Homemade Coffee-Coconut Scrub

I've always had a weakness for nice bath and beauty products. Unfortunately, I've never really had the budget for them! Fortunately for me, I am quite handy at making, well, lots of things.

Consider the sugar and salt scrubs that have been all the rage for years. Once upon a time, I would wait for Bath and Body Works to put their sugar scrubs on sale for half price, then stock up. But I don't have to resort to such desperate tactics anymore. I also don't have to settle for the array of questionable ingredients that make up many of B&BW's products!

I came up with my recipe for coffee-coconut scrub after a fair amount of internet research and a bit of experimentation. It smells completely scrumptious, almost like a dessert. Technically it's edible (aside from the essential oils)—but with oils and all the salt, I bet it would taste horrid!

Did I mention sugar scrubs make great gifts?

Coconut Coffee Scrub

• .5 cup sugar
• .5  cup brown sugar
• .5  cup salt or sea salt
• .375 cup ground coffee*
• .25 cup shredded coconut*
• .25 cup oil of your choice†
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5-10 drops essential oil(s) (optional)

Directions

1. Mix together dry ingredients. 
2. In a separate container, combine oil, honey, and vanilla; add essential oil if desired. 
3. Slowly add wet ingredients to dry, stirring well. Add more oil if desired.

For ease of use, store in a wide-mouthed container. Stir before use to redistribute liquid as needed.

*For a finer texture, make sure your coffee is finely ground, and pulse your coconut in a food processor, blender, or spice grinder.

† The choice of oil is up to you. There are a wide variety of skin-friendly oils: grape seed, olive, jojoba, hazelnut, pumpkin seed, coconut, sweet almond… Go with what you like, what you can afford, or what you have on hand. Do keep in mind that the scent of the oil could affect the scent of the scrub; some oils have a strong fragrance, while others are nearly unscented.

Herbalism: Practical Crafting

Cough syrup: ginger, garlic, vinegar, honey, and cayenne.

I just love making things; I always have. But so much stuff I can make doesn't really contribute much to my quality of life. (My art journal and ATCs do not qualify – they are pure art for art's sake.) Herbalism, though, makes my life better in so many ways.

First, making things allows me to control some aspects of my environmental exposure to toxins. (Do you know what's in your Softsoap? Did you sign up for a formaldehyde releaser? It's not in my homemade soap!)

Second, it improves my health. An example: since I discovered fresh ginger tea with cayenne, honey, and lime, I've been able to ward off some of the colds my husband brings home! When my husband got food poisoning, I remembered reading about apple cider vinegar. It worked immediately, fortunately; Atlanta was practically shut down by snow and ice all week.

It saves me money, too; I made my own "hot cloth cleanser," AKA "waterless cleanser" for a fraction of the cost of equivalent store-bought products. And mine is perfectly balanced for my skin. And it contains frankincense essential oil, which is awesome for my rosacea-prone skin. (Seriously, I made about two ounces for less than five dollars, including the cost of the jar!) My friends and family love my homemade sugar scrubs, which are very inexpensive to make but high quality and effective.

Harvesting aloe from my houseplant.

I've also reduced my environmental impact. I buy the raw ingredients – oils, honey, beeswax, herbs and spices – and make it myself. Much of it I can buy from the bulk department, like the spices and olive oil I get from my local natural foods store. Honey and beeswax I buy from a local beekeeper; my honey comes in mason jars, which I reuse, and he puts the beeswax chunks in my cloth bag. Garlic and ginger come from the local international market, without packaging. Even the stuff that gets shipped is better; minimal packaging and minimal processing translate to less trash produced by the manufacturer. (Check out The Story of Stuff for an explanation of how that works.) I'm pretty sure I produce a lot less waste making a salve than Johnson & Johnson creates for a tube of Neosporin. Much of the packaging of my ingredients is reusable or recyclable. The containers I use (mostly mason jars and tins) are safely reusable long term.

I can choose ethical and sustainable sources. I've been able to make a lot of replacements. Local raw honey and sustainably-produced coconut sugar instead GMO beet sugar. Homemade vinegar made from fruit scraps replaces Windex. Small-producer, ethically sourced coconut oil has eliminated the need for Crisco shortening or a lotion like Jergens. If I choose to, I can grow many of the herbs in my yard.

Natural soap made with a friend.

Most of all, I have learned an important skill that is satisfying to practice. I can take care of my husband, my extended family, and my friends. I have options; I am not entirely dependent on the medical or beauty industries to take care of me. I can try simpler treatments first – an herbal steam, a neti pot, or an epsom salt soak. If I decide I really need to, I can head to the doctor then. As for rosacea, my all-homemade beauty regimen has worked far better than the Metro gel a dermatologist prescribed (once upon a time). Is there an ice storm? Is it a holiday? I have options, which are right in my house or yard.

How's that for an improved quality of life?

All-Natural Honey Brown Sugar Scrub

Years ago, I fell in love with sugar scrubs from Bath and Body Works. They left my hands feeling fabulous, and even my husband used them every time we went in the store, but boy were they expensive!

Fast forward a few years. They had discontinued my beloved bergamot coriander fragrance (a very unpopular move, according to every B&BW clerk I ever spoke to). Besides, I wear high-quality, natural, artisan-made perfume oils from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab; Bath and Body Works simply smells too artificial now. (Thinking back on it, I cringe, knowing what I know about the stuff I was putting on my skin.) I was pretty much out of my stockpiled sugar scrubs, and besides, I wanted to give some as gifts.

So began my semi-obsessive research on sugar scrubs, which led to brown sugar scrubs. And THAT led to my playing around with sugars, honey, fragrances, and oil. The recipe that made the cut got packaged up in mason jars (so very handy!) and given as Christmas gifts.

Years later, I still get friends asking me how I made them. I've posted my recipe before for friends, but now I'm putting my recipe out in the wild. (After all, I relied heavily on recipes other people had posted to come up with mine!) If the list of oils is too long, just use 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil; it will still feel great.

So here it is, a traditional oil-rich sugar scrub.

Honey Brown Sugar Scrub
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons grape seed oil
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet almond oil
1 tablespoon jojoba oil
1 tablespoon honey
perfume oil, natural fragrance oil, or essential oils of your choice

1. In a small bowl, combine the sugars.

2. In a larger bowl, combine the oils and the honey.

3. Add your fragrance source of choice to the liquids. Start with a very tiny amount and add a bit more at a time, until the scent is a bit stronger than you want. (Depending on whether you're using perfume oil, fragrance oils, or essential oils, or even which scent you're using, the amount will vary wildly!)

4. Add the sugars to the liquids a little at a time, stirring to make sure the oil is evenly absorbed.

This amount of scrub will fill a half-pint (8 oz) mason jar. I usually use regular-mouth quilted crystal jelly jars, but it's easier to use in a wide-mouth half-pint jar, if you can find them. Or put them in a small half-cup (4 oz) mason jar; this recipe will fill two.

When you get to the bottom of the jar, you'll probably find there's oil left. Add in more sugar and keep using it until it's gone!


Recently, I've been seeing lots of "dry sugar scrubs," particularly at Whole Foods. These aren't actually dry, but all the oils are absorbed. I found that my basic recipe works great with only a small change: more sugars!

Honey Brown Sugar Dry Scrub
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons grape seed oil
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet almond oil
1 tablespoon jojoba oil
1 tablespoon honey
perfume oil, natural fragrance oil, or essential oils of your choice*

Mix as for the traditional scrub. Keep adding the sugar mixture until pretty much all of the oil is absorbed; you may have to mix up more sugar.

*It may take more fragrance to create the same intensity of scent. Remember, you've got a lot more sugar now!