Choose oil if you work deep over long sessions: it does not absorb and the glide holds without reapplication. Choose lotion if the session is short, targeted, or if the client has to leave straight away: the finish is non-greasy. Many practices keep both.

This is the question that comes up most often at the point of ordering. It has no universal answer — but it has a clear one once you know what you do with your hands during the session, and what happens in the ten minutes that follow.

Oil or lotion: the comparison table

	Oil	Lotion
Composition	Anhydrous — no water	Emulsion: water + fats
Glide	Very long-lasting	Long and more controlled
Absorption	Low — stays on the surface	Partial
Finish on the skin	Greasy	Non-greasy
Best suited to	Deep work, mobilisation, long sessions	Short sessions, targeted areas, bodycare
Practice linen	Marks more	Marks less
Alpiderma format	1 litre — CHF 28.90	1 litre — CHF 29.90

What really makes the difference: the water

The whole difference comes down to one ingredient. A massage oil is anhydrous: no water, so nothing evaporates and nothing is absorbed. It remains available on the surface for as long as the session lasts.

A lotion is an emulsion: water and fats. Its INCI list begins with Aqua. During the massage the water phase is absorbed and partly evaporates, while the fatty phase provides the glide. The result: a lighter feel and markedly less greasy skin at the end.

Everything else — how long the glide lasts, comfort after the session, care of linen — follows from that single difference.

Choosing according to your practice

Physiotherapy, deep work, mobilisation: oil. You maintain sustained pressure over large areas, sometimes for an hour; you do not want to renew the glide every ten minutes.
Wellness massage and bodycare: lotion generally suits better — skin comfort matters as much as the technique, and the non-greasy finish is appreciated.
Sports massage: often oil for deep work, lotion for short recovery sessions.
Workplace or chair massage: lotion, without hesitation. The client dresses and goes back to work.

Choosing according to session length

This is the most reliable criterion, and the simplest to apply.

Beyond 45 to 60 minutes of continuous work, oil takes the advantage: it goes the distance without reapplication. Under 30 minutes, or on a limited area, lotion does the job and leaves the skin clean.

Choosing according to what happens after the session

Ask yourself one question: can your client shower afterwards?

If they are heading straight off — office, appointment, public transport — lotion avoids the greasy feel under clothing. If they are going home or a shower is available on site, oil poses no problem at all.

And if you had to choose only one?

Take the one that matches the majority of your sessions, not the exception. A practitioner doing 80% deep work and 20% short sessions makes life simpler with an oil, and vice versa.

That said, with one-litre bottles, having both in the practice remains a modest investment — and it saves you adapting your technique to the product available rather than the other way round.

We set out the criteria for each product in two dedicated articles: which massage oil should you choose for professional use? and massage lotion — when to prefer it to oil?

Both Alpiderma formulas — the Neutral Massage Oil and the Neutral Massage Lotion — are made in Switzerland, in one-litre bottles with a pump dispenser, and developed with care professionals. «Neutral» means they do not impose an olfactory signature on the session; the full INCI list appears on each product page and should be checked for any client reporting a sensitivity.

Oil or massage lotion: how to choose?