Soap Queen

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Natural Baby Oil

Filed Under: Lotion

Difficulty: Beginner
Time: 15 - 20 minutes
Yields: Four 4 oz. bottles

This recipe brilliant in its simplicity. The skin-loving combination of just three oils makes for a wonderfully-textured and amazingly not-too-greasy option for baby’s skin, plus the use of Oat extract takes the sensitivity of young skin into consideration. Try this oil on dry patches after a bath for maximum benefit.

Natural Baby Oil

Recipe:

8 oz. (by volume) Sunflower Oil

4 oz. (by volume) Rice Bran Oil

4 oz. (by volume) Avocado Oil

1 oz. (30 mL) Oat Extract

Four 4 oz. bottles with caps

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ONE: Start by measuring the Sunflower Oil. Transfer the oil into a container with at least a 16 oz. capacity.

TWO: Measure the Rice Bran Oil and transfer into the larger container.

Adding Rice Bran Oil

THREE: Measure the Avocado Oil and transfer to the larger container.

FOUR: Add your Oat Extract by either measuring it in a separate container, or using a dropper. 

FIVE: Heat the mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds (be sure you are mixing in a heat-safe container!). Give the mixture a good stir to ensure all oils are fully mixed.

Optional step: Although I chose to leave this batch of oil unscented, you can add 2-4 mL of a gentle essential oil like 40/42 Lavender Essential Oil to give your baby oil a light, soothing scent. I recommend a super conservative usage rate when it comes to fragrance or essential oils in this product.

SIX: Using a funnel, carefully pour the oil into bottles. Be sure not to overfill! Just below the shoulder of the bottle is the perfect fill level.

SEVEN: Allow the oil to sit for a few hours to cool before screwing on the caps. Enjoy!

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51 Comments

    • Hi Erin!

      I’m not exactly sure! I did a quick internet search and it looks like some sunflower seed oils have a higher vitamin E content. You may want to contact the manufacturer to find out more.

      I believe using it in this recipe should be OK! A small test batch may help. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  3. Can’t wait to give this a try especially since I have a family baby shower this month. Do you have and recipes for safe baby shampoo and baby soap?

  4. about infused oil
    can I infuse the mixing oil, or just infuse with only oil,and after that, mix the infused oil with the other oil

  5. Hi there! I’m very excited to try this and would also like to make my own baby wipes, I found the following recipe for wipes on Pinterest and am wondering if you can advise if it is safe without using any preservatives. I’ve researched a lot on homemade products and know that anything with water should contain a preservative.

    1 3/4 c distilled water
    1 T pure aloe Vera
    1 T pure witch hazel
    2 T liquid Castile soup
    10 drops grapefruit seed extract, or 2 capsules of vitamin E
    1 T olive or almond oil
    Essential oils of choice

    Thank you!

      • Thank you for such a quick response! I read the information from the link you provided.. But also read more into comments about this wipe recipe from others and have found that the witch hazel and soap could be harmful to the baby’s skin. Do you guys have any ideas on how to make my own wipes with what ingredients? Other recipes I’ve found are baby oil, baby wash and water. Would that be a better option using this baby oil recipe and adding a preservative?

        • Hi Stephanie!

          In reference to the Witch Hazel, because it’s such a small amount, I don’t think it would be harmful. That being said, if you want to be extra cautious you could emit it from the recipe.

          While this recipe is great for the skin, it is not cleansing, so simply using this oil with a preservative would not clean the skin. Using this oil along with a baby wash and water would be though! We have never made baby wipes before, but it’s something we can definitely look into!

          I hope this helps, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask! 🙂

          -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  6. I just became a Gran in October and my little granddaughter is allergic to anything Coconut (oil, butter) I would love to be able to make this for her but with the addition of the traditional “baby powder” scent. Can I add it to the recipe safely?

    • Hi Nikki,
      Usually Rice Bran is light yellow in color. Do you know how old the oil is? Rice Bran has a shelf life of 1 – 2 years, so if it’s older than that it may have gone rancid. Let me know and I’d be happy to help troubleshoot more!

