Anyone who’s ever tried a DIY beauty routine knows: Making your own beauty products is rarely worth the effort. I learned this when I ventured down a particularly tiresome barrel of kitchen-made lotions last year — and vowed never to return. But when Cate Blanchett, woman of skin that’s as smooth as glass, touts an at-home skin remedy, you listen.
A while ago she shared with InStyle UK her “secret” DIY solution — a homemade scrub that I attempted last week, in an effort to refresh my skin (and save money after a particularly bad holiday-spending binge). I assembled the products Blanch called for: macadamia oil, one grapefruit, and sea salt. You can swap the macadamia oil for olive oil (which is easier to find and less expensive), but I found the macadamia to be much more hydrating.
I mixed a half-cup of sea salt, the juice from a quarter of a pink grapefruit, and two tablespoons of Aura Cacia’s organic macadamia oil in a small bowl. I experimented with different amounts of each of the ingredients but this particular proportion created a thick, not-too-watery paste that left a lasting moisturized feeling on my skin. It smelled nutty, like peanut butter from the jar, and felt fine and grainy, like a microdermabrasion exfoliant.
In the shower, I rubbed the scrub over my body and waited for the zing that Cate Blanchett had declared would take place. It gently sloughed away my dry, wintry skin, making me completely smooth. It especially softened the dry bits around my heels and big toes, making it one of the most effective scrubs I’ve used in a very long time. Perhaps the feeling was less of a zing and more of a relaxing aaahh.
The feeling of soft, newborn-baby skin lingered through the rest of the day — my skin was smooth, rejuvenated. I soon found an appropriate nickname for it: Benjamin Butt-ery.
