Lavender

01.19.

Lavender Sugar Scrub

I think everyone needs a good Scrub.

Sugar Scrub that is.

Whether you are a Dude or a Dudette,

we all get dry skin in the Winter ,

AND

for some of us, Summer too! (Umm, yeah that would be me.)

I have an easy home recipe here that takes less than 5 minutes to whip up.

Most of the ingredients can be found in your pantry.

The only ingredient that most do no have is the essential oil.

Other than that, it is just Sugar, Olive Oil (I have Extra Virgin), Chamomile Tea, and your favorite Essential Oil.

The Essential Oil will give you your scent. I used Lavender which gives a Soothing quality so if you are going to bed afterwards, it really helps to calm you.

Lemon is a great scent too!

I almost did Peppermint, so when I run out of this one, I’ll probably do that next time.

You can find Essential Oils at your local craft store, but I bought mine at my local Health Store, called Bay Naturals.

Here is a link to their store: www.bay-naturals.com

The best thing about this is the fact that it makes your skin feel SOOO smoothe when you are finished.

You will have a glow to your skin and who doesn’t love that, right?

Recipe: Lavender Sugar Scrub

Ingredients:

– 1 Cup Granulated Sugar

– 3/4 Cup Olive Oil

– 1 Chamomile Tea Bag

– 1/2 Teaspoon Essential Oil such as Lavender

Directions:

– Cut open tea bag and pour into medium sized mixing bowl.

– Add Sugar and mix well.

– Using 1/4 Cup at a time, add Olive Oil to Sugar mixture until it is the texture of “wet sand”.

– Add essential oil. *If you would like to use more than recipe suggests, that is fine. Add to your liking, but be careful! A little goes a long way and may end up being too strong if you are not careful.

– Store in air tight container.

In shower:

– Wet skin and using scrub, gently massage onto body.

– Allow to sit on skin for 2 to 3 minutes before thoroughly rinsing.

*Be careful, shower floor may be slightly slippery afterwards, so use caution and REMEMBER: A little goes a long way!

Have fun with it! Try your favorite essential oil!

( * This was not a paid advertisement for Bay Naturals. I simply bought my ingredients there. )

Tags: Bay Naturals, Calms, Chamomile, Craft Store, Dry Skin, Easy, Essential Oil, Health Store, Lavender, Lemon, Olive Oil, Peppermint, Recipe, Sugar Scrub, Summer, Tea, Winter

09.25.

Sweet Tea and Lemon Soap Bar

I thought we would finish up “Sweet Tea Week” with one of my FAVORITE things.

SOAP!

I know what you are thinking, SOAP? And to answer your question……. yes, soap!

I started making my own facial/body soap about 6 months ago. I was on my Anniversary trip which we like to call our “Staycation”. Instead of going on a trip away from home, my parents came to my home and kept the little ones, while the hubby and I took our camper and just parked it at the beach 10 minutes away. I guess I just couldn’t leave them for that long and go out of town. (I’m working on this) Maybe next year?

Oh well, while I was there, I ran out of my regular facewash. I don’t know about you, but I cannot use the same facewash for too long. It will work for me at first, but after about 2, maybe 3 months, something happens and it no longer works for my face. I start to break out really bad and I have to move onto the next thing.

SO!

I went to the store and bought an Aveeno product because in my head, Aveeno was great for sensitive skin, like my own. After washing my face a few times, I started to notice my skin was getting a little dry. Then, the next morning, I woke up to complete HORROR! I had all these little itchy red bumps on my face. I have a rosey complexion anyway, so anything that is red on me, becomes blotchy and irritated looking. I grabbed the bottle of facewash and only then noticed that it said Salicylic Acid as one of the MAIN INGREDIENTS! It was clearly stated on the front, which I clearly ignored when purchasing it.

Let me tell you, all of this didnt go away for the rest of the trip. I, of course, felt like the Prettiest girl in the world with my skin looking like I had some contagious disease!

I was pretty much done at this point with store bought facial cleansers. I told myself that as soon as I got home, I was going to research and start making my own. I basically had nothing to lose. I ended up finding out that Glycerin, which is a moisturizing element that is produced during the soap making process with Lye, is often taken out of regular soap and added to things like lotion. This is the reason that lotion is so moisturizing in the first place! Soap companies end up getting more for their money by being able to produce more products. Don’t get me wrong, their is still plenty of soap that contains Glycerin, but I wanted the main thing in my soap to be Glycerin because it is both gentle and moisturizing for the skin.

Which brings me to this recipe. It is a lot of fun. You don’t have to do sweet tea if you dont want to. I just did because it was fun and I was finishing up Sweet Tea Week. I have done Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint. The possibilites are endless.

Here is what I did: