Here are some homemade gifts that you can make by incorporating essential oils. You can either gift this as a souvenir to a family member, a friend, a significant other, or you can even make any of these for yourself. They are simple, thoughtful and suit almost any occasion – you can even plan for an early Christmas gift this year!
Natural Perfume
Homemade essential oil perfume contains carrier oil and 3 types/scents of essential oils to act as the base, middle and top note of the perfume. You can stick with the same scents for all three notes if you prefer to keep it simple. You may also refer to the article “Using Essential Oils as Perfume” to get a better idea. What you’ll need:
- Dark colored/amber glass spray/roll on bottle (you can buy these online)
- Lightweight unscented oil (such as jojoba oil)
- Base note (amyris, cedarwood, sandalwood, vanilla vetiver etc.)
- Middle note (chamomile, geranium, fir needle, jasmine, lavender etc.)
- Top note (most citrus oils, eucalyptus, peppermint spearmint, pine etc.)
- Decorative sticker/label
Room Spray
DIY essential oil room sprays are awesome alternatives to store bought air fresheners. Not only are they relatively safe and easy to make, you also get to customize the scents. Make sure to use a glass bottle as essential oils can break down plastic overtime. Combine all the ingredients and shake before well before each use. What you’ll need:
- 4oz (120ml)/8oz (240ml) dark colored/amber glass bottle (the dark glass bottle prevents the oils from oxidizing)
- Distilled water (1 to 1 ratio to witch hazel/grain alcohol)
- Witch hazel/grain alcohol (1 to 1 ratio to distilled water)
- 20-30 drops (for 4oz/120ml bottle)/40-60 drops (8oz/240ml bottle) of your choice of essential oils. Suggestions (these are for 4oz/120ml bottle, double the combinations for 8oz/240ml bottle):
- Winter & Christmas vibes
7-10 drops balsam fir + 7-10 drops pine + 7-10 drops frankincense - For stuffy & stale environments
7-10 drops eucalyptus + 7-10 drops tea tree + 7-10 drops lemon - Mood enhancer
7-10 drops lavender + 14-20 drops sweet orange
- Winter & Christmas vibes
- Decorative sticker/label
Bath Bombs
Small amounts of essential oils can also be incorporated into bath for a therapeutic and spa-like experience. However, be sure to avoid these essential oils in the bath:
- Black pepper
- Camphor
- Cassia
- Cinnamon
- Clove
- Hyssop
- Oregano
- Peppermint
- Spearmint
- Summer Savory
- Thyme
- Wintergreen
For bath bomb recipes, you can refer to these recipes from doTerra, Young Living and Plant Therapy.
Sugar Scrub
Speaking of spa-like experience, body scrubs can help remove excess dead skin to promote skin regeneration, resulting in softer and more radiant skin. Furthermore, it helps lotions and moisturizers to absorb more easily into the skin without excess dead skin built-up on the surface. What you’ll need:
- Air tight Mason jar
- ½ cup brown sugar (avoid large grain sugar like turbinado sugar as they can potentially cause skin irritation)
- ½ cup carrier oil (coconut oil, cold pressed grapeseed oil, olive oil etc.)
- 10-15 drops essential oil (chamomile, lavender, orange, spearmint, tea tree etc.)
Body Butter
Complete the home spa treatment with homemade body butter. Body butter not only nourishes the skin, it also maintains the moisture levels and offer protection for the skin. There are two ways you can make body butter. You can either make from scratch by following these recipes from doTerra and Young Living, or this simpler method from Plant Therapy.
Not only are these meaningful, therapeutic and aromatic, but most importantly they are functional, not sitting on a shelf collecting dust. They are products that can be used rather frequently, especially body butter. Remember to use high quality unadulterated essential oils when preparing any of these recipes.