10 Basic Essential Oil DIY Recipes for Beginners

You may have heard all about the benefits of essential oils from air fresheners to beauty products.  But what else can you do with all those little bottles of magic? The answer is, a lot. And I’m going to tell you exactly how to take these potent ingredients and turn them into everyday essential oil recipes you can use at home.  That’s right.  Keep reading for my top ten DIY essential oil recipes.  

But before we get into the recipes for essential oils, let me give you a quick overview.  For one thing, they aren’t really oils at all but compounds that have been extracted using steam distillation from the barks, leaves, seeds and fruit of different plants. They are also so potent that just one drop can have enormous healing, balancing and anti-microbial properties (1).

And unlike the synthetic chemicals used in mainstream perfumes, beauty products and cleaning solutions, an essential oil recipe is made with organic compounds.  That means they are non-toxic!

On that topic, do you want to know one not so great bit of information about those synthetic chemicals (2)?  There are certain chemical compounds found in your cosmetics, food and even children’s toys that can increase your risk of cancer, infertility and endometriosis.

Now, that’s just what we know about.  There are also plenty of things we don’t know about what we are putting on and in our bodies.  And I don’t know about you but I like to err on the side of caution when it comes to what I’m exposing my family to.  

That’s why I’m a big fan of essential oil DIY recipes. I know what goes in them and that they are safe for the entire family. Plus, they are inexpensive and easy to put together at home. With just a little mixing in your kitchen, you can make an essential oil recipe to… (1)

• Disinfect your countertops  
• Heal skin damage
• Reduce wrinkles
• Relax and ease your emotions
• Fight a cold
• Create a custom perfume
• And a lot more!

Here’s my top 10 essential oil recipe picks:

1. Essential Oil Perfume Recipes

Since most regular perfumes are flammable, they can’t be good to wear on your bare skin. One fun project you can do at home, and within five minutes or so, is make a DIY essential oil perfume spray.  Or if you want something to stick in your purse when you’re on the go, try a roll on essential oil perfume recipe.

The best part about this is you can customize a blend that is unique to you. Mix and match until you find what works for you!  

As a general rule, sweet floral scents like ylang-ylang, jasmine or rose often pair well with a citrus like neroli, lime or bergamot.  Then add some complexity with an earthy scent like patchouli, sandalwood or vetiver.

Here are some great combinations

• Rose, Bergamot and Sandalwood
• Jasmine, Sweet Orange and Vanilla
• Ylang ylang, Lime and Patchouli

DIY Essential Oil Perfume Spray

A body spray is something light you could mist all over on a hot day, doubling as both a toner and a scent.  Want to know how to make essential oil perfume last longer? Use a hydrosol as your base. A hydrosol, or flower water, is the lightly scented water left over from steam distilling essential oils.  

There are so many different hydrosols you can choose from, but I really love rose, neroli or lavender.  They can be used plain, as a face toner, or in this case as the base ingredient for your perfume essential oil recipe.  

Ingredients

• 2 oz bottle, whatever size you prefer.
• 2 oz of hydrosol (whatever you prefer)
• 12 drops of essential oil blend per oz of carrier (hydrosol)

So since in this case, you’re making a 2 oz essential oil perfume spray and you’ll use 24 drops of essential oils. The fun part is picking a combination that’s just right for you.  

The easiest way to get your blend right is to mix a few drops of each oil you want to try with your hydrosol.  Test it out right away and then wait a day or two so it can develop. Then try again (3). Once you get the right combination and ratio, multiply that and add it to your hydrosol and bottle to make your very own DIY essential oil perfume spray!

Roll On Essential Oil Perfume Recipe

This is a more concentrated version that you can roll onto your wrists or neck for some quick and uplifting aromatherapy.  

Ingredients

• 10 ml roller bottle
• Unscented carrier oil like jojoba or almond
• Your favorite essential oil blend

Instructions

1. Add 12 drops of essential oils to your roller bottle and then top it off with the carrier oil.
2. Shake thoroughly to blend and voila, you have essential oil recipe for a convenient roll on perfume!

2. Calming Essential Oil Blend

With the fast-pace of our modern lifestyle, trying to balance work, family, good health and a social life, most of us deal with moments of anxiety and stress. One option to deal with that is to use essential oils for relaxation and sleep.  Or create a calming essential oil blend for diffusers.

And let me tell you, if you don’t have a diffuser, now’s the time to get one.  Using a diffuser with different essential oil recipes will freshen your home, purify the air during cold and flu season and create a calm, soothing environment.

Did you know that anxiety comes from the limbic system in the brain?  And our sense of smell is directly linked to it (5). That means scent is one of the quickest ways to influence your limbic system to calm down.

