready to rinse. Rinse thoroughly with warm, not hot, water until your skin no longer feels oily to the touch.

Follow immediately with a second, water-based cleanser, whether that’s a gel or a foam, to lift away what the oil loosened but didn’t fully carry off the skin. This is the step people skip, and it’s the one that determines whether the method works for you.

Why Does Oil Cleansing Need a Second Cleanse?

A controlled comparison study measured how much sunscreen residue was left on skin after cleansing with water alone, a foaming cleanser alone, or a cleansing oil alone. For non-waterproof sunscreen, water alone left roughly 54 percent of the sunscreen behind, compared with about 16 percent for the foaming cleanser and 13 percent for the cleansing oil. Cleansing oil performed at least as well as a standard cleanser on its own, and for water-resistant sunscreen formulas, the oil step made a bigger difference still.

But “at least as well as a cleanser” is not the same as “instead of a cleanser.” The oil dissolves oil-soluble residue extremely well; the second, water-based cleanser is what actually carries the now-loosened residue and surfactant film off the skin rather than leaving a thin layer behind as the oil dries down. Skip it, and you can end up redepositing some of what the oil just lifted. Where the two cleanses sit in a full routine is covered in Korean skincare routine order.

Does Water Temperature Matter When You Oil Cleanse?

Yes, in both directions. Water that’s too hot can strip more of your skin’s own protective lipids than necessary, and research on cleansing formulations shows that harsher cleansing conditions correlate with measurably higher water loss through the skin afterward. Water that’s too cold won’t help the oil emulsify properly, leaving a greasy film.

Warm, not hot, is the range to aim for, and it’s the detail I’ve changed the most in ten years of doing this. I also make sure my face is properly rinsed and slightly damp before starting a second cleanser, since starting a foaming cleanse on completely dry, tight skin tends to feel more irritating than it needs to.

Who Should Skip Oil Cleansing?

If your skin is actively irritated, over-exfoliated, or reacting to something, a single gentle cleanse is usually the better call until things settle. Oil cleansing also isn’t mandatory every day; plenty of routines only need it on days with sunscreen or makeup, using a simple gel or foam cleanse the rest of the time.

It’s also worth saying: oil cleansing alone won’t clear closed comedones that are already sitting under the skin. It removes the buildup that can feed them, but softening existing texture is a job for a retinoid or salicylic acid used consistently over weeks, not a cleansing step used once a day. Our editor writes about her own decade with that texture in this week’s Journal entry.