The best essential oils for your skin are the ones that work for your skin type. Today we’ll go over which essential oils are best for dry skin, oily skin, mature skin, and everything in between – plus a few basic skincare recipes!
How to Figure Out Your Skin Type
If you’re not sure what type of skin you have, here’s a handy page to help you understand the different skin types. (Even if you know what your skin type is, you might still learn something from that page. I sure did!)
NOTE: Before we get started, I need to be clear – I can’t talk much about specific skin conditions and problems (since I’m not a dermatologist!).
Supporting your skin type is the key to bring out your best and most beautiful skin. So make sure you know your type and use the right essential oils and carrier oils for your skin! 🙂
My Basic Moisturizer Formula
Let’s start with a very simple formula for making your own facial serum or moisturizer. You can use this recipe with any of the oils we discuss for each skin type.
How to Make a Simple Facial Serum
- Pick a carrier oil for your skin type (see the skin type sections below).
- Use about 10 drops of essential oil for each tablespoon of carrier oil
- For a 2-ounce dropper bottle, that means about 40 drops of essential oil.
- You can use one essential oil, or a combination.
Everyone’s skin is a little different, so the perfect blend for you might be different than what works for someone else. This is especially important when you might be dealing with more than one skin type (such as aging and dry skin).
You can mix and match essential oils in your recipe to make sure you have all your bases covered. You might also find one blend works best in the summer, and another in the winter – our skin type can shift through the seasons!
Here are the essential oils I trust and use every day.
What kind of bottles do I use?
I usually keep my facial serum in amber dropper bottles like these. The amber color protects the oils from direct light and the dropper makes it easier to use just the right amount (usually 1-2 drops is plenty for my face — you might need 3-4 if you have very dry skin).
The Best Essential Oils for Each Skin Type
You might notice a few oils land on more than one list. Essential oils are pretty awesome! Their skin-supporting properties can sometimes be used to help different skin types.
(Lavender is probably one of the most versatile – it can be used for pretty much any skin type.)
Don’t worry too much about picking the “wrong” oil. Essential oils have a wide range of benefits, so you can’t really go wrong. 🙂
Essential Oils for Oily Skin:
These oils have properties that tend to regulate and normalize oil production:
- Orange
- Lemon
- Lime
- Bergamot
- Geranium
- Cypress
I personally love jojoba oil for my sensitive, oily skin. Did you know jojoba oil is also known as jojoba wax?
Another great carrier oil for oily skin is grapeseed oil, which absorbs very easily and doesn’t leave a greasy feeling behind.
Essential Oils for Acne-Prone Skin
These oils can be added to your moisturizer to promote clear skin, and can also be applied neat (undiluted) as a spot treatment.
Here are the best essential oils for acne-prone skin and clogged pores:
- Melaleuca Alternifolia (tea tree)
- Geranium
- Vetiver
- Lavender
- Patchouli
Just like for oily skin, jojoba oil and grapeseed oil are my favorite choices if your skin is acne-prone.
Essential Oils for Dry Skin
If your skin tends to be dry and chapped, a deeply moisturizing oil like shea butter or cocoa butter is a good base for a face cream.
Argan oil and rosehip oil are also good facial oils for deep moisture. These work well for serums.
Here are the essential oils that are best for dry skin types:
- Cedarwood
- Geranium
- Myrrh
- Sandalwood
- Palmarosa
- Roman or German Chamomile
Essential Oils for Aging + Wrinkles
Argan oil and rosehip oil are also two of the best carrier oils for aging skin that tends to be prone to wrinkles and sagging.
These essential oils are the best for mature skin:
- Ylang-ylang
- Patchouli
- Cypress
- Sandalwood
- Lavender
- Frankincense
- Rose
- Palmarosa
- Elemi
Essential Oils for Combination Skin
If you have both dry and oily skin (it happens!!), these essential oils are your best bet:
- Patchouli
- Lavender
- Bergamot
- Orange
For this I would recommend a base of jojoba oil, since it is nourishing for dry skin but still tends to be friendly to oily skin.
Essential Oils for Skin with Red Marks and Dark Spots
Some of the best essential oils for skin with red marks or dark spots are:
- Lavender
- Lemon
- Frankincense
I use these in my serum recipe for toning and brightening the skin.
Simply use 3 drops each per tablespoon of carrier oil, and you have the perfect skin-toning moisturizer if you tend to need help with uneven skin tone. Use twice a day or as needed.
Ready to learn more about essential oils? Check out my FREE essential oils course here!
IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE:
Citrus essential oils (and some others) may cause photosensitivity.
This means if you apply them and expose that skin to the sun within several hours, you may be more susceptible to redness, burning, and irritation.
Please avoid sun exposure for at least 12 hours after applying these oils. Dilution can help, but it’s always better to err on the safe side. (In my experience, bergamot is especially prone to causing reactions in the sun.)
Photosensitive oils include:
- Bergamot
- Grapefruit
- Lime
- Lemon
- Orange
- Ginger
- Angelica
- Rue
- Cinnamon
- German chamomile
Skincare Recipes with Essential Oils
Homemade moisturizers tend to be the easiest way to use these oils on your skin, but you can also add them to your favorite cleanser, mask or toner.
