Make your own Luxury Bath Oil

Making your own bath oil is easy. Very easy. At it's most basic, a bath oil is simply a small quantity of oil poured into your bath. Done!

Yes, I know, as soon as you get in, all the oil sticks to the edge of the bath and stays there! Well we can do something about that... but lets keep it basic for the moment and then move on from there.

If you have chronic dry skin, there is nothing more wonderful than an oily bath. The combination of the warm water and the oil is amazing. If you keep massaging the oily water over your skin while in the bath, when you step out (carefully of course because the bath is slippery) your skin glistens. It's lovely! And it's so simple.

And don't think that you need to spend a lot of money on special oils. Sunflower oil from the cooking oils section of the supermarket will work perfectly well and so will rapeseed. Add a little lavender essential oil to it and you have a product as good as any you can buy. It really can be as simple as that.

Lets take the simple oil one step further. What if you want to infuse a medicinal herb in the oil first? Yep you can do that. Make sure that you know exactly which herb you are going to use and remember that it is important to correctly identify the herb since mother nature gives us nasty stuff as well as nice. Directions for macerating herbs in oil here.

If you choose an aromatic herb or flower to macerate you will get some scent in your bath oil too. But it is usually very delicate - which is fine but if you want a little more of an impact then combine your macerated oil with a complimentary essential oil blend. It is very important to make sure that you dry the herb or flower prior to macerating. Otherwise the water content in the plant ends up in your bath oil where it can start to breed germs and bacteria. Not good. (The rose petals are fresh... I would need a lot more and then to dry them before using in oil).

Here are a couple of basic bath oil recipes to get you started:

Ingredients

250ml Sunflower Oil

3ml Rose Geranium Essential Oil

2ml Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

One pretty bottle (can be recycled if you wash well and sterilise first - either boiling for 5 minutes or use Milton baby sterilising tablets. Make sure it is perfectly dry before decanting the oil - the bottle on the right has a green walnut liqueur in it... but as soon as that's finished you know what I'll be using it for!)

Method

In a clean glass jug or bowl mix the oil and essential oils together. Pour into a clean bottle and label. Leave for at least 24 hours before using. A teaspoonful or two is enough for an average sized bath. Don't forget to clean the bath really well when you are finished as essential oils (in any product, not just this one) can discolour your bath over time.

To Vary

Choose a different blend of essential oils. There are suggestions for essential oil blends here.

Ingredients

250 ml Sweet Almond Oil

2 ml Grapefruit Essential Oil

3 ml Lavender Essential Oil

One pretty bottle (can be recycled if you wash well and sterilise first - either boiling for 5 minutes or use Milton baby sterilising tablets. Make sure it is perfectly dry before decanting the oil)

Method

In a clean glass jug or bowl mix the oil and essential oils together. Pour into a clean bottle and label. Leave for at least 24 hours before using. A teaspoonful or two is enough for an average sized bath. Don't forget to clean the bath really well when you are finished as essential oils (in any product, not just this one) can discolour your bath over time.

To Vary

Choose a different blend of essential oils. Choose a different vegetable oil.

Bath oil too greasy? Try Bath Salts instead.

Return to the Natural Beauty Recipes Page

Using Massage Oils in the Bath

Any massage oil blend can be used in the bath. Simply pour one or two teaspoonfuls into the warm water and soak for 15 or 20 minutes. Always be careful when exiting the bath... bath oil is SLIPPERY!

Using A Dispersant with your Bath Oil

These emulsifiers are not 'natural straight off the tree' ingredients. They are also not natures own emulsifier - bees wax. They have been synthesised in the laboratory and can include natural ingredients. As such, they tend to find favour with those people who are not so strict about using all-natural ingredients, but if they are a step too far for you, then simply stick to the bath oil recipes above.

The dispersant that I am using here is not the only one available. There are other's, suppliers are usually only too happy to recommend usage levels for their products, so you can substitute another brand - usually with successful results.

Now don't be frightened by the chemical names... everything in nature has a chemical name... after all if I said it was oleic acid you would wonder what on earth that was wouldn't you? Do not assume that because it contains synthetic ingredients, they are bad for you... similarly you shouldn't assume that all natural ingredients are good for you. More information on this topic can be found on the Skincare Ingredients page.

The dispersant helps the oil to combine with the bath water. It disperses the oil if you like, evenly through the water which helps it to reach all the parts of your body. The water looks milky-like and when you come out of the bath and pat your skin dry you do get the lovely soft feel of the oil but you don't get the heavy or tacky drag of neat oil on your skin.

The choice to use this ingredient is, I suppose down to where you personally draw the line.

Rose Geranium & Melissa Dispersant Bath Oil

200 ml Avocado Oil

10ml Polysorbate 80

1ml Vitamin E

3ml Rose Geranium Essential Oil

2ml Melissa Essential Oil

Method

In a clean sterilised glass container mix together the avocado oil and the polysorbate 80. The polysorbate 80 does not dissolve into the oil so it needs to be very well mixed through - even though you may not see it because it is the same colour as your oil. Next add the essential oils and again mix very thoroughly. The trick to successful outcomes is always in the mixing. Finally add the vitamin E. You may find using a disposable syringe for the vitamin e a good idea as often it is very gloopy and can be difficult to measure. I use disposable syringes for measuring nearly all my small ingredients by volume... of course if you are measuring by weight... you need a very accurate small set of scales... try jewelry scales... they work really well.

Decant the mixture into a nice bottle and label it carefully, let it rest for 24 hours before using for the first time. To use: give it a shake (just in case any of the mixture has separated... remember you may not be able to see the polysorbate because it is the same colour as the oil, before pouring a couple of teasponfuls into an average size bath. Get in and enjoy! Provided you do not get any water into the bath oil bottle you should not need to use a preservative.

If you would prefer to simply add a ready made essential oil blend to your chosen oil then why not try:

Go to the Plant Oils Page

Go to Bathing without Bubbles Page

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