Pumpkin Honey Scrub

Although this blog is about food, I've decided to share the occasional skin care recipe with you. As you may or may not remember from school, your skin is the largest organ of your body & it absorbs nutrients. I love the idea of making my own lotions & scrubs; I control what goes into the finished product & it costs much less than buying a commercial product. I'm not a complete "crunchy mama", but since I have oily skin, making some products to alleviate excess oils & acne saves me money, plus, I just plain enjoy the process! I'm not militant about using organic ingredients, although I do purchase them if they're not much more expensive than regular ingredients & I figure if you're going to be slathering food on your body, you should probably use the highest quality you can afford. 

I love baking soda for facial exfoliation. It's gentle but effective & I really like how I can get right into the crease between my nose & cheek. Anyway, pumpkin is full of pro-vitamin A which is another name for beta carotene & your body converts that pro-vitamin to Retinol which is great for your skin! Ground cinnamon, besides adding a yummy scent & a little extra scrubbing action, is a source of anti-inflammatory properties. And finally, raw honey. Honey has been used in traditional medicine & food preservation from the beginning of time & it smells incredible. It's also has hygroscopic properties which is the scientific way of saying that honey, like sugar & salt, has the ability to attract moisture directly from the air. Adding honey to the mix increases the amount of moisture in the scrub which is excellent for your skin.

Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup baking soda

1/4 cup raw honey

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Transfer to clean storage containers, label, & store in fridge between uses.

Yields approximately 2 cups.

Cook's Notes:

1. You probably don't need to be told how to use an exfoliating scrub--get wet, gently scrub, & rinse with tepid water. This scrub is gentle enough to use on your face & you can also use it on other body parts: on your legs before shaving, under your arms (which you should exfoliate to remove dead skin & deodorant residue), on your elbows, & of course your hands.

2. Honey attracts water (as we just discussed) & diluting honey can cause fermentation which will ruin the scrub. I highly recommend storing the scrub in the fridge to retard spoilage & just scooping some into a smaller container to use in the bathroom.

3. As delicious as Pumpkin Honey scrub smells, do not eat it. Baking soda is not tasty.

I have to admit, this is another exception to my "anti-pumpkin flavored everything" issue, mainly because I'm not ingesting it. Drop me a line if you make & use the scrub; I'd love to hear what you think about it.