Here are three great essential oil blends for anxiety, panic attacks and sleep (5).  You want to add anywhere from 6-8 drops of essential oils to your diffuser, so for the blend below I started with 6 and you can add a drop or two of whatever oil you prefer if you’d like it a little stronger.

• 2 drops of lavender, 2 drops frankincense and 2 drops ylang-ylang  
• 2 drops bergamot, 2 drops of roman chamomile and 2 drops of lavender
• 2 drops of orange, 2 drops of  ylang-ylang and 2 drops of frankincense

3. Essential Oil Cleaner Recipes

When was the last time you looked at the ingredients on the back of a conventional countertop spray?  I’ll go ahead and tell you, they’re not good. Cleaning your house with most over the counter products is one of the quickest ways to create indoor pollution. In fact, their toxic compounds can cause asthma, headaches and chronic respiratory conditions when repeatedly inhaled (5).

But I feel you.  You want a clean house and you want the germs dead. Here is where my essential oil cleaning recipes come in. Below you’ll find some solutions that are both non-toxic and effective. Let’s start with the basics.

Homemade All Purpose Cleaner with Essential Oils Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 ½ cups of warm water
• 1 tbsp borax
• 15 drops lemon essential oil
• 10 drops tea tree essential oil
• 10 drops wild orange essential oil
• Glass spray bottle

Instructions

1. Start by pouring warm water over the borax and stir until it’s dissolved.  
2. Once the mixture cools, add the vinegar and essential oils and mix thoroughly.  

This essential oil cleaner can be used to clean and disinfect countertops, bathrooms or any other surface!  

Soft Scrub with Orange Essential Oil Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup baking soda
• ¼ cup castile soap (something like unscented Dr. Bronner’s)
• 20 drops orange essential oil
• 10 drops lemon essential oil

Instructions

1. Mix all the ingredients together and store in a mason jar in a cool dry place.
2. Use this like you would a soft scrub cleaner.  The baking soda is abrasive and the citrus breaks down greases or mold. Just apply it to whatever surface you need, let it sit for 5-10 minutes and then use a sponge to scrub it clean! Make sure to rinse off the residue afterwards.

This essential oil recipe is great for cleaning surfaces with stuck on grime.  Think bathtubs, stovetops or toilets. The baking soda is abrasive and cleans deeply while the orange and lemon work on anything sticky or greasy.

4. Essential Oil Spray Recipe

Okay so your house is fresh, but what about any lingering smells, like odors that can come from a variety of things – like pets, stale gym clothes or even a funky bathroom.  Maybe you’ve been cooking and food prepping, but can’t clear the smell of onions from the air. Again, those conventional air fresheners not only pollute your space with toxic chemicals (many are hormone disruptors!), but they often don’t really neutralize the air at all, just cover it up with a sickly sweet smell.   

I love to have a deodorizing room spray on hand to keep things fresh. Here are some of my favorite essential oil air freshener recipes!

Calming Essential Oil Room Spray

Ingredients

• ¾ cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of organic vanilla extract
• 15 drops of lavender essential oil

Mix the ingredients together and spray as needed!  This is one is great to spritz in your bedroom!

Fresh Citrus Essential Oil Spray

Ingredients

• ¾ cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of vodka or rubbing alcohol
• 10 drops sweet orange essential oil
• 5 drops of lemon essential oil
• 5 drops of tea tree essential oil

Shake it up and spray!  This one is a good kitchen and bathroom spray, as the citrus and tea tree will help clear tougher odors and disinfect the air.

5. Essential Oil Face Wash

It can be so easy to get totally lost in the beauty aisle.  So much beautiful packaging, so many promises, so many very expensive bottles. Even if you’re doing your shopping in “natural” stores, it doesn’t mean there aren’t tons of sneaky chemicals in there too.  

Parabens are associated with breast cancer, synthetic colors are a carcinogen and then you have your sulfates, which are a known respiratory irritant (6).  Sulfates are the things that make your face wash or shampoo foamy.  

If you want to make sure you’re getting a really clean product that is also packed with the healing benefits of plants and other organic compounds, make your own foaming face wash with essential oils.  

Essential Oil Face Wash for Acne

Ingredients

• ½ cup filtered water
• ¼ cup unscented castile soap   
• 2 tsp pure organic aloe vera gel
• 10 drops tea tree oil (helps fight breakouts)
• 5 drops frankincense essential oil (eases fine lines and wrinkles)
• 5 drops lavender essential oil (soothes skin and clears imperfections)

Instructions

1. Start by adding the water, soap and aloe vera gel to a bowl and mix very well.  
2. Then add the essential oils and pour your mixture into a glass dispenser with a hand pump.
3. Shake well!

The tea tree essential oil is disinfecting and healing for acne prone skin.  The frankincense is helpful for protecting aging skin and correcting scars. The lavender soothes  any redness or sensitivity.

