How To Body Scrubs & Salt Scrubs - - How to Make Your Own Homemade Salt Scrub

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Make your own homemade salt scrub like ones you can buy in stores

Head to a posh spa and you can treat yourself (for a mere $100-$300) to an all-over body scrub. Or you can spend up to $50 on a fancy salt scrub. Why buy when you can make a homemade body scrub out of basic ingredients yourself? All you need is salt or sugar, body oil and a nice, warm bath.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 10 minutes

Here's How:

1. For this body scrub, use whatever salt you have in the house: Sea, epsom or basic table salt. I like to use Turbinado sugar (packaged as "Sugar in the Raw" in stores). Sugar can be gentler on the skin. If you have super sensitive skin, go with dark brown sugar.
2. Choose an oil. You can use baby oil or any of the following: organic extra virgin coconut oil (my absolute favorite, which you can buy at a health food store), almond oil, safflower, vegetable. Skip the olive oil, it stinks.
3. You want 1 part salt to 1 part oil. Place anywhere from a few tablespoons to a cup of salt in a container. Place equal amount oil. Mix with a spoon. Don't freak out if the salt settles to the bottom. It's virtually impossible to keep it mixed.
4. If you want your salt scrub to smell divine, put 5 drops of an essential oil into your mixture. Mix with spoon.
5. Now onto the bath itself. I find scrubs work best on dry skin. Step into a bath tub and put on loofah mitts. I like the mitts that you get in health food stores. They really scrub your skin good. If you don't have a bath mitt, don't worry, you can use your hands.
6. Take a spoonful of the mixture into your loofah and then rub the mixture all over your body in a circular motion. Rub harder on tougher areas such as the bottom of your feet, elbows and knees. Avoid your neck and face. If you feel the salt is too harsh on your skin, rinse off the loofah and then spoon only the oil onto the loofah.
7. Once entire body is scrubbed well, rinse thoroughly
8. Pat skin dry. You should be good and cleansed. The salt (or sugar) should have exfoliated your skin nicely with the help of the loofah and the oil should leave skin soft and moisturized. You shouldn't even need to follow the bath with a moisturizer.
9. The only bad part about this scrub is the oil can build up on the bathtub bottom. Make sure to clean it up so the next person who gets in doesn't slip.

What You Need:

• salt or sugar
• oil (I prefer organic extra virgin coconut oil, but you can use baby oil)
• a bowl
• essential oils if you choose
• a spoon
• loofah mitt (or you can use your hands)

Mocha Spice Sugar Scrub

Coffee, cocoa, and spices scent this exfoliating sugar scrub

© 2008 Miri Rotkovitz

Luxuriously moisturizing, this mocha spice sugar scrub smells good enough to eat. The coffee grounds and sugar gently exfoliate, and the cocoa and spices leave a subtle scent on the skin.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground coffee
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Generous pinch nutmeg
• Generous pinch ginger
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup almond oil (or other light oil, such as grapeseed or jojoba)

Preparation:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, coffee, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.

Whisk in 1/4 cup oil until it is completely combined with the sugar mixture. Stir in the remaining oil by the tablespoonful until desired consistency is achieved.

Transfer scrub to an airtight, nonreactive container with a wide mouth (for example, a hermetic glass jar with a clamp lid).

If the scrub is a gift, affix a decorative label and attach instructions for use to the jar.

To use: Scoop out a generous handful of scrub and apply to clean, wet skin in a circular motion. Rinse well, and pat skin dry.

Cautions: Take care when using this scrub, as the oil in it will make the tub or shower floor slippery. Those with nut allergies should not use scrubs made with nut oils. Those with sensitive skin should consider doing a patch test before using.

Getting Body Scrubs At The Spa

Getting Body Scrubs At The Spa

Body scrubs at the spa are more thorough and tend to leave your skin softer because the therapist works longer and gets into areas you can't reach easily, like the middle of your back. The therapist might use special equipment like a Vichy shower to rinse you off.

