this post originally appeared in a perk for my patreon $10+ supporters. i’m sharing it now for folx stuck at home and looking for cheap easy clean skincare options, along with recipes for herbal massage oil, natural deodorant, and antimicrobial soap. if you’re looking for more herbal recipes like this, check out the creative coven community and sign up for my weekly newsletter.

lavender is one of my primary plant allies - i use it in most of my skin-based herbal remedies, i carry a little roll-on of its essential oil with me, and luckily it's safe and actually very beneficial for doggos (if they like it - you can check with your pup by seeing whether they like the scent or balk at it, they're very intuitive when it comes to their own plant allies), so willow and i have it diffusing in the house fairly regularly since we both vibrate at pretty high energies.

i've been making my own facial scrub for several years now, after i stopped shopping at lush (i wasn't into the unnecessary fragrances, or their anti-seal hunt campaigning - unless you live in the north and understand what it takes to survive up there, i don't think you/i have a right to tell the primarily inuk communities living in that landscape what a healthy ecosystem does/doesn't look like). a n y w a y...

i used to use their angels on bare skin scrub, which sells for $16.95/100g. i'd need to go get a new jar every 6 weeks or so since i used it every day. my skin is super sensitive, and also requires gentle exfoliation regularly so my pores don't get plugged up. gross, i know. i started making my own version of it, and it costs me pennies in comparison. i usually make a new batch every 8 months or so nowadays, so if you also are looking for a gentle scrub that you can use everyday, try this out! you can also use it on other parts of your skin (technically you can also eat it, but don't use a scrub internally obviously...i feel like that shouldn't have to be said).

ingredients:

3 cups of sugar (i use raw sugar - it's a nice in-between that's a little bit rougher for good exfoliation but isn't too course)
1/4 cup olive oil (or any other liquid oil you like on your skin, olive oil is just easily accessible and comparably affordable)
a couple tablespoons of dried lavender buds (culinary style is better, but you don't need to pay extra for prettier ones, get the "lower grade" that's basically just more likely to have green buds than solely blue buds)
12-20 drops of lavender essential oil

mix it all up in a large glass jar and store away from direct sunlight. i keep my large jar on a shelf in my bathroom and actually just refill the old tub from my last lush batch to keep in the shower ha!

feel free to swap out the lavender for your own plant allies - rose is a popular one for skincare, and you could also infuse the oil in advance with plants like yarrow and calendula for some extra healing power.

making: diy face scrub