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Home Made DIY Bodyscrubs
Exfoliate, Hydrate and Invigorate
A good body scrub will remove dead skin cells, unclog pores, rejuvenate your skin's surface and improve your circulation. All this, and they are cheap and easy to make at home as well!
Scrubs are typically made with a gritty base, such as sugar or salt, made into a paste by the addition of liquids or 'goo' such as milk, honey, vegetable oil or yogurt. Commercial scrubs may be made using clays and ground shells, but these are items you are less likely to find on your shelves or even in your grocery store.
To prepare a scrub, pick your grit, and your goo, and mix the two. Add the liquid a little at a time to the grit, and only add enough to make a pliable paste. You don't want the water-soluble grit to totally dissolve into the goo, or you won't have anything left to scrub with. Fragrance or essential oils are good additions to provide scent and mood enhancement. Shea butter or vegetable oil will provide the hydration your dry skin craves.
Be very careful if using ONLY oil to provide the liquid in your mix; a little oil - say one-two teaspoons - is necessary if you want to leave your skin hydrated; too much oil and you will possibly make your tub or shower a slippery accident-trap! A non-skid mat is essential if using oil in your recipe.
To use, wet yourself in the shower, then standing outside the water's spray, rub generous handfuls of scrub briskly over your skin, concentrating on areas such as legs, elbows and ankles which can be major dead skin zones. If using a salt scrub, obviously avoid areas of cut or broken skin, since you don't want to literally 'rub salt into your wounds'. That can really smart! Then stand under the water to rinse the scrub away.
Here's a few recipes to get you started; you'll be able to invent your own using these as inspiration.
EARLY MORNING BRISKER, or THE SALTY DOG:
One cup salt
one tablespoon shea butter or jojoba oil (or other vegetable-based massage oil, such as apricot kernel or even olive oil)
lemon or lime juice sufficient to make a stiff paste
essential oils grapefruit, sweet orange and/or bergamot - 10-15 drops total
ROMANTIC EVENING LOVE SCRUB
one cup sugar
one tablespoon honey
one tablespoon olive oil
vodka or rum sufficient to make a stiff paste
essential oils of rose, geranium, patchouli - 10-15 drops total.
(Leave out the essential oil and the scrub is entirely edible. Substitute a flavored vodka for scent and make a double batch; invite him into the shower with you.)
IRON MEN GET DRY SKIN TOO SCRUB
one cup salt
one tablespoon rubbed sage
one tablespoon olive or massage oils
lemon juice sufficient to make a stiff paste
5-10 drops vetiver essential oil (commonly found in many men's fragrances)
a splash of sweetgrass fragrance oil (a nice new-mown hay fragance, from the grass used in native American purification ceremonies)
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