Body scrubs are the spa are usually combined with an application of lotion or short massage, which is relaxing. You can get a body scrub at the spa every once in a while, and maintain at home.

Finally, never use a body scrub on your face, where the skin is thinner and more delicate. Body scrubs are designed for the tougher skin on your body.

Body Scrubs

Everything You Need To Know About Body Scrubs

Body scrubs are a great way to keep your skin healthy and beautiful through can buy a body scrub for anywhere from $5-$50 to get a

No matter which way you go, most body scrubs have these three ingredients:

• An exfoliant. This is the abrasive material like salt, sugar, rice bran, jojoba beads, apricot kernels, coffee grounds, etc. that rubs away the dead skin cells on the surface, revealing the softer, younger cells just below.


• Oil. This holds the mixture together so you (or someone else) can apply it to your skin. More expensive body scrubs like usually have more expensive oils like macadamia oil, kukui nut oil and sweet almond oil.


• Fragrance. Ideally, the fragrance comes from high-quality essential oils, like the spearmint and rosemary in the Origins Salt Rub. Budget body scrubs like St. Ives (Compare Prices) will have synthetic fragrances and more synthetic ingredients in general.

The price of body scrubs is determined by the quality of the ingredients (high-quality and green vs. lower quality and synthetic), the brand identity (high-end or budget) and where it's sold (spa or specialty store vs. drug store.)

Body scrubs might also have skin-nourishing ingredients and chemical exfoliants like alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) to dissolve the intra-cellular "glue" that holds cells together. For instance, is a high-end scrub enriched with proprietary Bio-Maple Sugar, which has natural antioxidants and AHA acids. That can send the price even higher.

If you want an inexpensive, high-quality body scrub, it's easy to make your own. Here's a and

Salt Scrub Recipe

How To Make Your Own Salt Scrub

Salt scrubs make a great gift when they're in a pretty jar.

Origins

You can buy salt scrubs for $30, or you can make your own salt scrubs at home for a fraction of the cost. Salt scrubs are one of the easiest home spa products to make -- and a great gift if you put it in a pretty jar. With this easy salt scrub recipe, you can exfoliate your skin at home instead of paying $90 or more for a salt glow at the spa.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oil. Use sweet almond, grapeseed or another light-textured massage oil. Don't use simple cooking oil from your pantry.


• 1 cup fine sea salt. Baleine is a good choice. Don't use simple iodized table salt -- it's too harsh. If you have sensitive skin you can substitute sugar, which is gentler.


• 5-15 drops high quality essential oils. The essential oil you choose for your salt scrub depends on the result you want. Lavender is relaxing, lemongrass is refreshing and rosemary is stimulating. You can experiment and do your own blend.

Preparation:

Put the salt (or sugar) in a small bowl.

Add the oil, mixing well with a spoon or wooden stick. The texture should be moist enough to hold together, but not overly oily. You can adjust the amount of oil to achieve that texture.

Gently tap in the drops of essential oil and combine well. If you get more interested in aromatherapy you can customize your recipe using different essential oils.

So now you're ready to use your home-made salt scrub -- once a week is plenty. Here's how to give yourself a salt scrub at home.

This recipe should get you through three salt scrubs.

Best Basic Cleanser for All Skin Types: Purpose ""

Best Basic Cleanser for All Skin Types: Purpose

My beauty cabinet is full of cleansers from some of the priciest boutique brands, but the cleanser I use every day doesn't cost $60 or even $30, it costs $6 at the average drugstore. When my friend Laura spotted my bottle of Purpose Gentle Cleansing Wash in my bathroom, she emerged laughing. She couldn't believe THIS was my cleanser of choice. I had to explain that you don't need a lot of bells and whistles in a good cleanser.

This soap-free, oil-free liquid lathers away dirt, makeup and oil but doesn't leave skin so dry it reacts by overproducing oil. Purpose makes most of the "Best" lists in magazines and is recommended by dermatologists, including the expert I turn to, Dr. Maryann Mikhail.