The massage oil I blend
On a small monthly practice of mixing my own body massage oil — and on the case for being the person who knows exactly what is in the oil you are using.
Once a month or so, on a Sunday afternoon, I spend about twenty minutes blending a small batch of body massage oil that will last me about four weeks. The batch is small — about a hundred and fifty millilitres — and goes into a small dark-glass bottle that lives in the bathroom. The blend is the same most months, with small seasonal variations.
The base is sweet almond oil, which is the most universal body oil — neutral smell, good absorption, mild on most skin types. About a hundred and twenty millilitres. To this I add about thirty millilitres of jojoba oil, which is more stable and adds a small additional moisturising quality. To the combination I add essential oils — usually about ten drops total — in whatever combination seems right for the season. Lavender and chamomile in the autumn. Bergamot and rosemary in the winter. Sweet orange and ylang-ylang in the spring. A small drop of vitamin E to keep the oil stable.
On the case for blending your own
Several things. The first is cost — a hundred and fifty millilitres of a well-blended branded body oil typically costs thirty or forty euros. The same volume of a home blend, with all the same ingredients in approximately the same proportions, costs about eight euros to make. Over a year, the savings add up to perhaps two hundred euros that would otherwise have gone to packaging and marketing.
The second is the ability to vary the blend with the season, with the mood, with the specific needs of the moment. The branded product is the same all year. The home blend can be different each month, with whatever oils are calling for inclusion. The variety is itself a small pleasure.
The third is the small specific satisfaction of using something you made yourself. The oil is, in some way, more pleasant to apply than a branded oil would be, because it has been considered and prepared by my own hands. The small additional intentionality propagates into the small daily massage practice — the application is slightly more attentive, the small effects on the body are slightly more registered.
If you have been buying branded body oil and have not tried making your own, try one batch. The ingredients are easily available. The process takes twenty minutes. The result is, in my own experience, indistinguishable from or better than the branded equivalent, at a fraction of the cost, with the small additional benefit of having made it yourself.