9 easy essential oil DIY recipes

So you’ve got this beautiful, brand new, essential oil starter kit and you have no idea what to do with all your new oils.  Or maybe you don’t even have any oils yet but you’re wondering what all can be done with these essential oils that everyone is so crazy about these days.  Or maybe you have lots of oils but haven’t ever tried making any of your own concoctions with them.  Well you’re in the right place!  I’m going to give you 9 very easy essential oil DIY home and beauty recipes to try out.  Most will use oils that come in the Young Living premium starter kit since that is what so many people get first but these can be easily adapted to use other oils that you might have.

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1.  Bath Salts

Bath salts are easy peasy to make. All you need are some Epsom salts (usually found in the pharmacy section of the store or something like this on Amazon), baking soda (which is actually optional but a nice addition and usually everyone has some at home anyway), and your oils.

For one bath use:
– 1 cup of Epsom salts
– ½ cup baking soda
– 10 drops essential oil(s) of your choice
– a glass jar to store them in

There are SO many combinations that you can make and it’s totally your personal preference but here are a few ideas to get you started:

– Sleepy Time: 10 drops lavender
– It’s Been a Long Week: 10 drops Stress Away
– Breathe Easy: 7 drops RC, 3 drops peppermint
– Post-Workout Soak: 5 drops PanAway, 5 drops Copaiba

2.  Sugar Scrub

Next up is another easy one – a sugar scrub!  The “base” recipe includes:

– 1 cup of sugar
– ¼ cup of fatty oil (olive, grapeseed, coconut, etc.)
– 5-8 drops of essential oil (depending on how strong the oil is you’re using)
– a glass jar to store it in

Again, TONS of options you could use but here are some suggestions:

– Sunshine Scrub: 8 drops lemon
– Candy Cane: 5 drops peppermint
– Glowing Skin: 4 drops lavender, 4 drops frankincense
– Beach Vacation: 8 drops Stress Away

3.  Coconut Oil Rub

If you are unfamiliar with coconut oil it is a solid fatty oil that has a low melting point (76 degrees) so it’s a great carrier oil for your essential oils that is less messy than using a liquid. Coconut oil itself is really good for your skin so when you use a rub like this you get the benefits of both coconut oil and your essential oils.

Because coconut oil is (usually, depending on how warm or cool your house is) a solid you need to soften it up a bit before you mix your essential oils in. If you are making a large batch then scoop out your coconut oil and whip it up for a couple of minutes with your stand or hand mixer. It’ll whip it into a nice soft consistency and you can easily mix in your essential oils. If you’re just doing a little bit then I find that using a fork to whip it up is just as effective and requires less tools ;).

Again, this varies so much depending on your preferences and how strong you want your rub, but the general ratio I use is 30-40 drops of oil in ½ cup coconut oil. Store in a glass jar.

Here are some recipe ideas to get you started:

– Luscious Face Cream: 10 drops each of lavender, frankincense, lemon, and geranium
– Muscle Rub: 10 drops each PanAway, copaiba, peppermint, and frankincense
– Chest Rub: 10 drops each RC, lemon, peppermint, and copaiba

Another recipe is one that I made for my post-baby belly here.

4.  Oil Rollers

. To make these you’ll need some sort of roller bottles (you can use empty Young Living essential oil bottles and put a Young Living roller fitment on it or you can order roller bottles separately from somewhere like Amazon or Etsy) and a liquid carrier oil of your choice like olive, fractionated coconut (a form of coconut oil that won’t turn solid), grapeseed, sweet almond, etc.

– Wellness Blend: 10 drops Thieves, 10 drops Melrose, 10 drops lemon, 5 drops frankincense, 5 drops oregano (roll on feet)
– Sleep Blend: 10 drops each lavender, cedarwood, Stress Away (roll on feet)
– Focus Blend: 10 drops each peppermint, lemon, frankincense, vetiver (roll on wrists and back of neck)
– Seasonal Blend: 10 drops each lemon, lavender, peppermint, and copaiba (roll behind ears and down side of neck)
– Tummy Blend: 15 drops each DiGize and peppermint (roll on tummy)

(Put in a 10 or 15ml roller and top with carrier oil)

I have so many roller bottles all over the place! They’re just super convenient for using on my wiggly kids or taking on the go or so that I don’t have to get oils all over my hands.

