4 Best DIY Tanning Oil for a Great Summer

DIY Tanning oil will be your best friend if you want pocket-friendly tanned skin.

Whenever beach season arrives, every girl dreams of having a perfect tanned body. Every girl dreams of being the perfect goddess under the sun on the beach. For some girls, a few hours under the sun serves the trick, but for others, tanning oil is the magic key to being a goddess. But buying a good, effective, and safe tanning oil may cost you a fortune.

Not only that, some tanning oils even contain chemicals that might harm your skin miserably.

Well, worry not for we have got you covered! How? By suggesting you 9 best DIY tanning oils which will be perfect for your summer heat escape.

What to use Instead of Readymade Tanning Oil?

The solution is straightforward.

DIY tanning oil is a saviour under this circumstance. If you are making your DIY tanning oil, you know the ingredients you are putting into it. This means it is safe to use, and all the ingredients are completely healthy for your skin. So, why waste time getting your perfectly safe and amazing tanning oil?

4 Benefits of Using DIY Tanning Oil

The benefits of homemade DIY tanning oil are very obvious. Whenever you make anything by yourself, you always add the best quality ingredients. By using various natural ingredients, a natural tanning oil can give you a natural and safe glow-up. The major benefits are:

1. Safe to apply without any side effects.
2. You can control the addition of ingredients at your convenience.
3. Cheaper than other branded tanning oils.
4. And the best part is no chemical usage.

5 Natural Substitutes of Tanning Oil

Before we get into some tanning oil recipes, we will know some natural substitutes for tanning oil. You can use these if you are feeling lazy.

1) Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has tons of health benefits. It keeps our hair nourished and skin soft. Coconut oil used as a tanning oil is one idea that not a single person will condemn.

It gets easily absorbed in the skin due to its richness in fatty acid¹. Coconut oil is considered the preferable natural tanning oil as it can be used on all skin types. It supports all skin types and does not irritate any skin. It contains natural SPF content², which even protects you from harmful UV rays.

We always prefer virgin coconut oil for the best results.

2) Olive Oil

Olive oil is the richest oil. It wins in taking good care of your whole body. Olive oil is rich in Vitamin E and has amazing antioxidant properties which moisturize your skin well enough. Hence, preventing your skin from getting sunburns.

Extra virgin olive oil is the best in all other types of oils. It gives you a perfect tan and a natural glow-up.

3) Aloe-Vera

Aloe vera is the most beneficial substitute for skincare or body care. And when we know that it also gives you a natural tanning glow-up, it is just like a cherry on top. Having a great mixture of minerals and vitamins, it is mainly used for curing tanning sunburns.

4) Hazelnut Oil

Hazelnut oil is also one of those vitamin-E-rich oils. It is also one of the main ingredients in almost all the good tanning oils. Being rich in fatty acid, it gets easily absorbed into the skin. Under the harmful UV rays, the skin can easily get dried out, so the hazelnut oil helps keep the skin moisturized and healthy.

5) Green Tea Extracts

Green tea extract, other than vitamin E, possesses another strong antioxidant that is 20 times more efficient than vitamin E, i.e., Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG)³. It protects your soft skin from harmful UV rays. If used correctly, green tea extract can even secure your skin from any skin damage when under the tanning process.

4 DIY Tanning Oil Recipes

We all know that every person has a different skin type. So how can there only be one DIY tanning oil recipe? Therefore, here we are first stating DIY tanning oil recipes:

1) Lavender Tanning Oil

Essentials to add:
• 12 Teaspoons Walnut Oil
• 12 Teaspoons Hazelnut Oil
• 8 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
• 10-15 Drops of Lavender Essential Oil

Procedure:
Mix all these rich oils. Add your lavender essential oil. Store in a dark, airtight container overnight, and then you are ready with your natural homemade lavender tanning oil.

2) Tropical Dark Tanning Oil

Essentials to add:
• ½ Cup Unrefined Virgin Coconut Oil
• 4 Teaspoons Walnut Oil
• 4 Teaspoons Avocado Oil
• 4 Teaspoons Sesame Oil
• 10-15 Drops of Coconut Essential Oil
• 10-15 Vanilla Essential Oil

Procedure:
Always first melt the coconut oil and then use it. Mix all the oils and essential oils in the right quantity and store them in a dark, airtight container.

3) Protective Sandalwood Tanning Oil

Essentials to add:
• ½ cup Olive Oil
• 4 Tablespoons Avocado Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Raspberry Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Carrot Seed Oil
• 10-15 drops of Sandalwood Essential Oil

Procedure:
Mix olive oil, avocado oil, raspberry oil, and carrot seed oil per the quantities mentioned. Then add a few drops of sandalwood essential oil as mentioned above. I always prefer to store it in a dark, airtight container.

4) Green Tea Tanning Oil

Essentials to add:
• ½ Cup Unrefined Virgin Oil
• 4 Teaspoons Walnut Oil
• 1 Cup Brewed Green Tea

Procedure:
Mix all the oils well, and then slowly add green tea to it. Working as a great antioxidant green tea⁴ helps in neutralizing UV rays. It is also best for your skin. Always prefer to store your tanning oil in a dark, airtight container.

2 Important Things to Remember Before Preparing your DIY Tanning Oil

Every girl dreams of a fully tanned brown goddess body, but we do not want any skin damage. So what precautions should we take while giving a sexy tan to our body? Let’s discuss this in the following pointers:

1. When you plan on giving your body a perfect tan, always keep in mind your routine of sitting under the sun. If you have been in your cocoon the whole winter then start your tanning process from a lower duration of time, e.g., 20 min, at the start. This might prevent you from giving your skin some serious skin burns.
2. Even after applying all the secure tanning supplements⁵, your skin still needs comfort in the surrounding environment. Otherwise, you can either have burnt skin or rough skin.

Key Takeaways

DIY tanning oil is really a great option for you and your skin if you want tanned skin for the summer beach trip. So, try one of the above natural oils or DIY tanning oil recipes.

For some more brown goddess tips, you can click here.

1. Rustan, Arild C., and Christian A. Drevon. “Fatty acids: structures and properties.” e LS (2001). ↩︎
2. GOL, MOHAMMADZADEH SHIVA, et al. “Determination of SPF and moisturizing effects of liposomal and conventional formulations of octyl methoxycinnamte as a sunscreen.” (2007): 99-110. ↩︎
3. Nagle, Dale G., Daneel Ferreira, and Yu-Dong Zhou. “Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG): chemical and biomedical perspectives.” Phytochemistry 67.17 (2006): 1849-1855. ↩︎
4. Senanayake, SPJ Namal. “Green tea extract: Chemistry, antioxidant properties and food applications–A review.” Journal of functional foods 5.4 (2013): 1529-1541. ↩︎
5. Weinstock, Martin A., and DeAnn Lazovich. “Tanning and vitamin D status.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 82.3 (2005): 707. ↩︎

Last Updated on July 22, 2024 by Sathi Chakraborty, MSc Biology