Glowing & Healing Scrub — Aspiring Roots

Home-remedy for helping natural skin healing - scar tissue, stretch marks, sensitive skin.

After falling in love with making the everyday version of this scrub, I was inspired to research a version for prospective & new mamas (or anyone with scar tissue, especially in sensitive areas). While easy to use every shower, it can also be used as a spot-specific healing mask (after a brief exfoliation).

For the mix:

1 cup baker's or castor sugar (it is less abrassive than normal sugar, which is key for sensitive-skin areas!)

1/2 cup coconut oil

5-6 squirts of unscented Vitamin E oil

*optional 2-3 drops essential oil (or more!) Geranium Rose and Rosehip Seed Oil are two of my favorites here, or just using lavender infused Vitamin E oil.

The coconut oil and sugar help gently exfoliate dead skin, and as it melts away in the shower it's repairing and moisturizing your skin's natural barrier. Particularly important to note when using in sensitive areas, coconut oil is naturally antimicrobial so it kills surface bacteria, generally helping soothe and speed healing. Fascinatingly, coconut oil contains lauric acid (also antimicrobial) which is also found at high levels in breast milk.

Vitamin E adds moisture and elasticity to your skin, helping prevent and diminish stretch marks and scar tissue. It helps scars fade more quickly because the oil can strengthen the lining of the skin cells, absorbing to help your body’s functions healing damaged or irritated skin.

Before going out to look for products listing Vitamin E and lauding its benefits for the skin, it’s important to know that Vitamin E describes a family of 8 chemical forms and there are significant differences between synthetic and natural oils. Alpha Tocopherol is the only form recognized for human requirements. Additionally, naturally-derived Vitamin E (D-Alpha Tocopherol) has shown to be much more effective than synthetic oil for gaining its healing benefits for the skin.

*If you have sensitivity to wheat, make sure to check for natural Vitamin E not derived from wheat germ (which is most common because of its vitamin density).