How to make your own massage oil

After a long break from blogging I am back and I have a lot to write about!

There is nothing more relaxing then receiving a nice massage, and nothing that makes it even more pleasant then a massage oil which smells divine. I have been inspired to come up with my own massage oil after visiting several stores in search of a nice massage oil...while doing so I learned the few things:

• First of all, store bought massage oils are quite expensive. For example a small bottle (150 ml) of massage oil from The Body Shop costs 16 euro here in Belgium. A 100 ml bottle of massage oil from Rituals costs 13.5 euro. Those are just some examples. Maybe that's no fortune, but why spend the money if you can make a product yourself for a lot cheaper, right?

• Something else that I noticed is that I didn't really like most of the scents of the massage oils I came across. Usually they were too strong and I did not imagine myself enjoying them on a long run. My favorite was a white lotus scent, which was very delicate and soothing (from Rituals). 

• Last but not least when I looked at the labels of  massage oils and read the ingredients lists I was shocked to see how many other ingredients (chemicals of course) are added besides the base oils and essential oils.

What you need to know when making your own massage oil

Choosing a carrier oil 

A good carrier oil to use for a massage oil is a light oil, such as jojoba oil, grapeseed oil or sweet almond oil. Because jojoba oil is rather expensive I would advice to mix it half-half with either grapeseed oil or sweet almond oil. If you are on a budget or just ran out of all fancy oils, a good quality olive oil will work just fine (though you might want to make sure you chose one which doesn't have a strong scent).

What essential oils to choose

When you are new to mixing essential oils it is best to limit yourself to combining 2 to 3 different oils. You need a top note essential oil for which scents such as orange, mandarin, bergamot or peppermint work great. For a middle note lavender, chamomile, ylang-ylang or neroli are perfect. And for the base note vanilla, sandelwood, rose, oakwood or cederwood are always good choices. 

If you are mixing two essential oil, a good choice is to take 50% of each. For example a very nice combination is lavender and cederwood essential oils mixed together. For mixtures of three essential oils try for example 40% rose, 40% sandelwood and 20% neroli. 

How much essential oils should I use

A good amount to start working with would be 5 teaspoons of a carrier oil. That should be enough (probably even too much) for one full body massage. To 5 teaspoons of carrier oil add 5 drops of chosen essential oils. Remember to store the massage oil in a dark glass bottle the way you would store essential oils.

When making your own massage oil you will have to experiment a bit and see what you like best. As we all have a unique test in scents I think it is best to try to come up with something that you like instead of following a specific recipe. 

Enjoy the massage oil making (and the massage itself)!