(Pssst…if you’re not sure how to put the roller fitment on or off check out this post I did)

5.  Oil Sprays

Another incredibly easy DIY to make are oily sprays. To make a spray you’ll need a spray bottle (you can get glass ones like these on Amazon, which I have used some, but I’ve also used some plastic ones from the travel section at Target and haven’t had an issue with the oils corroding the plastic), some water, and some sort of emulsifier.

What’s an emulsifier? Well as any of you oilers know, essential oils float on the top of water. If you’re making a spray bottle and the essential oils are floating on the top then when you spray you’re mostly just going to get plain water from the bottom. If you use an emulsifier like a pinch of Epsom salt, some vodka, or some witch hazel, then that helps the oils disperse evenly through the water. I typically use a pinch of Epsom salt.

Some recipes to try out:

– Sleep Spray: 10 drops lavender (spritz on pillow before going to bed)
– Outdoors Spray: 5 drops Purification, 5 drops peppermint (sprintz on exposed skin before going outside)
– Portable Cleaning Spray: 20 drops Thieves (spray on restaurant tables, high chairs, hands, toys, etc. while on the go)

(amounts are for a 2 ounce bottle so adjust accordingly, add oils then top with water and your emulsifier of choice)

6.  All purpose cleaner

Here’s an easy all purpose cleaner you can whip up in seconds:

– 1 cup water
– 1 cup vinegar
– 20 drops of Thieves or lemon, depending on what your smell preference is
– store in a spray bottle

DIY cleaners were the WHOLE reason I began looking into essential oils in the first place so I was very thankful for easy homemade cleaner recipes like these. However I’ll be honest…almost all homemade cleaner recipes call for vinegar and even though the essential oil helps mask the vinegar smell your house will still probably smell a little bit  like pickles.

Here’s a tip…get some of Young Living’s Thieves cleaner!  It smells wayyyyyy better than cleaning with vinegar and it’s incredibly cost effective, even for those people who want to DIY to save money. It’s so concentrated that a little bit lasts a LONG time.

7.  Hand Soap

DIY hand soap is so easy and helps you avoid the nasty chemicals that most store bought soaps contain.

– 3 tablespoons Dr. Bronner’s castile soap (you can find this at Kroger, Target, Walmart, Whole Foods, health food stores, Amazon, etc.) – I prefer the Baby Mild since it is unscented so you can add any scent of EO
– ½ tsp vegetable glycerin  (if you have hard water, this helps it to suds up better)
– 5 drops of your essential oil of choice
– 8 oz  foaming hand soap bottle (I get mine from Amazon)

I usually do Thieves but you could do lavender, lemon, Citrus Fresh, Christmas Spirit, peppermint, etc.

8. Deodorizers and fresheners

In addition to being great for helping to eliminate toxins (which is why we put it in our bath salts), baking soda is also a gentle abrasive and eliminates odors – all kinds of good uses!

– Fabric deodorizer: Mix 2 cups of baking soda with 20 drops lavender, sprinkle on carpets, furniture, mattresses, etc. Let sit then vacuum up.
– Diaper Pail Stink-Be-Gone: Mix 2 cups of baking soda with 20 drops Purification, sprinkle in bottom of diaper pail

(Tip: the lid from a parmesan cheese container screws nicely on a mason jar and is perfect for sprinkling the baking soda mixture)

9.  Cleaning paste

– Cleaning paste: Mix ½ cup baking soda with 5 drops lemon or Thieves, then add water until it is a paste consistency.

Alternatively you can use Thieves cleaner for your cleaning paste. Check out my results when I used this to clean my stainless steel appliances!

We just touch the tip of the iceberg when it comes to DIY projects! Depending on how crafty you are or how much DIYing you want to do there are a ton of ideas out there. Toothpaste, body wash, shampoo, deodorant, dryer sheets, nasal spray, cough drops, are just a few of the things you can make. Here are some of the other recipes I’ve made like deodorant, mints, and diffuser necklaces.  You can also check out my Pinterest board for more ideas that I’ve collected!

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Are you an essential oil DIYer?  What’s your favorite recipe?