How To Make Your Own Natural Face Oil

Learn how to make your own natural face oil – with just two simple ingredients – for a plastic-free moisturisation boost.

Last year, I bought a very nice, but a little bit pricey, bottle of face oil. 

Whilst I had only heard good things about the stuff, it still felt wrong to use oil on my skin. Skin that had been prone to oiliness in my younger years. Within days, I realised that I needn’t worry. Facial oil is, in fact, a wondrous thing – and my skin felt amazing. It felt soft and moisturised, but not greasy, as I feared it might be.

I’ve been thinking a lot about homemade beauty products lately. So rather than replacing the bottle when it ran out, I started to think just how hard could it be to make your own homemade face oil?

And guess what – it turns out it’s not at all hard. It’s just a case of mixing two ingredients together. You could even skip one of the ingredients if you wanted to.

I’ve been trialling my own homemade face oil over the last couple of months, and I am beyond happy with its performance, despite the simplistic natural ingredients. I feel a little silly calling it a recipe when it’s just two ingredients, but who says the best things have to be complicated?

How To Make Natural Face Oil

Here’s everything you need to make your own plastic-free, natural. and non-toxic facial oil:

Ingredients

• 30 ml jojoba oil (I’ve linked to Etsy, but here are lots more places to buy jojoba in the UK)
• 5 drops of rose geranium essential oil (I buy mine from Tisserand)

Equipment Required

• A 30 ml coloured glass bottle with a dropper
• A small funnel (optional)

Instructions

• Pour the jojoba oil into your clean, dry glass bottle – a small funnel makes this part a lot easier and helps avoid any messy spills.
• Then add around 5 drops of rose geranium oil, pop the lid on, and give it a good shake to blend everything together. That’s it – you’re good to go!

How to Use Homemade Facial Oil

Use your natural face oil instead of moisturiser, or use it as a moisturising boost under your regular moisturiser. 

It’s really easy to use. After cleansing, simply dispense 3 or 4 drops of oil onto the palm of your hand and massage gently into your face, taking particular care around the eye area. Don’t add more than the recommended amount, as you will find yourself with an oily face!

As with any new skincare products, though, it’s always best to do a patch test, so that you can make sure your skin won’t react with the ingredients. To do this, apply a small amount of the oil to a discreet spot, like the inside of your wrist. Leave it for 24 hours without washing the area. If your skin stays calm – with no redness, itching, or bumps – it’s likely safe to use more widely.

Notes On The Ingredients Used

Jojoba oil is, despite the name, not actually an oil, but in fact a liquid wax. Richly moisturising, it’s great for acne, psoriasis, sunburn, and chapped skin.

One bottle of jojoba oil will make a lot of natural face oil, so it’s rather an economical purchase. You can also use jojoba oil in some of my homemade cleaning products. It’s not often that you can say you raided your cleaning cupboard for your beauty needs!

Rose geranium essential oil, as well as smelling lovely, has many reported benefits for your skin. It’s said to help with oily and congested skin. It may also help with eczema, broken capillaries, and dermatitis.

Of course, you can leave the rose geranium essential oil out if you prefer an unscented moisturiser. Alternatively, you could swap it for another essential oil (although do note the safety concerns below). Tea tree essential oil, for example, would be good for acne-prone skin. I’d encourage you to explore the world of essential oils to see what might work best for your particular skin concerns.

One word of caution, though – do your research first before selecting your essential oil. Some essential oils are what’s known as phototoxic. This means that these certain essential oils will react with the sun’s UV rays and can cause an inflammatory reaction in your skin. 

Most citrus-based essential oils can be phototoxic – for example, bergamot, orange, lime, lemon, grapefruit, or similar essential oils. As such, I’d recommend avoiding all citrus based oils. If you’re keen to find out more, then this article is a good starting point for your research.

What Is the Shelf Life?

Your natural face oil will expire when the shortest-dated ingredient you use expires.

So, for example, if you use jojoba oil that has an expiry date of June 2029 and essential oil that has an expiry date of November 2028, it will generally be good to use until November 2028, because that’s when the shortest-dated ingredient (in this case, the essential oil) expires.

Jojoba oil is a rather wonderful thing. As jojoba oil is a liquid wax, it has an exceptionally long shelf life and can probably be stored for around five years. Essential oils also have a long shelf life and can be stored anywhere between two to five years when stored properly. 

I recommend using a coloured glass bottle as this stops sunlight from causing the essential oil to deteriorate. If you only have a clear glass bottle, make sure you store it someplace dark when you’re not using your homemade facial oil.

In short, your homemade facial oil will store for a long time – but you will probably use it up long before it goes rancid. However, as with all handmade products, if it ever starts looking or smelling a bit funny, then it’s probably past its best.

If I’ve inspired you to get making, then I’d love to hear how you get on! Do share in the comments below.

More Sustainable Skincare Resources

• If you’re not into DIY, then I’ve also been trying out a plastic-free facial cleansing oil by Emma Lewisham, which I really love. You can see my full Emma Lewisham review here.
• You can find similar reusable cleansing pads here on Etsy.
• Alternatively, if you are feeling crafty, you can make your own cotton pads with my free crochet pattern.