How Often Should You Use Body Oil?
Last updated 19 September 2026 · 9 min read
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Daily is fine for most skin. A body oil is a leave-on product with nothing in it that needs a rest day.
- Timing matters more than frequency. Apply within about three minutes of stepping out of the shower, while skin is still slightly damp.
- Three to six pumps covers arms, legs and torso. If skin looks shiny, use less product rather than using it less often.
- Lotion first, oil second. The oil is the richer layer and it goes over the top.
ON THIS PAGE
- How often should you use body oil?
- Can you use body oil every day?
- How often should you use body oil after a shower?
- How often should you use body oil at night?
- How often if your skin is very dry?
- How much body oil should you use?
- Do you need to reapply during the day?
- Body oil before or after lotion?
- Building a routine you will actually keep
- Which body oil should you start with?
- Frequently asked questions
If you have a beautiful bottle of body oil sitting on the shelf and no real sense of whether you are meant to use it every day, twice a day or once a week, you are in very good company. Most of us learned a facial routine properly and then worked out body care by guessing.
The good news is that body oil is one of the least fussy products you will ever own. There is no build-up to manage, no active to cycle and no rest day to schedule. What actually changes how your skin looks and feels is when you apply it and how much you use, and both of those are easy to get right.
How often should you use body oil?
Most people can use a body oil once a day. Apply it to damp skin straight after showering. If your skin feels comfortable and looks soft without a greasy film, daily suits you. If it feels heavy or marks your clothes, drop to every second day, or keep the daily habit and use less product.
That is the whole answer for the majority of skin. Once a day, on damp skin, most days of the week.
From there it flexes with the season and with what your skin is doing. Through a Melbourne winter, or after a week of air-conditioning and long-haul flights, twice a day on the driest areas is perfectly reasonable. Through a humid February, three times a week on shins and elbows may be all you want.
Frequency is a dial, not a rule. The only thing worth being strict about is the timing.
Can you use body oil every day?
Yes. Daily use is not too much.
The worry usually comes from facial skincare, where the advice to ease in and space things out is genuinely important because so many face products contain actives. A body oil is a different kind of product. It is a blend of plant oils, sometimes with essential oils for fragrance, designed to sit on the surface and leave skin looking soft and feeling comfortable. There is nothing in it that accumulates in a way that needs managing.
If daily use is not working for you, the reason is almost always one of these three, and none of them is the frequency:
- Too much product. Shiny skin and oil on your sheets means the amount, not the habit. Halve it.
- Applied to dry skin. Oil on bone-dry skin has nothing to hold against the surface, so it sits on top and takes far longer to absorb.
- The wrong texture for you. A rich, slow oil is glorious at bedtime and miserable at 7am before a meeting. That is a formula question, not a frequency one.
How often should you use body oil after a shower?
After every shower, if you can make it a habit. This is the single easiest way to get the most out of a body oil, because you are working with the water already on your skin rather than against dryness.
Aim to apply within about three minutes of towelling off, while skin is still slightly damp. Warm the oil between your palms first, then smooth it over in long strokes. Give it two or three minutes before you dress so it has absorbed enough not to transfer.
If you shower twice a day, you do not need to oil twice. Pick the shower that suits the routine better, usually the evening one, and keep a lighter lotion for the other.
More on the damp-skin rule and why those first three minutes matter: why apply body oil after a shower.
How often should you use body oil at night?
Nightly, if you only want to do it once a day, and a night application is the one we would choose.
Two reasons. First, the oil has hours to absorb with nothing rubbing against it, so skin looks softer by morning. Second, scent behaves better in the evening. A grounding, warm-spice oil is lovely at 9pm and competes with your perfume at 9am.
Whether morning or night suits you better comes down to the oil's texture and its fragrance, and we have set both out in full in our guide to the best time to use body oil.
How often should you use body oil if your skin is very dry?
Once or twice a day. Morning after the shower, and again before bed on the areas that always feel tight: shins, elbows, knees, heels, the backs of the arms.
For skin that feels very dry, the move that makes the biggest visible difference is not more oil. It is oil over a lotion. The lotion delivers water to the surface, the oil helps hold it there, and the two together leave skin looking plumper and feeling softer for longer than either alone.
If your skin is dry and reacts easily, start slower: two or three applications a week with a fragrance-free formula, and patch test first. We have gone into amounts, formulas and a week-by-week schedule in body oil for very dry skin.
How much body oil should you use?