Try any of these recipes with your oils to get the benefits:
- The Best Homemade Toner for Acne Prone Skin
- Raw Honey Facial Mask for Acne
- Peppermint Foot Scrub Recipe
If you love this best essential oils for skin post, please share it so your friends can enjoy it too! For more of my recipes, remedies, and lifestyle tips, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Elizabeth is the founder of The Nourished Life and has been writing about natural living for 12 years. Her work has been featured at Shape, Bustle, and Mother Earth Living. Her mission is to help you lower your stress levels and find fun ways to become happier and healthier. Read more about Elizabeth here.
Hi! I absolutely love this information and thank you for taking the time to post it! I have a question. I have always wanted to use jojoba oil as a moisturizer to get away from my current un-natural moisturizer, but my skin breaks out really easily with just about anything, good or bad. I have combination-oily skin. I have heard that jojoba oil can be great for my skin type (as you mentioned also), but I have also heard it can cause some to break out more. My question is…is there a way to test on a smaller area of your face for a week or something to see if your skin likes it?
Thanks, Amy! Glad you enjoyed the post. For jojoba oil, you can test it, but to get accurate results you would need to test for about 3-4 weeks. Skin cells turn over every few weeks, so you can’t always gauge your skin’s reaction in a shorter amount of time.
Oh okay. Thanks!
I use tamanu oil, moringa, jojoba and aloe as carriers for my facial serum. The scent of the tamanu and morninga aren’t the greatest but my skin absolutely loves them. Skin nourishing, cell regenerating and really balances out my skin well. Haven’t used face wash or store purchased moisturizer in several months.
What are chances of jojoba oil reacting to skin? As i had already made up my mind to buy this oil and ran into this post.
Jojoba oil is usually very skin-friendly, even for acne-prone and sensitive skin. If you’re concerned, you can always patch test a small area of skin and wait 24 hours to see if there’s any reaction.
What is a good brand of jojoba oil?? Thanks
Use owlpure jojobal oil , It moisturizes the dry skin flakes and keeps hydrated from morning to evening .
Try grape seed oil, jojoba Oil, Argan Oil, and tea tree EO Either of those carrier oils may help. I use them all in my handmade/homemda lotions. Good luck
I have a question: I realised if I drink my hot/warm water with lemon first thing in the morning, after about 10 days I start to get pimpels. (I’m 55y) Why? Is it sort of like a detox reaction? I stop for a while and tried it again but the same reaction!?!
I’m not sure–I haven’t heard of that happening. It could be a detox reaction, but it might be unrelated.
U can try drinking only warm water for two weeks. ..check if acne appears.
This is super helpful!
Glad you like it Janelle! 🙂
I think this is great and I agree- listening to your body does mean listening to your skin! I love frankincense oil for anti-aging… I think most of us need some form of anti-aging, because the clock only moves forward and we are ALL getting older.
Frankincense is one of my favorite oils!
do you use this moisturizer as a day moisturizer? I’ve been looking for a DIY day that doesn’t make my makeup come off so quickly. Thank you!
Love all the info! Do you have a good guide line on what the shelf life of the oils may be? Thanks!
The best essential oils are good for a very long time — citrus oils are different and have about a 6 month shelf life. Otherwise, it’s practically indefinite.
Wow, this is so cool, thank you for this post! I really needed this, it had a lot of useful information for me and my girlfriends both. I will send this article to them as well. 🙂
Glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing!
What EO is safe to use on a four month old infant..Symptoms are acid reflux, excessive spitting up of formula and other conditions , like a stuffy nose, congestion and teething pain ? I already use lavender EO using organic unrefined coconut oil to help him relax and sleep, which works fabulously.. Thank you for your advise and time..
I recommend the book Gentle Babies. This article is also helpful: http://www.superoily.com/using-essential-oils-for-babies/
The symptoms you are describing could possibly indicate a sensitivity or allergy, maybe to the formula? I would talk to your pediatrician. My daughters had similar issues, which were vastly improved by switching to a non milk based formula.
Excellent post. I live by the use of oils such as these.
I’m concerned don’t citrus essential oils make your skin photo sensitive for 8-12 hours.
That’s mainly true when they aren’t diluted with a carrier oil. If they are well-diluted, it’s not so much of an issue.
I’m 40 years old. My skin is towards dry n I’m getting wrinkles…. but at the same time I’m getting acne from past 2 yrs on my skin n they r leaving marks. Pls suggest which essential oil n carrier oil I should use.
Shea butter might be helpful. It’s very moisturizing but also has a low comedogenic rating which means it rarely clogs pores.
