A few years ago a natural sunscreen company hired me to overhaul their image and to head up their marketing department. I’ve always been a sunscreen advocate, but never really knew the difference between chemical and natural sunscreens. Once I started researching the topic, I realized there were a lot of things I was unwittingly rubbing all over my body’s largest organ – my skin – every day.

This realization encouraged me to start seeking out natural alternatives to my favorite health and beauty products, and to following vegan beauty bloggers like Sunny Subramanian. What I found was that there are a lot of alternatives out there, but I went through a lot of trial and error (i.e. money and time) to find the ones that worked for me. So I was really stoked to receive a review copy of Sunny’s new book,The Compassionate Chick’s Guide to DIY Beauty: 125 Recipes for Vegan, Gluten-Free, Cruelty-Free Makeup, Skin and Hair Care Products because making your own beauty products gives you ultimate control over ingredient quality, and it costs a lot less than store-bought products.

Sunny’s book takes you step-by-step through the world of DIY beauty. From active ingredients to resources to easy-to-follow recipes for everything from perfume to sunscreen to actual color cosmetics like foundation and blush. Each recipe has little “Did You Know” call-outs, along with tips, ingredient spotlights and tips for customization.

I am far from crafty – I might be single-handedly keeping Etsy in business because I’d much rather pay someone to glue glitter on a thing than do it myself, so I was worried I’d space out and mess up these recipes. But, I’ve tried quite a few of the recipes inside – my personal favorite being the Coffee Body Scrub – and they are idiot proof, take it from a true idiot. So, with the publisher’s permission, I’m sharing a version of that recipe here.

I really do recommend picking this one up – if not for yourself than for making really awesome gifts for your friends.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive compensation.

 

Vanilla Latte Body Scrub

By BakeandDestroy Published: August 23, 2016

    From the author: Coffee grounds are a fantastic exfoliant. Plus, the caffeine they contain actually helps tighten and tone your skin, and can even diminish the appearance of cellulite. Cellulite, people!

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    1. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt coconut oil.
    2. In a large bowl, stir together coconut oil, coffee, sugar and vanilla powder. Spoon into a jar with a lid.
    3. Using your hands, massage a small amount of scrub all over skin in the shower, using circular motion.
    4. Rinse skin with warm water and pat dry with a towel. Follow with your favorite moisturizer.
    5. Store in the shower for up to 2 months.

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