homemade yummy body butter and body scrub

Hello everyone! Sorry things have been a little quiet on the blog lately, we have been very busy and I keep meaning to sit down and write, and then in my downtime end up with my nose buried in my new book (the history of the Stuart family of Scotland- it's fascinating, and I can't put it down)... Today, by request (love to my BFF Ashleigh!) is a recipe for homemade body scrub and body butter. I have been making these two simple but so yummy products for awhile, and my husband and a few of my friends have tried and loved them, and I am thinking of giving them out as gifts for Christmas this year- we all need a little self pampering around the holidays, right?! I am seeing a dear friend tonight, who is pregnant with her first child (so exciting!), and I haven't seen her in ages and wanted to get her a little gift... I was going to go to the store and pick up some bubble bath for her, but then I realized a homemade gift would be so much better! I like to have different body oils and butters on hand, for just this purpose (I get all of my supplies from Mountain Rose Herbs online, they are awesome, have everything you could think of, and have a huge organic selection of stuff), and I love whipping up seasonal treats for the body! The beauty of having a few base ingredients on hand, plus spices and essential oils, means you can make a personalized/seasonal product with the same base ingredients whenever you want! So without further ado, the recipes: (Note: all ingredients listed are organic- your skin is a permeable membrane!)

Easy homemade body scrub:
-variable amount of oil (depends on the glass jar you want to use, but I used about a cup of oil for the little jars in the picture)- coconut oil/jojoba oil/grapeseed oil/olive oil, or other oil of your choice (using coconut oil will impart a slight coconut smell)

-enough brown sugar to fill up half your jar. The larger the grain of the sugar, the more "scratchy" the sugar will be on your skin, so you can grind it down in a mortar and pestle if you want finer sugar (or buy finer sugar).

-essential oils/spices of your liking- for this particular batch, I used 30 drops of vanilla essential oil and a few teaspoons of each powdered spice: clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. It smells like pumpkin pie! I made a batch one time with just clove and grapefruit essential oil, and put some grapefruit zest in it, and it was amazing too. Play around with it, the possibilities are endless!

mix it all up in a bowl until it is evenly combined, and put it in your jar!  simple as that.

Easy homemade body butter:
-1 cup shea butter (or mango butter or cocoa butter... etc)
-3 tablespoons oil of your choice (remember, coconut will make it smell a little tropical on it's own, and if you want to have a nice essential oil smell you may want to use a different oil)
-essential oils of your choice (lavender, vanilla, grapefruit...)

Melt the butter in a bowl placed in another bowl or pot that has hot water in it (or if you have a double boiler, use that!) You don't want to put the butter in a pot directly on the stove, because you want to melt it at a low temperature to keep the butter from changing too much- you want all those good skin nutrients to stay intact. When the butter is semi melted (some clumps still), use a mixer and blend in the oil and the essential oils if you want them, and beat the hell out of it. I usually beat it like crazy with my hand mixer for 10 minutes, put it in the fridge to solidify for another 5-10 minutes, and then beat it again with the hand mixer for 10 minutes. The mixing time will be variable depending on the butters and oils you use, but the consistency should be soft and marshmallow like (best way I could think of to describe it!) It really does take a long time to get it nice and fluffy, you may have to beat it for 30 minutes but I swear, it's worth it! 

It comes out fluffy and thick, and you only need a little bit to keep your skin super moisturized- it is great for winter, and on chapped skin and cracked hands. My hubby uses it all the time at work, after he has been washing his hands over and over and working on equipment all day long. Both of these things, because they are organic and fresh, will have a expiration date, so use them up in a couple of  months or put them in the fridge to last longer. 

I hope you give making them a try, there is nothing like a pure homemade spa day to make yourself feel the self love! Let me know if you try it, and what you think!