I love my chocolate bath scrub.  Love it.  Between that and the whipped chocolate soap I get from Etsy, I have the best smelling showers ever…and super-soft skin.  Which is important to me, especially in the freezing and drying air of winter.  However, the days are getting a bit longer, a bit bright and a bit more Dear-God-Is-That-Spring-I-See-Before-Me? and so, having reached the end of my current batch of chocolate scrub, I figured I would make something a little different, a little lighter perhaps.

I like making my own bath scrubs for a few reasons.  One, way cheaper.  Two, super easy–I can use stuff I already have in the pantry anyway and all I have to do is mix it together.  Three, I can control and pronounce the name of every ingredient in it.  I like to have very soft, healthy skin.  I am very skin-oriented and dedicated to the idea that the best way to improve and maintain your skin’s quality comes down to what you put in your body and what you put on it.  Don’t believe me?  I even have a free e-pamphlet stating as much with a bunch of different DIY food-based concoctions (see the Foodie Skin Care page). Your skin likes to eat and drink just like your tummy.  In fact, for the purposes of this post, consider them one and the same.  Both need nourishment, both enjoy a good helping of healthy fats and antioxidants, both need hydration.  And your nose loves the smell of things that make both your tummy and your skin happy–almonds, oatmeal, olive oil, sugar, vanilla.

Later this weekend, I will probably cannibalize the lemons I’ve got sitting in my pantry for another bath scrub, one a bit brighter with a more citrusy pick-me-up kind of scent, but I wanted to share this one because it’s utterly calming. It makes me feel very zen.  It’s soft and light and sweet.  It makes your skin feel silky but not quite as moist as the chocolate scrub does.  If you do want that feeling, though, feel free to add in a bit of almond or vitamin e oil as well.

Vanilla-Almond Sugar Scrub
Makes 1 pint worth

1/2 c. raw almonds
1/2 c. raw sugar (or regular sugar)
1/2 c. old fashioned oats
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste (or just extract if you’re in a bind)
1/2-3/4 c. olive oil
Optional–2 tbsp vitamin e oil, or sub a quarter of the olive oil for sweet almond oil

Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a food processor.  Grind for a couple of minutes, streaming in the oil until the almonds have been finely chopped and everything is well mixed and soft.  Put into a bath-safe container, like a plastic or glass jar, and seal the lid on.

To use: In the shower, gently rub a handful of the scrub all over your skin.  Rinse with warm water and pat yourself dry at the end of the shower.

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