Thursday, April 21, 2016

diy strawberry face & body polish

strawberry body polish by Stella Crown
For the charming strawberries I wrote once here. Generally speaking, these ladies are rich in vitamin C that gives them antioxidant properties, vitamin A (beta carotene) as well as B vitamins, especially vitamin B9 (folic acid). They are also rich in oligoelements, mainly potassium but also calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, manganese and zinc. Component of strawberry is also the salicylic acid belonging to Beta-hydroxy acids and which contributes to the removal of dead cells. What a lovely ingredient for peeling, right? The only disadvantage is that it should be consumed quickly, within a week!

Τhe formula I made, could be described as body scrub, but the liquid form of this product requires to be called body polish. Which is the difference between scrubs and polishes, someone would ask. 

Body polishes and scrubs, while they may not seem like, are two different treatments. 
Body polish is created from a wide range of materials such as sugar, salt, coffee beans, etc., which are usually blended with vegetable oils, active ingredients, essential oils and fragrances. Normally, it is applied and acts like a body mask, where you can use a wrap on the spots that need to be pampered in order to allow the ingredients to penetrate into the skin. A body polish is designed to remove dead skin cells and moisturize, much like a body scrub, however, a body polish is not designed to clean. 
Body scrub will exfoliate the skin as well as cleanse the skin at the same time, leaves it feeling silky smooth. It has a harder texture, we even remove it from our body much sooner than body polish.

recipe for ~  480 g | 17 oz

220 g | 7.8 oz sugar
200 g | 7.1 oz epsom salts
20 g | 0.71 oz aloe vera gel
10 g | 0.35 oz strawberry seed oil
10 g | 0.35 oz hazelnut oil
8 g | 0.28 oz alkanna infused oil
8 g | 0.28 oz centella asiatica oil
6 g | 0.21 oz vegetable glycerin
5 g | 0.18 oz provitamin B5 (d-panthenol)
1 g | 0.04 oz vitamin E
5 drops vitamin A
12 drops natural preservative
4 strawberries
  • Before you start making the body polish, sterilise tools, containers and work surface. Wear your gloves.
  • In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except strawberries, sugar and salt. Melt the strawberries and add them to the mixture, stir well and finally add the salts and sugar. Ready!
  • Sugar works as a water magnet because it "imprisons" natural moisture in the skin, resembles skin carbohydrates and removes dead skin cells while epsom salts also remove dead skin cells, detoxify the skin and act as a natural softener.
  • Strawberry seed oil is rich in antioxidants (it has a high vitamin C content) and for this reason it is known that fights free radicals. It acts as a natural detoxifying agent for the skin and helps to whiten the skin. 
  • Hazelnut oil tones and tightens the skin, centella asiatica oil is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant oil, rich in vitamin C, stimulates the elasticity of the skin, tightens and nourishes deeply. Alkanna infused oil has anti-aging and regenerative properties.
  • Aloe vera gel is softening, astringent and soothing, while vegetable glycerin is a coconut derivative and offers more softening effects.
  • Vitamin E maintains the skin moisture to normal levels, vitamin A acts as an exfoliating agent by removing dead skin cells while provitamin B5 provides deep and rich moisturization.
  • The reason I used a preservative is because we use it in the bathroom and only a few drops of waterer enough to spoil the body polish sooner. Thus, using a preservative, we protect our scrub from bacteria and moldiness.
  • If you wish, wrap the spots you want to nourish, like thighs, arms and legs, with a plastic wrap, for about 20 minutes.
  • Keep it in the refrigerator and consume it within 7 days.

Stella Crown©
 
other formulas with strawberry: