Brown Sugar & Almond Scrub

Well, here it is Sunday and it’s the first time in a long time I haven’t had to bake or post anything for Sweet Melissa Sundays. At first, I was disappointed when I learned we’d be taking a few weeks off before starting up again in 2010, but as the December stress has started to pile on, I’ve realized it’s probably for the best. Shane and I have accomplished a number of things on our to-do list for this month already: our tree is up and decorated, the lights have been hung outside the house, and I’ve baked a ton of cookies.

One thing we haven’t done nearly enough of, however, is Christmas shopping. I need to get going on that this week! Fortunately, I got a little nudge recently when I was contacted by the folks at Domino Sugar, who asked if I’d like to make something from the homemade gift section of their website. They even sent me a $20 gift card to help cover the cost! The past few years I’ve started trying to put together homemade gifts for friends and family so I jumped at the chance to try something new.

My first thought was that I’d bake some edible ornaments but since I’ve already spent a lot of time baking this month (and will likely be doing a lot more!), I decided to go in a different direction. There were a number of sugar scrubs on the site that caught my eye. A few years ago a friend bought me a sugar scrub and I loved it so it seemed like a great option to try making one at home! I settled on the brown sugar & almond scrub from the three options available. I had just about all of the ingredients in my pantry already; the only things I had to pick up were the glass jars to hold the scrub and the almond oil.

It couldn’t have been easier to put the scrub together. It’s as simple as stirring all of the ingredients together and transferring them to decorative airtight containers. I put a festive ribbon around my jar and secured it with a cute sticker but the possibilities for decoration are endless. The scrub smelled amazing and proved to be a wonderful exfoliant when I tried it out. The only thing I’ll do differently next time is to grind my almonds finer; I thought the pieces were a bit too large in the scrub. I’m eager to try the white cane glimmer sugar scrub next. These scrubs would be terrific to include as part of a gift and you may even want to keep one for yourself 🙂

Brown Sugar & Almond Scrub
adapted from Domino Sugar

1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup ground oats
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4-1/2 cup almond oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl using a spatula until well blended. The mix should have a paste-like texture. I started with 1/4 cup of almond oil, but found the mixture too dry so I wound up adding almost another 1/4 cup to reach my desired consistency. Transfer the scrub to airtight containers and store for up 2 weeks in the refrigerator. The contents may settle so you’ll probably need to mix the scrub each time before using it.

To use the scrub: Gently apply a small amount to wet skin in a circular motion, concentrating on dry patches and rough areas of your skin. Leave the scrub on for a few minutes before rinsing with warm water. You’ll want to avoid using the scrub on your face or on skin that is cut, sunburned or otherwise sensitive.