The holidays are finally over and my family is officially exhausted! Shopping during this time has got to be the most challenging and tiring part of the season for me. I have quite a few people in my family and it can be very hard to buy presents for everyone, especially all of the females. There are around 16 necessary buys and this year I had to come up with a different plan.
I have made all of my own body scrubs for a couple of years now to save money.
My son also has severe eczema and so about a month ago I became interested in testing out different homemade body lotions to try to combat it.
I am not quite the person to spend money on items like body scrubs when I can make a much more natural product out of my own home that works well.
Therefore, this year I decided I would make all the wonderful women in my family jars of my favorite body scrubs and lotion. Knowing all the ladies in my family love to be pampered I knew this would make the perfect gift.
Although, finding recipes online for homemade body scrubs, lotions, soaps, etc. … is quite easy, the response from my little homemade gifts were so overwhelming I thought I should share my favorite recipes with all of the readers. Finding a lotion that is not greasy or heavy can be daunting, but this one provides wonderful moisture and is amazing for the skin.
Everyday moisturizing lotion
16 ounces of baby lotion
8 ounces of coconut oil (solid form)
8 ounces of vitamin E cream
1 ounce of vitamin E oil
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and whip until the ingredients resemble the texture of icing with a beater. I actually use my Ninja Bullet to whip mine. It achieves the texture of whipped cream in a couple of seconds. Store in airtight containers and fall in love. As I said before, this lotion has worked wonders on my son’s skin.
Coffee scrub
1 cup of ground coffee any kind
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 tbsp. of cinnamon
1 tsp. of nutmeg
Mix all ingredients together and store in airtight containers. This recipe will make about 16 ounces of scrub. This scrub is great for everywhere beyond your face. The caffeine in the coffee is great way to wake up your skin, the cinnamon is an anti-inflammatory, and the nutmeg is great for helping with scars and skin discolorations.
Brown sugar vanilla scrub
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 tbsp. of vanilla
This scrub is great for an everyday scrub. I love to make this one right before I get in the shower. The scrub will definitely slather away any dead skin cells and leave you feeling amazing.
Using ingredients from the kitchen is a great way to take care of yourself. There is no need to spend money on fancy lotions and scrubs. Simply adding extra vitamin E oil to your skin works wonders.
Decorative jars are a couple of dollars full price at Hobby Lobby or as low as .75 cent if they are on sale. Embellish the jar with a burlap tag and twine, felt flowers or anything else lying around the house. You can also purchase the small half-pint mason jars in boxes of a dozen at your local grocery quite inexpensively.
Scrubs and lotions make incredible gifts for birthdays, holidays, teachers, or anytime someone needs to feel appreciated! Next time you need to provide a gift, make lotion and a scrub and sit back for the lovely response you will receive. Enjoy!
April Sherrill is a staff writer for the Hamilton County Herald. Contact her at april@dailydata.com.