How to Make Easy Scrubby Bath Bags

These super skin-friendly scrubby bags are the easiest thing in the world to make and if you have kids, this might be a perfect family project you can have fun making together (and maybe even get your bath-resistant kids a little happy about bathtime).

The idea for these came about when I was making a DIY version of 'oat flour' and had a generous portion of oaty bits that were too big to pass through the sieve, but truth be told, you can use rolled oats right out of the package for these bags.

If you happen to make your own soap, then this little how-to is a double bonus!

Let's get started!

Ingredients and Tools

• Small (single portion) muslin or terrycloth bags that can be shut tightly

• Grater

• Bowl

• Oats that couldn't pass through the sieve (or rolled oats)

• Bits of your favorite soap

How to Make the Bags

1. Place oats in bowl

2. Grate soap

3. Place soap in bowl

4. Mix

5. Transfer approx 2 tablespoons of the mixture per bag

6. Shut bag tightly

I like making a few at a time (and storing them dry) so it’s easy to grab one when needed.

How to Use a Scrubby Bath Bag

Simply replace soap with 1 bag per shower or bath. The oats are extremely skin-friendly – even for super sensitive skin. Try squeezing the bag when it is wet — all kinds of oaty soapy goodness will ever so gently cleanse and pamper skin.

Why Single Portion Bags?

Because there is no added preservative and we are mixing water and oatmeal, it is best to discard the contents after 1 use. (Otherwise you’ll have a kind of smooshy awful pasty mess that might decide to grow nasties to deal with)

To empty the bags: untie the bag, turn it bag inside out, and discard the contents. Rinse the bag thoroughly and let it dry before filling again.

Tip: empty the oats into the trash, not your sink or tub.

Enjoy!

How to Make Handcrafted Lemon Peel Powder for Skincare

Perhaps one wouldn’t normally associate lemon peel with skincare. That might be why I didn’t think of doing this sooner. In retrospect, I could kick myself a little over how many of these incredibly fragrant and fabulous lemon peels I just tossed in the trash instead of saving them for use as skincare ingredients.

I mean, look at them!

I wrote about these amazing fruits in this previous post (where I used the whole lemons for glycerite).

After using these for glycerites, I fell in love with both the fragrance and taste of Amalfi Coast lemons and continued using them in cooking for as long as I could source them.

These lemons have somewhat thicker peels and pulp than other lemons I have used, but processing them for use in skincare is well worth the effort. The fragrance alone is absolutely mood lifting.

Preparing Lemon Peels

This task can seem a bit arduous at first, but if you happen to own a little piece of equipment known as a ‘melon baller’ (it looks a bit like a miniature ice cream scoop but has an edge made for cutting and is pictured just above), then you’ll dash through this process in a snap.

1. Wash (using just water) and lightly scrub the peel with a vegetable scrubber (I usually do this before using the lemon)

2. Scrape away and remove all the white pulp on the inside of the lemon (as close to the peel as possible). This is where the melon baller comes in handy. If you don’t have one, a grapefruit spoon (one of those little spoons with serrated ridges along one edge) might work as well.

3. Discard the pulp.

4. The peels are now spread out and left to dry (I used drying nets and positioned them near a desk fan as I did this during a summer heat wave). If you have a dehydrator then this step is both easier (and probably much faster.) The peels turn darker and shrivel up as they dry (see the larger bits in the top picture).

5. When fully dry, store the peels in a paper bag (or other suitable type of enclosure that will allow any remaining moisture to escape) until you are ready to grind them.

Preparing Lemon Powder

1. Place lemon peels in a (suitably powerful) blender, chopping attachment or spice grinder and ‘pulse’ to break up the peel into your desired granule size. The 2 granule sizes you see at the top picture are the result of sifting a partially ground batch of peels to separate the powder from the small nuggets.

2. Package your fabulously fragrant lemon powder in an airtight container until use

Using Lemon Powder in Skincare

There are loads of uses for lemon powder! Granule size can be a deciding factor (rub your powder between palms to check for fine-ness and where you might find it most suitable to use).

Add a small percentage as a beautiful all-natural fragrance to powder cleansers, oil-based cleansers, self-preserving cleansers, scrubs of all kinds (body, scalp, hand or foot), hand masks, face masks, hair mask, and more.

With a fine granule size, you will also get a bit of gentle exfoliating action.

Enjoy!

Do Tell

Have you ever dried lemon peel to use as a skincare ingredient? Please share how you used it in a comment below.

I’ve included lemon peel in several batches of self preserving cleansers using the guideline in the book below. Click the picture to learn more.

How Salt Can be Useful for Skincare

There is a member of my family who suffers from atopic dermatitis. The gentleman in question gets a bright red rash on his entire neck area at the slightest irritation (even his own perspiration regularly triggers a reaction). He even has to be mindful of which fabrics he wears and has lived with this condition for much of his life.

Several times, I have mentioned to him that his skin might react well to using a Himalayan Crystal Salt bar and offered to set him up with my own favorite salt treatment. At every occasion, the reply has been a polite but firm 'no thanks' with a tone that clearly indicated he sounded as if it I was suggesting he try some kind of voodoo involving ancient rituals and dead chickens.

