Sugar Scrub for Dry Skin

A few months ago I made a sugar scrub and I am absolutely addicted to it. I use it on my face and hands in the shower to scrub away the dead dry skin. I also scrub my shoulders with it as that is where my eczema is the most prevalent.

This recipe is easy to make and what's even better is it is a lot cheaper than what you can buy in the store!

Without further ado, here's the recipe:

Sugar Scrub for Dry Skin

White sugar
Brown sugar
Olive Oil
Extract of some sort (Almond goes great with the olive oil, but I also enjoy vanilla or mint or even lavender essential oil. Really this is to your taste, or smell rather.)

First, start with the container for your homemade scrub. This will determine how much sugar you need to use. I use ball freezer jars because I'm not crazy about the idea of glass in the shower. I can be quite the clutz. They're also great because they are wide-mouth and the lid screws on.

Measure out equal parts vanilla (or plain white) sugar and brown sugar in a bowl, and mix.


You will get a sandy looking mixture like this:


Pack your container with the 50/50 brown and white sugar and slowly pour in olive oil. I poured in a tablespoon or two at a time and let it seep in.


Once the oil had penetrated about half of the packed sugar, add a teaspoon of almond extract, let that seep in as well, and then dumped the entire contents out into a bowl to mix it up.


Then pack it back into the container you will be using for storage and viola!

For Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, or Birthdays- this is a fantastic gift for anyone. It's soothing, thoughtful, and made from ingredients you probably already have in the pantry. I hope you will try this homemade sugar scrub, and enjoy!



Thanks to my niece Bella for helping make the scrub featured in the photo! We gave a jar to her mom and she loves it (as does my nephew who also has eczema!)

Natural Hair, Take 1

I have always had dry hair. I've read this comes with having curly hair and add to that the fact that I dye my hair, and well, you get the picture. Because my hair is so dry I can go several days without washing my hair and no one would be the wiser. I wouldn't notice either if it wasn't for the itching. Usually by half way through day two my scalp starts itching like crazy. Sorry if that's over-share.

Also, although my hair is rather curly, it straightens easily, and not the way I want it to. The first few inches from the scalp are straight, then it gets rather curly, and then the ends straighten again. Not pretty! I'm confident it's a mix of chemical build-up and dry damage that is stealing my curls. So I end up putting a bunch of product in my hair to keep the curl and I know that can't be healthy.

For awhile I've been reading up on natural ways to take care of your hair and there are a lot of opinions and ideas out there. I've decided to go the basic baking soda wash route, but first I needed to repair my scalp. Here's my game plan, which I started last week...

1. Scalp Repair: I bought a bottle of aloe vera gel and massaged it into my scalp before washing my hair. After I rubbed it gently into my scalp with my fingertips, I let it sit for about 10 minutes, and added a little more to the spots that seem to soak it up faster (I could tell this because certain spots started to itch quickly).



2. Baking Soda Cleansing: Here is the recipe I used:

2 quarts boiling water
1/2 c. baking soda

Boil water and remove from heat. Add the soda to the water and stir until dissolved. Allow to cool and then pour soda water into container. In the shower, apply liberally to dry hair and scalp, shaking first if necessary. Massage into scalp, focusing on trouble areas, then rinse well. (source)

3. Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse: I found a recipe here, but I could instantly tell my hair did not like the rinse. I used to swim competitively as a child and after this rinse my hair felt just like it did those childhood summers, dry and chlorinated. I changed the recipe the second time around to have a bit more moisturizer in it. Here's my recipe:

1 c. water
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
2 T. aloe vera gel
1 T. honey
1 t. olive oil
8 drops peppermint oil
8 drops tea tree oil

Combine all and shake well. After cleansing, squirt all over scalp and hair. Allow it to sit for a few minutes. Rinse well.

I noticed that even with the other ingredients involved I still could smell the vinegar. But as my hair dried the only smell that prevailed was the peppermint which was so nice!



In the past week I have "washed" my hair only twice. My scalp is still itchy but I definitely see an improvement already. Also, once my hair is dry, I can feel that it is getting softer.

The biggest problem I face right now is that I can't comb through the wet tangles after my shower so I'm letting my hair dry up in a lose bun which isn't so bad with the toddler running around. Once it is dry I then brush through it. I'm currently researching a natural spray leave-in conditioner and will post my findings here soon.

So, how about you? Have you ever tried a natural hair care routine? What did you use and how did your hair react to it?

**Addition: I have since added a 50/50 white vinegar rinse to my regement before the baking soda cleanser and sometimes I use premade conditioner because my hair was really tangly sometimes. I have also ditched the hair dye and have started using henna, WHICH I LOVE!!!