      -Kirsten with Bramble Berry

      • Its only a few months old i got it from brambleberry. Its always been a bit cloudy, I shake it up to try and emulsify everything before i used it and heated it all together in microwave. But the baby oil in my bottles has a cloudy part at the bottom when its all settled.

        • Hi Nikki!
          Our Rice Bran Oil isn’t too cloudy, but we would love to hear from you to make sure you didn’t get a bad batch! The easiest way to do this is through our live chat feature which you can find at the very left hand side of the screen at brambleberry.com. You can also email customer service at info(at)brambleberry(dot)com.

          Can’t wait to hear from you! 🙂

          -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  8. I do this and infuse the oils for 2-4 weeks w/ lavender and sweet woodruff. It gives it a soft natural scent and can remain 100% natural 🙂 Nice to see a little different oil combo and added oatmeal…now i might try a small oat infusion next time.

    • Hi Joanne!

      You can add essential oils like Lavender to this tutorial, but you will want to check and make sure that if you are using this for a baby oil, that they are safe for the skin.

      If you are trying to figure out the maximum (or minimum) rate for of fragrance or essential oils in body oils, soaps or lotions, you can use the Fragrance Calculator, which will give you the maximum safe usage rate. Just choose the ‘lotion’ option, the fragrance or essential oil you would like, and the amount and it will calculate those results for you.

      Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx

      I hope that this helps! =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

      P.S. The general usage rate for essential oils in body oils and lotions is .2 ounces per pound of mixture.

  10. Hi,
    Just wondering if you think it would be ok to infuse a little calendula in this? If so would you do it in the final mix,,or one particular oil?? Thanks!!

  11. Oh, one more question how does the oat extract effect people that are allergic? Can you substitute it for a different extract?

  12. Can you tell me what the shelf life of this might be? Thank you. Just when I think I make enough handmade products you guys come out with new tutorials lol. Love you guys. Keep up the good work!!

    • Hi Leah!

      For any product, the shelf-life is going to be as long as the ingredient with the shortest shelf-life. In this particular recipe, the Sunflower Oil has a shelf life of 3 months to a year. As long as you keep this baby oil in a cool and dry place it can last you up to that year! I hope this helps. =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

    • Hi Natasha!

      We encourage you to heat this recipe up because the oils (especially the Avocado and Rice Bran Oil) are a bit viscous, and heating them up will thin their consistency and helps to encourage easier mixing. You don’t have to get them super hot, just one 30-second burst on the microwave will work. I hope this helps! =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  14. This is good for those of us who refuse to buy the store-bought cr-p that takes forever to work, if at all. I hate that they put all those harmful ingredients in BABY products (& ours too!) knowing that babies have sensitive skin! Thank God for those who sell the natural stuff! 🙂

    Here’s a good laugh: if vegetable oil is made from vegetables & olive oil is made from olives….what is baby oil made from??? BAHAHAAA!

    ~Nickie~

  15. What a FANTASTIC tutorial!!! That oil combination must be soothing and just heavenly on sensistive skin. Sure beats mineral oil and fragrance.

    xo- Janice at soapkitten.blogspot.com

  16. I would love to make this for my little niece. What a wonderful idea! How long can it last without having to use preservatives? What are the chances of it growing bacteria, mold or yeast if using water-based extracts?

    • Hi Pam,
      Great question! The good news is the oat extract in the recipe doesn’t contain water. It’s plain oat extract in a mixture of coconut oil fatty acids. No need to add preservatives 🙂

      -Kirsten

  17. Hi! I love this idea but I’m not a fan of sunflower oil. Would olive work for this? What about sweet almond oil? Thanks!

  18. Love this recipe idea… is there anything other than oat Extract that we can use?

  19. This as great tutorial! You know what i would like to see along the same lines of baby? We cloth diaper our youngest but along with that comes the issue of not being able to use regular diaper creams sold at stores because the ingredients in those clog the microfiber. I really think a home made one is possible. A tutorial on that would be great!

  20. I love this idea! My son has super sensitive skin with dry patches…I can’t wait to make this for him!! The traditional stuff from the stores hasn’t worked…thank you for another fab recipe!! =)

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