I love giving healthy personal care products for quick and easy Christmas gifts. Using staples that you already have in your kitchen and some yummy essential oils, you can create a great peppermint sugar scrub that will exfoliate dead skin and smell delicious at the same time! One of the best parts about this project is that you do not have to be crafty to pull it off.
To make a delightful peppermint scrub, start with an organic peppermint oil and combine it with sugar and coconut oil to make an awesome sugar scrub. I love using mine to exfoliate my whole body in the shower or to scrub dirt off my hands after I have been in the garden.
Update: This recipe was originally created by using Rocky Mountain Oils' "Blend of Vanilla" and "candy cane" oils. Due to shortages in the worldwide vanilla crop, vanilla essential oil is in short supply and RMO is no longer carrying it. This recipe was updated in 2018 to reflect oils that are currently available on the market.
Supplies
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- Color Kitchen "Beet Red" coloring powder
- 2 glass bowls
- 2 mixing spoons
- Candy Cane seasonal blend from Rocky Mountain Oils
- Vanilla essential oil from Plant Therapy (one of the few companies still selling natural vanilla essential oil!)
- Glass jar (12-16 ounce)
- Long narrow spoon (such as an iced tea spoon)
- Optional: label, ribbon, sprig of rosemary, tiny spoon for gifting
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Directions
DIY Peppermint Sugar Scrub Recipe
How to make sugar scrub step 1: Mix
In a glass bowl, mix together sugar and coconut oil. Assess texture and add more oil (for a wetter scrub) or sugar (for a drier scrub) as desired.
How to make sugar scrub step 2: Split
Move half of the sugar mixture to a separate bowl. Add coloring powder, a little at a time to one bowl, mixing well before adding more--until desired color is reached.
How to make sugar scrub step 3: Add oil
Add 15 drops of vanilla essential oil to the white scrub and mix well to incorporate. Add 10 drops of peppermint essential oil to the red scrub and mix well to incorporate.
How to make sugar scrub step 3: Add oil
How to make sugar scrub step 4: Layer it
Using a long, narrow spoon, scoop some of the white scrub into the jar and smooth it out to make a white layer. Next, scoop some of the red mix into the jar and smooth it out to make a red layer. Continue alternating colors like this until the jar is full.
How to make sugar scrub step 5: Wrap It
If desired, add a pretty label to the jar so your gift recipient knows what it is and tie it up with a ribbon and a sprig of rosemary or small Christmas tree bough. You may also want to give a tiny spoon with the scrub to help the recipient to better get it out of the jar when it's time to use it!
How to use sugar scrub:
To use the scrub, scoop some out into your hands while in the shower. Allow a little warm water to run into your hands to activate it and scrub on skin that needs extra exfoliation. It also makes a great gardener's or mechanic's hand scrub to help get deep dirt off of your hands.Warning: The coconut oil in the scrub can make your shower floor slippery so use caution.
Happy Gifting!
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About the Author:
Carissa is an award-winning green lifestyle writer and mom of two active boys. The owner and lead writer for Creative Green Living, she most recently won the "Best Green Lifestyle Blogger" award at ShiftCon 2019 in Atlanta.
Her goal is to empower families to make healthier, more sustainable choices that are beautiful and delicious!
She is also the author of Beautiful Smoothie Bowls (Skyhorse, 2017), Proven Techniques for Keeping Healthy Chickens (Skyhorse, 2018) and The Little Green Book of Mothers' Wisdom (Skyhorse, 2020).
Follow her on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or join the Creative Green Living Tribe on Facebook.
Her goal is to empower families to make healthier, more sustainable choices that are beautiful and delicious!
She is also the author of Beautiful Smoothie Bowls (Skyhorse, 2017), Proven Techniques for Keeping Healthy Chickens (Skyhorse, 2018) and The Little Green Book of Mothers' Wisdom (Skyhorse, 2020).
Follow her on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or join the Creative Green Living Tribe on Facebook.
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Hi, I'm Carissa! I want to help you make healthier choices for your family that are BEAUTIFUL & DELICIOUS - and really work! My life is proof positive that being green doesn't have to be bland or boring! 
Nice gift--I bet this smells great.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue. It really does.
DeleteThis is so cute and I bet it smells amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jennifer. It totally does!
DeleteSounds YUMMY!! Thanks for the video!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cute ideaa! My name is Kim Wolff but this is posting as my grandson.
ReplyDeleteLove that you use Rocky Mountain oils! That's my fav brand too!
ReplyDeleteHow long will it last once made?
ReplyDeleteWhen I first made this project, I made multiple jars of it and promptly lost one. I found it a year later and it was still good - I wouldn't necessarily recommend you keep it that long before using it but as long as it doesn't look or smell funny, I'd say you're good.
Deletedoes the food coloring stain your skin?
ReplyDeleteUsing the dye I link to, I have not had any issues with my skin being dyed. I cannot make promises about other kinds of dye.
ReplyDelete