Right now I bet you can go into your kitchen and whip up a skin softening body scrub from ingredients found in your pantry.
Last weekend I had a couple of girlfriends come over and we ate, drank, got massages (thanks, Amie!), and made homemade body scrubs.
They are super simple and inexpensive to make, and the combinations are endless. You can make your scrub with two ingredients or twenty. The choice is yours. Here’s what you’ll need to start.
For the base of your scrub you can use:
Salt, sugar, coffee grounds, oatmeal, ground almond meal, ground flaxseeds or a combination of all of them. I like to start with brown sugar instead of white sugar because it is softer on the skin, but white sugar is cheaper. Be careful when you use sugar because it can attract ants.
Salt is rougher on the skin and causes discomfort if you just shaved your legs or have a cut. Epsom salt, which is used to relax muscles, is best when dissolved in bath water.
I add coffee grounds to my sugar base because it adds extra exfoliation, smells amazing, and also has an added benefit of breaking down fat cells and reducing cellulite.
Oatmeal and flaxseed are great for dry, itchy skin and are much gentler than salt or sugar.
For the oil in your scrub you can use:
Jojoba oil, apricot kernel oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil, olive or vegetable oil. I do not recommend mineral oil because it is pore-clogging and dries out your skin. When you mix the oil into your base you want the consistency of your scrub to be slushy, like wet sand. Add the oil slowly and mix well. You do not want to be too much oil. Ideally you want one part oil to four parts base.
Other add-ins include:
- Cocoa powder - helps protect skin against the sun
- Cinnamon - energizes and increases circulation
- Lemon peel - energizes
- Honey - soothes and moisturizes
- Bentonite clay - draws impurities from the skin and detoxifies
- Pure Castille liquid soap -eliminates the need to wash beforehand
- Shredded ginger - exfoliates
- Linden flower - soothes frayed nerves
- Comfrey - good for minor skin irritations
- Yarrow - a soothing Chinese herb
- Orange peel or St. John’s Wort - helps ease minor depression
- Lavender flowers - helps promote relaxation
- Ginseng - helps energize and increase circulation
Fragrances to add-in:
- Natural vanilla bean - perfect in the coffee or brown sugar scrub
- Orange, lime, tangerine or lemon - for an uplifting effect
- Rosemary, eucalyptus or peppermint - cleans out the sinuses and stimulating the body
- Cinnamon or clove - improves circulation and adds a spicy kick to your scrub.
- Rose, jasmine or ylang-ylang - for a romantic floral scrub
- Geranium - balances mood
- Lavender - promotes relaxation
If you use coffee and cocoa you might not need to add in a fragrance since it already smells so delicious.
Combine your ingredients in a simple plastic ziplock storage container or if you are giving as a gift a nice glass or plastic jar with lid works beautifully.
Have fun and trust me, you’ll feel like a kid again.
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