doshas

Making your own body oils is a great way to customize your base oil blend and your essential oil blend. Ayurvedic tradition advises massaging yourself with oil daily as a way to ground yourself and calm out-of-balance doshas. In Ayurveda, there are three doshas that govern all things~ the seasons, the time of individual lives (youth, adulthood, old age), and our own bodies, minds, and spirits. The three doshas are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, and there are online quizzes to help you determine your  dosha profile. I like this one because it gives you your results immediately but you can take several and compare them. They will probably all be slightly different but should give you an idea of your personal profile. When you think about your dosha makeup, it is best to think of what you were like as a kid, because imbalances build up and your current state might not match your fundamental dosha profile. It’s important to understand that we all have all three aspects in us, it’s just that one or two will generally be more predominant. Think of a number scale of 1-10. One person might be 3 parts Vata, 5 parts Pitta, and 2 parts Kapha. Another person will be 4 parts Vata, 2 parts Vata, and 4 parts Kapha. Why does it matter then? It matters because the aspects that are predominant are the ones most likely to get out of balance. Any dosha can be out of balance, but if you are predominantly Pitta for example, it is more likely that your Pitta dosha will be out of balance, meaning Pitta type problems (such as inflammation). When a dosha is out of balance, it means it needs to be calmed, and since each dosha responds differently to various foods, herbs, activities, etc, so it is important to know what your personal profile is and what might be acting out of balance.

If you want to customize your body oil to suit your dosha, I have pins on a board that can help you do exactly that: https://www.pinterest.com/herbbaker/ayurveda/

Beyond Ayurveda, body oils are also just a great way to indulge in aromatherapy for health, well-being, and the pure pleasure of the scent. You can base your essential oil blend on mental/emotional needs, chakras, moods, or simply for the perfumery. For a base oil, you can use sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, castor oil, jojoba oil, apricot kernel oil, or sesame seed oil either singly or blending them. Personally, I like to blend 2 or 3 oils together and often use an herbal oil as one of the oils in the blend, such as rose oil. I usually reuse a 3.4 oz dark glass bottle but you can use any size glass bottle that you have. The size I use lasts about a month with morning and night use. Dark glass is best but as long as you keep it out of light and heat it should be fine.

Fill your bottle with the base oils you are using, leaving room for the essential oils. Add in the essential oils, using 30-40 drops per ounce of base oil. You can add more if you know you tolerate essential oils well, but if you are just beginning to work with them, stay on the lower end (30 drops per ounce). For example, in my 3.4 fl. oz. bottle, I add between 100-120 drops of essential oils. You don’t need a lot of essential oils to get their benefits, so don’t worry that you don’t have ‘enough’. They are subtle but dependable workers and they will always do their job. Also keep in mind that no matter how strong you make your oil, the scent will not last as long as chemical fragrances so reapplying throughout the day is a good option. You aren’t going to want to put body oil all over yourself during the day though because oil stains clothing and it’s just not feasible, so if you want the scent to be around you all day then I advise making a smaller container as perfume that you can apply to your pulse points throughout the day. If you want to learn how to make perfumes with essential oils, either in an oil base, alcohol base, or as a solid perfume, then please check out my course in exactly that, which also has guidelines on blending for different purposes (health or scent), why chemical fragrances are bad for us and bad for the earth, and why blending with top notes, middle notes, and base notes matters. Another option for a hit of the scent during the day would be to make a body spray that you can dose yourself with when the mood hits. 

The best times for body oil application are upon waking and before going to sleep, so I often make up a day blend and relaxing night blend. For the day time some good uplifting scents are: bergamot, clary sage, and frankincense, which is actually a great anti-depressant blend. Citrus essential oils such as orange, lemon, grapefruit, and lime, are good for joyful energy and are often part of weight loss blends because of that. Citrus essential oils can increase photo-sensitivity, though so do be careful if you are in a sunny part of the world and be sure to wear your sunscreen with citrus oils. Rosemary is stimulating for the mind and traditionally used to aide memory, and it blends well with orange for confident energy and clear thinking. Although lavender is a relaxing scent, it is also the most blend-able essential oil and can combine with just about any of the other essential oils, either for day or night. In a bedtime blend I always include lavender and a wood, such as sandalwood or cedar. The wood oils have a lovely grounding ability which can work for daytime too, especially if you tend to feel scattered. Just like the tea, chamomile essential oil is calming and relaxing and perfect for a night blend, and neroli is a traditional anti-anxiety scent. In fact, neroli blossoms used to be used in bridal bouquets for their anti-anxiety action so it’s a great choice for day or night. By the way, neroli and sandalwood can be bought premixed with jojoba oil for a more affordable purchasing option since those two are rather expensive.

When in doubt, just follow your nose because whatever you like best is going to keep you motivated to use it, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Body oils are a great way to moisturize your skin with the purest, greenest, and healthiest ingredients possible, plus you get to customize the scent for your own personal needs and tastes. Have fun with it and keep in mind that you can pour some body oil into your bath, or use it as massage oil, or even give body oils as gifts. Please share with anyone who might be interested and if you haven’t already, subscribe for more wellness posts like this one.