Homemade Body Oil

As winter approaches, so does the inevitable drying of the skin. My knuckles are already getting scratchy, which is my indicator that it’s time to brew up a big batch of homemade body oil. I’ve been making my own body oil for two years now, it’s a great way to keep your skin moisturized during the cold season (and ideally year-round!) It also makes a great gift if you want to make some to share with friends and family this holiday season.

I like to put it on right after I get out of the shower while my skin is slightly damp, that helps it absorb so that you don’t have an “oily” feeling on the skin. Using lightweight oils like the ones outlined here help with that, too! One thing that’s very important when putting things on or in your body is quality ingredients, and I source all of my oils from a local Oregon company Mountain Rose Herbs that’s a women-led business based in Eugene. I’ve been using them for years and years and cannot recommend them highly enough.

I have some “recipes” further down in the blog post with the measurements, and some essential oil scent combinations before that, but I wanted to talk a bit more about what kinds of oils you could use. These are the oils I tend to stick to as the base because they’re readily accessible, make the skin feel great, and absorb well. In the “recipe” further down in the blog post, I only use three of the oils listed, but feel free to swap depending on what works for your skin/budget/accessibility. Let’s dive in!

What kind of body oil to use depending on your skin’s needs

• Jojoba oil: This is my favorite base for body oil. It has a beautiful rich gold color, absorbs well, makes the skin super soft, helps with puffiness, and skin recovery, and helps repair the skin barrier. I also like using it as a very light hair oil, I just put about 1/2 teaspoon in my hands, rub them together, and then massage it into my wet hair and let it air dry. It helps keep frizz down and makes the hair so soft!
• Grapeseed oil: This has a pale yellow hue, and has antimicrobial and soothing properties for sensitive skin. And like most byproducts of the grape, it contains abundant antioxidants!
• Sweet Almond oil: This is a slightly thicker oil, so I tend to use it in smaller doses in body oil mixtures to keep it easily absorbable. It is good for mature skin and helps with skin barrier repair.
• Olive oil: Most of us have this in our kitchens at this very moment! Like the oils above, this one is great for mature skin, helps soothes skin, and aids with puffiness. And it’s readily available to use! Depending on the kind of olive oil, the color will range from a deep gold to even a greenish gold hue.
• Sunflower Seed oil: This has a subtle gold color and has great moisturizing effects! It also can help with puffiness and skin soothing.

Part of why I love making homemade body oil is that I can customize the scent to something that I enjoy. A lot of commercial products have chemical fragrances added, and those are actually endocrine disruptors that can affect your hormones over time. As someone who struggles with infertility, I avoid chemically fragranced products like the plague. Instead, I like using essential oils to add a beautiful fragrance to the body oil. They can be a little pricey depending on the type of plant, but they last for SOOOOO long and there are tons of affordable and fantastic-smelling essential oil options. In the recipe card further down I just list the total number of essential oil drops, but I wanted to share some scent profiles below if you’d like to use them to guide you Read More