Your skin is a remarkable organ, the largest one you have. Weighing an average of nine pounds and equipped with about 300 million cells and 11 miles of blood vessels, your "casing" regulates body temperature, manufactures vitamin D and is your first defense against germ invasion, ultraviolet light and harsh weather. The next time you hear the expression "skin deep" or something "makes your skin crawl," consider that a square inch of your hide is only 0.07 inches thick but contains 72 feet of nerve fibers that fire off electrical impulses in excess of 250 mph.
Since you shed roughly 50,000 skin cells every 60 seconds and grow a whole new outer layer every 28 days without effort, it's clear that your skin is an organ of elimination and regeneration. Unfortunately, as time marches on, it tends to do so across your face, while stamping a few more creases on your birthday suit as evidence of each passing year. But with a little TLC, you can keep your outer crust from becoming crusty. In addition to a healthy diet and lifestyle, the occasional use of a skin scrub will exfoliate dead cells and stimulate cell turnover – and result in a glowing new you.
Face and body scrubs consist of various raw materials. Sugar and salt are the most common base ingredients, mostly because they’re usually on hand. Because sugar and salt are available in varying degrees of coarseness, the texture of the finished product is controlled by the type used. Granulated or brown sugar, for example, have a much smaller particle size than raw cane (turbinado) sugar. Similarly, there’s quite a difference in granularity between fine table salt and sea salt.
There are plenty of other base ingredients that are suitable for face and body scrubs that are likely found in your kitchen or pantry as well. These include cocoa powder, oat flakes and the same ground coffee that produced your morning cup of java. In the botanical department, dried rose petals, calendula flowers, lavender buds and orange peel bits are excellent partners to invite to the party.
Essential oils are the volatile oils of plants that are extracted by steam distillation. They are so-called because they contain the “essence” or the imprint of the parent plant in terms of unique chemical properties and scent.
Nothing underscores the proper use of essential oils as the term “a little goes a long way.” Because these oils are super concentrated, they can be irritating to skin applied “neat” or without dilution. Not all essential oils are created equal either. Eugenol, for example, better known as clove oil, might subdue a throbbing toothache when applied to the gum, but the strong smell and burning sensation on your face will be anything but dull. Lavender, orange, lemongrass or mint, however, used sparingly, benefit both skin cells and olfactory sensors.
As the term implies, these are the oils that “carry” the essential oils in a cosmetic formula. Aside from serving as a vehicle for the dilution of essential oils, carrier oils bring their own characteristics into the mix. For one thing, they act as emulsifying agents that allow scrub ingredients to combine and stay together. Carrier oils also act as surfactants to reduce the surface tension so that the scrub spreads across the skin and washes off cleanly with water.
Some of the best carrier oils to use for face and body scrubs include sweet almond, grapeseed, apricot kernel and coconut oils. Note that the latter is a solid at room temperature, but melts on contact with skin.
