You don't have to spend big bucks to pamper yourself: making your own beauty & skincare products saves money and can be surprisingly easy, not to mention is highly personalized to your unique skincare needs. Additionally, buying ingredients in bulk and using reusable packaging is eco-friendly by greatly reducing the amount of plastic you consume. In this post, I'll walk you through how I make my own face oil!
Beauty oils have become a preference of mine over lotion, I find them easier to get out of their bottles and a more pleasant application. I also use face oils so frequently and burn through them faster than almost all other skincare products.
After reviewing two expensive oils—Mitchell & Peach's Flora No. 1 Face Oil and Caudalie's Divine Oil—and trying a few that I haven't posted about, I wanted to save money on my next full-size purchase, yet still have a high-grade product. The only way to do this was to concoct it myself.
Luckily, I already knew what oils worked for me: the most recent brand I tried seemed to make my skin the happiest! Its ingredient list was so simple to replicate; I already had the essential oils in my collection, so all I needed to purchase was the carrier oils. There was even no need to buy a container for my DIY project; I just peeled off the sticker and reused the old glass bottle.
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Brands pictured: Aura Cacia's Sweet Almond Oil, Majestic Pure's 100% Rosehip Oil, and doTERRA's Geranium, Bergamot, and Lavender Essential Oils. |
Sustainability Sidenote: Just think about how much waste this isn't contributing to the planet. Another great reason to do DIY is to prevent waste via skincare packaging. According to the EPA, while glass is recyclable a large portion of it still goes to landfills. So, in addition to other sustainable practices (eco-friendly water bottles & coffee mugs, not using plastic cutlery or straws) keeping DIY products in non-plastic, reusable containers can effectively reduce your waste footprint.
Read below for a straightforward DIY face oil recipe. I used ratios, for those who will use different-sized containers. The ingredients listed below are also suitable for substitution, to better suit your unique skin type.
MAKING SWEET ALMOND & ROSEHIP FACE OIL
Project Duration 5 minutesCost per bottle $3.60 per 25ml (see calculations below)
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Investing in ingredients at the start will save $$$ spent in the future. |
| • 100% Pure Rosehip Oil | • Sweet Almond Oil |
| • Geranium Essential Oil | • Bergamot Essential Oil |
| • Lavender Essential Oil | • Glass bottle, any size |
DIRECTIONS
1. Use a 1 to 1 ratio between the Rosehip Oil and the Sweet Almond Oil. Their sum should equal the total amount your container can hold. For example, I used roughly 12.5ml of each oil for my 25ml bottle.
2. For the essential oils of your choice, use a ratio of 1 drop to every 5~8ml of oil (depends on your preference).
3. Mix well and store in a container out of direct sunlight.
And that's all there is to it! So easy-peasy, at a fraction of the cost per mL. See below how I calculated costs, savings over time, and important purchasing decisions to consider for this DIY.
3. Mix well and store in a container out of direct sunlight.
And that's all there is to it! So easy-peasy, at a fraction of the cost per mL. See below how I calculated costs, savings over time, and important purchasing decisions to consider for this DIY.
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| (via trimtabsadvisors.com) |
Calculating costs per 25ml bottle
I referenced prices for the ingredients I used—they are in larger sizes (I use them several ways, other than this DIY) and pricier than other brands (doTERRA essential oils). Despite the higher costs of bulk ingredients, costs per ml are still much lower: DIY costs $3.60 per 25ml, compared to store-bought face oil at ~$16.00 per 25ml.
| INGREDIENT & BOTTLE SIZE | PRICE per BOTTLE | COST per ML | ML NEEDED | COST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet Almond Oil, 473ml (16oz) | $12.00 / bottle | $0.03 per 1ml | need 12.5ml | $0.40 |
| Rosehip Seed Oil, 118ml (4oz) | $14.00 / bottle | $0.12 per 1ml | need 12.5ml | $1.50 |
| Geranium EO, 15ml (250 drops) | $31.00 / bottle | $0.13 per drop | need ~5 drops | $0.65 |
| Lavender EO, 15ml (250 drops) | $23.00 / bottle | $0.09 per drop | need ~5 drops | $0.45 |
| Bergamot EO, 15ml (250 drops) | $30.00 / bottle | $0.12 per drop | need ~5 drops | $0.60 |
As you can see, the main reason initial costs run high are essential oils. Their prices reflect the time-consuming process behind extraction. In doTERRA's case, it also reflects ethical business practices of paying fair wages and investing in the communities who grow, harvest, and distill the crops needed for essential oils.
