Exfoliating Citrus Salt Scrub

I know, I know...this "recipe" is a bit outside the box for me.  But I was so excited to share it, because it's 1) easy, 2) very inexpensive, and 3) a GREAT gift idea!

I was first inspired by this Pinterest post.  I will admit what first caught my eye was the color...I'm a sucker for a lemony yellow.  Then I started googling all sorts of salt and sugar scrubs.  Here's what I learned:  You need a carrier oil, salt or sugar, and then a fragrance.  The carrier oil will be your base oil.  Some suggestions are cocount oil, olive oil, jojoba oil, sunflower oil, hazelnut oil, or grape seed oil.

Next you'll need sea salt, which is easily available.  Mine have been made with regular sea salt because it's inexpensive and easy to find.  I'd like to make some with dead sea salts, but have been a little leary about ordering online because some of the reviews I've read aren't so great (i.e. companies selling plain sea salt and just calling it dead sea salt). Sugar can also be used instead of salt.

The recipes usually call for one cup of the sea salt and 1/4-1/2 cup of the carrier oils.  Some scrubs are oilier than others.  This is one area where you can experiment a bit.

After that, comes the fun stuff:  essential oils (like peppermint or lavender) or other scents (like lemon and orange).  The fun part is you can really play around.  If you add too much of one thing, you can just add a little more salt or oil to even it out. 

Today was the first time making a scrub.  I made it as a gift for a friend, and it turned out great!  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the smell and the lemony yellow color.  I simply added a ribbon and tag and the gift is ready to present.

Exfoliating Citrus Salt Scrub

Mix together:

1 cup sea salt
1/4 cup organic coconut oil (I got mine at Trader Joe's...great price!)
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp orange zest


Place in a decorative jar (canning jars work great) and you're done!