When it comes to giving your partner a massage, whether a sensual massage or a massage to help them feel less tense, one thing that tends to get over looked is a good oil. Oil is an important part of the massage; it helps create a glide. You are able to get the right amount of friction without having so much friction that you don't accidentally hurt your partner.
Normally if I want a fragrant oil, I mix my own, but recently I have found a few commercial oils that I really like. I will get to those in just a bit. If you want to mix your own oil, you are going to need two things: essential oils that are skin safe and a carrier oil. The three most common carrier oils are sweet almond oil, avocado oil, and grapeseed oil. Sweet almond oil is great for helping with dry skin and relieving skin irritations. It is also a good oil for people with sensitive skin. Avocado oil is good for the skin because it has a lot of vitamins in it and those vitamins are absorbed into the skin. Grapeseed oil makes a good carrier oil because it is a very light oil; this makes mixing the essential oils quite easy. Another upside to grapeseed oil is that it works well with all skin types.
Once you decide on the carrier oil that works best for you and your partner, you may decide to add essential oils. There are two things to remember when choosing an essential oil. You want to make sure that it is skin safe and you want to remember that even though it is skin safe, you do not want to apply it directly to the skin. Apply essential oils directly to the skin will cause skin irritations.
When choosing an essential oil, you have many options. One of the most popular oils is lavender. This is a great essential oil to use if your partner has a lot of anxiety or stress as it helps the body relax. If your partner does not like the smell of lavender, chamomile can be used to the same effect. Chamomile also helps to relax the muscles. Other essential oils that can help relieve anxiety and stress are jasmine, sandalwood and sage. If your partner has a lot of muscle pain, there are a few essential oils you may find helpful. Black pepper, peppermint, and rosemary are all good for muscle pain.
Once you have decided on your essential oil, you want to mix it with your carrier oil. At first I would recommend only adding a few drops at a time. You can always add more if you like, but if you add too much, it can be hard to rebalance it. You can get creative when mixing your massage oils. You can mix a few essential oils together to create your own scents, but if you are going to do this, I recommend playing around with it in test batches using your carrier oil in small cups and adding the oils so you do not waste your oils because you create a scent that you do not like.
When it comes to buying a good commercial oil, you want to pay attention to the ingredients list. Normally I find that the best commercial oils are kept very simple. They normally have a few carrier oils along with fragrance and that's it. When it comes to an affordable commercial massage oil, I found that I personally like Lelo's ONO massage oil. The oils that are listed in the ingredients though simple are all very good for the skin. You want to know what you are putting on your skin.
If you are unsure if you are allergic to something, I would recommend you do a skin test. To do this, apply a bit of the oil on your wrist or the inside of the elbow, leave it uncovered for twenty four hours, and do not wash the area during this time. If you have any itching, swelling or redness, then you should not use this oil. I would recommend doing this for any new oil that you plan on using. I would also recommend you have your partner do this ahead of time as well. Though it may take away from the sensuality of giving your partner a massage at the time, it would be much worse if you gave your partner a massage with an oil that they are allergic to.