Natural Beauty with Citrus

When you use an orange, lemon, grapefruit, or any citrus fruit be sure to save the peel. You can use the peels fresh or dried in creating energizing body care products. The peels contain essential oils. These oils have a fresh energizing scent they also contain skin beautifying acids that help loosen dead skin cells and remove surface impurities from your skin. I like to use dried peels in creating skin scrubs to use year round.

I simply place my fresh peels on a clean plate or cookie sheet in my kitchen and let them air dry. This takes a day or two. I then chop them up in my food processor. Some people do this step first and then lay the chopped peels out to dry. You can also finely grind your peels in an old coffee grinder. (If you need to clean out your grinder run it a few times with white rice this really helps.) Here is one of my favorite at home recipes for you to try. I like to use grapefruit peels but really any citrus peels work well even a combination, use what you have. Enjoy!

Citrus Peel Scrub

A natural exfoliator, the acid in the peels do double duty to refresh and clean your skin. For extra scrubbing power you may add some ground cornmeal or raw sugar to the mix.

1 Tablespoon dried citrus peel, chopped finely

1 /2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

1 teaspoon honey

1 /4 teaspoon vitamin E oil

2 Tablespoons cornmeal or raw sugar (optional)

Mix together all ingredients until well blended. To use: Massage into your skin in a circular motion. Rinse well with warm water and finish with a splash of toner or cold water. Store any leftover scrub in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Yield: 4 ounces

Have a beautiful day, xoxo Janice