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(via jamiegeurtjens.com) |
For those on a tight budget: I recommend saving up for one EO at a time and adding them into your DIY products as they're purchased. It may be worthwhile sharing an essential oil collection between friends if you are infrequent users, which would lessen financial costs and ensure the oils would be used up before their shelf life ends.
What to consider when buying ingredients
You may be tempted to buy an ingredient in bulk and save it for a few years. However, you must always consider an ingredient's shelf life. For example:
- Both Rosehip Seed Oil and Sweet Almond Oil are good for ~1 year after opening.
Therefore, always purchase smaller sizes, such as 5ml of essential oils, if you won't use up an ingredient before its expiration—this prevents unnecessary spending, product waste and the risk of possible skin irritation. Better yet, split the costs with friends: pool together money to purchase ingredients and/or build a communal essential oil collection. Holding DIY skincare workshops at-home with friends would be a fun, enriching activity for everyone.
How much money am I really saving?
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(via Tenor) |
Firstly, I'll break it down by cost per year. Since 25ml of face oil lasts me around 2½~3 months, this means I use 4~5 bottles per year.
So...
In the 1st year...
~$16.00 face oil x 5 bottles = ~$80.00
---------------- vs.
sum of all ingredients = $102.00
$$ saved = - $22.00
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(via eatsweatthrive.com) |
Additionally, I utilize the entire volume of ingredients in many other ways: as a body oil, in aromatherapy, diffuser, and a few other DIY products. I make up the financial 'loss' of ~$22.00 rather easily in other areas of my life.
Also bear in mind that most EOs last at least two years so there's no need to repurchase them every year like carrier oils. I can make several bottles of face oil indefinitely, repurchasing ingredients each year as needed—instead of buying a store-bought bottle every 2½~3 months.
With that in mind, let's go to the next few years...
In the 2nd & 3rd year...
~$16.00 face oil x 10 bottles = ~$160.00
---------------- vs.
sum of restocked ingredients x 2 years = $52.00
(Rosehip, Sweet Almond)
$$ saved = + $108.00
total $$ saved = $86.00
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(via theriseandshine.com) |
See that by the 3rd year I'd have saved enough to cover the 1st year deficit, with money to spare at $108.00, or ~$54.00 per year! Fantastic.
Let's move on to the next following year. I'd need to repurchase Bergamot EO, so I'll add that into the sum of restocked ingredients.
In the 4th year...
~$16.00 face oil x 5 bottles = ~$80.00
---------------- vs.
sum of restocked ingredients = $56.00
(Rosehip, Sweet Almond, Bergamot)
$$ saved = + $24.00
total $$ saved = $110.00
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(via savingtipsco.com) |
The savings are much smaller than the previous year, as EOs are our more expensive ingredients. I'm only saving ~$24.00 this year... but hey, it's better than nothing!
Luckily for the following two years, I won't need to repurchase any EOs (since Lavender and Geranium have shelf lives up to ~6 years). Here's what the next two years would look like:
In the 5th & 6th year...
~$16.00 face oil x 10 bottles = ~$160.00
---------------- vs.
sum of restocked ingredients x 2 years = $52.00
(Rosehip, Sweet Almond)
$$ saved = + $108.00
total $$ saved = $218.00
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(via Gfycat) |
Again, I save $108.00 or ~$54 per year when there's no need to restock EOs.
In the 7th year, I'll have to restock on my last two ingredients: Lavender and Geranium EOs—I wonder if this will cost more than store-bought oils? Let's find out!
In the 7th year...
~$16.00 face oil x 5 bottles = ~$80.00
---------------- vs.
sum of restocked ingredients = ~$80.00
(Rosehip, Sweet Almond, Geranium, Lavender)
$$ saved = + $0.00
total $$ saved = $218.00
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| (via Dribbble) |
The next year would repeat like the 3rd year in which I'd restock on Bergamot EO (~$24.00 savings that year), and so on!
Conclusion: From these calculations, I've learned that even if I didn't save any money in the first year and the years I restock on Lavender and Geranium, this DIY practice is still money-saving altogether, over time.
At first, buying bulk ingredients for DIYs is more expensive—especially when it comes to essential oils. However, this investment of making your own skincare products is more cost-effective in the long run, as the initial amount purchased is enough for many refills over several years. You also aren't being as wasteful per year, recycling between 1 to 3 containers less than with store-bought face oils. Overall, this is an incredibly easy and super customizable DIY that I find worth doing, and I hope this example inspires you to do the same.
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