Salt scrub – pic via themethuselahcenter.com

Our skin is one of the largest systems in the body called the Integumentary System. It is our protector against the environment and something that holds us all together. We absorb nutrients through the skin and this is why I love to use nourishing essential oil blends on a daily basis. We eliminate toxins through our skin too.

Our skin is just as important as our other organs like the liver, pancreas, thyroid and everything else we are made of. It forms part of our personality by giving us a certain look and comes in a variety of colours. Our skin can easily be ignored but we really need to give it a helping hand. Moisturising is a must which will definitely keep skin looking younger and feeling more supple. Exfoliating is also a great benefit to skin to keep it healthy so it can do all the jobs we need it to do. It can help with general feelings of lethargy and will definitely wake you up too.

We exfoliate automatically as new skin cells are made and old cells dying make their way back into the universe, however, sometimes our skin needs a helping hand and we need to manually exfoliate for health and vanity reasons. Skin varies in texture and colour in different parts of the body so what is good for scrubbing your body, may not work very well for your face. We could use a few methods for exfoliation of the body:

Exfoliating Gloves – pic via http://www.aliexpress.com

1. Exfoliation Gloves

* environmentally friendly because they last a long time

* inexpensive

* use a little soap in the bath or the shower and don’t rub too hard it will hurt!

* once or twice per month is enough

dry skin brushing – pic via slenderresults.com

2. Dry Skin Brushing

* lightly done on dry skin

* benefits are said to be varied from minimising cellulite to stimulating new cells growth and getting rid of old cells, improving the elimination of toxins

* once or twice a week is enough and shower afterwards

Body-Scrub – pic via blog.freepeople.com –

3. Scrub with a Product

* use a product that you love or make your own body scrub or face scrub

Face and body scrubs can be made easily at your place with lots of different ingredients that you may find in your cupboard.

almond meal – pic via urbanposer.blogspot.com

Face Scrub

I often use almond meal but if I need more oomph I use LSA (a blend of linseeds, almonds, and sunflowers). Just mix a little water or coconut water with it and gently rub on your face. It’s not very user-friendly so do it over the bathroom sink so the little bits can fall off in that rather than on the floor. I rarely use essential oils with this one because it’s divine on its own.

When you add liquid to the almond meal it becomes milky and soft straight away. This almond milk is lovely and combines with the natural oil n the almonds will make your face so soft. It’s easy and it’s a winner. Try it! After rinsing off you wont even need to moisturise.

Sea salt – pic via cooks.ndtv.com

Body Scrub

I recommend using sea salt as a base and adding ingredients to that. I think I may have to write an article on the benefits of sea salt its an amazing treatment! You could choose Celtic or Dead Sea salt or a locally produced sea salt. Use fine grade as the coarse grade will scratch your skin. This is best done in a bath so you can soak in the salt afterwards. If you only have a shower then wet your body, step out of the stream or turn off the water, scrub then rinse.

If you are a lover of essential oils then try adding about 5 – 8 drops of the oils you choose, into 2 cups of salt and slosh in some oil to make a gooey, grainy paste. It can be olive oil, almond oil, coconut oil, sesame oil or anything you have in the cupboard. You could even try coconut milk or coconut cream to take you away on an island holiday in your mind.

Then get creative by adding spices and extract from your cupboard like, cinnamon, nutmeg or vanilla extract. For a more comprehensive list of suggestions see my article It’s Easy to Make Your Own Body Scrub.

Happy blending and remember to use your intention when you are creating your formulas. See my article about intention