Blend all the ingredients in a china bowl. Wet yourself thoroughly in the shower. Rub the scrub
over your body using your hands. Rub in gentle circles, moving from your extremities toward
your chest. Rinse the salt off thoroughly. You can store the scrub in the refrigerator in an
airtight container for up to one month.
Green Body Oils
The skin on our bodies has a surface area of around 1.5 to 2.0 square meters. This means that our
exposure to harmful chemicals from a body cream will be much higher than from an eye serum.
Luckily for us, there are many perfectly green, ready-made body moisturizers available at reasonable
prices. Weleda, Dr. Hauschka, Avalon Organics, Burt’s Bees, Lavera, and REN make wonderful
body lotions, and Lavanila and Jo Wood Organics make luxurious aromatherapeutic fragrant body
mists and oils for the moments when you feel like spoiling yourself.
Pure plant oils are the ultimate skin moisturizers. Some people shun oils because they believe they
make skin oilier and leave a greasy film on the skin, while lotions penetrate, or “soak” into the skin.
The main difference between lotions and oils is the texture, not the way they moisturize. Lotions are
oil-in-water emulsions, and when the water and alcohol evaporate, oil, possibly beeswax, and some
plant extracts are left on the skin’s surface. With body oils, you are not wasting your money on water
and alcohol. Wou get pure oil that can be applied lightly or heavily, depending on your preferences.
There’s also “dry oil,” a lightweight oil blend that is sprayed on the skin to leave minimal greasy
residue. Many cosmetic brands make “dry oil” by blending olive or jojoba oil with silicones. Dry oil
sprays are incredibly versatile: you can apply them to damp skin after a shower or bath, you can
spray them on your hair when it feels frizzy or dry, and you can also lightly spray it on your face for a
dewy glow.
To prepare your own dry oil and moisturizing oil blends, you will need pure plant oils such as
jojoba, almond, or grape seed, and a selection of your favorite essential oils. If you have sensitive
skin or nose, skip stronger essential oils and add a subtle fragrance with one or two drops of
chamomile or lavender oils. Most plant oils have fresh, earthy aromas of their own.
Many oil blends don’t need preservatives to stay uncontaminated, but some require a bit of a help
from essential oils or antioxidant vitamins. Jojoba and coconut oils, which are technically liquid
plant waxes, have a longer shelf life, but most oils have to be used up within a year. Besides, many
oils originate many thousand miles away from you and may well have spent months in transit before
finally arriving at your bathroom or kitchen counter. This is a good reason to buy smaller sizes of
organic oils regularly. If stored properly, in a cool, dark place, or at least in dark glass bottles, most
body oil blends have a safe shelf life of six to twelve months. By adding ester of vitamin C and
vitamin E, as well as grapefruit and tea tree oils, you can extend shelf life, but not dramatically.
Sweet and Spicy Body Oil
1 ounce sweet almond oil
1 ounce apricot kernel oil