It’s been a busy week at the Skin Scrubs household. I’m a trustee for a local women’s charity and involved with other charities with the business James and I have started. Work has also been crazy too – it seems like everyone is now back from their Christmas hols and my inbox exploded with emails this week. What does all this mean? Yep – no time to blog!
Today I just wanted to share with you some lovely things that were made for me at Christmas by some fabulous friends of mine. 
I received this lovely handmade bracelet from Ms. Red aka Red’s Beauty Blog just before Christmas and I loved it so much I had her make one for my friend Lauren too! I think the T-bar clasp and angel are such nice little details.
Cherry, my work colleague made this for me. She’s a super crafty creative kinda gal and knows how much I love the colour green! I’ve got this hanging on my chest of drawers and it looks really sweet.
This amazing thing is a handmade knitted scarf-let made by the lovely friend who also made my wedding dress. I love the little ‘poison’ apples as I like to call them. You can see some of her other handy work on her website Pinky & Boo.
Happy Saturday beauty babes! I’m off to do wedding stuff today – looking at cakes, speaking to the hairdresser and getting measured for my dress. Thankfully Lauren is coming with me and I’m dragging James along for the cake bit. That is the only wedding thing he’s been interested in besides the main meal. What a surprise!
Anywho I’ve realised I get a lot of emails asking me for the homemade whipped body butter recipe so here you are if you want to have a go yourself. I used strawberry fragrance oil and I was happy with the results but you can also use essential oils although they probably won’t smell as strong.
Whipped body butter recipe
25g Shea Butter
10g Olive Oil
1/2 tsp. Vitamin E Oil
3 drops Essential/Fragrance Oil
Instructions:
- Melt the Shea butter until in liquid form (I did this in a microwave)
- Let mixture sit and cool for about 30 – 40 minutes, but do not let the mixture set fully back up
- Add the remaining oils and mix/whip until it is a very light in texture. It should have a ‘mousse’ like consistency. (I used a hand held electric mixer for this.)
- When you are happy with your consistency, spoon product into a container being careful not to pack to much in. Mica powders can be added to give the butter a little shimmer or colour.
This eventually hardened up to thick buttery texture. When you first put it in the container it will still feel a bit runny like ice cream that has started to melt. And you do have to be patient with this so it’s an afternoon project!
You can purchase the supplies at www.gracefruit.com
Have fun x
Hey guys and gals! I published this post last year but I’ve updated it with new info.
If you’re like me and you use lots of face and body scrubs in the shower chances are your drains are full of gunk. Add to this your daily use of soaps, shower gels, shampoos plus skin and hair and your drains will struggle to work properly. When I’m standing in a puddle of water after I’ve turned the shower off I know it’s time to do something. I’ve always used traditional harsh chemicals to clear the sludge like Buster Bathroom Drain Cleaner or Mr. Muscle Active Foamer but there is a better way so read on!
James is really into saving money and he likes to clean (why do you think I’m marrying him) and uses the following recipes to give our drains a good clear out:
For regular drain maintenance
- Pour baking soda down and around the drain
- Bring a bottle of white vinegar to a boil
- Pour the hot vinegar down the drain slowly from the pan
- Leave to do it’s magic overnight if you can
- Run the tap in the morning to flush out the drain
As I use so many products James does this every 4 months and it really does work better than store-bought chemicals and doesn’t ‘drain’ your purse. Your bathroom may smell like a chippy for a bit but it’s worth it. The hot vinegar also works wonders on limescale.
For heavy blockages
- Mix 50g of caustic soda with 1 litre of cold water (wear gloves to be safe)
- Pour mixture down the drain and leave for an hour then rinse
We only use this method if the drain is really blocked and the baking soda and vinegar won’t shift it. It’s not the most environmentally friendly way to clear blockages but it’s certainly cheaper than buying store-bought drain un-blockers which can run up to £10 for one use.
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you but in the interest of health and safety please be careful when using either method. Hope you found this useful x
