I’m honestly not a very imaginative person, so it was really hard to come up with essential oil blends recipes when I first started my homemade soap making journey.
I would group up all my little glass bottles, into bottom, middle, and top tones, and gather up a bunch of q-tips, sit at the table, and try to pairings that smelled amazing together.
I think I nearly burned out my husband’s nose with all my “smell this!” “now, how about this?” nonsense. One thing’s for sure, we came away from these sessions with clear sinuses! 😉
(By the way, you can read my essential oil philosophy here)
Despite my lack of creativity, we eventually came up with some very simple blends that we absolutely loved! And I have to credit our all-time favorite to Gabriel. What can I say? he’s got a good nose.
So if you’re in need of ideas for essential oil blends for soap making, or lotion, or other body products, feel free to pull out your bottles – but read this first! These are our favorites! We love them, and use them every day.
Then come back and let us know in the comments what your favorite blends are!
These measurements are given in “parts” because I can’t tell you how much oil you’ll need in your particular batch of soap. You may like a strong scent, or you may like it a bit more mild. You’ll need more in cold processed soap, because the curing process “eats away” some of your essential oils, or if you’re making hot process soap, you’ll need less, because the curing is done before you add oil.
See what I mean?
Update: I’ve been asked by several people how much a “part” is, so here’s a simple breakdown: one part, is a fraction of a whole. You can measure in drops, teaspoons, cups, etc. So 4 parts of one oil, can be four drops or teaspoons, and one part of the second oil, would be one drop or teaspoon. Together, they make a whole of five drops (or teaspoons).
Essential Oil Blends Recipes
Spearmint Patchouli
- 4 parts spearmint
- 1 part patchouli
If I only had on blend for the rest of my life, this would be it. Spearmint is so sweet, so soothing and mild.
Patchouli is earthy, musky, and gives this blend a slightly more masculine scent than spearmint alone would. I think that’s why we both love it so much.
Orange Vanilla
- 2 parts orange essential oil
- 1 part vanilla oil
I admit that sometimes I like this blend as much as the spearmint-patchouli mix.
It’s so sweet, so clean and homey. It’s orange creamcicle – my favorite ice cream treat ever as a child. (Also, orange essential oil is really cheap as essential oils go, so I like to use it a lot!)
Lavender Peppermint
- 1 part lavender
- 1 part peppermint
Separately, these are two of my favorite scents, and together, they’re just phenomenal! It may seem like an odd pairing, but the calming lavender, and invigorating peppermint go strangely well together.
The Man’s Man
- 1 part patchouli
- 2 parts bergamot
- 1 part cedarwood
This blend is 100% masculine. It’s perfect for the boy’s bathroom, or a hunting cabin, and for once, you could even give homemade soap to a guy as a gift and he won’t mind!
Orange-Mint
- 2 parts orange
- 1 part peppermint or spearmint
This is a mild, sweet, clean smelling blend, that’s so inoffensive, it’s a pretty safe bet when you want to gift someone who’s preferences in scent you’re not sure about.
Beyond these five delicious smelling essential oil blends, I’m a big fan of keeping things simple by making small batches of soap, and using a single oil in each batch.
One of my favorite things in the world is a strongly scented bar of rosemary soap. Or the deliciously clean smell of lemon.
The possibilities of single scents and blends are truly endless. But that’s okay – it just means we get to make more soap!
P.S. In the past, I have used Now Brand essential oils for soap making (with the exception of the vanilla oil), because they are by far the cheapest that I could find, and I wasn’t too worried about the quality since it was “just” soap, however, after having some skin reactions as a result of using adulterated oil, I’ve rethought my position. You can read about the oils I now use here, but feel free to use according to your preference.
P.P.S. Some of the links within this post are affiliate links (see my disclosure policy).
Recipes everyone can make!
Nourish your body with ingredients you already have in your kitchen!
PJ says
Thank you for sharing your time and knowledge! 🙂
Alisha says
Hi Elise thank you for your recipes and your article. I find it both entertaining and informative. I’ve recently started collecting dried herbs , flowers and spices and infusing them to make my own oils for soaping. I also started buying essential oils but I’m a little slow with that one because I want to gather as much information as possible to learn how to blend and use in my own oils for soaps. I’m looking forward to reading more of your articles.