Why waste time just dreaming about going to a day spa, when you can so easily pamper yourself with your own DIY spa treatment in less than 15 minutes? After a long summer spent running around in flip flops, your feet are a great place to begin trying an exfoliating and conditioning scrub to help get them back into shape.
You won’t believe it when you find out it only takes these two simple cooking ingredients to pull together this wonderful exfoliating body scrub……brown sugar and olive oil. When I was first came across this wonderful DIY scrub, it seemed too easy and too economical to be true, but now after using it a couple of times, I’m totally hooked on how easy, inexpensive and effective it is.
All you need to get you started is a small kitchen mixing bowl, a spoon, olive oil, brown sugar and 15 minutes or less to put you on your way to some well deserved pampering.
I recently inherited a mortar and pestle into my arsenal of kitchen tools, so I enjoy using that as a part of my ritual for blending the oil into the brown sugar, but any small mixing bowl and spoon will work just as well. Mix together equal parts brown sugar and olive oil to make a paste that’s a consistency that suits you. You can slightly vary the proportions of oil to sugar, depending on personal preference, to obtain your desired thickness.
The brown sugar acts as a wonderful skin exfoliant and the olive oil works naturally to help condition dry skin and keep it moist and youthful looking. You can use almost any brand of brown sugar for making this scrub. I prefer to use Trader Joe’s Organic Brown Sugar when I’m mixing this scrub specifically for my feet, since it tends to be a slightly coarser texture than other brands, and areas like heels can benefit from the coarser mixture. Don’t just limit using this scrub on your feet though, since its also great to use on elbows, knees or any other rough body parts that could use some exfoliating.
I find it’s easiest to do this treatment sitting on the edge of the bathtub or it’s great to do into the shower if you have a small bench or ledge to sit on. Take care if you’re applying this in the tub or shower that the floor can become very slippery from the oil! Begin first by giving your feet a good soaking, then towel dry and apply the scrub into the skin using your fingers in slow and firm circular massaging motion. Give extra care and attention to rough areas like heels and the outside edges of your toes, where you might have callus buildup from wearing shoes or walking barefoot. Let the mixture stay on your feet for a few minutes and then scrub off thoroughly with a wet washcloth, towel dry and follow up by using a moisturizer that will help to seal in the effectiveness of this treatment.
If you enjoy using this scrub, but you want to mix things up a little bit from time to time, you can also substitute any of the following ingredients to create new scrub variations.
Scrub Ingredient Variations:
Try substituting coconut oil, almond oil or grapeseed oil for the olive oil.
Grind up and add in natural herbs like lavender, eucalyptus or citrus rinds. You can also buy bottled essential oils, like lavender oil, for adding a few drops to make your scrub smell even more heavenly.
And with the holidays coming up, once you’ve mastered a few of your own favorite concoctions, you can make up tiny pots of these body scrubs to give out as holiday or hostess gifts with an added personal touch.