Three to six pumps, or roughly a 20-cent-coin amount, covers arms, legs and torso for most people.
The technique that changes everything: warm it between your palms for a few seconds before it touches your skin. It spreads further, absorbs faster and feels twice as luxurious. Then, instead of doubling your first amount, add a small second dose only to the dry spots.
Under-using is the more common mistake. If you are rationing three drops across both legs, the oil will feel like it is not working, and the problem is the amount.
Do you need to reapply body oil during the day?
No. One application is the standard routine and reapplying is entirely optional.
The exceptions are the parts of you that get washed and weathered: hands, forearms, shins. If those feel tight by mid-afternoon, a top-up helps, and a lotion is usually the easier choice for it because it absorbs faster and will not mark a shirt cuff.
Body oil before or after lotion?
Lotion first, oil second.
A lotion is water-based, so it delivers hydration to the surface. An oil is the richer layer that goes over the top. Reverse the order and you are asking a water-based lotion to spread across a slick surface, which it will not do evenly.
You do not need both every day. Most people only layer on dry areas, or through winter. The full order, including where a shower oil and a self-tan fit, is in body oil before or after lotion.
Building a body oil routine you will actually keep
The routine that works is the one that happens without a decision. Three things make that far more likely.
- Keep it in the bathroom, not the bedroom. The habit attaches to the shower, so the bottle needs to be within reach of the towel.
- Choose the scent for the time of day you will use it. A bright, lifting oil for mornings, something warmer for evenings. If you only want one bottle, choose for the time of day you are most reliably unhurried.
- Match the texture to your dressing time. If you have four minutes between shower and clothes, you need a fast-absorbing oil, and there is no point pretending otherwise.
A simple weekly shape that suits most Australian skin:
- Every evening: oil on damp skin after the shower, three to six pumps.
- Two or three mornings: lotion only, for speed.
- Once or twice a week: lotion then oil over shins, elbows and heels.
- When you have the time: a longer massage, working from the feet upwards. This is where the Ayurvedic practice of Abhyanga comes from, and it is worth reading about if the ritual side appeals. We have covered it in what is Ayurvedic oil.
Which body oil should you start with?
If you are buying your first proper body oil, the decision is really about two things: how fast you need it to absorb, and whether you want fragrance.
Still deciding? Browse the full range of organic and natural body oils, or read our guide to non-greasy body oils in Australia if absorbency is your deciding factor.
SHOP THE ROUTINE
Lotion on damp skin, oil over the top, and something for the evenings.
Frequently asked questions
How often should you use body oil?
Once a day suits most people, applied to damp skin after showering. For skin that feels very dry, once or twice a day. For skin that reacts easily, two or three times a week with a fragrance-free formula.
Should I use body oil every day?
Yes, daily use is fine. A body oil is a leave-on product with no actives that need a rest day. If skin looks shiny or marks your clothes, use less product rather than using it less often.
Is daily body oil application too much?
No. Nothing in a plant-oil blend accumulates in a way that needs managing. The usual reason to cut back is feel, not frequency.
Do you use body oil before or after lotion?
After. Apply the lotion to damp skin first, then the oil over the top. A lotion is water-based and delivers hydration, while the oil is the richer layer that helps hold it there.
Is it better to use body oil in the morning or at night?
Either works. Night suits richer or scented oils because they have hours to absorb undisturbed. Morning suits lighter, fast-absorbing formulas that will not mark clothing.
How much body oil should I use?
Three to six pumps, or roughly a 20-cent-coin amount, for arms, legs and torso. Warm it between your palms first, then add a small second amount to elbows, knees, shins and feet.
How often should you use body oil after a shower?
After every shower is the simplest habit to keep. Apply within about three minutes of towelling off, while skin is still slightly damp.
How long should you leave body oil on?
There is nothing to rinse off. Give it two to three minutes before dressing so it has absorbed enough not to transfer onto clothing.
Can body oil replace moisturiser?
It can, if your skin feels comfortable with oil alone. The two do different jobs, so skin that feels very dry usually looks better with both.
How often should you use body oil on very dry skin?
Once or twice a day, layered over a lotion on the driest areas. Shins, elbows, knees and heels benefit most from the second application.
Explore more: Body Oils · Body Care · LAMAV · Saya
Read more on The VAMS Edit: Body Oil Before or After Lotion? · Body Oil Morning or Night? · Why Apply Body Oil After a Shower · What Is Ayurvedic Oil? · How to Use a Face Oil
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