Now, I realize most men aren't big on talking about skin care, but this fellow has been particularly resistant. To be fair, he is very mindful of which products he uses, so I can't in all honesty place him in the 100% stereotype 'guys can't be bothered with skincare' slot – but he has been brick-wall resistant to my suggestion of using salt.

Then He Got Spa

Not too terribly long ago, he and his wife treated themselves to a spa-weekend where he experienced a salt pool treatment for the first time. Although his immediate reaction to the super-salty water was redness and a slight stinging on his neck, the redness soon dissipated. Subsequently, his neck was unusually calm and rash-free for several days (I was duly informed by a secret undercover agent who was on the scene).

Not That I Care, But by the Way

When I saw him next, he approached me in a very roundabout, guy-that-doesn't-want-to-seem-too-interested kind of a way. Looking the other way and halfway mumbling, he said:

‘Uhmmm, that salt stuff you do. How does that work exactly?'

So I showed him.

In my hand, a Himalayan Crystal Salt Bar. The pinkiness (yes, that’s a real word that I made up for things with pink hues) is due to a content of iron oxides, but let's just enjoy that color for a moment, shall we?.

To use:

1. Wet the bar. Rub it between your hands. The salt will dissolve a bit and create a salty solution.

2. Apply the salty solution to your skin.

3. The next part is very important: allow the skin to AIR DRY.

That's it.

Super helpful tip: do not be tempted to apply the bar directly to your wet skin unless you like brushing salt crystals off of your legs and arms as well as the inside of your clothes. You’re welcome.

Why Does it Work?

Among other things, the content of magnesium improves hydration and helps reduce inflammation.

You may have heard that Himalayan Crystal Salts have the richest mineral content and are among the planets finest and purest.

However.

I've been digging around for evidence of some of the claims attached to Himalayan Crystal Salt regularly (on and off) and have to date been unable to find any scientific documentation on any of the claims. Note: I started digging at least 10 years ago.

One of the standard claims is that Himalayan Salt contains no less than 87 minerals, but various tests don’t seem to have found that many minerals. I believe the top scorer is 60 to date.

If you want to read a critical view about Himalayan pink salt, check this article by Harriet Hall at ‘Science Based Medicine’ where she goes into more detail. Mind you, she looks at the claims of this salt with internal use.

As my main interest (and experience with) this salt is external use, I can say it has worked beautifully for my skin for many years. It also seems to be doing an excellent job on the family member 'who finally came around' and now uses his salt bar daily.

A Bit of Evidence

There is some study on the benefits of mineral-rich salts for skin ailments, and this article shows that it does help and even improves skin barrier function.

Do Tell

Have you ever tried using a salt bar? Did it benefit you?

Tip: The book below makes use of salts for skincare in easy-to-make formulas. Click the picture of you want to read more.

The Natural Skin and Hair Softener - Mallow

I fell head over heels in love with this plant ages ago. Mallow (INCI: Malva Sylvestris) is not only beautiful, it has some lovely (and surprising) properties that make it a great addition to a skin and/or hair care product.

The name derives from the Latin Malva which means soft, or capable of softening. The plant pictured above was picked straight from my garden where it was (uninvited and) thriving amongst a few vegetables that had been planted. But one cannot help but forgive it as it is such a beautiful plant.

Where's it From

Mallow is native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Not only is it related to the Marsh Mallow plant, it also has similar properties.

Throughout history, Mallow has been used where Marsh Mallow was otherwise unobtainable. Both the flowers and leaves have a history of medicinal use.

Internal Uses

The young leaves of the plant are edible when boiled and is reputed to have been served up as vegetables in some regions. I haven't tried eating them – mostly because I have never read any descriptions that included words like 'tasty' or 'delicious' – only words such as 'edible'.

Mallow has been more popular for medicinal uses. For example, mallow tea is said to be an effective help for soothing and calming dry coughs. The natural mucilage content of this plant makes it an excellent choice for battling any kind of irritation of the mucous membranes.

I purchase dried mallow from a local herbalist and the packaging includes instructions for brewing tea (along with a warning not to consume more than 3 cups a day).

What Mallow has to Offer Skin

Mallow makes good on it's name by offering soothing and softening properties. It has traditionally been used as a poultice for sores, psoriasis, boils, bites, and other wounds.

Mucilage content translates directly to emollience. Dropping a few flowers into bathwater is said to provide skin softening properties.

In addition, mallow is mildly astringent which makes it an ideal addition to skin cleansers and tonics.

What Mallow has to Offer Hair

Added to a rinse, an infusion of mallow leaves and roots helps soften hair and enhance elasticity – especially damaged and fragile hair.

At the right proportions, a mallow infusion will become a gel-like liquid that can be used straight up as a conditioning shampoo for damaged hair, and it will even work to soften your hands while you’re massaging your scalp with it.

Makes Grey Go Away - So They Say

The color of mallow flowers is incredibly powerful. In the old days (you know, before phones and computers), its striking blue pigment was used as a rinse to cover greying hairs.

While mallow could be a healthy natural hair dye on some types of hair, be aware that this plant stains everything it touches. A single flower and single drop of water is enough to create a very visible inky-blue stain (my sink can verify this).

I’ve tried using mallow as a colorant. Once and never again. Read my adventures of mallow as a hair colorant here.

Do Tell

Have you worked with Mallow? How about Marshmallow?

Thinking about making your own extracts but haven’t a clue where to start? Then the book below might be just for you.