Before sharing a few homemade body wash recipes with you, Here are a few ingredients that you will need:

Castile soap – Also known as vegetable soap, pure castile soap is one of the gentlest soaps available. It is made from non-toxic ingredients, safe on the skin and does not pollute the environment. It can come in liquid and bar form. Pure castile soap is unscented and looks quite dull, but you’re getting something so pure it’s just made from a few ingredients. You can also buy castile soap with added scents, or in bar form.

Vegetable Glycerin – Vegetable glycerin is a carbohydrate derived from plant oils and is widely used in the food and skin care industry. This compound is greatly used in cosmetics and skin products because it retains moisture, pulls oxygen to the skin and has a cooling effect.

Oils – Base oils allow the body wash to be easily absorbed by the skin, making it really moisturising. There are many oils that you can use, including grape seed, olive, jojoba and coconut oil. Adding oils to the mixture creates a very luxurious wash. So luxurious in fact, that you may no longer need to add moisturiser after showering.

Honey – A secret ingredient in many recipes, honey has a wide range of benefits for the body. It helps keep skin elastic and moisturised, and is great for skin that is mature, damaged, itchy or dry. Since it is great for all those types of skin, it’s a safe ingredient for everyone, even kids! Honey also contains antibiotic properties such as hydrogen peroxide. This compound stops the growth of microbes in the skin. For the purpose of a homemade body wash, it is best to use raw forms of honey.

Vitamin E Oil – A moisturising and repairing addition to your body wash. As an antioxidant, Vitamin E oil can also lengthen the shelf life of your homemade body wash.

Essential Oils – Generally, the reason behind using essential oils for your body wash is to add scent to it. However, the effects of essential oils go beyond the additional scent. They also have various benefits and can either soothe, repair, heal, disinfect, deodorise or do all of these things to the skin.

How to make your own body wash

Recipe 1: Easy honey body wash

This easy homemade body wash is very simple to make, and requires just a few ingredients. Plus, you can never go wrong with honey and coconut oil.

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup liquid castile soap
  • ½ cup raw honey
  • ½ cup coconut oil
  • 20 drops of your favourite essential oil (or 10 drops each if you want to use two essential oils)

Simply combine all of them and mix slowly, then transfer to a squeeze or pump bottle. Enjoy!

 

Recipe 2: Soothing coconut milk wash

This is a soothing milky wash that is great for dry skin.

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup liquid castile soap
  • ¼ cup full fat coconut milk
  • 10 – 15 drops of your favourite essential oil

Use it for relaxing moments or long showers at the end of the day. The mixture tends to separate when left sitting for some time; this is normal. All you need to do is shake it up before using it.

 

 

Recipe 3: Lively orange body wash

For a vibrant smelling body wash, use orange or any citrus essential oil.

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup pure castile soap
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 20 drops sweet orange essential oil
  • 10 drops rose oil
  • 2 tablespoons jojoba or grape seed oil

Add all the ingredients in a bottle and shake it up. Enjoy using it!

Note:

Feel free to use your own essential oils as well. If you feel that the essential oils smell too feminine, then substitute them with more masculine scents like bergamot and pine.

Most body washes that do not use water can last for a few months, but the case may be different for those with water or coconut milk in it. These recipes can harbour bacteria and cause the mixture to go bad quite easily. So, make small batches of wash, perhaps enough to use for a week. You don’t have to worry about making your body wash every now and then as the procedure is very easy and requires only a little time. Or, if you plan to make a big batch, keep half of the mixture in the refrigerator and take it out only when you need to use it.

Lastly, you may be surprised to find out that some of these body washes will not lather. Bubbles and suds do not necessarily equal clean. It does not mean that your body wash isn’t working if you don’t see bubbles. Still, if you want that sudsy lather, add more glycerin to the mix.