I'm not paranoid or anything, but the closest town to where Ken and I live is San Marcos, known as the hippy town on the lake. So, perhaps I have been a little inspired by the people and culture here, but I assure you it is completely for practical purposes that I decided to create my own sugar scrub. I mean really, even if I wanted to spend $30-$50 on each jar of sugar scrub and hoard a bunch of them into my luggage, why would I when I can get the ingredients here fresher and much cheaper?
The idea came about one day when I was supposed to be writing and instead I was sucked into an internet hole that led me to a recipe for an amazing face mask. There were just two ingredients - tumeric and sandalwood powder. I just happened to bring tumeric so that I could make one of our favorite dishes, pho. According to this face mask article, not only is it great in pho broth, but it is a fantastic anti-inflammatory and excellent source of iron, manganese, B6, and potassium. I of course can't find the mask link but here's a link all about tumeric. I doubt you get many of the benefits by rubbing it on your skin.
I figured the other ingredient would be not problem, San Marcos practically reeks of sandlewood incense...but no such luck after visiting several places.
So I continued to take my baths without the amazing mask, settling instead for using my washcloth to mix together some coconut oil and sugar on the spot and use it to smooth and moisturize my skin. Then I saw my cousin Carie's post about using a food processor to finely ground sugar into a good scrub....hmmmm. My food processor is the only kitchen appliance I argued to bring with us, and I have been so glad I did!
So, the ingredients I used were raw sugar, tumeric, some cinnamon for scent, and coconut oil.
I started with the dry ingredients and actually thought the cinnamon stick would become a powder..no. That took taking the shards out and putting them in the blender then re-introducing to the dry ingredients in the processor.
Just fyi, that tumeric is some strong stuff. a little goes a long way.
After getting the dried ingredients mixed, I added the coconut oil...er paste. See, here at the lake, the temperature at which the oil turns to a paste is pretty much the temperature here in the middle of the day, So, depending on the day or time of day, I can tell the temp by looking at my coconut oil.
Don't freak out if it doesn't immediately look like a scrub. Just let the processor work it's magic and soon enough it will start to look like the expensive products on the store shelves in the states.
I knew there was a reason I saved all those jelly and sauce jars here. They come in really handy as containers for homemade stuff. To really make the process enjoyable, get your husband to agree to do the dishes. Tumeric with coconut oil is a messy business, you don't want any part of cleaning that up. I will say that watching Ken struggle to get the orange out of the processor bowl made me wonder what the concoction would do to my skin.
I got the chance to test it out this afternoon with a rainy-day bath. Having the ingredients pre-mixed was super helpful. I just grabbed a little bit and put it on the washcloth. I scrubbed the legs and feet, and no, I don't look like the poster child for tanning lotion gone wrong. I will say that I will likely stick to the same washcloth when using this mixture as it will probably not escape a stain or two. Let me know if you try it!
No comments:
Post a Comment