This is so helpful. I’ve been making my owner toner. It’s been a lot of experimenting. Right now it uses tea tree oil to clean my skin and Frankincense for skin elasticity. I might it with water and apple cider vinegar. It’s done wonders for my skin. But now I’m thinking of adding lavender instead of tea tree oil. We’ll see what works!
thats a great idea for a toner. I have been experimenting seriously with oils for the face for thre years. You might want to also add rose oil/or rose water for the toner. The moisture oil facial serum I am making now is beyond awesome. Every person I have made some for become addicted to it, the face really does change like nothing before. Unfortunately there are many ingredients.
I take all the good oils, cariers,(nukui nut oil, dilo oil, jojoba oil, squalene oil, and add a vitamin c serum, as well as smaller amounts of carrot seed oil, rosehip oil, coffee bean oil, frankincense oil, and tomato seed oil, and rose oil. I also add to this a Niacinamide serum and hydraulic acid serum. I shake it up, dip one finger in and rub gently and thoroughly into your skin. It can be used for your whole body, but it is expensive. Although if you purchase everything separately, you get A LOT more than what you would pay for one expensive cream, and it makes A LOT!!! Most importantly, it’s pure magic.
A game changer for anti aging skin. I am 62, and my skin is flawless now. Just in case you are interested in making something yourself.
Could you be more specific with how much of each of these to make this serum . Thank you
Awesome post.
thank you. Have you ever tried making anything like that?
Hi, I have an oil burner and find no matter what scent I use it ends up smelling like the very first oil I ever put in it and it’s Def not my fav. Do you find this issue with your diffuser or any other? Maybe I need a different one?
I never have that trouble with my diffusers. They work differently than a burner, so that may be why.
question:: do you have any recipes for the scalp? I have multiple scalp problems and I have tried everything stores have to affer and have resorted to a prescription. I really hate that and my love of essential oils makes me hopeful that there’s something that can help. Any ideas?
I have terrible scalp problems (itching, redness, flaking) and have done extensive research on this which suggests tea tree, pachouli, and Lavender – 3-5 drops of EO per Tablespoon of carrier oil (also peppermint, but I also hear that’s bad for color treated hair). Anyway, I would also love to hear from others on this!
I have similar issues so I feel you and understand how frustrating it can be! However I recently found something that has worked better than everything I’ve tried. It’s called a vinegar rinse. What you do is take any regular white vinegar and you can dilute it up to a 1:1 ratio. The first couple times I tried it I didn’t dilute it at all and it worked well, although the smell was very overpowering! I also add a few drops (5-10) of rosemary essential oil which has lots of benefits for the hair and scalp. Shampoo as normal in the shower, then pour some of this rinse onto your scalp and massage into your hair. Rinse, then apply conditioner if you wish. The vinegar rinse acts as a conditioner so some people don’t feel the need to condition after, but I feel that it helps with the smell 🙂 afterwards, your hair will be so smooth and shiny!! and all my scalp issues (itchy and flakiness) has disappeared completely. One last tip – i put the rinse in an empty olive oil bottle so just a little bit comes out at a time! Hope this helps!
YES i agree!!! ive had same problem and hair loss and my scalp would get painful and i started using apple cider vinegar 1:1 ratio with water and amazing!In one week such a difference and 2 weeks problem completely gone. you need to wash your hair frequently bc build up leads to this problem i realized. So every other day or on the 3rd day wash but dont leave longer than that. I have no more itchiness and i still use this concoction after every wash. if you let air dry then add some pure musk oil to ur strands the smell will not be noticeable.
Kukui nut oil is the first oil I would start with as a carrier oil. Great for body and scalp and hair. I sleep in it overnight.
I think mixing that with the vinegar might be the best answer.
Check out ylsearch.com — tons of awesome testimonials there.
Hi Elizabeth! I started making these homemade concoctions bc i have had good results with them and im really phobic of those manufacturing companies chemicals (and lies!). Thank you for the information you are providing!
I would like to know more about aloe vera and adding hydrosols to the creams and lotions, what ratio should i addit to carrier and essential oil for each skin type? Have you any knowledge about this? Thank you!
God Bless
For essential oils, a good rule of thumb I use is about 10 drops of EO for each tablespoon of carrier oil or aloe. Some oils, like cinnamon or oregano, need to be diluted even more.
Thanks for writing this article. I’m new to using essential oils and this is very helpful. I think I’ve been just about to every book store in my city and none had books on how to use/mix essential oils. Barns and Nobles said I would have to order online and have it shipped to me. I was really surprised.
I like how you broke down the skin types and then outlined which oils were better for which. I have combination skin, so I found that there are certain oils I have to avoid. But through it all, lavender has always been my skincare lifesaver. Thanks for the info!
Thanks for the article a whole raft of information there. . actually i am searching in google a essential oil which help to reduce my acne pitted sacrs my scars are not that deep so i think they can heal naturally. I’ve been reading a lot about the benefits of oil of oregano for skin ailments related to inflammation, acne, and other irritants. What are your thoughts on that?
I can’t comment on specific health conditions per FDA regulations, but I personally love Frankincense for skincare and it’s really brought out the best in my skin.
Hi Deborah,
I know that your skin type is very important for what essential oil to use. Do you have any experience or knowledge about the influence of skin color of the effectiveness of essential oils?