In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to quickly make cuticle oil at home. It is very simple and easy, and does not require large expenditures of both materials and time. The recipe is perfect for beginners and it might be even your first handmade beauty product!
Of course, a huge variety of cuticle care oils are now on sale, but judging by the ingredients, they most often contain almond or apricot oil, plus aromatic additives. And we will make with you a special mixture with the addition of vitamins and essential oils, which have moisturizing, healing and strengthening properties for nails.
WHAT is CUTICLE OIL GOOD FOR?
Cuticle oil moisturizes and softens the skin, and can also strengthen brittle and weak nails, whiten them, and heal the cuticle faster after a trimmed manicure. Regular use of this oil allows you to prolong the beauty and longevity of the manicure, keep the cuticles soft and moisturized, without burrs. And beautiful well-groomed hands are the hallmark of every girl, do not forget about it!
Recipe for cuticle oil
The blend of this oil includes base and essential oils, and you can also add vitamins and extracts. It all depends on the purpose for which your cuticle oil will be intended (this is the individuality of handmade cosmetics!)
You can choose those base oils that you have at home – almond oil, pistachio oil, apricot kernel oil, grape oil, olive oil. It is better not to use castor and linseed oil. Castor oil is too viscous and sticky, and linseed goes rancid very quickly. The selected base oils should be taken as a basis, adding “active” base oils to them:
• Jojoba oil (also called “liquid wax” because it creates a thin film that protects the skin from damage)
• Mosquito rose oil (intensively moisturizes the skin, contains a lot of vitamins)
• Wheat germ oil (contains vitamin E, restores skin elasticity, protects against over-drying, prolongs the shelf life of oil mixtures)
• Cucumber oil (powerful moisturizing oil, restores even the driest skin, moisturizes cuticles, strengthens weak and brittle nails).
• Argan oil, baobab oil, rice oil, avocado oil are also used for nail care.
Essential oils (add 2-3% – this is 4-6 drops per 10 ml of oil mixture) :
• Lemon essential oil (the most popular essential oil for nail and hand care. Used in products to strengthen nails and soften cuticles. Grapefruit essential oil has similar properties).
• Myrrh essential oil (heals cuts and wounds, stimulates nail growth, makes them stronger, also has anti-inflammatory and antifungal effects, heals the matrix and dermis under the nail)·
• Essential oil of ylang-ylang (restores brittle nails, strengthens the nail plate)·
• Cedar essential oil (stimulates nail growth, used in products for accelerated nail growth)·
• Tea tree essential oil (has antiseptic and antimicrobial properties. Used to heal minor wounds and cuts, used in cuticle repair oils).
What is good about homemade cosmetics is that you can endlessly vary and make individual recipes for each specific case. I will write two of my recipes for cuticle oil, you can repeat them completely, or create your own mixtures by choosing other base and essential oils.
Recipe 1 : An all-in-one cuticle and nail shine oil:
• 7 ml vegetable oil jojoba
• 3 ml of rose oil
• 4 drops of lemon essential oil
• 2 drops of essential ylang-ylang
• 1 capsule of vitamin E
This oil perfectly protects the cuticle from damage, moisturizes and softens it, and also gives the nails a natural shine, and whitens the yellowness of the nails that appears when using dark or bright varnishes. Lemon essential oil also strengthens nails and has a mild antiseptic effect. It can also be replaced with grapefruit essential oil.
Recipe 2
• 5 ml olive oil
• 5 ml sweet almond oil
• 5 ml grape seed oil
• 3 drops of lavender essential oil
• 3 drops of tea tree essential oil
• 1 capsule of vitamin E
And this very simple blend, disinfects and heals cuticle wounds and cuts after a trimmed manicure. This is best done with tea tree essential oil, a powerful herbal antiseptic, combined with the soothing and antiseptic effects of lavender.
How to Use Cuticle Oil
Apply oil to the cuticle area and nails, and gently massage each finger. Use after manicure, daily in the evening (in courses of 3-4 weeks), or several times a week. I always take my oil with me when I go for a manicure, and I like it better than the ones that the masters use.
OIL SHELF LIFE
It is generally believed that natural cosmetics without preservatives cannot be stored for a long time. This is true, but not in this case. Oil-free waterless cosmetics (balms, oil mixtures, massage tiles) can be stored without preservatives, because they do not contain water – and germs cannot exist without water. But there is another nuance here – natural base/vegetable oils have the ability to go rancid from air and heat.Therefore, in the recipe we use stable vegetable oils, and also add antioxidants that protect the oils from rancidity and prolong their shelf life – this is wheat germ oil, vitamin E.
Our cuticle oil has a shelf life of 3-5 months, but you will use it up faster. Usually, 10 ml of cuticle oil lasts about 3 months for me if I use it several times a week.
