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Of all the ways you can make your skin care business stand out from the rest, adding herbal infusions to your product recipes is by far the easiest.
There are a variety of ways to create natural herb-infused oils and unlimited combinations of ingredients for a recipe tailored to fit any skin type or issue.
This post will cover it all for you:
When browsing through a skin care website, which product description would grab your attention more?
A) “…in a base of three natural oils…”
B) “…in a base of three natural oils gently infused with calendula and lavender…”
As a customer who had to choose between the two products, the infused version would absolutely be the winner.
Adding a spin onto typical products, such as an herb-infused organic lip balm recipe, will earn you loyal, repeat customers.
Other skin care brands are less likely to have the *exact* recipe that you do when adding highly customized ingredients like herbal infusions…and that means greater customer retention.
As small business owners, we have to drive traffic to our websites, which includes using social media and other forms of online marketing consistently.
There are few things as striking as showing a jar of herbs infusing in the sunshine – or showing oil being poured into a bowl of colorful herbs.
The visuals you can create just by documenting your infusion process are amazing content to share with your audience to stay top of mind.
We wouldn’t be skin care makers if we didn’t enjoy experimentation and the act of creating – this is just one more technique that adds creativity to our processes!
So that we’re all on the same page, an herbally infused oil is created when you add an herb to a carrier oil, keep them combined for a certain amount of time, and then strain the herbs out.
(You’ll learn three different methods for doing this further down, keep reading!)
An herb-infused oil can be used directly on the skin or as a replacement for plain carrier oils in skin care product recipes.
An herb-infused oil is very different than essential oil.
Essential oils are found inside specialized cells of certain plants. These oils have to be professionally removed for use through steam distillation, cold pressing, solvent extraction, or CO2 extraction.
Most essential oils cannot be used directly on the skin like an herb-infused carrier oil can. However, essential oils can be ADDED to infused carrier oils in small dilutions (1-3%) for safe use.
So why use herbal infusions in our skin care products?
Here are just a few (of many) benefits:
Herbal infusions are so powerful that they can even help bring comfort to more amplified skin issues that need maintained care:
Acne – a skin condition that occurs when hair follicles become clogged with oil and dead skin cells.
Eczema – a skin condition where patches of skin become rough, inflamed, itchy, and blistered.
Dry Skin – a skin condition that causes scaling, itching, cracking, and a feeling of tightness due to lack of moisture.
Irritated Skin – a skin condition where the epidermis is inflamed and a painful reaction occurs due to an outside stimulus.
Rosacea – a condition that causes blood vessels to enlarge in the face, resulting in redness, flushing, and lesions.
Important note before selecting your carrier oils:
Choose your carrier oils knowing that the shelf life of your FINAL product depends on the shelf life of your CARRIER.
If you decide to mix two carrier oils together, it will have the shelf life of the shortest-life oil.
Some carrier oils have a four-year shelf life (when stored correctly), whereas others need to be refrigerated and still only last six months.
Consider shelf life PLUS infusion method PLUS the recipe you’ll be using it in.
A customer should still have a respectable window to use their product before it goes rancid (too old or compromised to use safely).
Choose wisely and with intention!
A few recommended carrier oils are listed below – as you research which oils you would like to use, keep in mind that organic and unrefined carriers (and butters) will give you the best quality skin care products.
Sweet Almond Oil is a carrier oil that is extracted from the dry kernels of sweet (edible) almonds. Rich in Vitamin E, proteins, and numerous minerals and vitamins. This oil is easily absorbed and can be used on sensitive skin without blocking pores.
Tamanu oil is a carrier oil that is known for its promotion of new tissue formation, which may accelerate healing and healthy skin growth (especially for wounds and scars!).
Jojoba oil (which is really a liquid wax) is extremely penetrating and closely resembles our skin’s natural sebum. This means it absorbs into our skin quickly, making it very moisturizing and an excellent carrier that doesn’t leave behind a greasy residue.
Regardless of the type of herb(s) you use, make sure you are using DRIED herbs rather than fresh ones you’ve picked out of your garden.
Introducing water (which is present in herbs that are not 100% dehydrated) to a carrier oil can make it go rancid before it’s even done infusing.
Lavender buds smell floral, fresh, and somewhat camphorous. A commonly known herb that is incredibly versatile. Lavender has a strong reputation for calming stress, promoting sleep, relieving itching, etc.
Calendula is the dried petals of (non-ornamental) marigold flowers. It is said to reduce inflammation and minor skin abrasions. An excellent herb to use in blends meant for eczema care.
