This post is part of a series about natural beauty and skin care. Other posts in this series:

• Natural beauty treatments
• Natural beauty treatment ingredients
• Natural hand and nail care
• Natural hair care treatments
• Natural body care treatments (current page)
• Natural skin care recipes

Your face may be the first thing people see, but the skin on the rest of your body needs tender loving care too. It needs to be exfoliated on a regular basis to remove dead skin (“ashy” legs anyone?) and moisturized.

Natural body treatments are wonderful for your skin, fun and easy to make, and they make lovely gifts as well. Try these recipes on for size.

Natural Body Care Treatments

Lavender Sugar Scrub

* 1/2 cup of jojoba oil
* 3/4 cup of white cane sugar
* 1 tsp. Vitamin E
* 1/4 cup almond oil
* 6 drops lavender essential oil

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Use scrub at least once a week to exfoliate dead skin cells. Store in a jar.

Body Butter

* 4 oz. shea butter
* 4 oz. jojoba oil
* 1 oz. beeswax
* 3 teaspoons sandalwood oil

Mix ingredients thoroughly. Use as needed to hydrate the skin. Store in a jar.

Banana and Honey Scrub

* 2 cups mashed bananas
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1 tablespoon sugar

Mix ingredients thoroughly. Use immediately as a scrub after cleansing the skin at least once a week.

Lavender Body Lotion

* 2 cups boiling water
* Handful of lavender flowers
* 1 tsp. Borax
* 1 cup rose water
* 2 tbsp. olive oil

Add lavender flowers to boiling water and remove from heat. Let stand for an hour, strain and set aside. Dissolve borax in rose water. Slowly add warmed olive oil, beating constantly. When thoroughly mixed, stir in lavender oil. Store in a bottle and use as needed.

Under Eye Circle Eraser

(Potatoes contain an enzyme called catecholase. It’s actually used as a skin lightener in cosmetics, so why not skip the expense and extra ingredients make it yourself?)

* 1 potato
* Piece of cheesecloth

Peel the potato and mash thoroughly in a food processor. Place in cheesecloth and hold under each eye for 15 to 20 minutes, taking care to keep juice out of eyes. Rinse away residue.