Adventures in (Homemade) Body Scrub!

Let it be known that, secretly, I am a girlie girl. On the outside, people see the house-cleaning, yard-working, grocery-shopping mom... on the inside, I yearn for spas, pedicures, manicures, massages... I also love everything herbal: doesn't it just feel right to use things from the earth? So, having recently given up coffee (that story in another blog), I had some coffee left in my freezer that was just crying out to be used somehow. Aha!, says I... body scrub!

I looked online and found several recipes and then, of course, sorta made up my own based on what I'd read. Here's my recipe in the best-guessed amounts:

1 cup (approx) of Starbucks Sumatra Blend Regular Coffee (ha, an expensive scrub!)

2-3 tablespoons brown sugar

2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Safflower oil, just enough to get it 'movable' so it will go on the skin

Vanilla, just enough to dilute the coffee smell

Just mix all that in a bowl and take it to the shower!

Well, the fun begins when you get in the shower. I scooped up a pile of the brown gunk, er, I mean, scrub, and slopped it on my leg. The first thing I noticed was that, oh boy, I was going to have to scrub the shower when I got done because this stuff was going everywhere! No matter how carefully I applied it to my body, coffee grounds appeared on the shower wall, etc. I finished scrubbing my entire body with this stuff, and it actually felt pretty good. I looked like a bad mud wrestler, but my skin felt pretty good!

Then the rinsing began. Well, let me tell you... there were coffee grounds in places on my body that Juan Valdez can only dream of! Good grief, who knew coffee grounds could move like that? I know I didn't intentionally put the scrub in some of those places, but nonetheless, I rinsed and rinsed, and rinsed again. And then rinsed. And then had to rinse down the walls of the shower and all those nooks and crannies behind shampoo bottles, etc. But I repeat, my skin felt GREAT! Really! And I didn't smell like I had fallen in the used grounds bin at Starbucks.

Would I do this again? Probably not. Well, maybe. But I would definitely explore other homemade scrubs, perhaps sticking with salt and baking soda, which are white and won't show as badly if I do a poor job of shower cleaning afterwards. But I would encourage you to try one. You feel like you're doing something spa-like that isn't costing an arm and a leg (you don't have to use Starbucks, haha), and your skin really does feel nice. Here are a few tips based on my experience:

* Don't do this if you're in a hurry, like before work. You must, absolutely MUST, clean your shower afterwards. Besides the obvious brown coffee grounds everywhere, the floor of your shower becomes very slippery, so please don't create a hazard for yourself or anyone else who steps in the shower after you're done. I was able to get the visible grounds cleaned up, but I suspect they will be like Easter grass or Christmas tree needles: they will show up over the next few weeks in spite of what I thought was a thorough cleanup.

* Don't do this on the same day you shave. The scrub is invigorating and would probably be a bit too much if you've shaved the same day.

* I still applied my regular moisturizer afterwards; it just gave me that little extra I needed because I have very dry skin. My skin still felt great when I went to bed in the evening tho!

* Look online for recipes. There are lots out there, including some with essential oils like lavender, etc., which would smell great.

On the whole, this was fun, beneficial, and a great way to use up the last of the coffee I had. I will most definitely try this again with different recipes. If you decide to try one, please post and let us know what you used. Enjoy!