Dried chamomile is the flowers and buds of a German Chamomile plant. Smells sweet, fruity, and herbaceous, most often used in skin care formulations and muscle ailments.
Comfrey is a wide-reaching herb and is beneficial in many types of infused blends. It has a history of treating bruises, sprains, and strains, as well as skin rashes and dry, flaky skin.
Sage is another versatile herb. It is commonly used to help soothe muscle and joint pain, to control excess sebum production (sebum is a natural oil that the body produces), and for calming skin irritations.
Rose petals and rose hips are both popular in the DIY product scene for different reasons. Rose hips are better to infuse for skin care intentions, as they protect the skin’s barrier, brighten the skin, and can help address acne issues. (Save the rose petals for more aromatic needs.)
Oil infused with arnica is well-regarded as a ‘first aid oil’ due to its heavy use on bruises, muscle soreness, arthritis, and other muscle support. These same properties are also said to repair skin cells from the inside out.
As with any handmade skin care recipe, make sure you are using supplies and equipment 100% dedicated to skin products.
Do NOT use items that have been used for food preparation. It is highly recommended that you store all of your skin care supplies separately so that there is never the chance of cross-contamination.
Mason jars are the ideal container to infuse herbs in, as they come in a variety of sizes, a variety of quantities, seal completely, and are very affordable.
They are also the perfect shape to flip upside down and fit in a small crockpot. The perfect infusing container on every account.
Cheesecloth is necessary to help you strain the herbs out when an oil is finished infusing.
The thin but tight weave catches the tiniest bits of plant material (customers don’t want to see anything floating in their final products).
If you are only infusing one mason jar of herbs at a time (when using the heat method as described below), there’s no reason to use or purchase a standard-sized crockpot.
This miniature crockpot is the perfect size for the 16 oz. mason jars listed above.
Oil will need to be squeezed out of the herbs after they have been strained with the cheesecloth.
Necessary when doing this for sanitation reasons, and using nonslip gloves like these is especially important when working with oil and glass together.
Mason jars can be reused for making infusions over and over again, so you don’t want to write with a permanent marker directly on the lid.
Using waterproof labels is recommended so that they hold up through heat infusion, refrigerator storage, and when oil gets on the outside of the jar.
(The prep work is the same for all 3 methods.)
There are three main methods for creating herbal oils, and they each have their own benefits.
Keeping the end result of your recipe in mind, read through the different methods below before you begin.
Infusion Time: 6-8 weeks
Benefits: The time infusion method leaves you with the most vitamin-rich oil.
Infusion time: 1-5 hours
Benefits: Heat infusion is by far the fastest method for oil infusions, so it’s a good option for last-minute needs.
If you’re infusing mostly for an aromatic or tinted oil (for use in Alkanet Tinted Lip Balm, as an example) and aren’t too concerned about a vitamin-rich oil, then this method is a great time-saver.
Infusion Time: 2-3 weeks
Benefits: A vitamin-rich oil in less time than the time infusion method
Solar infusion mixes time and heat infusion together. Warmth and sunshine help to speed up the time infusion process without breaking down the vitamin-rich components as higher temperatures can.
Infused oils should only be used (at the very longest) up until the shelf life of the included carrier oil.
As soon as this shelf life hits, discard the oil.
This is assuming that the oil is stored perfectly:
If not stored well, your herbal infusion will go rancid (unusable) much faster.
Read more about Shelf Life of Natural Skincare Ingredients (for Handmade Businesses) here.
Since carrier oils are all slightly different in color and have different aromas, this is tricky to pinpoint online.
Once you are used to the scent of your preferred carriers, you will grow to learn their personalities.
In general, you will know when your carriers (and their infused versions) go bad due to:
If you ever have any doubt, PLAY IT SAFE and toss it out!
All of them!!!
To use your herbal infusions in natural skin care recipes, you simply replace the same carrier oil type with the infused version.
For example, in our mica-tinted lip balm recipe, instead of using the plain Sweet Almond Oil as indicated in the recipe, use Sweet Almond Oil that has been infused with lavender instead.
If you’re looking for approachable recipes that have a proven track record of HIGH VOLUME sales with GREAT profit margins that lead to AMAZING customer retention, look no further than our Natural Skin Care Recipe Book, specifically written for small home-based businesses.
Christine is a certified aromatherapist, essential oil specialist, and organic skin care formulator. She loves empowering others with tools to make healthy changes and understand where natural options can be woven into the fabric of everyday routines.
