Every day I get messages from you asking me what kind of beauty products I use, and what my skincare regimen looks like. To be honest, I don’t use very many traditional beauty products. By traditional, I mean store-bought products and pre-packaged brands; I still wash, tone and moisturize, I just use products found in the grocery and supplements section as opposed to the drugstore or beauty aisle.
One of my favourite beauty products to make is scrubs. Every night before bed, I scrub my face with a homemade coffee scrub that also doubles as a shower exfoliate. Yup, one product, two uses, I am a bit basic that way; I love dual-purpose products since they create less clutter in my bathroom ;). Let’s start with the ingredients…
The base of my coffee scrub is, of course, coffee. Coffee beans are actually pretty amazing on the external body. The caffeine in coffee helps stimulate and promote healthy circulation (blood flow), which in turn can help reduce the appearance of cellulite, scarring, and eczema. Pretty awesome, right? The grainy nature of coffee grinds also acts as a wonderful light scrubbing agent.
For a more intense exfoliate, you can add Xylitol, which eats at bacteria found on your skin (super helpful, obviously). Or for a more cost-effective method, you can use sugar and salt, which act as a lovely natural scrub. All three of these items will help to remove dead skin cells, acne, blackheads, and other skin blemishes.
To deeply moisturize and clean your face and body, use a natural oil. Coconut is my favourite because it not only deeply conditions your skin, but it also naturally clears away dirt, and dead skin cells, and even has some antibacterial properties.
As a natural fragrant I love to use vanilla beans or vanilla extract. Like most ingredients in my scrubs, it is also dual-purpose. Not only does the vanilla extract add a delicious aroma to the scrub, but vanilla has also been used historically to heal wounds, and be used as a topical anti-inflammatory. AKA: it soothes and calms inflamed skin, and is jam-packed with vitamins and minerals that promote healthy skin development.
Last but not least, I like to add essential oils. Because I have always suffered from problem skin (acne) I add tea tree oil to everything, but this part is really up to you and your skin needs, so go wild.
Your skin is your largest organ, be nice to it okay? It’s hungry for vitamins and minerals too. Happy scrubbing!
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup ground organic coffee beans
- ¼ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar, or xylitol
- ¼ cup coarse salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- 5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil (optional)
- Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until well combined.
- Store in a mason jar or other air tight container when not in use.
🙂
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