Why DIY Scrubs are a Project Worth Your Time
Mental Health Awareness Month, celebrated in May since 1949, has ended, but that doesn’t mean your self-care and wellness should. With the COVD-19 pandemic and continued racist violence against Black people, our health needs even more attention, compassion and care.
Since I am feeling less than courageous to venture outside for more than essential errands and to get some fresh air, I have rediscovered my love for home-made bath and body products. Not only are products like bath bombs and whipped shea fairly easy to make, but Do It Yourself (DIY) projects can also save you money and a trip outside if you are still sheltering in place like I am. I like to think of DIY projects as an invitation to meditate on creating and conjuring what you need in your life without a high price tag and mysterious ingredients.
I turned to YouTube and Google a few years ago to learn how to make bath and body products. My DIY journey began with bath salts. That felt like a good place to start given the simple, easy to follow directions. Some Epsom salt for soaking away aches and pains, baking soda to help detoxify my body, dried milk powder to soften the water, and a few drops of lavender essential oil for aroma and relaxing. Once I got the bath salts down I was ready to move on to body scrubs. And body scrubs were where playfulness and pleasure glided like two Chicago style steppers on a well-polished floor. That is to say, magic happened when I started making scrubs.
And I need scrubs, pleasure, and playfulness more than ever to help me center in my body as I work to process the state of this country.
An understanding of self-care as an essential part of social justice activism is not new. According to the fifth Black feminist retreat agenda, housed at the Spelman College Archives, Black feminists modeled what it looks like to center care while building a movement. Following Saturday’s breakfast, participants were asked about their fantasies and visions, they were encouraged to “let your imaginations run free,” and asked about the emotional support they were receiving from the group. The evening prior, they attended a poetry reading with Audre Lorde, Kate Rushin, and Fahamisha Shariat Brown at the Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center — the location of the poetry reading signifies the relationship between community care and mental wellness. I like to think that Black feminist foremothers gathered in Boston, Massachusetts from July 6–8th in 1979 and cooked meals together, ate together, and envisioned a world worth living in, worth saving. They knew that in order to liberate themselves and their communities, they must care for themselves.
Forty years later, I am wondering about the kind of care we need in this moment so that we can be in our bodies and show ourselves compassion.
If you are experiencing the need to call your spirit back to your body, then, maybe, making a scrub can offer the support you need to grieve, remember, process and recommit to what matters most to you and your life.
For starters, you will need a base:
- Coarse Kosher or sea salt to detoxify and to remove energies no longer serving you.
- Brown sugar to invite sweetness into your life.
- Note: Some people use coffee as a base. I tried it once but did not like the clean up afterward. Start with 1 cup of a base, and add more as needed.
Oils (makes for slippery skin and a tub floor, so be careful):
- Olive oil because it leaves skin luxuriously moisturized and yummy.
- Coconut oil for its richness and aroma.
- Note: If you like a more oil rich scrub, use more oil.
Essential oil:
- Ylang-ylang and patchouli invite sensual energy and correspond with the sacral plexus chakra, which is all about connection to our emotions, sexuality, and abundance.
- Lavender helps tap into inner peace.
- Lemongrass in the scrub serves as a nice energizer, especially during morning showers.
- Note: Use essential oils to curate the type of experience you want. I use essential oils to facilitate the mood I am in, or desire to be in. I usually use 10–12 drops for every 12 ounces of scrub. Which essential oils will you use?
Essential oils not your thing? No problem, you can skip the essential oil and use dried plants in your scrubs like lavender leaves, lemon zest, or rose pedals. Or skip the essential oil and dried plants altogether if you prefer a scent-free scrub. The experience and scrub that you want to create, is the one that’s right for you.
Other options:
- Shea butter, just to give you an extra boost of smooth skin.
- Energetically charge your items, either under a new or full moon, smudge them, pray over them.
- Repeat a loving affirmation to yourself as you give your body attention.
- Note: When I use a salt scrub I’ll say out loud the things I want to release, like fear and jealousy, and I’ll watch that energy leave my body and energy field as it goes down the drain. When I use a sugar scrub I flirt and repeat to myself loving affirmations about my wholeness and fullness as I invite more love and more vulnerability into my life.
Store your scrub in a mason jar, or in a plastic container if you plan to keep it in your shower. I hope this DIY project offers opportunities for meditation, loving-kindness, and whatever else you need. If you have DIY projects that serve you, please share them in the comments.