6.  Headache Essential Oil Recipe

Usually when you get a headache what do you do? While an over the counter pain killer might be a quick fix, they don’t actually get to the root of the problem, whether it’s tension or hormonal changes. Not to mention the other damage these medications can cause to your liver and kidneys.

Here are two non-toxic essential oil recipes that may support you in finding some headache relief.  

Essential Oil Headache Roll On Recipe

Ingredients

• 10 ml roller bottle
• 8 drops peppermint essential oil
• 6 drops lavender essential oil
• A carrier oil like jojoba or avocado

Instructions

1. Add the essential oils to the roller bottle and top it off with carrier oil.  
2. Apply as needed to your temples, wrists or the back of your neck.  

Lavender is soothing for anxiety and tension, while peppermint is cooling and improves circulation.  

A study in 1996 asked participants to apply peppermint oil after a headache began.  There were no side effects, but significant relief (7). Another option is to diffuse some essential oils as aromatherapy for headaches.

Essential Oil Diffuser Blend for Headaches

Ingredients

• 5 drops of rosemary essential oil
• 5 drops of clary sage essential oil
• 5 drops of lavender essential oil

Rosemary is clarifying and improves circulation, while lavender soothes tension.  Clary sage is a great addition for hormone balancing and headaches brought on by PMS.  But if you’re pregnant, avoid using clary sage.

7.  Bath Salt Recipes with Essential Oils

I don’t know about you but for me a bath is  the ultimate way to relax and unwind at the end of the day. While epsom salts are a quick and easy go to, it doesn’t take much to  upgrade to some aromatherapy bath salts. The scent will soothe you, while the salts exfoliate your skin and relax your muscles.

So what essential oils are good for bath salts?  Well anything that is good for your most delicate skin will work in your bath.  While peppermint is excellent for headaches and pulse points, it’s not my first choice for baths.  I like to stick with florals or anything that I would put on my face.

Here are some of my favorite essential oil recipes for bath time.  

Lavender Bath Salts Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups of epsom salt
• ½  cup of sea salt
• ½ cup of baking soda
• 10 drops of lavender essential oil
• 10  drops of roman chamomile essential oil

This calming recipe will ease your mind and soothe  your muscles. And if you want to add some extra hydration, put a teaspoon of coconut oil or almond oil in the bath as well.  Your skin will feel silky smooth when it’s time to get out.

Clarifying Bath Salts with Essential Oil Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups of epsom salt
• 1 cup of sea salt
• ½ cup of sea salt
• ½ cup of baking soda
• 10 drops of eucalyptus essential oil
• 5 drops of rosemary essential oil

This recipe is a good refresher for your mind and your sinuses.  It will get circulation going and open up respiratory pathways when you’re feeling run down.

8. Essential Oil Deodorant Recipe

Regular antiperspirant deodorant is often one of the last things people let go of when transitioning to a natural non toxic lifestyle.  We don’t really want to sweat in the first place, but when we do, we definitely don’t want anyone to smell it!

But here’s the thing.  Sweating is one of our main detoxification pathways and anti-perspirants are just not the way to go.  One of the main ingredients in antiperspirant is aluminum, its the compound that essentially plugs up the sweat glands and keeps us dry.

But there are a high concentration of lymph nodes under our arms that move lymph through the rest of our bodies.  And aluminum is not something we want to carry through our lymph and into our bloodstream. Especially when it is so near the breast tissue.  

The national cancer institute suggests that there could be a link between antiperspirant deodorant and breast cancer.  But they aren’t sure whether it is the aluminum or the parabens that are responsible (8).  Either way, why risk it?

I mean think about it like this.  You’re basically shaving your underarms and then putting known endocrine disrupting and toxic chemicals right on that raw skin to be absorbed into your tissues and then stop the very sweat that carries out toxicity. It can’t be healthy.

But it doesn’t mean you have to stink either. So, what are your options?  Make your own deodorant! And concentrate on neutralizing the bacteria that makes you smell instead of stopping the sweat completely.

Here are 8 of the best essential oils for deodorant.

• Tea tree essential oil
• Thyme essential oil
• Vetiver essential oil
• Lavender essential oil
• Lemongrass essential oil
• Rosemary essential oil
• Geranium essential oil
• Sandalwood essential oil

Again, like the other recipes you can choose your favorite scent and see what works best for you!  Here are two easy essential oil recipes to get you started with some ideas.

Essential Oil Deodorant Spray Recipe

Ingredients

• ¼ cup of witch hazel
• ¼ cup of purified water
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 4 drops of vetiver essential oil
• 4 drops of rosemary essential oil
• 2 drops of thyme essential oil
• 4 oz glass spray bottle

This one is a fresh piney scent that is antibacterial and also serves as a good circulatory blend to move lymph in the body.  The essential oil blend detoxifies and neutralizes odor, as does the baking soda. Witch hazel is astringent to the delicate underarm tissues. If you aren’t into the piney smell of this one, switch those oils out for sandalwood or lavender.

