Summertime is the perfect time to expose a little bit of skin and allow the sun to kiss it with its warm glow.
And what can make your skin glow even more is body shimmer oil. Body shimmer oil is a type of oil you can apply to your skin that adds a luminous glow to your skin and accentuates your features by catching and diffusing light.
Body shimmer oil also makes your skin look incredible on a night out, adding a sultry smoothness to your skin in dim lighting. The key to glowing? Tiny pearlescent shimmering particles submerged in the oil that catch the light just right.
You can buy a body shimmer oil or make it yourself. Many of the body oils on the market contain toxic ingredients, so making it yourself gives you control over what you put on your body. Body shimmer oil is one of the easiest DIY beauty products to make.
So how do you make DIY body shimmer oil? You need two basic ingredients: oil and mica powder. You can also add essential oils and other additives to enhance the oil if you like.
In this post, we will go over the steps to make your perfect body shimmer oil that will look incredible on all skin tones this summer.
Body Shimmer Oil Tutorial
At its core, body shimmer oil only requires two ingredients – oil and mica powder. That being said, you might want to add a few other things to your oil if you want it to smell nice or provide your skin with additional vitamins.
Here are some tips on picking your ingredients:
Base Oil
For this recipe, you will need about 100 grams of base oil.
For the base oil, you have lots of options to choose from. You can select the oil based on your personal preferences or skin sensitivities. Here are some popular oil options for body shimmers:
- Fractioned coconut oil – this oil is easy to find and provides moisturization to your skin
- Baobab oil – this oil is non-comedogenic and anti-aging
- Jojoba oil – this oil is lightweight and won’t leave you feeling sticky. It also contains a lot of vitamins
There are other oils you could use, but these are the ones we would recommend most. All of these oils are good for the skin and won’t feel super heavy. For our recipe today, we’ll be using jojoba oil (find it on Amazon).
Mica Powder
The other key ingredient you’ll need is mica powder. Mica powder is a naturally-occurring mineral that is used in many cosmetics. When ground into a fine powder it provides a beautiful shimmer.
Mica powder comes in different colors, so you can customize the way your body shimmer oil looks by selecting the shades of shimmer you want.
Here are some great mica colors that look great in a body shimmer oil:
- Gold mica powder is a must in most body shimmer oils because it gives skin a sun-kissed glow
- Bronze mica powder is ideal for darker skin tones or those looking to add a tan or bronzed effect to the skin
- Rose quartz mica powder adds a gentle pearlescent pink shimmer which gives your skin a healthy glow
Mica comes in all colors of the rainbow, but for your body shimmer oil, you’ll probably want to stick to “skin tone” colors like golds, pinks, peaches, browns, and bronzes.
You can choose to use just one of these shimmers or opt for all three and mix them together to get the color you want.
We will be adding only a small amount of mica powder to our oil – about 5 grams, so the colors you choose will not be overly saturated and will look natural on your skin.
Optional Ingredients
While it’s not necessary to add anything else to your shimmer oil, you can add a few drops of essential oils to make your body oil smell nice.
Just make sure not to add any citrus oils to your blend if you plan on spending time in the sun. Citrus oils, like orange essential oil and lemon essential oil, can make your skin more sensitive to UV damage.
Some essential oils that would work well in a body shimmer oil are:
- Lavender essential oil
- Geranium essential oil
- Coconut essential oil
- Ylang ylang essential oil
In addition to sweet-smelling oils, you can add some skin-friendly vitamins to your body shimmer oil, such as vitamin E oil. Vitamin E is great for your skin – it provides hydration, protection, and antioxidants.
DIY Body Shimmer Oil Steps
Here is the step-by-step on how you can make your body shimmer oil using the ingredients we discussed:
Begin by deciding what ingredients you’ll use and gathering all of your supplies. You will need:
- 100g of base oil (we are using jojoba)
- 5g of mica powder (we are combining 1g bronze, 2.5g gold, and 1.5g pink)
- 10 drops of essential oils (optional)
- 1g vitamin E oil (optional)
- Empty glass bottle about 3.5oz – 4oz with a lid
- Medium mixing bowl with a whisk
Directions:
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix your base oil with the mica pigments until everything is thoroughly mixed and the color looks good to you.
- If using essential oils, add about 10 total drops of your chosen essential oils.
- If using vitamin E oil, add it to the bowl and mix everything again.
- Carefully pour the contents of the bowl into your glass bottle.
- Voila! Enjoy your body shimmer oil.
For a visual tutorial, take a look at this video from WholeElise on YouTube.
How To Use DIY Body Shimmer Oil
If you’ve never used a body shimmer oil, we’ve compiled a few tips for you to get the most out of your new oil.
Shake Before Using
DIY body shimmer oils tend to get layered while they sit on your shelf because the mica particles can sink to the bottom.
Don’t worry, this is normal. Just shake your bottle a few times before application to get the best results!
Where To Apply Body Shimmer Oil?
Body shimmer oil looks best on areas of the body that would normally catch light. Think shoulders, collarbones, chest, thighs, and shins. You can also use it on your face: cheekbones, cupid’s bow, or tip of the nose.
When applying the oil to these areas, simply spread a small amount of oil over your skin and allow it to absorb and dry a bit before you put on your clothes.
Avoid spreading the shimmer oil all over your body to prevent looking like you took a bath in glitter. It’s best to approach this oil like you’d approach a face highlighter – only putting it on small areas to reflect the light.
Should You Use A Brush?
You can use your hands or a large stippling brush. If you use your hands, expect a lot of the oil to cling to your palms.
Large stippling brushes make the application process easier and cleaner so invest in one if you want.
If you don’t have a stippling brush, any large makeup brush can work, but make sure the bristles aren’t too soft to prevent streaking.
Does It Expire?
Like all cosmetics, body shimmer oil can expire. And homemade cosmetics expire even faster because they don’t usually contain the same chemical preservatives that you find in store-bought cosmetics.
But your DIY body shimmer oil is going to last a long time – about 2-3 years depending on the type of oil you’re using.
Natural oil is very stable and since our DIY body shimmer oil only contains oils and mica, it will last you a long time.
Your oil ingredients might separate or darken slightly with time. The best way to tell if your body shimmer oil has gone bad is to smell it: if it smells rancid, it’s time to throw it out.
Prep Your Skin
To make your oil look super smooth on your skin, prepare your skin by exfoliating and moisturizing it.
To exfoliate your skin, you can use a scrub or an exfoliating brush in the shower. The purpose of exfoliation is to remove dead skin cells and make the skin smoother and clearer.
In addition to exfoliation, make sure to moisturize your skin with a cream or lotion before putting the oil on.
If you’re going to be out in the sun, don’t forget to apply sunscreen before the oil. Oil can make your skin burn quicker, so use an extra strong SPF.
Wash Off With Soap
If you don’t want to wake up to oil stains and glitter on your bed sheets, make sure you wash off your shimmering body oil before you go to bed.
To wash off the oil, just use warm water and soap. Massage the soap into your skin for a few minutes to ensure all of the residue and shimmers come off.
Bonus: Your skin will feel extra hydrated and soft after wearing the oil!
Final Thoughts
DIY body shimmer oil is a simple and fun project to do that leaves you with a gorgeous product that you’ll love using. We hope you enjoyed this tutorial!
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