DIY Natural Body Scrub and Spray

This is a perfect unique present idea that is thoughtful and won't cost you much, or a great way to treat yourself (*^.^) Most of the ingredients are probably already in your kitchen so all you'll need to buy is essential oil if you don't already have some. 

This recipe is very flexible and should be adjusted for the size of the container your using. I made the scrub twice, the first time is the main picture which I made for my dads birthday recently, and the second time I tweaked the recipe and took better step by step pictures. In the middle of the second picture with the cat investigating what I was up to you can see the jar I used the first time was a large Talenti ice cream container. This works perfect since it's plastic and won't break if knocked over in the shower, but for my second time that I show throughout the tutorial I bought a jar from the Dollar Tree that's glass.

Ingredients and supplies for body scrub:

• 6 Tablespoons coconut oil
• 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 Tablespoons honey
• About 1 1/2 to 2 Cups sugar
• 10 drops sweet orange essential oil
• 7 drops lavender essential oil 
• Container with tight fitting lid (preferably plastic with a large opening to fit your hand in easily)
• Spoon or butter knife to stir with, and measuring utensils

Play around with the amount of oil to make the texture you desire, a small pool of oil on top is fine by me. You could also substitute sweet almond oil or even vegetable oil if you don't have coconut or olive oil, and sugar can be substituted with salt or brown sugar. For my dad I know he likes citrus smells so I made the dominant fragrance orange. I added the lavender essential oil for its antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties. Some other ideas for essential oil scents to try with beneficial characteristics are tea tree, cypress, peppermint, or eucalyptus. If you don't want to buy essential oil a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract will also work to add some pleasant scent.

Ingredients and supplies for body spray:

• About 4 fl oz jojoba oil, enough to fill the bottle
• 7 drops sweet orange essential oil
• 5 drops lavender essential oil
• small spray bottle (I got mine for $1 at Walgreens)

If your worried about the smell being too strong start with a few drops, mix and test it out to see if you want more or not. 

*****Optional decorating supplies:

• Spray Paint, I used metallic gold, or regular paint of your color choice
• Small paint brush if regular paint is used
• Stencil if needed
• Puffy Paint
• Gloves and a face mask 
• Drop cloth, newspaper, pizza box, garbage bag, old sheet, or whatever you can get paint on

If I had been at home for this process I would have put a tarp down and spray painted it on the ground, but seeing as how I did this at a friends apartment I had to hold it over the ledge with a garbage bag so I didn't turn my arm gold. Gloves would probably be useful during this step... as well as a mask... Anywhooo, after a quick coat I set it down on a pizza box to dry for about five minutes. It most likely was dry after one minute but I wanted to be sure before touching it. My first time doing this project I used some leftover orange/tan paint I had around but that took two coats to look good and spray paint was much faster.

Add the ingredients to the jar in the order listed (Oil, honey, sugar, then essential oil); if you measure the oil first it helps to get all the honey out of the tablespoon. Measurements don't need to be exact and feel free to add more or less oil as you see fit. Stir everything together really well and test out a little on your hands to see how well it works :)

For the Body Spray just fill up the tiny travel spray bottle with jojoba oil and add the essential oil of your choosing one drop at a time, mixing every couple drops, till you think its just right. That easy! It's super moisturizing which helps a lot for people who don't use lotion often.  This body scrub and spray are particularly useful for dry feet, hands, elbows... you could even use it on your face if you wanted to. 

Now for the fun part! Decorate or write a message on the jar to personalize. My first trial when I made my father's birthday present I painted the Talenti ice cream container with some orange/tan paint and then sprayed an ivy stencil in gold I had from a previous project (my bench makeover instructable). I painted the spray bottle the same tan with a quick spray of gold dusted over it. For my second time on the glass jar I made a tree in white puffy paint with small dots of green for leaves. If you have the time and artistic ability go crazy during this step!!! You can even put the jar and spray in a small basket with a card.

Blending your favorite essential oils in jojoba oil is a great way to make your own unique perfume, and you know exactly what ingredients are in it unlike perfume or body spray from the store. I find essential oils on clearance at my nearby natural grocery store Sprouts all the time and I got my jojoba oil on sale for $8 for a 4 oz bottle. The brown and gold perfume bottle in the picture I found on sale for $10 at Hobby Lobby. Yay for being thrifty (*^.^)