Coconut Oil Sugar Scrub

 

I love making and receiving handmade gifts at Christmas. Last year my friend Megan gave me some lovely homemade Lemon Sugar Scrub made with olive oil and introduced me to this awesome winter trick. Let's be real, skin gets dry in the winter and I hate putting lotion on, I'd rather jump into some warmer clothing. I find that this natural oil and sugar combo leaves my skin perfectly moisturized - no lotion needed. Hooray!

This past Christmas I reused Megan's idea and made a coconut oil sugar scrub for some of my other girlfriends. I've kind of become obsessed with coconut oil lately. Read about the multitude of things you can do with coconut oil and how great it is for your body here.

Basic Sugar Scrub Recipe

via Wellness Mama

2 parts sugar (white or brown)

1 part oil (coconut, olive, or whatever suits your fancy)

1/2 tsp Vitamin E oil, optional (I left this out)

Essential Oils as desired

Mix. Put into fun jars and enjoy your silky smooth skin.

Admittedly, the coconut oil is less than ideal in the winter since it has such a low melting point (76°F). I've found that if I put a small jar in the bottom of the tub while I'm showering, the warm water will help it melt and it's ready to use after a couple of minutes.

 

Here's a previous homemade gift idea I made in 2010: Paperwhite Bulbs

Bolder

About a month ago swissmiss wrote a post about a new site:

Bolder, a site that helps people to trigger and discover experiences that make the world a little better, one action at a time.

For example, one of the challenges was to Water your Plants with Reclaimed Water. This was perfect timing because just that morning I had come up with the brilliant idea of capturing the water wasted in warming up my shower with gallon milk jugs. To be fair, I adapted the idea from my aunt who uses milk jugs to capture cold water before washing dishes every night. I usually don't have that many dishes to wash, so this is a better method for me. And after practicing this for more than a month I've found more ways to use the reclaimed water than just plant-watering (like using it to soak dishes, in the aforementioned dishes that don't get washed every night...).

Anyway, it's a cool site. Check it out. Some of the fun challenges have expired, like Go Completely Waste-Free for a Day. Or you can start a new cool challenge.