Oil me up, sweetcheeks.

November 13, 2006 11:28 AM

I want to smear canola oil all over my body.

So, I have very dry skin and I like to take a bath with bath oil several times a week to keep me from itching. The only bath oil I can buy in town is Burt's Bees. Now, I love the stuff, it smells all lemony and yummy, but the cost is crazy when you consider how fast I am going through it. What is the difference between the oil used in bath oil and the highly refined oils used in cooking? Viscosity? If I used a cooking oil, would I smell like a big rancid french fry? What can I do to make this cheaper but still have the same lightly-oiled, lemony, bath experience? FYI: I can't stand the smell of baby oil and I would prefer to use a non-petroleum product.

posted by Foam Pants to clothing, beauty, & fashion (26 comments total)

I would recommend either sesame oil or soybean oil instead of canola. Note: Sesame oil has a scent to it that you may or may not like.
posted by nekton at 11:34 AM on November 13, 2006

Neutrogena has a a sesame based oil that smells really nice that you rub into your skin after you get out of the bath or shower. It isn't all that expensive since you use only about a tablespoon for the whole body ymmv.
posted by estronaut at 11:42 AM on November 13, 2006

I found an interesting sounding recipe for home-made bath oil which includes no baby/mineral oils.

I occasionally use extra light olive oil as a hot oil treatment for my hair, so I can vouch for the lack of scent with that particular kind of oil (i.e. I don't suddenly feel like a walking slice of bruschetta).
posted by jamaro at 11:43 AM on November 13, 2006

I would suggest CONSUMING the oil rather than rubbing it on your skin. I've been taking a couple tablespoons of refined walnut oil each day for the Shangri-La Diet, and my dry, flaky elbows basically vanished.
posted by kindall at 11:43 AM on November 13, 2006

Almond oil gets used in massage a lot, and you can get it at the grocery store. The kind you cook with doesn't really have any scent (i.e. it's not what you might think of as "almond scented") but it feels great on your skin.
posted by runtina at 11:50 AM on November 13, 2006

I used to use just plain old baby oil, but lately I've been using some lavender body oil, I think it is from Trader Joes. It may even be Trader Joes brand. If my hands are really dry and I am too lazy to walk upstairs, I will just rub in some olive oil. It works just as well and doesn't have any strong smell.
posted by sulaine at 12:30 PM on November 13, 2006

Olive oil has been really helpful for my dry facial skin, and occasional dry patches on my body. Argan oil even more so but it's harder to get a hold of. But for an all-over body oil, I think Almond would be the one to go for.

As far as good oils to consume, which I think is a great idea, I like flax seed oil (or the seeds themselves) or hemp oil because they are omega-rich and taking them keeps my skin feeling healthy and moisturized from the inside.
posted by hazyjane at 1:21 PM on November 13, 2006

I don't understand your aversion to (non)-"petroleum product," which is also generally called mineral oil (aka, with added scent, "baby oil"), and is a big component of most cosmetics and many pharmaceutical and food preparations. At a molecular level, oil is oil. Some of the very best skin oils are low viscosity, "water white" spindle oils, once used as light machines oils in textile machinery, or very light turbine oils, which are highly refined spindle oils with anti-oxidant additives. And some of the very, very nicest oils for skin are the light (lowest viscosity) food grade lubricants designed for mist lubrication systems in food container processing machinery. Get yourself a 5 gallon bucket of that stuff, and you'll think you've died and gone to heaven. Put it in spray bottle, and go to town after you bathe, and before you towel dry. You don't get sticky, it penetrates lickity split, and it's a tenth the price per unit volume of whatever you buy at the drug or grocery stores.
posted by paulsc at 1:21 PM on November 13, 2006 [1 favorite]

you have found your way onto the intarwebs, ever think of ordering something online?
posted by Max Power at 1:34 PM on November 13, 2006

A light olive oil base with a few drops of whatever combination of essential oils pleases your nose could be just the thing.

Also, vegetable oils are generally triglycerides, and mineral oils are generally alkanes. Whether you can feel the difference or not is a different question, but there certainly is one.
posted by flabdablet at 1:58 PM on November 13, 2006

My aversion to petroleum is mostly because my experience with them has been negative. Maybe I wasn't using a light enough grade. I have a bunch of different oils in my pantry and wanted to know if I could just grab something out of there when I head for the bath. I like the idea of not having to have a special oil just for bathing. And, yes, I have heard of buying things online but would prefer to know what I should be looking for before I get out my checkbook.
posted by Foam Pants at 2:02 PM on November 13, 2006

Light olive oil works beautifully. When I was pregnant my skin got hypersensitive and everything made it burn, break out, or flake. I liberated the bottle of light olive oil from my pantry and it was just the thing.
posted by padraigin at 2:18 PM on November 13, 2006

I have used olive oil on painful snakeskin-like dry skin on my legs, to immense relief and no ill effects. The "lighter flavored" kind smells less aggressive.

Just a note: baths are terrible for dry skin, even with oil. You get out dryer than you got in, hydration-wise. A shower with the oil applied right at the end (with the water still running for some dilution, or you can end up too thickly coated, which is uncomfortable) is your best option, but if all you have is a bathtub then you don't have much choice, of course. Bathe briefly, in that case, and as lukewarm as you can stand.

