DIY Natural Face Scrub

Yesterday we learned about natural ways to prevent and treat acne. We will be talking about skin care ALL this week, because our skin is an important organ that affects our HEALTH and, as women, we also care about it because it affects our APPEARANCE!

I'm always looking for ways to replace the commercial products I purchase with natural ones. In addition to natural, I need them to be effective, EASY to make and CHEAP! I have kids to educate, a house to clean, meals to cook, a business to run, and blog posts to write. I can't spend time every day mixing up concoctions.

One of my personal skin 'issues' is that my skin is dry and has a tendency to flake across my forehead and cheeks. I'll spare you the photo. Over the years I've tried many products that have effectively addressed this issue. Several of them came from the cosmetics counter at department stores or from direct sales companies. They worked, but they certainly weren't cheap OR natural! At this point in my life I can't spend as much on these things as I once did (nor do I WANT to) and even if I could, I REALLY don't want to increase the amount of toxins in my body. Our environment is toxic enough without me dousing myself in chemicals every day.

Several years ago I was prescribed a medication that you applied to your skin. For a couple of days I thought it was cool. I hated taking pills and LOVED the idea of it absorbing right through my skin and not having to swallow a pill... UNTIL I realized that maybe OTHER things passed right through my skin all the time too. Then I turned into a crazy person who started reading labels on EVERYTHING! I read the back of shampoo bottles in the shower, and when I removed my makeup I looked on the back of the bottle and thought "WHAT IS ALL THIS STUFF?" Strangely enough, THIS is what began my journey into natural health and medicine. It doesn't take much research at all, just looking up a couple of ingredients, until you are ready to dump it ALL in the trash!

This does present a problem. WHAT are we going to use to wash our hair, our bodies, for deodorant, for hand soap, for laundry soap, and for MAKEUP! For crying out loud, we HAVE to have MAKEUP! Don't we? I don't know what your mirror looks like in morning, but I consider it a public service to wear a little bit of makeup when I go out.

There is good news! There are NATURAL, EASY, EFFECTIVE, and CHEAP alternatives. We have found fantastic alternatives for ALMOST all of these things, and we're working on the rest.

Today I want to share with you a face scrub that meets ALL of my requirements of natural, easy, effective, and cheap. It seems too good to be true, only it IS true!

When I look back at the facial scrubs I found that worked the BEST, they all had ultra fine particles for the exfoliating part. One that I loved had finely ground walnut shells. Others were home versions of microdermabrasion. When I used cheaper scrubs the exfoliant was a larger particle and less effective. Once, in desperation, I tried to grind walnut shells in a coffee grinder. It was an absolute mess, and didn't do a THING to help with my flaky skin. I may or may not have done the same thing with egg shells. I even bought a very pricey device that uses a diamond tip thingamajig and sucks the dead skin cells off your face. All I got was little round bruises all over my face and neck and the flakes were actually worse.

I bet ya'll wish I could get to the point. I'm trying... there's just SO much I want to say and nobody around here will listen to me. I'm using all my words on you.

When I read about this it was too easy. I didn't think it could possibly work as well as the scrubs I have used in past, but I was WRONG! Don't tell my kids. They think I'm perfect. <insert lightning strike>

Ingredients:

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp coconut oil

1 drop lavender essential oil

1 drop geranium essential oil. 

Mix equal amounts of baking soda and coconut oil in your palm. Maybe a little bit bigger than a pea, but not as big as a marble. After the first time you'll know how much you need. Put that in the palm of your non-dominant hand and then add a drop each of lavender and geranium essential oils. Mix with your finger and apply to your face with your fingertips. I go in circles all around my forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin, avoiding the eye area. I rub what's left down on my neck. Rinse with warm water and you're good to go!  The baking soda is abrasive, but the coconut oil makes it glide so smoothly. The best part is how good your skin feels when you're finished. It is not dry at all! The oil is very nourishing and the essential oils are great for your skin. If you do it at bedtime, you have the added benefit of the lavender which is relaxing and helps many people sleep.

You will not want to do this more than a couple times a week. The rest of the time I use a small amount of coconut oil as a moisturizer.

If you don't use or have any essential oils, you can still use the baking soda and coconut oil. However, don't try do use the baking soda with water instead of an oil. I tried it one night when I didn't have any coconut oil in bathroom and was too lazy to walk to the kitchen to get it. It was much too harsh and irritated my skin. I ended up going to get the oil just to soothe the redness. Learn from my mistake.

You could also experiment with different essential oils that are soothing for you skin.

Other essential oils to try include: 

melaleuca, lavender, geranium, 

roman chamomile, rosemary, ylang ylang, 

marjoram, cypress, cedarwood, 

juniper berry, patchouli, and sandalwood.

I really hope you try this and that it works as well for you as it does for me. 

Kristy