Coffee Scrub (aka HEAVEN)

I have been using this scrub for six or more months now and I'm in love. It smells AMAZING and makes my skin soft and my showers feel like a spa experience. 

Ingredients Needed:

• 1/2 cup coffee grounds 
• 1 1/2 cup epson salt (I use this kind)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 5 - 10 drops of tea tree oil

Materials Needed:

• Bowl for mixing
• Jar for storing 
• Spoon/fork for stirring
• Measuring cup (for measuring!) 

Combine all the ingredients listed below into a bowl and stir! I actually ended up heating the mixture a bit this time to soften and better incorporate the coconut oil since it's cold here now and this oil is hard/somewhat solid at colder temperatures.

Once you get all the ingredients mixed together the scrub will be dark, and smell amazing (thought sometimes the tea tree oil overpowers everything as you stir). Put the scrub in a container and you're good to go. I used a little glass jar but you could do plastic or flip-top container. Whatever works! 

I actually cannot express to you how wonderful this smells when you open it up and use it in the shower. I love coffee so that accounts for some of my extreme obsession with this coffee scrub, but it's the cinnamon smell too. It's sort of like a breakfast cookie. In short: WONDERFUL. And, my skin is super soft and well moisturized even in these winter months. I tend to get ingrown hairs or little bumps where my hair follicles are (TMI?) and since using this as an exfoliant it's not been an issue! Plus, coffee is supposed to be great for your skin. AND my little cuts and scrapes seem to heal so much faster, I assume it's a result of the tea tree and coconut oil magic. Though I have been known to believe that tea tree oil cures/solves most/all problems, THIS IS FOR REAL. Promise. (I am not a doctor or a healer so this is not a legit claim or anything. Do I need a lawyer now?)

RE: saw a scrub similar to this at Whole Foods recently, made in store and selling for almost $15 a pound! He was all like, LAURA YOU NEED TO OPEN A STORE AND SELL YOUR SCRUBS IMMEDIATELY. Ha! Do yourself a favor and make this at home. Just one more way to TREAT YO SELF for pennies.  

Salty Soak

I've been getting more into mixing up my own products at home. I've been making and using this AMAZING coffee grounds scrub for the shower for a couple months now (I'll post about it soon!) but thought I'd share this super basic, easy, and adaptable epson salt bath salt 'recipe' first. Dipping the toe in (ha!). 

Materials Needed:

• Jar (I got these on sale at JoAnn's)
• Epson Salt (there's a giant bag available on Amazon)
• Essential oil(s) of your choice (I used the stress relief scent from this set)
• Flowers/leaves/herbs/buds (of your choice)

I measured out a cup of the epson salt and put them in the bowl. I decided, since I'd neglected my basil and let it bolt, I'd cut off some of those flowers to use in my salts. I thought they would add a fantastic basil smell and whatever goodness comes from basil plants. All plants have some goodness right?! I trimmed the tops of my thai, purple, and sweet basil plants. 

Above are the stems with flowers, below are the stems de-flowered (if you will).

The thai and purple basil flowers are purple and the sweet basil flowers are white. 

After picking the flowers off the stems I threw them into my cup of salt and added 10 drops of the essential oil and gave it all a good stir before putting it into my jar. So pretty! 

Here's the final product!

I just used some the other day, the scent really opens up when you drop it in water. It smells absolutely amazing and feels luxurious. I see many spa days in my future. Pro tip: I put about a 1/4 in a tub to soak my feet. I fill up half of the tub with boiling water, pouring it onto the salt to help it dissolve quickly and to open up the scent. I then top it off with room temperature water, resulting in a perfectly hot tub of salts ready to use. If you want to go for the full bath, pour a full cup into the tub and fill with warm water. 

These are great for personal use and would make awesome gifts too! You could use any number of scents or herbs to make unique or personal scents. Go on and get your relax on.