Homemade body scrub

Body scrubs, exfoliants, whatever you like to call them, are an essential part of grooming. We shed so much skin and much of it clings on until the bitter end (akin to cornflakes under a microscope - nice), so to get that glowy look and a smooth derriere it is important to body brush and exfoliate regularly. Particularly prior to self tanning, bien sur. 

  I tend to do one big body scrub session a week when I find the time for it. On a daily basis I body brush before my morning shower and then use one of those exfoliating shower puffs to wash with. I moisturise my body daily with either an organic body cream or lately, a homemade body oil (simply a blend of organic cold-pressed olive oil and essential oils which I keep in a muji pump bottle). This is all in a bid to get my circulation going and to promote a moistured and even skin tone as much as possible, although of course exercise and hydration play a big part in this. 

  If, like me, you like a really good body scrub sesh and not a namby pamby exfoliating shower gel, you've probably found that a decent scrub costs an arm and a leg; at least £12 a pop and often up to £50. Now I don't mind paying handsomely for products which will last, especially when it comes to one's visage, but I do resent forking out for a product which I use up super quickly before washing it down the drain. So luxurious scrubs only feature in my bathroom when someone is kind enough to give me one or I manage to find some kind of offer on a high quality product. I cannot bear to use non organic scrubs - the thought of all those synthetic granules leaving an icky slick of mineral oil on my skin so thick I could scribe my name in it is off-putting. 

  Now, there are lots of books and websites dedicated to homemade beauty products and I'm jolly glad there are because thrifty high quality beauty is always a turn on, but I haven't the time to heat up the ingredients in a pan and source things which aren't in my cupboard. Perhaps I'd go to the bother if I was making a specific gift, but on a day to day  basis I'm keeping it real.

I've learned to save any useful looking pots once they're empty and I keep them alongside an assortments of muji containers, perfect for holiday packing or experimenting with. 

I found this glass jar and simply chucked in regular sugar and cold-pressed organic olive oil. I found I needed quite a lot of oil to get the consistency I wanted. I added sweet orange (excellent for banishing cellulite) and grapefruit (promotes beautiful skin) to glam it up a bit. Get a nice gloopy paste...

This homemade scrub blends in perfectly with generic products in the bathroom and would make an excellent gift with the addition of a pretty bow and a label.