Anyone can make their own scrubs and masks. You just need to dig in your pantry and start mixing things together.
For scrubs, you need an exfoliant as a base. Just choose from the ideas below to get started.
Ground oatmeal, oat bran, ground almonds or walnuts, wheat germ, powdered milk, rice bran, grain flours, ground herbs, organic sugar, sea salt, used coffee grounds and the likes.
Now you need a carrier for your exfoliant. Choose from the ideas below and mix it in. There is no real recipe. You add and stir until you like what you have. You can do blends or simple. A simple would be a scrub with just two ingredients.
Distilled water, mineral water, milk, cream, yogurt, honey, cooled brewed teas, coconut oil, kefir, apple cider vinegar, aloe vera gel and olive oil.
One rule... do not mix any oil carriers with a water carrier because they don't mix and will become rancid quickly.
Some easy blends:
Sugar + coconut oil
ground oatmeal + honey
Salt + olive oil
Salt + coffee + olive oil
Mineral water + powdered milk + honey + powdered oatmeal
For a DIY facial mask....there are lots of simples such as mashed strawberries, papaya, pineapple, apple, pear and banana.
You can make a healing mask with oatmeal, yogurt and powdered milk.
Just think about what pleases you and what your willing to try and have fun! Here are some of my favorites:
Classic Orange Almond Honey Scrub:
1 Tbs fresh grated orange peel
1 Tbs ground almond meal
1 Tbs raw honey and distilled water as needed.
Coconut Face and Body Scrub:
1/2 cup of raw organic coconut oil mixed into 1
1/4 cups of brown sugar or raw sugar
You can add 2 drops of lavender essential oil if you like.
Vanilla Cocoa Face and Body Scrub:
1/2 cup of coconut oil
1 cup of raw cane sugar
1/4 cup of coconut sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of jojoba oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Facial treatments can be done with fresh juices such as apple, watermelon, orange, tomato, celery and more. Just apply with a cotton ball, allow to soak in and rinse. Fresh fruit pulp is easy enough by mashing a melon slice or blueberries to be applied to the face.
Puffy eyes? Apply a damp cooled tea bag of chamomile or green tea. Make a cup of green tea and let it cool. Then use the tea as a fresh facial toner.
A face mist can be made by using a pure mineral water in a spray bottle.
And while we are talking about fresh ingredients in the pantry... there are plenty of fun therapeutic ingredients that you can make a foot or bath soak with. Don't like bits floating in your water? Tie it up in a piece of cheesecloth, cotton material or women's hosiery or use your herbal tea ball.
Soaking ingredients - whole oatmeal, powdered milk, baking soda, Epsom salt, sea salt, citrus peel, slices of citrus, roses (untreated) from the garden, fresh organic herbs like rosemary, peppermint, catnip, lemongrass all are wonderful!
A note about essential oils in the bath. It is not recommended to directly add essential oils to the water as they not only don't mix and could accidentally be drawn to your skin and improperly applied. Always mix essential oils into a carrier first in a bowl, then you may add to your bath water. An easy blend would be 5 drops of lavender essential oil to 1 cup of oatmeal, allow to infuse for an hour (covered in a bowl) and then put in a satchel. Then, place the satchel under running water. Please refer to an essential oil guide book before adding any other "EO's" to your bath water and be especially careful with children and elderly.
Pumice stone - all natural pumice stone can be used either dry or wet. You can add one or two drops of essential oil to a dry pumice stone and then drop it in the tub. This will allow the essential oil’s to distribute in the water evenly and then you can additionally use the stone to treat your feet, elbows and hands.
Want to brighten your nails? Do a nail and cuticle soak with warm water, a teaspoon of Epsom salt and two slices of fresh lemon. This can be used for the feet as well.
Gather some ingredients and put out like a buffet on the kitchen counter and invite friends over to DIY all natural scrubs and facials.
Gather the kids! Have a hen party! Poolside or on the beach soaks or just have fun!
