Blogged On My Face: Make Your Own Bod/Facial Scrub

Hello!

Today I'm going to show you how I get rid of my dead skin!

Before I start, let me tell you I LOVE exfoliating, maybe more than a person should. Nothing gives me more pleasure than scrubbing off dead skin cells. If you're having a bit of a gross day, it can be so very satisfying to buff away the old and make way for the new. Exfoliating also makes moisturisers work more effectively, and fake tan looks better on freshly polished skin!

There are a couple of reasons I began making my own body scrub. One of them being the environment, I'm not a big eco-warrior, but I try to be at least a little bit conscientious with regards to plastic bags and recycling my cereal boxes. You only need to google something along the lines of 'microbeads effect on the enviroment' to be presented with gazillions of articles explaining the damage most scrubs cause to fishys! Click to read some examples here here and here. Using a product with natural ingredients will not only give you glowing skin but also a clear conscience regarding sea creatures! If you're not one for DIY, some fish-friendly scrubs on the market include Ocean Salt from Lush, Bare Minerals Exfoliating Treatment Cleanser (previously reviewed here) and Origins Ginger Body Scrub.

I love the fact that I can control what goes in! I'm not going to give you a precise recipe, because I never use one myself! I play it by ear depending on what feels right, and with the process of trial & error. I've used both olive oil and coconut oil, and I've discovered a 50/50 mix of each is best. Coconut oil gives that amazing smell but on it's own it's a little too stiff and doesn't rub in as easily! Coconut oil needs to be heated up a little in a jar placed in warm water. Olive oil on it's own works perfectly, coconut oil can be quite pricey so don't feel that it's a necessity.

The 'scrubby' aspect itself can be created with so many different things! Sugar and salt are so cheap, this massive bag of sea salt was only 99p, and brown or white sugar both do an amazing job. None of these ingredients are things I've purpose-bought either, everything was just in my kitchen cupboards.

I've also experimented using oats, oats are known to soothe the skin, really good for someone who suffers with eczema, psoriasis or just redness and sensitivity. I've used this ready-brek style stuff as it's already finely ground, I'm not sure how well actual porridge oats would work, I might have to give it a try! I have also split open a (used) tea bag! Because... why the hell not?! Maybe it is a bit weird, but it's scrubby, so who cares! I believe green tea would be a more active ingredient.

The one ingredient I couldn't go without is coffee. I hate coffee and I've never drank a single cup in my life. But I absolutely adore the smell, I'll happily stick my head in a tub of beans and have a good old sniff. Delicious. Personally, I use the ground remains left at the bottom of my boyfriend's cafetiere (how very thrifty!). However I know instant coffee also does the trick!

Rubbing coffee into your skin boosts the blood flow to the surface, reducing cellulite!

Here my stages of exfolating:

1) 10 minutes in the steam room at the gym.

(This means my pores are open and have began flushing out impurities.)

2) Rub the scrub on my entire self (in a shower cubicle, so no one thinks I'm weird)

3) Stand around (for as long as I can without anyone sussing out that there's a girl covered in coffee in a shower cubicle.) Allowing all the ingredients to have a little time to do their business.

4) Rinse.

5) Sit in the sauna smelling of coffee, (usually someone sat in there will ask why, and I end up telling them all about fish and fake tan)

6) Shower again.

7) Moisturise and/or fake tan!