Essential Oil Homemade Deodorant stick

Ingredients

• ½ cup of coconut oil
• ¼ cup of baking soda
• ¼ cup of arrowroot powder
• 1 tablespoon of beeswax pellets
• 5  drops of tea tree oil
• 5 drops of lavender, lemongrass or geranium

Instructions

1. Start by melting down the coconut oil and beeswax in a double boiler or pyrex.  
2. Allow the temperature to cool so that its not solid but not hot, slowly stir in the baking soda and arrowroot.  
3. Stir in your essential oil blend and pour it into a recycled deodorant stick or a glass jar.  
4. Allow the mixture to solidify and use as needed!

9. Essential Oil Lip Balm Recipe

Mmm yes, time to trade in your conventional chapstick  for a yummy homemade and non toxic option! There are many essential oils that are safe for lip balm (see below). The skin on your lips is very porous and since you’re likely going to eat more chapstick than you think, you don’t want to use anything that could be toxic.

Here are some of the best essential oils for lips

• Lavender essential oil
• Peppermint essential oil
• Sweet orange essential oil
• Vanilla absolute (not really an essential oil, but still a yummy aroma that isn’t toxic)
• Lemon essential oil
• Lime essential oil

Lip Balm With Essential Oil Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon of beeswax
• 2 tablespoons of shea or mango butter
• 5 drops of peppermint essential oil
• 5 drops of sweet orange essential oil

Instructions

1. Heat the coconut oil, beeswax and shea butter over in a double boiler until everything is well combined and melted down.
2. After the mixture begins to cool add your essential oils and stir well!  
3. Pour into your chapstick tubes or a small glass container and allow it to cool.  

These make great gifts and are really fun to experiment with! (9)

10. DIY Whipped Body Butter Recipe

Last but definitely not least, a homemade body butter is an absolute favorite essential oil recipe.  For hands, face, body, kids, wherever you need it, this homemade body butter with coconut oil will be a favorite in your household.

Again, find the right scent and combination of essential oils  for you. Whether you want frankincense and rose for anti aging, lavender and vanilla for relaxing, or roman chamomile and sandalwood for skin healing there is an essential oil recipe right for you.  

Homemade Body Butter with Coconut Oil

Ingredients

• 1 cup of shea butter
• ½ cup of coconut oil
• ½ cup of almond oil, apricot oil or jojoba, whatever carrier oil you prefer!
• 10 drops of rose essential oil
• 10 drops of sandalwood essential oil

Instructions

1. Start by melting the shea butter in a double boiler or pyrex and then gradually add the coconut oil until its fully liquified.  
2. Stir in your carrier oil and then once the mixture cools a bit, add your essential oils.  
3. Leave everything to sit until its just slightly solid.  
4. Then whip with a mixer until fluffy.  

Keep this in a cool place and enjoy as you would any other moisturizer.  

This body butter recipe is great for little bottoms too, especially for healing diaper rash.  In that case, try chamomile and calendula oils in place of rose and sandalwood.

Okay if you weren’t inspired before this to get started on making your own products, I hope you are now! I’ve left you with lots of essential oil recipes to choose from and I hope some of these can be good jumping off places for you to get creative with your own recipes.  

I’d love to hear some feedback on how these worked or if you have your own recipes to share? Leave a comment below and keep us in the loop!

 

Sources

1. Dr. Axe (2018). Dr. Axe’s Essential Oils Guide. Retrieved from: https://draxe.com/essential-oils-guide/
2. National Institute of Environmental Sciences (2018). Endocrine Disruptors. Retrieved from: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine/index.cfm
3. Mountain Rose Herbs (2018). DIY Body Sprays With Essential Oils.  Retrieved from: https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/diy-body-spray
4. Hello Glow (2016). 5 Essential Oil Diffuser Blends for Stress. Retrieved from: https://helloglow.co/essential-oils-for-stress/
5. America Lung Association (2018). Cleaning Supplies and Household Chemicals. Retrieved from: http://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/indoor/indoor-air-pollutants/cleaning-supplies-household-chem.html
6. Huffington Post (2018). 10 Toxic Beauty Ingredients to Avoid. Retrieved from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/vanessa-cunningham/dangerous-beauty-products_b_4168587.html
7. Dr. Axe (2018). Top 4 Essential Oils for Headaches. Retrieved from: https://draxe.com/essential-oils-for-headaches/
8. National Cancer Institute (2018). Antiperspirants/ Deodorants and Breast Cancer. Retrieved from: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/myths/antiperspirants-fact-sheet
9. Dr. Axe (2018). Homemade Lavender Mint Lip Balm. Retrieved from: https://draxe.com/homemade-lavender-mint-lip-balm/