Moisturizing the skin on your body doesn’t have to be limited to thick creams, body butters or runny lotions, although all the above are still great options depending on your needs.
Using body oils has steadily become popular as they are typically super minimal in ingredients, and possibly an addition of an antioxidant to help prevent those oils from going rancid. If you apply a body oil right after a shower without drying off prior, you’ll really lock in moisture. You may have to air dry and walk around naked, but your spouse will definitely not complain!
When making a bottle of body oil, adding an antioxidant usually isn’t even necessary as you can put together a small amount of an oil blend and use it up relatively quickly.
Body oils (when making your own) are truly customizable because you just have to put together which oils you’d want to reap the benefits from, and mix it. It really doesn’t have to be complicated! You can always refer to my post “Try Not To Get Carried Away With These Oils” to pick and choose which oils you think would work out for you!
Always take into consideration the viscosity, colour, and smell of these oils. If you want a thicker winter oil, or a body oil thin enough so you don’t look greasy while wearing a sundress, these are things to pay attention to. If you prefer to moisturize at night, avoid grapeseed oil as it can stain white sheets and checking out the absorption rate is important too. You don’t want to apply a thick, slow absorption oil and not be able to slide on your leggings (it’s happened to me).
Being a Massage Therapist, I really know my oils, and I know what feels the best with application and absorption. I spent years purchasing fancy massage manufactured oils (and boy were those expensive) and my desire to go as natural and homemade as possible skyrocketed.
In school we were only allowed to use lotion that could only be purchased from the school (money-grab of course) and obviously people’s skin soaked it up so fast you’d have to keep reapplying (and keep buying from the school). When going into practice, I had a bag of samples of gels, lotions and oils (that I won from my school, HA!) to try out on patients. Oil really felt the best when working with it and patients didn’t feel a need to shower immediately after the treatment. Usually you need a couple of tablespoons per patient as it was definitely enough, and cost effective (bonus). I found this one massage oil, made with aloe and jojoba oils and it was phenomenal. Relatively clear with just the lightest yellow tint, didn’t stain clothing or sheets, and a little did go a long way. But a gallon cost me $90 and that was pretty expensive considering I needed about 3 gallons per year between my husband and I, and we weren’t working full time.
So I decided on making this oil myself to save on costs, and this was actually the point in which I wanted to make everything myself. I researched the product online to find the ingredient list (it was difficult to find), and here I was with jaw dropped so low I could have caught flies, reading the first ingredient.
Canola oil.
I was so mad.
I spent $300 a year on canola oil.
You know that ingredient lists are put in order of volume, and the fancy lettering of “with aloe and jojoba oil” was a load of BS because those were dead last.
So I’ve been using virgin olive oil for the last 7 years and I haven’t looked back. Just because I love you guys and truly appreciate your support, I’ll add a list below of oils and their absorption rates.
| OIL | PROPERTIES | ABSORPTION RATE |
| Flaxseed | Antioxidant, a ‘drying’ oil | Fast |
| Rosehip | Anti-aging, good for scars | Fast |
| Hemp Seed | Soothing, anti-inflammatory | Fast |
| Evening Primrose | Anti-aging, high in EFAs | Fast |
| Rice Bran | Antioxidant, good for dry skin | Fast |
| Grapeseed | Moisturizing, antioxidant | Fast – Medium |
| Argan | Anti-aging, antioxidant | Fast – Medium |
| Camellia | Anti-aging, antioxidant | Fast – Medium |
| Meadowfoam | Antioxidant, moisturizing | Fast – Medium |
| Apricot Kernel | Softening, soothing | Medium |
| Almond | Soothing, anti-inflammatory | Medium |
| Safflower | Moisturizing, high in EFAs | Medium |
| Jojoba | Antioxidant, similar to sebum | Medium |
| Sunflower | Light, moisturizing | Medium |
| Borage | Anti-aging, high in EFAs | Medium |
| Macadamia Nut | Anti-aging, moisturizing | Medium |
| Soya Bean | Moisturizing, antioxidant | Medium |
| Sesame | Antioxidant, soothing | Medium |
| Avocado | Moisturizing, rich | Medium – Slow |
| Olive | Moisturizing, antioxidant | Medium – Slow |
| Pomegranate | Anti-aging, rejuvenating | Medium – Slow |
| Neem | Anti-inflammatory, insecticide | Slow |
| Castor | Viscous, shiny | Slow |
| Coconut | Moisturizing, rich | Slow |
At this point, just pick and choose which oils you want, mix and bottle them.
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