Winter is here. The thermometer climbs up and down (but mostly down) and your skin starts to feel like it is a piece of dehydrated coconut: dried out, tight, maybe a bit itchy or irritated. Exfoliation is always a skin’s best friend, but in the winter the thought of rubbing your skin down with a vigorous scrub might seem as good an idea as walking across jagged glass – that is to say, painful and to be avoided. Winter skin can’t take what summer skin can.

This brown sugar oatmeal scrub is more gentle. It exfoliates like a champ, but brown sugar is slightly less granular and more paste-like, which is helpful on dry, irritated, or sensitive winter skin. The oatmeal provides some additional exfoliatory benefits (yes, I know exfoliatory is not a word) but is also soothing and gentle.

And the sunflower oil – well, truthfully, you could substitute a host of other oils here, depending on what you have in your pantry/bathroom, like olive oil, jojoba oil, or even melted coconut oil (providing you give the scrub a little time before each use to warm up, or it could be tough to scoop once the oil hardens). If you have it, though, sunflower oil is a great pick. Sunflower oil contains lots of Vitamin E and other antioxidants, and it’s just a great skin moisturizer.

So throw this scrub together and smooth it into your skin during your next shower. You’ll skin will enjoy the moisturizing boost, as well as the gentle exfoliation, and you’ll glow your way through winter.

Winter Body Scrub with Sunflower Oil, Oatmeal, and Brown Sugar

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sunflower oil
• 1/2 rolled oats, whirled in a food processor until finely ground
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Mix brown sugar together with ground oats and cinnamon.
2. Stir in sunflower oil and vanilla, and smush together with a spatula or other device until brown sugar and oil are well mixed.
3. Store in your favourite smaller sized mason jars.
4. Bear in mind that this product contains no preservatives. So use within a few weeks – a scoop or two per shower should do you just fine.

© Eat Well, Live Vibrantly