Making your own personal care products is an easy way to reduce waste, use natural ingredients, and save money. Many recipes for homemade personal care products are geared toward women, like makeup removers or items with certain floral essential oils such as rose oil.
There are many excellent recipes for men’s personal care products, including shaving cream, facial wash, and aftershave.
What’s great about DIY recipes is that you can adapt them to your personal preferences, skin characteristics, and seasonal needs. For example, you can tinker with a moisturizer recipe to make it a bit heavier in the winter and then lighten up in the summer when the air isn’t as dry. There are so many different types of oils, including essential oils, to experiment with. Have fun and enjoy customizing with recipes to get just the right blend.
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Staple Ingredients
Unrefined shea butter: This product is derived from the nut of a shea tree, native to West Africa. This ivory-colored butter is best when 100% pure. Shea butter contains a lot of vitamin A, vitamin E, and fatty acids. It provides some sun protection with a natural SPF of 6 to 10. Although it feels heavy when first applied, it absorbs into the skin without feeling greasy.
Essential oils: These compounds are extracted from plants and have different properties depending on the plant. Want to calm away your stress, ward off athlete’s foot, or soothe a cough naturally? Look for essential oils with the properties you desire. Be sure that you dilute essential oils with a carrier oil before applying them to your skin.
Carrier oils: Essential oils can be quite potent and often need to be diluted with a carrier oil. Coconut, olive, avocado, jojoba, and sweet almond oil are all wonderful choices, and each has beneficial properties. Look at the characteristics of the carrier oil to select one with the desired effects.
Essential Oils for Men
These are all great essential oils for men:
- Oakmoss: great scent with a masculine note
- Cypress: is antibacterial, microbial, and antifungal
- Clary sage: helps reduce stress and relaxation
- Cedarwood: has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic qualities
- Frankincense: commonly used for anxiety, coughs, and colds
- Sandalwood: is used to treat a variety of conditions including fevers, anxiety, and fatigue
- Rosemary: antibacterial and great with acne
- Fir: used to alleviate skin inflammation and in the treatment of some types of pain
- Orange: helpful in treating acne, boosts mood, and reduces stress
Antiviral Essential Oils
Are you looking for essential oils that are antiviral?
- Tea tree oil is especially useful due to its antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. Be sure to dilute tea tree oil and other essential oils with a carrier oil or it can irritate the skin or have overwhelming results.
- Peppermint oil has a lot of antiseptic properties, is antiviral, and makes an excellent addition to chest rubs to help with common cold symptoms.
- Lemon oil is also antiseptic and makes a great addition to cleaning solutions. A recent study found that cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary oil blends are effective against flu viruses.
Athlete’s Foot Remedy
Athlete’s foot is a fungal infection that commonly starts between the toes. Are you experiencing itching, stinging, or burning around your toes or on the bottom of your foot? Do you have cracking and peeling skin? If so, here’s a simple and natural DIY treatment.
Ingredients:
Directions: Mix a carrier oil, such as coconut oil, with 25% to 50% tea tree essential oil. Apply the mixture to the affected area twice daily.
Facial Wash
This is a wonderful, simple cleanser for the face. Customize the essential oil based on the desired effect and your skin complexion. The jojoba oil won’t clog your pores and your face will feel soft afterward.
Ingredients:
- 5 tablespoons jojoba oil
- 1/4 cup Castile liquid soap (unscented if adding essential oil and avoid synthetic fragrances)
- 20 drops essential oil: frankincense or rosemary are great options
- 1 cup distilled water (water that has been boiled and cooled)
Directions: Put all the ingredients in a bottle with a foaming nozzle. Shake until well mixed.
Facial Moisturizer
This is a wonderful moisturizer. It is quite concentrated, so apply just a bit for soft, hydrated skin.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup shea butter
- 1/8 cup sweet almond oil (or jojoba oil)
- A few drops of your favorite essential oil
Directions: Melt the shea butter in a double boiler or boil water in a pan with a bowl on top. Let cool, add the almond oil, and blend them together. Place the mixture in the fridge for an hour while it starts to solidify. Then, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil.
Natural Cologne
Most colognes are filled with synthetic fragrances, which can be harmful to human health. By making your own blends, you can customize the fragrance to suit your personal preferences. When possible, use Everclear or grain alcohol and not vodka or witch hazel. Find a 10 milliliter (ml) spray bottle.
Ingredients:
- 8 drops fir essential oil
- 8 drops orange essential oil
- 4 drops frankincense essential oil
- 1 3/4 teaspoons Everclear
Directions: Add all the ingredients to the small spray bottle, preferably dark-colored glass. Shake to blend together. If your bottle allows light through, store the mixture in a dark location.
Want more DIY personal care? Read DIY Women’s Personal Care Products and DIY Kids’ Personal Care Products.
This article was originally published on March 26, 2020.