How to Make Dandelion Oil: A Step-by-step Tutorial

Some photos in this post contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link.

Dandelions are amazing. They have such great properties for healthy skin and are super simple to DIY into some great skincare. I first started with a dandelion salve, and then decided it would be great for an eye ‘cream’. Once the skin around my eyes felt soft and smooth, I got hooked and impatiently used up what was left of my expensive Estee Lauder serum and creams and switched over to my dandelion balm. Then, I found out that Estee Lauder uses palm oil in their products and I had to look for alternatives for lotions and bb cream. While I haven’t made a bb cream and use Juice Beauty right now, I made a balm for my face that has turned it into angry acne-prone skin to beautiful supple porcelain. Well, maybe not as smooth as porcelain, but you know it’s good when you can’t stop touching your face!

I’ve written about how dandelion infused oil is what makes the skincare so damn amazing in my salve posts, but I never really got into the details on how to make the oil. So, here are my super easy steps to follow:

Step 1. Pick the dandelion flowers. It doesn’t matter if they’re big or small or missing some petals. Fill up your bucket, basket, or colander with dandelion flowers. You don’t need a fancy basket like you see all over Instagram to pick the flowers. My basket, mainly used to collect vegetables and flowers in the summer, was occupied with seed potatoes, so a colander worked wonders! Really, any concave vessel will do.

Step 2. Wash them. Then, just for fun, wash them again. There may be some blades of grass, a couple of bugs that snuck in there, and dust attached to your flowers. You’re putting this on your face, so rinsing them a couple of times is definitely needed.

Step 3. Dry them out. This usually takes 2 – 3 days, but if you forget about them or run out of time, you’re fine. They’re literally drying to be used at a later date, so don’t worry about needing to use them in a certain time frame.

Step 4. Sanitize your jars. Always, always, sanitize your jars when doing anything with skincare. Sanitize your jar and lid and band for about 10 minutes in boiling water.

Step 5. Jam in all of your dried up flower heads! Don’t worry about squishing them in there. When you pour the oil in they will pushed down, leaving tons of room at the top.

Step 6. Pour in the oil! You can get extremely fancy and get extra extra virgin Cher Horowitz oil in a glass bottle. But, it’s going to get super expensive. I just buy a big ol’ jug of Kirkland’s olive oil. I use it when I make soaps, too, and it’s affordable.

Step 7. Place your jar in a cupboard for about 6 – 8 weeks, or on a windowsill for 2-4 weeks. I end up doing a little of both and have them on a shelf that gets some sunlight, but isn’t directly in it. I often forget about the oil and it ends up sitting longer than it needs to.

Step 8. Strain your dandelion oil with a cheesecloth, pouring into either a bowl you’re using to make your skincare products, or another sanitized jar that you’ll keep the oil in until you have time to make said skincare. Add to all kinds of wonderful skincare recipes!