Strawberry Hand and Foot Exfoliant
This is one our most popular spa at home recipes because it does a terrific job moisturizing and softening hands (particularly after gardening, crafting or projects rough on your hands) and feet.
Strawberries have a purpose here; they contain a natural fruit acid which aids exfoliation. While strawberries are best harvested and used in the summer, we prefer to eat them in summer, but use them in treatments in other seasons. The fact they are available nearly year round in grocery stores, but often with disappointing flavor, is a good reason to keep this on hand for winter home remedies. Why? Because while a strawberry may lack flavor, or be too sour to enjoy, they still have that necessary active ingredient, which makes this a good year-round remedy.
Here’s what journalist Crystal Chow for Knight Ridder Newspapers said, when we first published this recipe in April 2005:
“What price beauty? Is it really worth shelling out $10, $20 or more for things like exfoliators and masques? Even if you scream “Yes!” you still might think about creating such products at home. Ingredients are usually right at hand, with preparations costing pennies per application. It’s a natural way to be nice to Mother Earth, too. But can DIY glamorizers stand polished toe to toe with the store-bought stuff? My skepticism was sky-high initially. Why would I want to use strawberries as a beauty product rather than eat them? But wow! This treatment really made a difference — my hands were definitely softer. A caveat: The mixture is lumpy and messy, so apply in the kitchen and don’t wear good clothes.”
Strawberry Hand and Foot Exfoliant
Materials
- 8-10 Strawberries
- 2 tablespoons Apricot Oil you may substitute olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt such as Kosher Salt, or Sea Salt
Instructions
- Mix together all ingredients into a paste
- Massage into hands and feet
- Rinse
- Pat dry
Spa Index Kitchen Notes
People who don’t read recipes or instructions, but comment anyway in the negative. Priceless. The post even starts with “Strawberries have a purpose here…” and they do. This is a great hand and foot treatment.
I must be honest here. My sister and I tried this but decided the strawberries would be better put to use in a cocktail. So we used the olive oil and salt and had a really good Strawberrytini.