Homemade Coffee Scrub Recipe

            This skin softening, invigorating, natural treatment is used in spas around the world...
                                               and in our own  Home Spa's for pennies!

photo source flikr

Coffee, America's great morning picker-upper is a great exfoliator too!   And the perfect

addition to your home-spa pantry. Use your favorite coffee in a fragrant, pampering body scrub.

Want to be resourceful?  *Save your morning grounds and mix them into a scrub to be used the 

same day.

Why coffee?   Coffee grounds are a natural exfoliator. Exfoliation is the removal of dead, dry skin cells that collect on the outer surface of the skin. The coffee buffs these unwanted cells off and speeds up our own skins natural renewal process, producing healthy glowing skin.   Also, coffee's natural caffein content is used as a topical treatment for cellulite, as it dilates blood vessels which increases speed and volume of blood flow.  Which, in theory, helps remove excess water from our tissue, thus improving the skins appearance and tone, according to the University of Sao Paulo 2008 study.   (ok girls, we all know we cannot fully get rid of our cellulite, but we can reduce the appearance of it , weight loss is also key).   

Note: We are talking about a body scrub here, not a facial scrub.  Facial scrubs are composed more gentle than body scrubs.

Ever wonder why you have alligator skin legs even after using quality lotion?  Its time to exfoliate.

When you exfoliate your legs, for example, you unclog the pores, allowing your skin to absorb the necessary moisture it needs. The healthy benefits in your quality lotion can now actually get to their destination in your dry legs. ( feet, heels etc ). Dull skin comes alive, leaving you with a natural glow

and beautiful soft skin. 

How: Apply this in the shower, it will be slippery, or sitting on tub side.  Take a  palm full of scrub and apply in a circular motion, paying attention to cellulite areas, small varicose vein areas, and dry skin areas. 

RECIPE for one use:   Basic Coffee Scrub 

• 3 TBL coffee grounds;   Use new grounds for the greatest application of caffein.  
• 1 TBL natural oil of your choice:  like olive oil, grapeseed, coconut (melted), almond etc.. Don't use any petroleum based oil as this will clog pores!  Olive has a heavier feel, is naturally hypoallergenic and is full of vitamin A and E , helps repair skin....grapeseed oil is lighter in feel, silky, not oily, and penetrates the skin quickly. It is cheaper than olive oil and is easily found in the grocery store with the other oils. This is a great choice for scrubs as it has almost no scent and is good for sensitive skin. Great for cooking too.
• 1 TBL sugar:  white or brown or a mixture of both.
• Mix all dry ingredients, then add oil (s).  Oil amount is your preference based on how much coffee grounds you are using.  Make this in single use amounts, or make a larger batch and store in frig if you used wet grounds. Final scrub consistency is your perogative, some like more oil than others, some like it dryer. Experiment. There's no wrong or right.

RECIPE:   Mocha Spice

• 1 TBL Cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• Add to the basic coffee scrub recipe above,s dry ingredients, then add oil (s)
• optional :  vanilla

   NOTE:  Don't exfoliate skin with rashes or abrasions

*NOTE: I recommend using fresh coffee grounds as the caffeine content is not depleted. However, if               you use, used grounds for your scrub, dry them out first, you don't want

            to introduce water into your scrub, it breeds bacteria. You can use your wet

            grounds if you make a one time use scrub and use it that same day. 

photo source flikr

                Check out my coffee soap recipe you can make yourself, full tutorial ! 

thanks for stopping by,  Anna

      

Goats Milk and Carrot Soap

                               Beautifully natural carrots, honey, oatmeal and goats milk soap.

    This homemade soap was created with my teens in mind. I wanted a pure, clean soap for them to use on their skin and face that wouldn't dry them out and overstimulate their oil glands, which is what causes more break outs.   A natural soap like this is suitable for all skin types, it is very gentle, cleans beautifully and leaves the skin feeling really nice, not taunt like you feel after using a detergent soap.

    CAROTTS have extraordinary skin protection (from UVR) and conditioning benefits naturally.  It's vitamin A is great for cell growth, as well as antioxidant benefits for that troubled acne prone skin while it's vitamin C  promotes skin elasticity.
    Carrots contain valuable nutrients like glucose, iron, copper, Vitamins C, D, E, K and most importantly carotene.   The vitamin C stimulates collagen production, naturally.

    Goats milk went in next, along with honey ( I LOVE to use honey in my soaps ) topped off with
oatmeal, ground fine.  Sweet Almond oil along with coconut oil, shea butter and beeswax add that luxurious touch.    The scent is very natural, light, almost a slight licorice scent. Very nice.

Made the hot process method, ready to use in 1 day.  Makes a great lather.
   For more details, or how-to's of my recipe,  just leave a comment below, and I'd be happy to help you make this bar.

Here is a link to the Bathmistress Youtube tutorial on how to incorporate carrot baby food into soap. Baby food is an easy  puree to use, lots of  new ideas here ladies!!   I tried it with baby applesauce, and I absolute love the soap. So fresh.

Find recipe in comments below..

 Enjoy,    Anna

Carrot Apple and Goats Milk Soap Recipe

                                   Made with raw goats milk, carrot puree, apple puree and honey

    I had a blast creating this soap recipe!  It's a great combination of oils, milk, honey, fruit and vegetable purees, and not as hard to make as it sounds.

    The carrot puree forms the bottom layer, the apple puree forms the top layer and is separated by
a light line of clove spice.  It smells divine. So fresh. The total batch weight was 50 oz, and to that
I only added .5 oz of Almond Biscotti fragrance oil from Brambleberry for scent, bottom layer
only.  I wanted the natural scent to come through.  Topped with a  dusting of cinnamon.

