Sunday, June 14, 2015

DIY Coconut Oil and Sugar Body Scrubs


Last Christmas, my sister gave homemade vanilla sugar body scrub as gifts.  Although I love handmade gifts (and her scrub in particular), the gift had one major flaw - it was gone altogether too soon.

I was out shopping with my mom a few weekends ago when she mentioned she was going to buy some sugar scrub because she'd run out of her Christmas stash a while ago.  It was an inspired moment when I said don't buy scrub, let's make our own!!!

This morning after Mass and Second Breakfast, my mom, sister, and I got to work making bulk amounts of uh-mazing sugar scrubs.  This brilliant stockpiling of scrub could become a regular thing.  It was so very fun and efficient with the three of us working together.  (Actually, I think my mom and sister did most of the work...I drank coffee and supervised.)  

We had intended to make a simple sugar scrub with coconut oil and a vanilla essential oil.  However, the creative juices were surging and we ended up concocting four scrumptious boutique aromas.  

If you're in the market for some body scrub,  I highly recommend my sister's basic recipe and the variations we created.  Gather some friends (or sisters.  or your mom.) and turn it into an event like we did!  It was much more efficient to make a lot at one time.  And let's be honest - it's was just fun girl time, plain and simple.  At one point, my sisters said, "Too bad it's not the evening, we could be having wine."  Too bad, indeed.  If you have your scrub making party at night, it's a perfect wine-sipping event :)  

BASIC SCRUB RECIPE...

* The base recipe for each scrub is 1/2 c. coconut oil and 2 c. white granulated sugar.  

Whisk together until the oil is incorporated and the sugar is somewhat fluffy.  Adjust amounts if necessary.

We used organic unrefined virgin coconut oil.  It retains its coconut-y scent and it's wonnnnnderful.)  Just so you know, it doesn't matter one bit whether the oil you use is in liquid form or is solid.  Ours was mostly solid, but slightly softened from the warm weather.

This base makes enough scrub to fill three half-pint-size mason jars.  (So make this amount of each scrub if you're working with two friends ;) )  




These were the fancy schmancy scrubs we made...

#1 Orange Ginger... 
Add in the zest from one large orange and approx. 1 T. ground ginger (or an amount to your taste) (photo shows 1 tsp, but it really is 1 T :) ) 




#2 Lavender and Lime...
I had a jar of culinary lavender, so I ground some of it in my coffee grinder.  We added 2 T. of ground lavender and the zest from two lemons into the scrub.





#3 Vanilla Rum Espresso...
We knew we wanted to make a coffee scrub, and had decided we were probably going to add vanilla, but because we were really trying to be fancy I thought "why stop at vanilla when I have rum extract in the cupboard."  We did a sniff test of the three scents together and basically it was heaven.  
Add in 4 T. of ground espresso beans, 1/4 tsp. of rum extract, and 1 tsp. of vanilla essential oil.




#4 Rose and Basil...
Add 1 tsp. rose fragrance oil and 6 - 8 finely chopped fresh basil leaves.  Such a beautiful combination!




Don't these sound amazing?!  I wish blogger had a scratch n' sniff option.  They smell divine.  I can't wait to get in the shower in the morning!  (Wait, can you say that on the internet??)  

13 comments:

  1. "Actually...I drank coffee and supervised." Lol! Laughing aside, these sound like they smell amazing! I love homemade sugar scrubs but I've never thought to do it with coconut oil (it's my favorite moisturizer so why didn't I?). Definitely gonna make this my go-to gift for all my girlfriends. Love all your creative "boutique aromas," too!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Willow! I've just starting getting into all things coconut oil -- there are some real fanatics out there!
      Hope you get to try the scrubs :)

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  2. YOU are the ONLY woman I know who just happens to have culinary lavender in her cupboard! Looks like fun!

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    1. haha! I had bought it last year when my own lavender "crop" didn't do so well. I had intended it for blueberry lavender jam, but never got around to it. It's a must-do this summer!

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  3. YOU are the ONLY woman I know who just happens to have culinary lavender in her cupboard! Looks like fun!

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  4. Oh my WORD, Theresa! These look divine! Saving for later. ❤️

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  5. Replies
    1. Want to make some with me?! I'm almost out :(

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  6. These look awesome!! We just made a bunch of scrubs for Mother's Day, our two favorite: lemon mint and lavender vanilla.

    My only question about these scrubs is shelf life?

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    1. Hi Amy! If you just use sugar and coconut oil (and maybe an extract or essential oil) the shelf life should be long! If you add in some of the things like I did, fresh basil leaves, lemon zest, etc... it probably shouldn't sit around for too long. 10 days maybe??

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