DIY: body scrub (christmas/holiday gift idea)

I love making homemade gifts for people.  There is something about putting your love and work into a project and giving it to another person.  I also know money is a worry for some people so this DIY helps the wallet conscious as well as the DIYselfers.  For myself I spent no money because I had everything on hand.  If you do need to purchase some items, I would recommend the dollar store, they should have everything with the exception of the fragrance oils.

This DIY was so easy because you can add or not add the ingredients below.  I got some inspiration from the internet but the measurements and other choices were my own.

1st body scub: gardenia

ingredients:

• gardenia fragrance oil
• jojoba oil (gives it the yellowish hue)
• baby oil  (baby oil has a distinct smell, the gardenia oil overpowers it though)
• baking soda
• epsom salt

(use lots of epsom salt and as much or little of the other stuff)

2nd body scrub: tangerine

ingredients:

• tangerine zest (gives it the orange hue)
• jojoba oil
• argan oil

note: I used baby oil but I would skip it because it overpowers the tangerine zest.

alternatives for:
epsom salt: raw sugar
tangerine zest: lemon zest
any type of body oil can be used (baby, jojoba, argan, etc)

notes:  
I got the gardenia oil from Whole Foods, they have a huge body oil selection.  This was only for fragrance so if you only have baby oil or jojoba oil, that is fine. 

I used old candle jars I cleaned out (with boiling water, the oil rises) so no cost there.  You can also use mason jars, I would have preferred that but I didn't have any on hand.   I like the mini ones I made so I can give multiples to one person but you can give one big one to someone.

I saw on some sites people used food coloring but I would skip this step.  I know when I bake cookies with food coloring, it stains my hands.  I made a batch with green food coloring to see if it would stain and although my hand did not turn green, I could see the color on my hands.   I didn't want to take a chance my recipient would become kermit the frog.  I will keep this batch for myself.  If you do decide to use the food coloring, use a light hand!


-S