    This was done the cold process method.  For the carrot layer I used 7 oz of carrot puree and 6 oz of fresh, raw goats milk that I had frozen in ice cube trays, for a total of 13 oz liquid.

    For the oils I used Olive oil, Coconut oil, Cocoa butter, Palm/Soybean oil, Shea butter and 2oz of beeswax.  Total oils: 37 oz    This combination made a great lathering bar, light fresh scent, unique
color, with simply outstanding skin loving properties, here are a few.......

    Olive oil, moisturizing oil that allows the skin to breath, softens skin, won't clog pores.
    Coconut oil,  lovely, lovely coconut oil.  Ah....moisturizing, soothing, protecting.
    Shea butter, made from the nut of the Karite tree that only grows in Africa.  The beautifying shea butter battles skin thinning, helps in collogen developement, decreases wrinkles caused by sun, diminishes appearance of scars, stretch marks, cracked heals. It's a soother after shaving, high in Vitamins A and E.   A great addition to any luxury bar of soap.
    Cocoa butter, excellent moisturizer, has the ability to penetrate the upper layer of skin
reaching the lower layer to repair and moisturize, leaving your skin feeling SO good.  A strong presence of antioxidants that fights free radicals plus an abundance of vitamin E make cocoa butter irreplaceable.   In soap, it helps to make a harder bar.
    Honey, antioxidant, antibacterial, naturally moisturizing, beautiful honey!

    Just a quick overview!  If you have questions or would like step by step how to incorporate
purees into your soap, just comment below and I will be happy to oblige!
Enjoy,  Anna

 
 

 

Castile Rain Water Soap

                     "Castile Rain"    

    Castile soap  originated in the Castile region of Spain as a 100% olive oil soap, that was
 considered  a highly prized luxury item used by royalty and exported for centuries all over Europe.
    Modern Castile soap has been adapted to incorporate other oils to better suit the tastes and trends of modern society.   Adding other oils gave the true castile a better lather as 100% castile while being creamy and moisturizing did not lather much.  Todays crowd wants lather.

   If made with at least 80% olive oil, soap is still considered to be a castile.

    Such is the case with this  Castile I recently made.  With 81% being olive oil and 19% other oils,
(like avocado butter),  this blend made a mild, emollient, creamy lather with small bubbles.  Almost like washing with a cream.   With a line of oatmeal powder (soothing, cleansing) as accent this soap smells fresh and dewy,  pure and clean.  Gorgeous fresh natural scent.  I love how it came out.  Great soap for the sensitive skin crowd and folks like me who just love the natural beauty benefits of a blend like this.

    I chose to add avocado butter to my castile because of it richness. Is is made from the flesh of the fruit not from the extracted oil. Excellent for dry skin.  All skin types benefit from avocado butter.

   What makes this soap stand out from the crowd....rain water.....yep, I made it with fresh rain water I collected myself to ensure purity.  Rain water is naturally soft water.  Water is made hard by the dissolved minerals in it like magnesium, calcium, iron etc. which rain water does not have if harvested cleanly.    Beautiful in soap.

    Made the hot process method, because I wanted to use it right away!  ha !   Thanks for taking the time here at Natures Home Spa!   Anna


                                           Another lovely pure soap made from rain water......

"Coconut Rain"   

 
                                         
                                       



    Anna


 

Soap Made with Carrots, Goats Milk, and Oatmeal

                           "Creamy Carrot Cake Soap"       (ingredients listed below)

    Goats milk has been used for centuries as a natural cleanser.  Its natural moisturizing benefits and emollient properties are legendary.  Full of vitamin A (47% more than cows milk) , B (riboflavin, niacin), B6, B12, and add to that the alpha-hydroxy acids (AHA) and it simply cannot be beat.
    The AHA's in goats milk permeates the skin delivering all its goodness, including the calcium, right where it needs to be.  The ph of goat milk is low and is closer to the natural ph of our skin. This is great for the sensitive skin crowd, and why it makes it such a gentle effective beauty ingredient for all skin types.
    I added colloidal oatmeal ( which is the term for ground oatmeal powder ) to this soap for it's moisturizing, nourishing and soothing properties.   According to Cornell University "oatmeal also contains chemicals called saponins, which are responsible for its cleansing properties, as saponins have a "foaming" characteristic."  It is this foaming characteristic that helps lift oil and dirt from the skin, making oatmeal an ideal gentle cleanser.
     Ok, so why the carrot!?  I have 2 teenagers at home with varying degrees of troubled skin.  I did my research, trying to find natural ingredients to help their skin all around and came up with carrots!  They have "extraordinary skin protection (from UVR) and conditioning benefits" says www.carrotmuseum.com.   I'ts vitamin A is great for cell growth, as well as antioxidant benefits for that troubled acne prone skin while it's vitamin C  promotes skin elasticity.
    It just makes for a beautiful, natural skin care ingredient.  Carrots contain invaluable nutrients like glucose, iron, copper, Vitamins C, D, E, K and most importantly carotene ,so natural beauty products made of carrot can help in nourishing the skin leaving it naturally radiant!  The vitamin C alone is a plus as it stimulates collagen production helping our skin keep that healthy youthful look.
    Whether applied directly to the skin, as with my natural soap, eaten, or in juice, carrots can help improve complexion, revitalize the skin, provide acne relief, and encourage smooth, soft skin.  It doesn't get any better than that!
 
These soaps will be available in my etsy shop , ready to ship out November 7th  (they were made the cold process way and need to cure).    The scent is fresh, slightly fruity, naturally autumn!

In this yummy, fall recipe I used goats milk, carrot puree, olive oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter, grapeseed oil, shea butter, rapeseed oil, oatmeal, and beeswax, with clove and ginger accent lines.