Pamper yourself and feel the love!

Happy Valentine's Day! As I mentioned yesterday, I just love this holiday. I am really feelin' the love today. I really enjoy seeing my friends posts on facebook about what their valentine has done for them and I hope that I can give some love to all of my friends who feel unloved or left out of this day. Valentine's day is for everyone, not just couples. In my family we give a little something to everyone that we love, not just spouses. It doesn't have to be extravagant, although contrary to yesterday's post, my sweet hubby surprised me with roses and candy. I wasn't expecting it and was completely caught by surprise. It was also nice to see how thrilled my kids were that their dad had gotten something for me. They all knew before I did and I could just see the joy in their faces when I discovered my surprises. I am a stay at home mom, so I don't have a bunch of cash to spend and I really enjoy giving homemade gifts, so that is what I will be doing today. One of my favorite gifts to make and give (or keep) is a nice sugar scrub. I don't know if you have ever purchased one or even looked at the price, but they are so expensive that it's ridiculous (I am also pretty cheap thrifty.) The worst part about the high price is that they can be made at home with ingredients you most likely already have in your cupboard. Seriously, can we say highway robbery?


Not only are they fantastic gifts but they are a wonderful way to pamper yourself. The bible tells us to love others as we love ourselves, so if we aren't loving on ourselves once in a while we may be unable to properly love others. So I give you permission to make a sugar scrub for yourself and show your skin some love. Take an hour in the shower and you will definitely feel loved...I promise! So, without further ado here are some recipes.

The first one is possibly my favorite. It's a coffee sugar scrub. The two in the picture are the ones I made for my Mom and Grandma. I am so happy to have those two valentines still in my life. This is great to use in the shower, as a matter of fact I keep a jar of it in my shower at all times. Not only does this feel luxurious, but if you use it a couple of times a week it will reduce cellulite and varicose veins as well as tightening up your skin (yippee!!!). I won't go into all the science of it since I am not a genius scientist, but If you are curious there is a lot of info out there on the net. 

You will need:

1/2 cup coffee (I use the cheapest I can find since I am not going to be drinking it.)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 cup coconut oil (olive oil is works great too!)

Mix the coffee, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl

add the coconut oil on top

smash it all together with a fork. If it's chilly in your house and the coconut oil is kind of hard you can pop it in the microwave for about 15 seconds first.

I know the finished product doesn't look all that glamorous, but who cares what it looks like, it smells divine!

I buy one dollar candles in these jars at Walmart. When I have used the candle up, I freeze it for about 30 minutes and then pop the leftover wax out of the jar. The jars are perfect for holding sugar scrub gifts. For myself, I usually just put them in a mason jar. BTW, keep the leftover wax and use it to make my easy fire starters. Once you have your scrub, just hop in the shower and scrub it anywhere you like. My posterior and thighs tend to have the most cellulite, so that is what I scrub the most. Keep scrubbing for about five minutes and then just rinse it off in the spray. You won't want to use soap after this because that would wash away all of the oil. When you get out of the shower just pat yourself dry and give the oil a couple of minutes to sink in to your skin. Congratulations your butt is now as soft as a baby's.

Maybe coffee isn't your thing? How about cookies? Seriously, who doesn't love a good cookie? Well, my waistline doesn't, so I have to pretend to enjoy them by using my sugar cookie scrub. I didn't take pictures of this since I felt it would be repetitive. So here's the recipe:

Sugar Cookie Scrub

1/3 cup coconut oil or olive oil

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

This one also smells wonderful. It's good enough to eat, as a matter of fact I kind of like the fact that all of it is food grade, because I know it is safe to use on my skin. This one is really luxurious to use on your hands and feet. It is especially helpful during the winter months when my skin is so dry.

Okay, now I know that there are those of you out there who aren't fond of baked goods or maybe you just love all things citrus. If that's the case then this last scrub is for you.

Lemon Drop Scrub

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

I keep a jar of this on my kitchen sink and try to use it once a day. It keeps my hands so nice and soft and has a nice fresh scent. This type of scrub is much better for hands than the coffee scrub because the coffee likes to hide under your finger nails making them look dirty. This one is also fantastic for exfoliating your face. 

Please keep in mind that if you use olive oil in these scrubs in place of coconut oil you will have to stir them before you use them, since the olive oil likes to rise to the top.

Now, go pamper yourself and show yourself some love. Use a scrub all over your body and not only will you feel the difference, but so will anyone else who happens to be touching your skin today...wink, wink.