By Elizabeth Herman | Posted: August 22, 2019
Now that I live in an apartment that’s too small for a bathtub, I look for ways to make my showers feel more luxurious, as though I were waking up every day in an elite health spa. An easy way to do this is by making my own shower scrub from simple, luxurious ingredients.
With a ratio of 3 parts epsom salt to 1 part olive oil, I can mix up a basic shower scrub that will make everyday showers feel like purifying, relaxing, and energizing massages. Olive oil moisturizes and protects my skin, while salt smooths and cleanses it. I emerge from the shower feeling softer and more refreshed than ever before.
You can also replace some of the epsom salt with granulated sugar and/or coarsely ground coffee. I encourage you to be creative with scrubs, and make each shower a new adventure with different flavors and textures. In this way, by making your showers interesting, you won’t feel like you’re missing out on long, drawn out baths.
Add essential oils to scrubs
With different essential oils, you can tailor your scrubs to your changing needs:
Lavender is calming, and a perfect addition when you need to use your shower to wind down after a stressful day at work. Lavender also helps soothe anxiety, depression, insomnia, and restlessness.
Eucalyptus will open up your respiratory passages when you feel congested and tight in the nose and chest. Combined with steam from the shower, this essential oil relieves your cold symptoms quickly.
Peppermint will enliven your body, circulate your blood, and help you to wake up early in the morning. It also cools inflammation from insect bites and other skin irritations.
Bergamot has a sweet and citrusy scent, and possesses anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory compounds. It helps relieve acne and other skin symptoms.
Frankincense is meditative and calming, and will help prevent wrinkles, slow signs of aging, and naturally lift and tighten the skin.
The above list is not comprehensive or exhaustive. There are many other essential oils with uniquely positive properties that can help you in many other ways. Feel free to explore them online.
Pay close attention to how your skin reacts to the above ingredients, since all of us have different body and skin types. If something irritates you, don’t use it! Adjust the contents based on how you feel. Personally, I have been really enjoying the basic, simple, two-ingredients formula.
Other uses for homemade scrubs
Shower scrubs make great gifts, and can be placed in decorative jars with ribbons for the holidays. You can custom make them for friends and family members, whose bodies and minds may need certain ingredients for their specific constitution and situation. Taking some time to observe and listen to them to find out what essential oil might help would be a thoughtful way to avoid the anonymity that comes from store bought gifts on birthdays and other celebratory occasions.
If you don’t have time to shower a second time at the end of an exhausting day, you can use the shower scrub over the sink, as therapy for tired hands or in a small soaking basin for rejuvenating tired feet. You can also spot treat yourself wherever you might have problem skin. Salt will pull out impurities and help you heal faster.
I hope you enjoy the endless possibilities that arise when you make your own scrubs for health and pleasure. If you have both a bath and a shower, you can use them either way. The natural, beneficial ingredients can enhance your life and turn any plain bathroom into a healing spa.
This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Elizabeth Herman writes, offers writing support to clients, teaches, and volunteers for a better world. She has earned a Ph.D. in Rhetoric, Composition, and Literature.
