This is our second Sugar Plum recipe for holidays 2018 making, and it makes for a delightful gift (or, you know… keep it for yourself!). It’s easy to make, can be dressed up with a pretty bottle, and feels really quite expensive and posh. The recipe is easy to scale, so you can make a big batch, bottle it up, and have yourself half a dozen or more gifts in well under half and hour. Booyah!
This gorgeous body oil contains a new-to-me ingredient that is going to play a starring role in the remainder of this series: plum oil. This silky, golden yellow oil has stolen my heart in a way few carrier oils have. Back when I visited Portland in August I was lucky enough to be invited to tour the Essential Wholesale & Labs offices, and when I left Lauren sent me home with a gift box that included a tall bottle of plum oil. As per her directions I popped it in my fridge when I got home, and then rather forgot about it for about a month.
Then, in September, I finally cracked that bottle open. The oil itself is a rich yellow with an incredible skin feel—silky, with an almost powdery finish that is downright divine. The extra-super-special thing, though, is the scent. It smells of marzipan and preserved fruits—tangy and a bit sweet and utterly lovely. It is probably the most unique carrier oil I’ve ever smelled (perhaps tied with neem, but plum wins hands-down in the pleasantness category), and that scent carries through to end products which is just… divine. In September I’m already thinking about all things Christmas and something Nutcracker fused with this bottle of golden liquid, and now here we are in sugar plum land!
I also have a sample of plum oil from From Nature With Love and it doesn’t smell anything like the awesome oil I have from Essential Wholesale & Labs, so I wouldn’t recommend buying your plum oil from From Nature With Love.
As soon as I tried neat plum oil on my skin I knew I needed to make it into a body oil. To be honest, it takes a lot for me to get excited about body oil—I make so many things, and when I take the time to spread something over more than just my hands, it is usually lotion. Plum oil gets me excited, though! Our oil oil blend today is simple; sweet almond and plum, with a touch of Olivem300 to add a bit of water-soluble tech. The inclusion of Olivem300 means this body oil will emulsify with any water you have left on your skin after a bath or shower, transforming into a body milk right on your skin. You definitely don’t need to apply this oil with damp skin, but it works beautifully if you choose to!
Since plum oil is on the pricier side, I’ve kept the amount low enough to get the gorgeous scent without breaking the bank, letting less expensive sweet almond make up the bulk of the blend. I’ve complimented the marzipan and cherries scent of the plum oil with a touch of vanilla-like benzoin and some bright, spicy cardamom. The end result is a golden oil that smells of Christmassy desserts and leaves your skin unbelievably soft. Swoon.
As with all body oils, this one comes together in a jiffy; simply combine everything in a beaker and stir. Make sure you take a few moments to get acquainted with the plum oil all on its own, though—its worth it!
Sugar Plum Body Oil
27.5g | 68.75% sweet almond oil (USA / Canada)
8g | 20% plum oil
4g | 10% Olivem300 (USA / Canada)
0.2g | 0.50% Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)
0.2g | 0.50% benzoin resinoid
0.10g | 0.25% cardamom essential oilWeigh everything into a beaker and stir to combine before transferring to your bottle(s); 40g (1.41oz) will make approximately 50mL (1.69 fl oz) of body oil. I recommend using a bottle with a treatment pump top or a disc top. I used a 50mL frosted glass bottle from New Directions Aromatics with their dispensing pump top.
Alternatively, you can weigh everything directly into the bottle if you’re making just one, and cap and shake to combine.
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this body oil is 100% oil based, it does not require a broad-spectrum preservative (broad spectrum preservatives ward off microbial growth, and microbes require water to live—no water, no microbes!). Kept reasonably cool and dry, it should last at least a year before any of the oils go rancid. If you notice it starts to smell like old nuts or crayons, that’s a sign that the oils have begun to oxidize; chuck it out and make a fresh batch if that happens.
Substitutions
As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the recipe, you will get a different final product than I did.
- As I’ve provided this recipe in percentages as well as grams you can easily calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this post. As written in grams this recipe will make 40g, which is approximately 50mL by volume.
- You could replace the sweet almond oil with another lightweight liquid oil like sunflower seed oil or safflower oil.
- If you don’t have the plum oil (I haven’t found it in Canada yet—I’m sorry!) I think your best alternatives would be apricot kernel oil (USA / Canada) or cherry kernel oil—oils that are also pressed from the kernels of similar stone fruits. You will lose the marzipan/cherry note; if you aren’t a fan of the scent you might prefer that! Otherwise, you can look for a fragrance oil with a similar scent and incorporate it (I’d start at 0.1–0.2% as it’s a pretty subtle scent). I haven’t found this scent anywhere else in the realm of natural ingredients, sadly.
- You can use more sweet almond oil in place of the Olivem300. If you want to keep the water soluble element, try water soluble shea butter. I do not recommend using a polysorbate as they’re quite sticky in leave-on applications.
- You can use a different essential oil blend if you prefer, just be sure you’re choosing something that plays nicely with the scent of the plum oil. I kept the amounts very low to allow everything to mingle nicely.
Gifting Disclosure
The plum oil was gifted by Essential Wholesale & Labs.
