Homemade Beauty Tip: Brown Sugar and Honey Facial Scrub

Hello folks! I have another homemade beauty tip you are sure to enjoy...Brown Sugar and Honey Facial Scrub. I'll cut to the chase and give you the recipe for it, and tell you my rave review about it after.

In a glass jar, fill it halfway with turbinado raw sugar (I used the one with bigger granules, but if you want a gentler scrub, try the kind with finer granules). Add a teaspoon of jojoba oil, mix it around. Then fill it with honey until it is completely saturated, and mix it around. That is it.

You can make this in single batches (like in a ramekin) or in a jar for continued use. I made a small batch just to try it out, loved the results and made a larger batch for daily use.

This super cheap scrub can be used on the face or the body. People prefer the sugar scrub for the face because it is gentler than the salt or nutshell scrubs. The sugar exfoliates, the honey cleanses and moisturizes, and the jojoba nourishes and moisturizes the skin as well. This scrub is gentler than the store kinds made with ground nutshells, is cheaper and works great. After using this, my skin is radiant, refreshed and glowing. Also, it's best to use it in the shower, that way you can be sure to rinse it off completely. The best part about it is, there are no harmful chemicals, it's cheap, it smells great, and provides excellent results.

My Dishwasher Woes: Problem Solved!

I had some problems with my dishwasher. The little cap for the compartment that stores the Jetdry solution melted. So my dishes were coming out covered in a film of dishwasher detergent solution (as the water from the wash would leak into the compartment). After going to the store I bought the dishwasher at years ago, I found it would be unlikely to get that part fixed. So I settled on just handwashing my dishes.

Well I came across a website called "Tipnut" that had recipes for homemade dishwasher soaps. Since I have well water, I figured that I would give the borax/washing soda recipe a try. Turns out it worked like a charm, except for the spots on the dishes. The spots (were barely noticeable, we had to hold the glass up to light to see them) are actually a whole lot better to deal with than a cloudy film of toxic chemicals that my traditional storebought dishwasher soap left behind. When I used the storebought stuff, I ended up washing my dishes 3 times....once before I put them in the dishwasher, once in the dishwasher, and then rinse them after they were in the dishwasher. That was just too much of an effort for me.

So the recipe I used was:

2 TBS of Borax
2 TBS of Washing Soda

Put them in your soap compartment and run your typical cycle.

To rid your dishes of spots, just put vinegar in the Jetdry compartment.

Since my cap is melted off, I am going to do this recipe, in which I won't need the jetdry compartment. Submitted by "MK Whittenburg" in the comments section of the Tipnut website page listed above.

1-55 oz. box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1-76 oz box of 20 Mule Team Borax
1- 48 oz box of Kosher Salt
1-2 oz container of food grade Citric Acid (if you cannot find citric acid you can use 10-15 packets of unsweetened Kool-aid Lemonade as a substitute)

Store in an airtight plastic container.

I am excited about this for four reasons:

1. I don't have to replace my dishwasher.
2. I have a nontoxic soap replacement.
3. It's cheaper than the store bought stuff, and works better.
4. Since I start grad school in the fall, I won't have time to handwash all my dishes. Seems like I am handwashing dishes at least 3 times a day (if not more). I doubt I will have that kind of time when school starts again.

Good luck with the recipe, and the link I gave above has different recipes that you can try out. I suggest making them in small batches and see which one works for your water type. I have hard water so the borax/washing soda one worked well for me!

Update August 12, 2010:

After a while of using the borax/washing soda recipe, my dishes began getting a film on them. I added citric acid/kosher salt in the above recipe and it didn't seem to help either. So I went back to store bought brands. However, I decided to go with Seventh Generation dish soap, and added 1/4 cup borax/washing soda mix on the bottom of the dishwasher. Works like a charm. Seventh Generation is a tad bit more pricier than the other brands, but it is chlorine and phosphate free. Also adding the borax/washing soda mix helps stretch it out longer as well. I also tried another chlorine/phosphate free dishwashing detergent by EverydayLiving. It's actually cheaper than the name brand stuff and is safer for your family too. I add the 1/4 cup borax/washing soda mix when I tried that as well and it works fine. No need for harsh chemicals to have sparkling dishes. You can also use baking soda instead of washing soda in the mix.

Homemade Cleaning Supplies

Well, I decided to throw out all my store bought cleaning supplies and will be making them from scratch at home. Why you ask? Because I am crazy. Actually, my mother-in-law introduced me to using homemade cleaning solutions with her "vinegar, dish soap and hot water" solution. This woman swears by it, not only that, but vinegar is her "solution" for every cleaning problem that exists. I've been using it for a while around the house and it is actually quite effective. Justin and I have allergies, and my allergy symptoms get worse when I use store bought cleaning products. I don't know if its the perfumes or chemicals, but I am just tired of being sensitive to my cleaning products and feeling like crap after I use them. Also, my two boys are always wanting to help me clean, but I refuse to let them handle the harmful chemicals. I want to encourage them to help me in my housecleaning efforts, but giving them spray bottles filled with harmful chemicals just seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

So I found this product that helps me get the job done, is safe, and I still get to have that "clean scent" after I use it (without the allergic reactions). What is it you ask?

Castile Liquid Soap. Actually named after the Spanish region it originated from, it is a soap made from plant sources.

I use Dr. Bronner's, but any kind will do for you. They come in a variety of scents, like almond, citrus orange, tea tree oil, eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender, and more. I use a spray bottle, and I mix 3 parts water and one part soap. Use it where you would use any kind of all purpose cleaner. I've already cleaned my whole house with it, and it worked out just fine. It didn't leave an over-powering artificial scent and it got the job done.

I also found a cool recipe for another all purpose cleaner. It is:

1 tsp of lemon juice

1 tsp of borax

1 tsp of baking soda

2 tsp of vinegar

1/2 tsp of mild soap (dish detergent, castile)

2 cups of hot water

You can use it straight from a bucket with a wash cloth, or you can store it in a spray bottle for continued use. I just recommend that you wait until the water cools down before you put it in a spray bottle. I have tested this one out and found it worked well too. If I find any other cool homemade house cleaning recipes I will be sure to pass them on to you.

Have fun in your future cleaning efforts!