There's nothing wrong with canola, though, if that's all you've got to hand. There are better oils, but it's not going to hurt you.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:32 PM on November 13, 2006

I've tried oil on skin a bit. Every oil I've used has a scent that I dislike except Grapeseed Oil. Best stuff on earth, great for skin, no scent.
posted by koeselitz at 2:48 PM on November 13, 2006

Oh, and as for scents, there's always essential oils and bath product scents that you can buy online and in a lot of craft stores to mix with your bath oil. My favorites, though, are the many scents that MMU Cosmetics offers, which you can order mixed with shea oil and then mix the shea with your olive or whatever. At the order stage, you can choose the concentration of scent, just choose the maximum and it'll last you a while as a mixer.

(Tip: their London Lemon Curd/White Mud Cake combo is like rolling in a glazed lemon bundt cake, if you like lemon. Probably the LLC alone is very good if you don't want it too foody. I swear they aren't paying me, I'm just an addict.)
posted by Lyn Never at 3:00 PM on November 13, 2006 [1 favorite]

Since Max Power didn't offer any intarwebular solutions, I did a search at drugstore.com and it came up with 5 pages of things that contain bath oil (not all are bath oils though) -- it looks like everything other than Johnson's is pretty much the same price as Burt's Bees, so perhaps you should go with Olive oil (which I have used on my hands and hair and makes everything super soft).
posted by echo0720 at 3:32 PM on November 13, 2006

Have you thought about trying to figure out why your skin is so dry? Perhaps you need to switch brands of soap/moisturizer/whatever else you currently put on your skin.
posted by dobbs at 3:38 PM on November 13, 2006

Here are some useful articles from Paula Begouin, author of the guide to cosmetics ingredients "Don't Go the Cosmetics Counter Without Me". She does her own investigation into all the ingredients in cosmetics etc, and presents them in a clear way in the book and on her website; I don't know what her bona-fides are, but the writing on the website is very sensible (eg making fun of a lot of marketing crap that deserves to be made fun of).

She recommends against baths, because they dry the skin, and against putting oil in the bathwater since it mostly goes down the drain. She says, take a shower using a gentle soap, and put on oil or a moisturizer immediately upon getting out. She recommends rubbing olive oil into dry areas at night. She also says (with pointers to the relevant research) that mineral oil is okay. Here are the relevant articles:

Winter skin-care tips
battle plan for dry skin
How to be gentle to your skin
About moisturizers and dry skin, including why skin becomes dry in the first place
About olive oil used as an ingredient in other skin-care products
About mineral oil used as an ingredient in skin-care products
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:36 PM on November 13, 2006

I find coconut oil to be a very good moisturizer. It's solid at room temperature in the winter, but if you scrape some out of the tub with your hands, it will melt and you can spread it on your skin.

I'm not sure how good it would be as a 'bath oil' since I don't use bath oils, but I've been able to find it quite inexpensively in the ethnic foods section of supermarkets or in Indian markets.

Also, if you have really sensitive skin, be aware that things that make oils smell nice (like citrus) can also be irritants.
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:52 PM on November 13, 2006

Camellia Oil.

My local loose leaf tea & coffee bean vendor started selling bottles of it a few months ago. It's very resistant to heat so it's great for stir frying or coating vegetables for barbeque.

It's a very light oil and has a very faint and delicate aroma (pleasant but not floral at all). When I coat vegetables with it by hand, my skin feels softer but not greasy or oily after washing with a little bit of soap. As it was a new product the proprietor asked my opinion of it (great for high-heat stir fry & bbq) and he mentioned that his wife uses it instead of lip balm and also on her hands/face.

A quick google suggests that it's becoming a more commonly used/sold. Hmm, interesting article excerpt about camellia oil.

It's not as cheap as canola (rapeseed) oil, but it'd probably go further than the burts bees stuff who's cost you're lamenting.
posted by porpoise at 5:25 PM on November 13, 2006

What's wrong with olive oil?

Cheap, smells nice, oily...
posted by Pollomacho at 6:58 PM on November 13, 2006

I haven't tried it in the bath but I'll second coconut oil making for an awesome massage oil. Cheap like Borsch, non drying and odorless. It is a solid at room temperature (so it comes in a wide mouth container) but instantly melts when applied to the skin. You can get it at soap making places at a premium or at oriental food stores on the cheap. It can be mixed with several essential oils by placing the tub in a pan of hot water until it melts then adding the scent.
posted by Mitheral at 8:58 PM on November 13, 2006

3rding coconut oil, though it does actually smell like coconut (which I happen to like). I bought mine at the chain store Vitamin Shoppe. It turns liquid at 76 degrees F, so you can bring it into the shower with you and it will act like an oil.
posted by xo at 6:42 AM on November 14, 2006

Olive oil, if you're sure you want an oil.

Aveeno makes oatmeal bath products to soothe and stop itch.

Curel (found at most mass merchandisers) makes a moisturizer designed to last for 24 hours. Get it, use it twice a day, all over. It's around $8 for a very large bottle, and I've found it to be a big help with dry skin.
posted by KAS at 9:51 AM on November 14, 2006

I'll Nth the recommendations for olive oil and coconut oil.

I'll also suggest that you get a small container of lemon oil (or whatever oil strikes your fancy) from your local health food store or Whole Foods or what have you. It will likely be a bit pricey, but the idea is to add a small amount to the coconut oil or olive oil. You still get the scent, but you're making the expensive oil last longer.

Jojoba, grapeseed, and sweet almond oils are also good oils for the skin, but in my experience, they tend to be a bit lighter. They also tend to be harder to find and more expensive.
posted by rikhei at 10:46 AM on November 15, 2006

A friend of mine swears by flax seed oil capsules, taken daily. After she started swimming a lot, her skin became dry and itchy, and that completely cleared up. Her skin also looks a lot more radiant.
posted by girlgeeknz at 11:57 PM on November 18, 2006