Icy Hot Massage Oil Recipe
Every summer I feel myself spending countless hours outside, hiking, swinging, or just relaxing in the sun. All of this activity leaves me sun kissed with sore and tired muscles. My favorite cure for a tired body is a nice deep tissue massage. The only thing that makes a massage 10 times better is a homemade Icy Hot Massage Oil to ease away all aches and pains. Today I have just that recipe for you. It's a quick and easy one so get your tired muscles ready for some relief!
This recipe is the perfect chance to get to know different oils and learn how they work together to create an amazing formula. Oils are great for the skin and so versatile too. There are as many ways to use oils as there are unique oils themselves. This recipe plays with combining a few of my favorites to create an amazing Icy Hot Massage Oil. As always we will infuse this recipe with some powerful herbs to create an effective herbal remedy.
Ingredient Breakdown
This recipe is extremely simple and uses very few ingredients. It is literally just a blend of herbal infused carrier oils, a touch of vitamin E to preserve the formula, and essential oils to bring the icy hot sensation and pain relief. It's completely customizable just swap out the carrier oil for your favorites or change the essential oil to make whatever scent you desire. Each oil I've chosen brings its own attributes to the formula which I will break down for you before we get into the recipe. I have combined them so that each carrier oil balances one another and each essential oil has a set purpose and effect to bring to the formula.
Pick the perfect carrier oil
The core of this recipe is the carrier oil. It creates the base that you build off with your herbs. Some oils are fast absorbing while some are slow. Others provide an amazing slip texture needed from any massage oil.
Before we get into the recipe let's break down the ingredients I’ve chosen to include and why…
Olive Oil
The key to a great massage oil is its slip. Not only that but you want an oil that stays oily for a while too. For that reason I use olive oil. It's a slower absorbing oil that won't clog your pores, perfect for any skin type. Because of how neutral it is I use olive oil as the largest fraction of this recipe.
Grapeseed Oil
To compliment the olive oil but provide some immediate moisture I added grapeseed oil. It's lightweight and fast absorbing, sinking deep into your muscles quickly. It allows the essential oils to penetrate your muscles, perfect for easing pain!
Rosehip Oil
This oil is definitely a bonus oil. I love rosehip oil for its luxurious texture with deep hydration. It adds some weight to the formula making just a couple drops go far. Feel free to sub this oil if you don't have it on hand or just eliminate it entirely. Replace with another slow absorbing oil like jojoba or even casto if you don't mind a sticky texture. If you want to just eliminate it, just boost the amount of olive oil and/or grapeseed oil.
Coconut Oil
This is another optional oil that I add to thicken the formula a bit. It's slower absorbing and provides good slip and keeps the massage oil from absorbing too fast. I kept the amount of coconut oil in the formula pretty low so that it doesn't crystallize in the bottle. As I am sure you know, coconut oil is solid at room temp so if you add too much it likes to separate from the solution. Definitely not a big deal if this happens, just melt in your hands before applying.
Vitamin E
To preserve your massage oil for longer try adding vitamin E, a natural antioxidant that prevents rancidity. An added bonus is the nourishing qualities of vitamin E that help restore the skin's surface.
Infuse with herbs
Saint John’s wort and comfrey oil infusion
The only other component of this recipe is the herbs you choose to add. I choose to use both herbal oil infusions and essential oils to create a truly powerful combo. Not only will the herbs sink in and provide relief from muscle pain, the essential oils provide a relaxing experience and an icy hot sensation.
Dry Herb Infusion
Infusing your carrier oil with herbs is a great way to enhance the formula. To create an all around healing oil I add Saint John’s wort and comfrey. Comfrey is hands down one of my favorite herbs to soothe aches and pains. Although you shouldn’t eat it, when used topically comfrey sinks deep to ease muscle and bone pain. Saint John’s wort, on the other hand, works at the surface of the skin. This powerful herb is perfect for healing the skin.
To create an herbal massage oil just infuse one or all of your carrier oils. I personally like to just pick the oil that I use the most. In this case that would be the olive oil! Alternatively you can mix the olive oil and grapeseed oil in a 2:1 ratio and infuse that instead. Just make a large jar and pull from it as you need. Not only is this infusion good in massage oil, but makes an amazing salve too! Try subbing this oil infusion in my recipe for Herbal Salve for Muscle and Bone Pain!
Relief with Essential Oils
Pain Relief Blends
Cedarwood is one of my favorite essential oils to relieve pain. It adds such an interesting feeling when used in topicals. It honestly feels icy hot on its own! With that being said, it's a pretty intense essential oil so if it's your first time using try just a couple drops at a time.
Icy Essential Oils
Peppermint and lemongrass add the cooling sensation necessary in any icy hot formula. Peppermint is really the star here, but is intense! Use sparingly and I recommend adding dropwise until you reach your preference.
Hot Essential Oils
Cinnamon or clove is the perfect addition to bring a bit of heat. Cinnamon is more intense than clove but both make a great addition. When using cinnamon oil add a little bit at a time as to not over do it.
You may have noticed a trend, this recipe calls for some intense essential oils, but when you want to make an icy hot sensation this is necessary! Always go slow when adding the essential oils, it's so easy to accidentally add too much. If you find that you have added too much its an easy fix. Just add more carrier oil to dilute.
Icy Hot Massage Oil Recipe
Now let's get into the fun stuff! This recipe is super easy, all you need are the ingredients, a kitchen scale, and a spoon to mix (and a bit of hot water to melt the coconut oil). Well, and a jar to keep the end product in too!
Depending on the type of vitamin E you use you may want to heat the oil a bit to help it dissolve. A double boiler works great for this. If you want to make it easy on yourself just use one of the vitamin E capsules! Just pierce the end with a needle and squeeze the goodness out. If you use one of those you won't have to heat the oil, just mix very well!
Ingredients for 4 oz
50 grams Olive Oil (4 tbsp)
25 grams Grapeseed Oil (2 tbsp)
18 grams Rosehip Oil (1.5 tbsp)
6 grams Coconut Oil (1/2 tbsp)
1.5 grams or one capsule Vitamin E (1/4 tsp)
3-6 drops Cedarwood EO
3-6 drops Peppermint EO
3-6 drops Lemongrass EO
3-6 drops Clove or Cinnamon EO
EO = essential oil
*infused with Saint John’s wort and comfrey.
Procedure
Infuse your carrier oil with the herbs of your choice. I used a comfrey and Saint John’s wort infusion for their healing properties. The Saint John's wort acts on the surface of your skin and the comfrey sinks down deep to your bones. Both working together to create a well rounded herbal infusion for pain relief.
Run hot water over the outside of your jar of coconut oil to melt. Once some has melted, weigh the amount needed into a 4oz jar.
Weigh and add other oils and Vitamin E directly into your 4oz jar. After you add each oil, mix thoroughly. Melt to assist mixing if needed.
Add essential oils in to add scent and extra soothing effects. Always make sure to add essential oils dropwise so as to not over do it. Check the scent level and the sensation as you go by dropping a drop onto the back of your hand and rubbing in.
Thank you so much for reading to the end! I hope you enjoy this amazon Icy Hot Massage Oil, I know I am! If you want to check out some other recipes just visit my DIY Recipes blog.