Lemon Coconut Sugar Scrub

It's almost Valentine's Day, and you know what that means! Hearts and flowers? Candy and gems? Nope. Figuring out a gift for my son's teachers that won't break me.

I know that a gift isn't required, but I wanted to do something for them at Christmas and never managed it. I'm totally going to make that right for Valentine's Day.

But how?

Well, Valentine's Day is getting a reputation for being about indulgence, right? (Otherwise, who would need a ginormo heart-shaped box of chocolates?) Let's capitalize on that.

Recently I walked into one of those expensive beauty stores that I have no business entering. The lovely, slightly scary, over-plucked sales lady offered to let me try a lemon coconut sugar scrub.

I did. It smelled wonderful. It worked like a dream. It was $50 for 4 oz. Bye.

After the sticker shock wore off, I figured that I can do better. I experimented and made a simple, inexpensive scrub that works like a dream, smells wonderful, and costs pennies.

A basic scrub has two parts grit to one part oil. The grit is usually sugar, but salt works well, too (especially if you want something detoxifying).

Here's what you need to make one batch:

Lemon Coconut Sugar Scrub
(makes a little over 8 ounces)

1 cup of sugar or salt (or a mix)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup olive oil
Lemon essential oil (or lemon extract in a pinch)

Mix the essential oils, including the essential oil or extract. Add it to the sugar.

Blend the sugar and oil with a rubber spatula until all of the oil is evenly incorporated.

Pack into jars, and try to think up some pretty labels before Valentine's day.

How much did this cost? Well, the only thing I bought for this was a box of 4 oz jars. The box cost about 8 bucks for 12 jars. This makes each jar about $0.67. Four of them bring us to about $1.34.

Much better than $50.

Happy Valentine's Day!