DIY Body & Feet Scrubs to try during quarantine

Bored during covid quarantine? Here's a couple scrubs you can make with things in your kitchen right now- don't even have to go to the store.

Here's a face mask recipe I've been dying to try: half avocado, 1 egg yolk, 4 tbs honey, 1 carrot. Boil & smash carrot, mix with other ingredients, let sit on face 10-15min,rinse.

Whenever I come across a recipe in a magazine or webpage, I text it to myself- then I try it out and adjust ingredients. Here are a few 🙂 

Use these anywhere on your body:

Strawberries & Sugar

3 strawberries, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 cup sugar, 2 Tbsp apricot oil

Brown Sugar 
1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup virgin coconut or olive oil, and (optional) 1/4 cup honey

*My #1 scrub I use most: decolletage, elbows, legs, everywhere .

Honey & Sugar 
1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup sugar or salt, 1/4 cup olive oil

Coffee 
1/2 cup coffee granules that have been soaked in hot water, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup table salt, splash of olive/almond/avocado/coconut oil

*If using on my feet I use sea salt instead of table salt

Orange Zest

1/4 cup sugar, 1 orange finely zested, 1/2 cup coconut oil

*When I'm bored eating oranges, haha!

Oatmeal 
1/2 cup ground up oatmeal, 1/4 cup water or milk

Banana 
2 tsp banana, 2 tsp ground up oatmeal, 1 tsp milk, 1 tsp honey 

Pineapple & Papaya 
2 tbsp juiceless pineapple, 2 tbsp juiceless papaya, 2 tbsp ground upoatmeal, 1 tbsp honey

*This is a gentle acid scrub not a physically exfoliating scrub

---------------------------------------------------------

Use these extra abrasive ones on FEET ONLY:

Avacado & Banana 
1 avacado pit hammered into fine powder, 1 tbsp avocado (I ate the rest haha), 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp olive oil

Baking Soda pinch baking soda, pinch salt, pinch sugar, 1 tbsp ground up oatmeal, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1/4 cup warm water

*This one is for only really rough feet, I normally won't touch baking soda for anything. I tried it on my face once and it burned!! lol no good!

Aspirin Foot Mask: crush up a few aspirin tablets, add a splash of lemon juice, a squirt of lotion to help it stick

JOJOBA OIL as Hair Moisturizer, Detangler, and for Protein Overload

Directions: In a spray bottle I mixed 25% (or less!) Jojoba Oil with 75% water.

Shake bottle & spray lightly and evenly throughout hair (damp hair works best imo). Now my hair is super easy to comb :-)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

My hair needs moisture, it's overloaded with protein = when I get out of the shower it's super hard to brush, kind of gummy, tangly- I can't comb it without being super gentle because it feels like my hair is sticky to the comb (does this make sense to anyone?) I can't even run my fingers through my hair easily until my hair is completely dry. But after it's dry it's great WTF?!

How did I put too much protein in my hair? = I was doing an egg protein treatment on my hair and lost track of time- left it on way TOO long. My hair felt terrible and I went into deep conditioning mode. I tried to balance out my super dry hair with a few "extra moisturizing hair masks" my friend recommended... EXCEPT I didn't read the ingredients list :-( ALWAYS READ THE INGREDIENTS LIST!! The moisturizing masks contained protein and I threw my hair into 'protein overload' crisis mode. Ingredients to avoid: Keratin, wheat & silk proteins, egg, coconut oil (not protein but acts like one), aloe, avocado
Note: jojoba oil is actually a liquid wax, not a nut oil so it doesn't have high protein like other nut oils.

So what's a girl to do? MOISTURIZE, right? HAHAHA, yeah. Let's just cut the crap right now and I'll tell you my secret weapon: JOJOBA OIL! Apparently Jojoba Oil moisturizes hair amazingly because it closely resembles the sebum produced by your scalp. And a little goes a long way (so don't overdo it or your hair will look greasy as Hell). Jojoba Oil moisturizes, strengthens, and helps repair damaged hair :-) YAY!! Unfortunately re-balancing my hair will take time so I have to avoid all my favorite (protein-containing) hair products until then :-(

UPDATE: after 5 months of moisturizing my hair (jojoba oil, banana masks, shea butter based products), my hair felt good enough to lightly bleach- and it stripped some of the protein out, which was nice. I also now only wash my hair every-other day which seems to help. I can happily comb my hair without needing Jojoba Oil detangler now. My hair is not scary "protein sensitive" anymore, YaY!
  <<valuable lesson learned>>
It is so hard to avoid products that have protein! Every purple shampoo I look at has protein in it so I have to limit how often I use it. And almost every 'natural' hair product I see at health food stores has coconut oil *sigh* so I've been using some sensitive, moisturizing oatmeal dog shampoo I found & Pantene 3 minute conditioner, trying a few other things :-( Crazy how something as simple as forgetting egg can ruin my life lol wtf! I'm taking lots of biotin hoping my hair will grow out and be normal again soon.

DIY Egg & Protein HAIR Treatment Masks

Raw egg masks can be powerfully beneficial for every hair type! Filled with protein, nutritious vitamins A, B-12, D, E; fatty acids, and even sulfur- Eggs will condition your hair smooth and soft, strong and voluminous :-) beautiful!

..................................................................................

PROTEIN TREATMENT = egg yolks! Damaged hair especially needs protein.
protein makes your hair very dry so you MUST deep condition afterwards, trust me! LoL I throw 2-3 eggs in a bowl, mix with my fingers, and soak into my tresses. 1-2 min later I rinse, shampoo, and deep condition *deep breath* it's a long process. Most times I even need an extra leave-in conditioner. Raw eggs are harsh, bro!! But this actually makes my hair feel thicker. Aphogee 2 Step Protein Treatment makes my hair feel great & strong but never as thick or voluminous like raw egg masks :-)

OH YAY!

My important tips for this DIY:

-- have DAMP hair before applying the mask! makes it easier to apply evenly
-- wear a shower cap & a towel around your neck while you wait the 1-2min (drip! drip! yuck)
-- rinse your hair out with cool water not hot lol unless you like egg smell
--do not let egg sit longer than 2 minutes on your hair!

WARNING! egg masks make my hair dye fade, do NOT do them on beautifully colored hair!!

If you'd like something more moisturizing: try adding  some sugar-free yogurt, olive oil, avocado, and/or even banana into the mix!
And adding a teaspoon of almond oil will help smooth hair.
A splash of milk will add *shine* 

Let's Try a Plain Avocado Hair Mask!

What if I just mashed an avocado into my damp hair and let it sit 5 minutes?

Answer: my hair feels like it just had a mini protein treatment

I found an old, soft avocado in my fridge so I decided to try it on my hair- most avocado hair mask recipes include things like olive oil or honey, but what about just a plain avocado? What would that do for my hair? Lets do a blind experiment-

I mashed the avocado in my hair, then let it marinate under a shower cap.

I totally suggest shampoo & conditioner after rinsing out the avocado! Avocado left my hair feeling greasy/oily.

Results: my hair feels more voluminous and a little stronger.

Also: the avocado did not fade my purple hair :-)

The next day my hair needed deep conditioning- because of the avocado protein-

haha, now I see why olive oil is in all the "avocado hair mask" recipes, your hair will need extra moisturizing!