A DIY Switch – Moisturizer and Body Scrub
Wow, I suddenly became busier than I expected! Of course, not too busy to think about the environment! So I’m going to share with you one of my recent switch overs from store bought product to DIY. The reason I made this particular switch was to reduce the amount of plastic waste in our household. Obviously the ingredients I use to make the alternative product also come from stores, but they come in glass bottles and they last much longer than the average product from the store.
Since high school, I’ve been dealing with combination skin, which has led me to religiously apply moisturizer after every shower and face wash as well as body lotion. I’m sure women everywhere can agree that this is an expensive habit. This also leads to a lot of plastic containers either in the trash, or in the recycle bin. On top of that, recent studies suggest that these products, which are full of many different chemicals, can often cause adverse health effects.
What I have decided to do is to use Coconut oil, essential oils and bamboo scrub brushes.
Here I have –
Coconut oil
Vitamin E oil
Lavender oil
Lemongrass oil
and a bamboo toothbrush that I decided to use as a face scrubber
I simply mixed a few drops of the essential oils and vitamin E into a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil. You can use whatever oils you like, these are just some that I already had on hand. I would probably leave the lavender out next time, just due to the strong scent. You can also use coffee grounds for a little skin firming. Play around with the mixture and see what works best for you as far as scent and effectiveness.
I dip the bristles of the toothbrush in and gently scrub my face in the shower.
This also doubles as a body scrub, I just use my larger bamboo shower brush for the rest of my body.
Since using this method, I no longer have to use moisturizer or lotion and I have less of that flaky dry skin going on, and we have a lot less plastic waste to worry about.
I’m going to try some more DIY ideas using my coco-shea butter, so wish me luck 🙂