BEAUTY: SUGAR SCRUB

Whenever winters rolls around, my skin always seems to freak out. I didn't realize just how dry my skin really is until I married Jeff who is at the very opposite end of the spectrum. Regardless of the season, I always have to lather up with lotion every time I shower and pretty frequently during the day after I wash my hands. Jeff on the other hand hates the very idea of applying lotion simply because his skin never gets even remotely dry. Some guys have all the luck!

This winter my hands have been so dry and red and I recently decided lotion/cream alone wasn't cutting it anymore. So I went in search of some kind of sugar scrub I could use to exfoliate the skin on my hands. I checked two stores I frequent, Target and Sprouts. One didn't have the kind of selection I wanted and the other had a great selection but I didn't like the pricing. So I took matters into my own hands and decided to make my own sugar scrub.

I searched google for a scrub that was not only easy to make, didn't require the use of expensive essential oils and one whose scent wasn't too strong or flowery. And this is what I found with that criteria. I decided to half the recipe just for ease of storage and I substituted extra virgin olive oil with extra light olive oil so the scent wasn't too heavy. Here's what I came up with!

Sugar Scrub

. 1 1/4 cups sugar
. 1/2 cup extra light olive oil
. 2 tbsp lemon juice (I just used the juice from half a lemon)
. 6 oz. mason jar

It's only been a day since I started using this scrub on my hands and I'm really liking it so far. My hands feel so much softer and I feel like it makes my hand lotion that much more efficient, if that even makes sense. FYI: the sugar settles pretty quickly in the bottom of the jar so it definitely has to be shaken or mixed before each use as the olive oil likes to sit at the top of the jar. I might try adding more sugar to the mix for a different consistency, although that might be defeating the purpose of a sugar scrub in the first place. Clearly, this is just me being perfectionistic. Also, it helps to wash your hands with soap after you've rinsed off the scrub with water because there's definitely an olive oil residue that likes to hang around after the sugar granules rinse off. Happy sugar scrubbing everyone!