Scrubbing up the savings....

I have a friend of mine who is looking for a fun and relatively simple craft type project for this winter.  Since she also adores her sugar scrub from Bath and Body I thought this would be a great project for her to try, its also super inexpensive compared to what you get in the retail stores.

SUGAR SCRUB

1. Natural oil of your choice, something like olive, grape seed, canola or apricot (Don't use baby oil, it will not soak into your skin and will clog your pores.)
2. Sugar of your choice; Sugar in the Raw has the right size in comparison to the retail scrubs, but you can use regular white sugar or brown sugar.
3. Your choice of scents, you can use perfume oils or aromatherapy oils.

Its that simple, just mix the first two ingredients until you have a nice slush consistency then add in a few drops of whatever scent you like to what ever strength you like.  You can even add some extras into the mix if you want, like lemon, lime or orange peel to add energy to tired legs, ground lavender to relax or ground ginseng to get the blood flowing.  You can also try different exfoliant options instead of sugar, table salt will do the trick but can be a problem if you have any nicks or cuts from shaving, Epsom salts can be great for the athlete to help relieve aches and pains from a workout, regular coffee is great if you have varicose veins because it tightens blood vessels (that's why caffeine is being used in some of the eye creams now), and flax seeds are great for very dry skin, as is oatmeal (NOT instant).  I have made this in the past and when I make mine I add in two or three table spoons of Vitamin E oil which you can find in most stores in the vitamin isle.

I found some great deals on the supplies you need, you can also usually find a lot of what you need in the dollar store. There are a few coupons for the oils, Pompean has $1.00 off 1 bottle of their olive oil, there is a $1.00 off a bottle of  Filippo Berio Olive Oil at SmartSouce, and there is a $1.00 coupon for Goya Olive Oil at their site.  Imperial Sugar has coupons for both their white and brown sugars on their web page.  There is a $1.00 coupon for Quaker Standard Oatmeal from Target (you may need to scroll through their coupons to find it).  There are a couple coffee coupons if you want to try that option, $2.00 off Eight O'Clock Coffee, and $1.00 off Caribou Coffee.  For your scent  Puritans Pride is having a wonderful sale on their aromatherapy oils, buy two get three free.

Now that you have your batch all made up you are going to need something to put it in, your only limited by your imagination here, but I would recommend plastic since you are making a bath product that is slippery.  The little bear bottles are fun if you have any left from your honey, you can even mix in a little honey into your scrub for extra moisture and scent if you like.  You don't need to be too fancy here either, you can use the new Ziploc Twist 'n Lock containers or check the dollar stores for something more fun.  This is also great for birthdays, get well gifts,  hostess gifts, the holidays or just because.  If you give it as a gift you may want to add a cute little spoon to stir the mixture together again when it separates from sitting in the shower or by the bath.

Have a great weekend and stay warm.

C.Q.