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YOD DIY: Papaya Oil for Brighter Skin

Writer's picture: shangenoshangeno

If fashion is my "first love", beauty products are definitely my second. Some people find solace in Target, but the Beauty Supply Store is my happy place. It literally has everything I need for the perfect self care day: shea butter, incense, hair products, black soap, and essential oils. I can spend HOURS in a well curated beauty supply store (this also includes Sephora & Whole Body). Some might call me a product junkie. I prefer, beauty connoisseur.


However, I found buying every new product that grabbed my attention to be costly. I also want to be more mindful about what chemicals I put in my hair and on my body. So, I started making my own whipped shea butter loaded with essential oils for my body moisturizer and leave-in conditioner for my hair. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not against chemicals in general, sometimes you just need the job done. But, I am open to trying out natural methods as well.


This is when my interest in essential oils got deep. As I read about the different benefits, I stopped thinking so much about which oils smelled the best (and there are some bad smelling oils out there y'all), but instead what properties they contained that were beneficial to my hair, skin, and mood. Now, I'm testing creating my own oils, starting with papaya oil!


For years I have struggled with problematic skin. Acne and dark spots are a constant concern of mine and most times when I find a product that works, it's only temporally. I started to research some natural remedies and found papaya is reported to be used in 337 cosmetic products for skin brightening benefits. So on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I decided to give my first test batch a go. If you want to give it a try, I've included step by step instructions below. Some measurements are not exact as I waited for my ancestors to whisper "enough" lol.


What You'll Need

1 Red Papaya

Grape seed oil/Coconut oil

Lemon essential oil

Sharp knife

Cutting board/surface

Blender and/or food processor

Fine mesh strainer

Cheese cloth

Measuring cup

Glass essential oil container with dropper



Cut papaya and seeds for facial oil




Step one:

Chop up your Papaya into small cubbed chunks. Actually smaller than what's pictured here, I cut each of these cubes into 3 pieces after a failed first attempt with my ninja. If you have a Vitamix this size will most likely work.







Papaya oil base mixture

On the right you can see what your papaya should look like before starting the next step. I was going to cut away the skin and discard the seeds, but I read there's benefits in all of them so I put it all in the food processor and blended unit it had an apple sauce texture. I added lemon oil at this step for more brightening properties.


Step two:

Heat 1.5 to 2 ounces of your base oil of choice and add the papaya mixture in a sauce pan on medium low heat letting it comes to a simmer. I chose to use grape seed oil because it's lightweight and doesn't clog the pores. You'll want to heat this mixture until you see the oil separating from the mixture and its color is orange-ish/coral.


Extracting papaya oil

Step 3:

Strain your mixture over a ceramic bowl. To get the most oil, you'll need patience at this step. I propped my strainer up over the bowl with various kitchen items and let it strain for about 15-20 minutes. TIP: Try not to press or mash the mixture at this step. You can see I tried this in the picture to the left and that just pushed the actual mixture through instead of more oil. You can move the mixture around without pressing.




Papaya oil before using cheese cloth

Extracting papaya oil through cheese cloth


In the photo to the left, you can see how my pressing just let more of the mixture through during the first straining process.

Patience is a virtue I'm still working on.

You can also see the orange/coral color you want your oil to have here.













Step 4:

Take your cheese cloth and place it over your measuring cup. You can also use another bowl here. But if you're planning to store your oil in glass dropper container, it'll be much easier to transfer the oil with a measuring cup.






Homemade papaya oil, diy


Step 5:

Transfer your oil into your glass container.

and voila! This recipe produced a little under an ounce of oil. Which may sound like a lot of work for a small amount of oil, but I'll only use about 10 drops a day. So I expect this to last a few weeks.


I'm going to apply this with my morning and nightly face washing routine. So excited to see if it it works! I'll keep you updated with my experience on this post periodically.


Until next time,

YOD Style

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