Vanilla Grapefruit Himalayan Salt Scrub

I go through body scrub (mostly on my feet) like it’s going out of style. I use to spend tons of money buying it every other week before I knew how to make it myself. Body scrub is one of the first natural skin care items I attempted, but it wasn’t always very successful. Never fear, I’ve perfected my technique and am ready to share it with you. The secret is patience (gah!) and a few quality ingredients bought in bulk. My Vanilla Grapefruit Himalayan Salt Scrub helps eliminate toxins with the cleansing effects of grapefruit & the beneficial minerals from Himalayan Salt.

Grapefruit is wonderful for exfoliating and purifying skin and very effective at evening skin tone. I’ve even read rumors that it also helps diminish the appearance of cellulite, but don’t hold me to that one. I’m using grapefruit essential oil to max out the beneficial properties. Use whatever essential oil brand you love and trust. But LISTEN UP: Do NOT use grapefruit oil (or other citrus oils) on your face or any overly sensitive areas. Grapefruit essential oil is photo-sensitive, which means it will heighten your sensitivity to the sun after use. I don’t want you getting burned ever. Cancer is real y’all.

Himalayan Salt is jam-packed with minerals and trace nutrients your skin needs like calcium and magnesium, improving hydration by strengthening the barrier function of the skin. The minerals in the salt are also hydroscopic, meaning they attract water, drawing moisture and nutrients from the deeper levels of the skin up to the epidermis. Hello soft and smooth skin!

I added Vanilla just for a little warmth and aromatic balance. You can use a vanilla bean or organic pure vanilla extract or you can leave it out all together. I also used USDA Certified Organic unrefined coconut oil as the emollient to combine all of these awesome ingredients.

The tools you’ll need are a microwave-safe bowl like this Pyrex glass bowl, silicone spatula, measuring cups and a pretty airtight glass container for storage. I bought a separate set of tools that I use exclusively for making these products that I never use for cooking for peace of mind.

Measure out 1 cup coconut oil into your bowl. Melt it for 30 seconds to one minute in the microwave. It isn’t an absolute must to melt it all the way. In fact, the hotter it is, the longer you have to wait for it to cool. Just stir until it is good and melty. Unfortunately, coconut oil doesn’t really have much of a stage between liquid and rock-solid, as you can see here.

If you bought a larger grain salt than you expected (totally me), it’s super easy to zip it through a food processor like my Ninja Master Prep. I liked to a finer grain than I bought above so you won’t have this problem :) Add 1 cup of salt and stir. I always use salt rather than sugar in my scrubs because sugar dissolves too quickly and it also might draw ants- ICK!

Now you just wait and stir it every ten minutes or so until it solidifies back up. You are trying to prevent the salt from settling at the bottom while the oil solidifies on top. You don’t want the heat to destroy the beneficial properties of your oils, so you definitely need to wait at least ten minutes after melting the oil to add 30 drops of grapefruit essential oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or the seeds from the inside of one vanilla bean). Want to use some different oils? I have a handy-dandy chart for essential oils to use on specific skin issues.

Just keep swimming… er… stirring, stirring, stirring, but only every ten minutes or so. You can leave it on the counter or put it in the fridge if you get impatient (I totally didn’t do that at all, I swear). You’re going to think it will never ever solidify, then all of a sudden, you’ll come back to a solid brick of salt on the bottom and oil on the top. *SIGH* If (when, in my case) that happens, stir it up as much as possible. scrape the salt away from the sides and, if necessary, nuke it another 5 seconds or so.

You want it pourable consistency, but almost solid (no liquid). This way you can pour or scoop it into your container and not need to stir it again.

***A note on usage safety*** I usually sit on the lip of my tub with my feet inside, scoop some out, rub it on, then start the shower. BE CAREFUL: you’re shower is going to be SLICK! I mean like Bambi-on-ice SLICK. Try not to fall or pull a muscle preventing the fall. If you have one of those detachable shower heads connected to a long hose, get that down first so you can stay seated and hose off. Your shower will still be slick, but this is an issue with any scrub, right? I’m reminding you of this because I totally fell in my cast iron tub and actually broke my shoulder. Safety first, people, safety first.