DIY Recipe: Pacific Body Scrub

Recipe: Pacific Body Scrub

ICYMI: we're discontinuing the beloved Pacific Body Scrub (there are a few left if you want one!). Of course, in the DIY spirit that began this whole endeavor, I wanted to share the recipe with all of you so you can make it yourself.

When I started Chuck & Sam, I knew I wanted to include a body product that evoked a sense of place. I was in my first round of classes at the California School of Herbal Studies, and we were learning about edible wild foods. We made truffles from roasted bay nuts, pancakes from acorns and cattail pollen, herbal “weed” pesto, and, of course, some delicious broth from seaweed we collected from the Sonoma coast.
 

We discussed the various types of seaweed and their different uses, and I brought home a cooler of coastal varieties—kombu kelp, bladderwrack, nori, bullwhip, and one that looked like a feather boa. I dried what could be put to culinary use, but what to do with some of the other, weirder varieties? I drew a large bath and threw in all the leftovers, and I have to say, it was one of the most luxurious baths I’ve ever taken. Needless to say, the Pacific Body Scrub was born.

While using fresh seaweed is obviously ideal, there are many forms of dried and powdered seaweed available in commerce. I use a combination of bladderwrack, which studies have shown reduces wrinkles, and moisturizing kelp. The Atlantic variety is more widely available, but it works just fine. 
 

For the oils and essential oils, choose organic ingredients; they’re easy to find! Mountain Rose Herbs should have most if not all of these ingredients. 

Dry Ingredients:
2 tbsp bladderwrack powder
2 tbsp kelp powder
5 tbsp sea salt (finely ground)
 

Wet Ingredients:
2 tbsp coconut oil
1-2 tbsp sunflower oil
 

Essential Oils:
5 drops eucalyptus oil
10 drops cypress oil
5 drops rosemary oil
5 drops lavender oil
5 drops rose geranium oil
 

Directions:

(1) In a large mixing bowl, combine your dry ingredients

(2) in a smaller bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Gently melt over a double boiler (or in the microwave) until the coconut oil is melted—this shouldn’t take long at all.

(3) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix. If the mix is too dry, add more sunflower oil until you reach the desired consistency.

(4) In an even tinier cup/bowl, mix the essential oils. Add this mixture to the the large bowl, and stir vigorously to combine. (Yes, you can add each oil individually to the large bowl and save another item to wash, but pre-mixing the EOs ensures they’re evenly distributed).

(5) Find a nice jar to store it in, et voila! Your very own Pacific Scrub.