Exfoliating your skin once or twice a week is the best way to improve your skin tone. Scrubs unclog pores, promote a speedy turnover of skin cells, balance your body’s oil production, and rid your pores of toxins and dirt, creating a fresh overall look and feel. Scrubs are very easy to make at home – once you have all of the ingredients prepared and measured, the process takes only minutes.
This recipe we’ve created use organic demerara cane sugar as the main exfoliating ingredient (which means that you can nibble a little in the shower and it’ll be tasty). If you are a savory person, you could use sea salt in place of the sugar, the main difference being that sugar is a little softer on the skin and better for sensitive skin. This recipe calls for virgin coconut oil, which soaks into your skin quickly, is naturally antifungal, and helps to lock in moisture and promote skin hydration. Not to mention, virgin coconut oil also lends its sweet scent and taste to create dessert-like recipes. You could use another pure oil in place of it, like olive, walnut, avocado or sunflower oil. Keep in mind that some have a stronger savory scent or might feel oilier on your skin. This recipe requires the oil to be in liquid form for thorough mixing. The easiest way to melt coconut oil is in a saucepan on your rang, at low heat. Keeping stirring the oil while it is heating until it’s just melted, and take it off the heat to cool to room temperature. As oils are heated their healing properties change, so the less heat used, the better. To melt oil in the microwave, heat for 10 seconds at a time until liquefied.
The best place to use a scrub is in the shower. After an initial rinse, scoop out a handful of scrub and massage it onto wet skin. You might step out of the water stream as you do this to keep the scrub from dissolving as you spread it over your entire body. Rinse the scrub off thoroughly and pat your skin dry when you exit the shower.
We wanted to share recipes using ingredients that can be found in most grocery stores, and you can store the scrubs you make for up to 3 months in a sealed jar.
Tools you will need:
- Mixing bowl
- Spoon
- Jars with Lids
- Food Processor (optional)
- Coffee Grinder (optional)
- Sharp Knife
- Vegetable Peeler
- Spice Grater (optional)
- Zester (optional)
- Tea Towel or Sandwich Bags
- Saucepan or microwave safe bowl
LEMON POPPY SEED COOKIE SCRUB
Ingredients:
- 4 Lemons
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup cornmeal
- ½ cup coconut oil
Preparation:
If the coconut oil is solid, melt it and cool to room temperature. Zest the lemons, then leave the zest to dry for 1 to 2 hours. If you don’t have a zester, carefully remove the lemon peel with a vegetable peeler and then mince the peel with a knife. (You can make lemonade while you wait!) In a bowl, mix poppy seeds, sugar, cornmeal, vanilla, and lemon zest. Pour the oil over the ingredients and mix to combine. Store in a sealed jar.