Kitchen Beautician

I have a beauty confession to make: I am OBSESSED with exfoliating. Fruit acid peels, almond kernel scrubs, enzymatic exfoliators...you name it, I've tried it - on both face and body. As temperatures soar and the summer holidays creep ever nearer, now's the perfect time to buff and polish your way to a beach-ready body.

I've tried numerous body scrubs and I must admit that Molton Brown's Celestial Maracuja Sugar Scrub is one of my personal favourites. This rich, luxurious brown sugar scrub buffs away dead skin cells on the surface of your skin (perfect after a covered-up winter!), leaving your skin feeling soft and silky smooth. Simply sublime!

If you don't have the bucks to spend, why not try making your own brown sugar scrub in the comfort of your own home? My fondness for exfoliation means that I run out of products very quickly, so I often mix up my own batch of scrub using a cup of olive or sweet almond oil, mixed with equal parts brown sugar.

For a beauty treat to boost your mood amidst the end-of-year chaos, try this mood-lifting sugar scrub (recipe courtesy of Burgess & Finch Aromatherapy):

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Sweet Almond Oil
5 drops of Grapefruit essential oil (substitute with an essential oil of your choice - think lavender for a relaxing blend, peppermint for a detoxifying blend, etc).

METHOD:

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container. Use all over your body once or twice a week.

I've made up my own scrub that lives beside the bath. I'm such a fan of this delicious scrub that I plan on making up a few more batches as Christmas gifts for friends - simply add a label and ribbon and voila! A truly decadent, inexpensive gift idea.

Do you have any at-home beauty recipes that you swear by?

credit: image from pauladeen.com