Sunday, February 17, 2013

Homemade Body Spray

I used to love perfume counters and stores like Bath & Body Works. Now I run the other way when I see someone handing out perfume samples and hold my breath when I walk by Abercrombie & Fitch. Instead of a pleasant scent, all I smell are toxic chemicals. So today I'm going to show you how to make a super simple all-natural body spray with essential oils. Unlike fragrance oils, essential oils are natural compounds extracted from parts of plants, flowers, and trees and have been used throughout history for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits. Not only will you save money by making your own body spray, you will know exactly what's being absorbed into your skin and inhaled into your lungs.

ingredients
spray bottle
vodka or water
essential oils of your choice

directions
Add vodka or water to the spray bottle. If you use water, you'll need to shake really well before each use because essential oils do not dissolve in water. I bought my 1 oz. glass spray bottle at Sprouts, a health food store, for about $2-3. But you can also find them online. Add essential oils of your choice. I used Mountain Rose Herbs' information pages for specific essential oils to figure out which essential oils blend well together. You can also check out Introduction to Aromatherapy Blending for more helpful info.

favorite recipes
I had so much fun creating the following body spray recipes! I don't like any of these essential oils when used alone for a body spray, but once combined they make an amazing scent. I will definitely be creating more recipes and adding them to this list!

Grapefruit Bergamot Body Spray
8 drops grapefruit essential oil
8 drops bergamot essential oil
2 Tbsp vodka or water (1 oz)

Ylang Lime Body Spray
2 drop ylang ylang essential oil
10 drops lime essential oil
2 Tbsp vodka or water (1 oz)

Lavender Lime Body Spray
3 drops lavender essential oil
8 drops lime essential oil
2 Tbsp vodka or water (1 oz)

**I love citrus oils, but some of them cause photosensitivity, meaning when they are left on skin and exposed to sunlight, they can cause the sun's effect to be greatly magnified. So I use these body sprays on my clothing or on skin that isn't going to be exposed to the sun.

cost savings

$2.00/oz Bath & Body Works Fragrance Mist [$6/3 oz]
$0.92/oz Grapefruit Bergamot Body Spray
$0.26 Grapefruit Essential Oil [$9.75/0.5 oz at Mountain Rose Herbs]
$0.40 Bergamot Essential Oil [$15/0.5 oz at Mountain Rose Herbs]
$0.26 vodka [$6.47/750 mL] or $0 for water
$0.64/oz Ylang Lime Body Spray
$0.11 Ylang Ylang Essential Oil [$17/0.5 oz at Mountain Rose Herbs]
$0.27 Lime Essential Oil [$8/0.5 oz at Mountain Rose Herbs]
$0.26 vodka [$6.47/750 mL] or $0 for water
$0.57/oz Lavender Lime Body Spray
$0.21 Lime Essential Oil [$8/0.5 oz at Mountain Rose Herbs]
$0.10 Lavender Essential Oil [$10.25/0.5 oz at Mountain Rose Herbs]
$0.26 vodka [$6.47/750 mL] or $0 for water
You can find essential oils at your local health food store, Amazon, and Mountain Rose Herbs. Here are more ways to use essential oils. Learn more about essential oil safety.

Do you have a homemade body spray recipe to share?
What essential oil scents do you love when combined?


This post was shared at: Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Raising Homemakers Link-Up, Homestead Barn Hop, Simply Natural Saturdays, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Get Schooled Saturday, Little House in the Suburbs, Thirty Handmade Days, Happy Hour Friday, Whipperberry Friday Flair, Simple Lives Thursday, Natural Living Link-Up, The 36th Avenue, Real Food Forager Fat Tuesday, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Show Me What Ya Got Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday


15 comments:

  1. My personal favorite scent so far is lavender lemon with the tiniest hint of rosemary. I make bath salts and body spray with that combination.

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  2. Great post, Kendra! Funny timing - I was just at the store buying supplies to make something similar to write about and saw your post! I'll have to mention you for more options for recipes.

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  3. What a great and easy way to provide one of life's little pleasures. They'd make great gifts too!

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  4. What an excellent idea! I, too, run almost screaming from those perfume spraying women at the mall due to all of the toxins. When my college-aged daughter comes home, she grumps because I won't let her douse herself in the cloud of body spray she's used to using. My allergies can't handle it! Think I'll make up a batch of this for her -- something sweet, like maybe orange blossom and vanilla?

    I'd love if you'd come join my How To Tuesday link party, too.
    http://housewifehowtos.com/link-party-2/how-to-tuesday-link-party-9/

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  5. I love making my own scents too! I like to combine lavender and orange and spray it on my pillow for a Sleepy Time Spray. I'll have to try the Grapefruit/Bergamot combination--sounds delicious!

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  6. This blog always surprise me with new home made products. I never thought I will be able to make body spray at home.

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  7. Ah Homemade body spray sounds interesting. I will give my feed back after try this out.

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  8. I love the products made out of natural ingredients than chemical products, but I don’t like to use homemade products because we have no way to ensure the quality of such products. So I feel little risky about those homemade products.

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    Replies
    1. You ensure the quality of homemade products by ... making them at home.

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  9. My personal favorite scent so far is lavender lemon with the tiniest hint of rosemary. I make bath salts and body spray with that combination.

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  10. Nice blog, cool recipes. i appreciate your kindness and good vibes. i noticed what you said about the citrus oils, and find it important, bcuz of experience (cutting lemons, and playing by the pool). But i love the citrus flavors and felt a distressing need to use them without fear of adverse reactions. It seems there are some that are not phototoxic, and others are "safe" for most humans measurably. http://www.aromahead.com/blog/2010/03/22/citrus-essential-oils-avoiding-phototoxicity/
    other sites seem to more or less concur with this thinking.
    Thanks again.

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  11. Could you use Witch hazel instead of Vodka?

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  12. I made something like this. I put ginger, vanilla, and sweet orange in it. It is so refreshing, especially in the summer!

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