Body Oil Recipe to Combat Dry Skin

If you have not been using a body oil yet, you’re missing out. In this post, I’ll give you a customizable recipe for a clean, nourishing, cost-effective body oil to replace your store-bought lotion.

The Bane of Winter Months: Dry Skin

With winter already here for some, or just around the corner for others (like here in Southern California), the skin gets so much drier and so much quicker. Not only are exposed to the harsh elements (freezing temps, ice, and snow), we also stay indoors with the heater blasting which, unless you have humidifiers running throughout the house, tend to use dry out the skin even more.

One of the rituals I like most during the colder months of the year is a nice hot bath. It’s so soothing for the body and the soul! But, all this hot water, while nice and cozy, is also drying to the skin. So it is doubly important to moisturize during winter months.

What’s Wrong with Lotions?

So why not use a lotion? Because it is a waste of money on a product that is potentially hazardous to your health. Some lotions might contain skin care ingredients that are better to avoid.

First: A lotion is an emulsion: oil and water held together by an emulsifier. Since oil and water do not mix, they need to be bound together, and the binding agent, an emulsifier, is usually a synthetic, manufactured chemical.

There are some non-toxic emulsifiers out there but they are rarely sued in the mainstream drugstore lotions. The emulsifiers that are prevalent in the beauty industry may expose you or your household to hazardous ingredients, sometimes even carcinogens and mutagens.

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Potential for Contamination in Water-Based Products

If this does not convince you to ditch commercial lotions, think about this. Most lotions, in order to have a fluid consistency, are over 6o% water. Where there is water there is life, right? And that life includes bacteria, viruses, molds, and other microorganisms that can thrive in water.

In order to avoid contamination, manufacturers have to preserve the water-based product, and such preservatives -even though slowly improving (green brands tend to avoid parabens for example), no preservative is without flaws, and some are highly allergenic, even if not generally toxic.

This industry is highly unregulated. There is no pre-product approval before a product hits the market and enters your home. A minuscule approval process exists, but only for color additives and ingredients classified as over-the-counter drugs.

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Third, lotions contain something called “fragrance” that is usually unspecified on the label. Such “dark” item can contain hundreds nasty chemicals, such as carcinogens, endocryn disrupters and other pathogens. Not something you would want to put all over your body, on about 90% of your total skin.

Body Oil is a More Cost Efficient Option

Lastly, if a lotion has over 60% water, why pay for all that water? Much more cost-efficient and definitely healthier is a body oil put onto your skin immediately after a bath or shower. Basically, with water remnants still on your skin, you massage the oil into it and voila! You’ve got water to moisturize and oil to replenish the lipid barrier and lock in the water into the skin. All at a fraction of the cost.

Handmade body oil is also fully customizable. I discovered that what I like most is a body oil that mixes two or three oils that work best for my particular skin type and the season and fortified with essential oils for aroma and therapeutic benefits. I get my essential oils from MountainPlant Therapy, I trust both sources and I like them both equally. Both companies offer amazing oil blends with perfectly harmonized top, middle, and base notes to leave a lasting aroma on the skin, even while the body oil has been fully absorbed.

Here is a Simple Body Oil Recipe

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There is really not much to it. Just get good ingredients, a bottle (or reuse an old one) and mix. If you read my post on oil cleansing, you’ll see what oils are recommended for what skin type.

I tend to use more of the oils for dry skin during winter months, and the oils for normal/oily skin during summer months.

Ingredients and Procedure:

Mix:

• 2 parts sunflower oil, avocado or olive oil, 1 part jojoba oil and 1 part rosehip seed oil (winter)
• or 2 parts of grapeseed oil, 1 part hempseed oil, 1 part apricot kernel oil (summer) in a 4 ounce bottle. You can use a sprayer bottle if you prefer to spritz.

• Add 90-100 drops of essential oils (that will make for a 3% dilution which is the safest; if you want to go for 5%, add another 20 drops).

I like citrus in the summer (just make sure to use steam distilled rather than extracted citrus oils, as the later can make skin photosensitive. In the winter, I opt for warmer scents like vanilla, heavier florals, or cardamom, or just get a blend like this lovely