Photo's by Lou16 |
Don't use a cuticle oil? You're not alone, it's a step many people miss out when they do their nails at home. I must admit, but cuticles were in pretty bad shape and I would just rub my hand cream into them and think 'oh well, that's just my cuticles!'
This year I've decided to treat myself my getting my nails done once a month (well it's about every three weeks, but my husband thinks it's a monthly thing LOL!) and I do love it when they pop on the cuticle oil at the end. My cuticles are looking much better, but they would look even better if I used it a little bit more often.
Now I like the idea of using natural products and not having some of the additives that you find in some skincare/personal care products being present. I also know that lemon oil is great for softening cuticles, I just had to look for some cuticle oil recipes ...
There are so many recipes for DIY cuticle oil that they would make your head spin, but many of them used so many ingredients that it just seem such an effort. Using sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E oil and about 5 different essential oils just seemed a lot for me to recommend to people, after all we don't have all these ingredients just lying around the house do we?
Well I found a recipe that used olive oil and just two essential oils and I changed the essential oils (based on my own aromatherapy knowledge, and on what I had on hand) and I've come up with the easiest cuticle oil ever -
Easy DIY Cuticle Oil That Your Nails Will Love!
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 drops pure lemon essential oil
2 drops pure lavender essential oil.
Simply mix the ingredients together and keep in a bottle, I recommend seeing if you can find a nail polish style of bottle with a nail polish brush to keep it in (they didn't have any at my local store) or even a roller bottle.
These type of bottles will made it easier to apply, but aren't essential. As you can see from my photo I just used a test tube style bottle (as I had it on hand) and I use a Q-tip to add the oil around my nails. I will let you know, however, that I have some roller bottles on order.
Lemon oil is fantastic for softening hard skin which is why it's a perfect addition to a cuticle oil. Lavender oil is a very nourishing oil, softening and just great for skin. The combination of these two oils works fantastically to help keep your cuticles looking fabulous and as an added bonus, using a cuticle oil after a manicure actually helps it stay looking beautiful for longer something I've only just found out!
EXTRA TIP - if you take vitamin E capsules then simple pierce one of them and squeeze the contents into the cuticle oil. It will make the oil even more moisturizing and rich (a much cheaper alternative to adding vitamin E oil!).
It's very important that you use pure essential oils and not synthetic ones when making your own skincare as each essential oil brings it's own benefits and fragrant oils don't have these benefits.
I love to use Arbonne's essential oils when available, if I'm after an oil that they don't have then I make sure that the one I buy is 100% pure essential oil.
Aromatherapy Isn't Just About DIY Skincare!
You can use essential oils for lots of different things, here's a few articles that you might find interesting ...
Aromatherapy has proven to be very successful at helping to relieve stress, simply by using certain essential oils stress and conditions caused by stress can be alleveiated.
Using essential oils in a humidifier or diffuser can add a lovely atmosphere to a room as essential oils can really help to work on your emotions from relaxing you or making you more upbeat.
The herbaceous fragrance of tea tree doesn't begin to hint at how many uses there are for this essential oil from medicinal to beauty to household uses this is one very versatile essential oil.
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Oh my Louanne, this does sound easy. When I was in my home, I would work so much in the garden that when I came inside, my nails and fingers were just so dry and dirty. Soap seemed to make them worse for dryness. Cuticles were something that were torn and ragged at the best of times. This sounds like a winner to me. I like easy, and quick to make things and this definitely fits the bill. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me.
ReplyDeleteCuticle oil and a good hand cream are definitely a gardener's friend.
DeleteWow, I've never had a professional manicure, so was not aware that there was something called a 'cuticle oil' or even that there was something to help my cuticles. I just figured I was unlucky in that department and stuck with raggedly looking ones. I am most definitely giving this DIY idea a try. Thanks, Louanne.
ReplyDeleteMy mum treated my daughter and I to a trip to the nail salon when she stayed with us over Christmas and New Year. I really loved how my nails looked and made a comment to my husband that I should get them done more often and he replied why not so I have done - it's my little treat!
DeleteI've never had a professional manicure either. Therefore, the use of cuticle oil is (was) a complete unknown to me. You did make me look at my cuticles though to access whether I needed an oil treatment. I do love a great DIY recipe. I couldn't help but think I would be helping my migraines when I treat my cuticles. As I recall, you recommended lavender oil for headaches and the smell of lemon always seems to make me happy. I like the idea of a multi remedy :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think there would be enough lavender oil in the oil to help a migraine, I would still apply a drop of neat lavender oil to your temples when you have a migraine or when you can feel it coming on.
DeleteLouanne, I discovered years aho the huge difference applying cuticle cream and cuticle oil has on my cuticles. I went from having hangnails on nearly every nail to just one or two at any given time. I could hardly believe they were my cuticles!
ReplyDeleteDo you think substituting sweet almond oil for the olive oil would work equally well?
Thanks for a great DIY cuticle oil recipe!
It would be fine to substitute sweet almond oil, but if you have both I think you'd get the benefits of using sweet almond by simply substituting one of the tbsps of olive oil for it.
DeleteAfter reading your review and the comments here, I'm going to have to try cuticle oil on a regular basis. I've used it in the past but never consistently. I really need to getting back to applying it. I do groom my cuticles (it's kinda fun lol) but keep forgetting about the oil. I like the ingredients in the homemade option you provided as well, especially the lemon.
ReplyDelete