Wow! This DOES sound luscious indeed! Thanks for taking the time to put this together. Quick question 4 U … does it absorb into the skin quickly? I find it tricky to know what sort of recipe to use that will absorb quickly, for moisturizing my skin. I’ve made body butters which are lovely, but take ages to absorb. Now I’m trying a formula in a stick that I roll on, which is better for sure. Ultimately, I’d love something that I can roll on or spray on or whatever, and then be able to sit on the couch or a chair soon afterwards without leaving oil stains. Don’t know if that’s possible though? Thought I’d ask you, the pro! : )
Thanks, as always, for your sweet and super informative information Marie.
It does absorb quickly (I had hoped it would work as a massage oil—nope!), but you will still need to rub it in, and take care not to use too much. It is still pure oil regardless of absorption speed 🙂
Happy making!
I am so intrigued by this oil! I’ve been eyeing it but I have so much product to finish before new purchases! Love this recipe!!
Oh goodness, I know the feeling! I know Essential Wholesale has does a 15mL sample, wink wink nudge nudge 😛
I’m definitely putting this (and the matching soap!) on my “to-make” for Christmas presents list… any chance you could tell us what else to order (Windy Point, New Directions or Essential Wholesale)to complete the entire “2018 Christmas Gifting” season? Do I sense a lip balm in the future?
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you! The plum oil, cardamom, benzoin, and tree scented fragrance oils were definitely the big theme ingredients. Beyond that I included a few fancy new things (like NAG), but generally tried to stick to ingredients I’d used before 🙂 Happy making!
BWHAHAHAHA! Cardamom! LOL! I just hit submit on my last Christmas themed post making that five cardamom based themed posts! I tell you… one of us is a mind reader across the various ponds!
I’m sold! Can’t wait to get my hands on some plum oil! Pssst! You need to try out prickly pear oil. It’s WICKED!
How would you compare prickly pear oil to cacey oil? My skin lives cacey and I want to try the prickly pear but it is so expensive. Just wondering.
I just got some prickly pear oil! I’ve only tried a bit neat on the skin, but so far it does seem fantastic!
I have bought a fair few carrier oils recently, some of them with longer shelf lives then others eg marula, cranberry, avocado, tamanu, Shea nut oils plus others. I see that generally the vitamin e is added to slow down rancidity at the point where the oils are incorporated into a 100 percent oil blend. However, given my recent truckload of purchases on these carrier oils I wonder if I should add the antioxidant to the carrier oils instead. I could always add more when I come to incorporating the oil into the oil blend since an antioxidant is good for the skin anyway but my concern is more about the longterm store of oils than of a small batch that is made from it. On that note I am considering adding rosemary extract (oil miscible), vitamin e, and a small bit of green tea wax which is a new ingredient to me. That way I’ll boost the antioxidant content of the final oil blend. Do you know if these can be used like this or have experience with these ingredients? I’ll follow the retailer recommendations for usage quantities but was curious since you love experimenting with all sorts of ingredients. Great posts Marie x
Good morning Puja!
I’ve never added an antioxidant to my carrier oils (and I’ve bought them in 20 gallon drums before!) for storage and had them last for many many years above the recommended expiry date- follow your nose! I have heard of other makers adding various antioxidants to their stored oils to extend the shelf life… but… is it worth it? Not really in my opinion. If you take care with your oils and store them in the fridge or in a cool dark storage area you should be able to extend their shelf life considerably. Secondly, to extend the shelf life even further of your stored carrier oils, you can look into decanting them into smaller containers to reduce the air space thus preventing oxidation. I got this idea from the Essential Oil Doctor
Dr. Robert Pappas. And as a bonus for your dried ingredients, invest in some desiccant sachets!
Hi, am trying to make the Sugar Plum Body Oul, and seem to have a problem with weights. I can’t seem to get the “.2 g, my scale doesn’t seem to have the “ point” 2 or 27.”point” 5g. Etc. I just can’t seem to measure this recipe correctly, I guess I don’t understand the entire thing!!! Can you help.
It just sounds like you need a more accurate scale—you’re basically trying to pay for something that costs $1.50 with a one dollar bill and no change 🙂
Have you tried the Plum Oil from Lotioncrafter? I am wondering about the scent specifically. . .
I haven’t, but one of my patrons ordered it and reports that it smells divine 🙂 Happy making!
The plum oil sounds awesome. I do have a question regarding its scent- you mentioned that it smells like marzipan and cherries. Does it smell similar to almond extract? I’m trying to get a natural almond/cherry scent and was wondering if plum oil could fill that category.
Thank you 🙂
It’s the closest thing I’ve found—I’d definitely order a small bottle to sample and see what you think 🙂
Well apparently bitter almond EO, which smells like cherries and almonfMd, can be sourced from plum/apricot/cherries/peaches, but it’s very expebsive, so I will try plum oil when I next order.
Ooo, very cool! Thanks for sharing 🙂 Best of luck getting some plum oil!
Hello.I’m a beginner and want to know if i can add dried rose or lavender in my body oil ,directly in the bottle.And if yes,will it affect ashelf life?
Thank you!
You can, and as long as they are totally dry the shelf life should not be impacted 🙂 Happy making!
Does the sweet almond oil actually taste sweet?
Not at all—I’ve yet to find any oils that taste sweet.