DIY Plantain Body Scrub

Published on January 19, 2015 | By Lorraine |

- Prep Time
- 15 Minutes
- Cook Time
- 45 Minutes
- Yield
- 100g
- Difficulty Level

Plantain is wound healing, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, weak antibiotic, immuno modulating and antiulcerogenic. What a hedgerow herb! We’re going to use it in this recipe to make a fabulous DIY Body Scrub to use in the shower.

Firstly, check – are you allergic to plantain? If you think there’s a chance, I recommend doing a skin patch test first where you test out the oil on a small patch of skin on your inner arm and leave it 24 hours to see whether you have a reaction. If you have hayfever or you are generally very sensitive to plants in springtime it’s possible that you might be allergic to plantain as its pollen is a major contributor to hayfever.

Secondly, do you know how to identify plantain? If not, read this article on plantain first to familiarise yourself with this awesome herb. Always make sure you know how to identify the plant you’re looking for. This is plantain the herb, not plantain the cooking banana!

Exfoliating, Natural

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Ingredients

Large handful of plantain leaves – don’t use the flowers as plantain pollen is a big contributor to hayfever
75g coarse sea salt
5 tbsp organic coconut oil
5 tbsp organic olive oil

Nutrition Info

Instructions

Pour the olive oil and the coconut oil into a bain marie and warm them gently over a pan of warm water. The coconut oil should melt and blend together with the olive oil.
In the meantime, roughly chop the plantain leaves that you have collected and washed. Make sure they are not wet. If you let them dry for a few days, that's fine. These leaves are going to infuse your oil and form the botanical base for your salt scrub.
Add the plantain leaves to the oils and continue to gently heat the oils for 30 minutes until the plantain has completely infused the oils. Allow the oils to cool completely (be sensible and don't touch hot oil) and strain and discard off the plantain leaves. Your infused oils will now be a yellow-greeny colour and smell herby.
Fill a sterilised 100g jar three-quarters of the way to the top with your coarse sea salt. Pour the cooled oil infusion over the top until it almost reaches the top of the jar.
Use your body scrub in the bath and shower and enjoy the botanical healing properties of plantain on your skin.
Finally, this DIY Plantain Salt Scrub does not contain any preservatives so it will last approximately 1 month. Even though it is oil-based, you will be dipping your wet hand into the jar to apply the scrub. This means you will be introducing water into the jar each time you use it and therefore it won't have a long shelf life. It's best to make a small batch each time you prepare it.

Servings : 2
Ready in : 60 Minutes
Course : Body
Recipe Type : Body Scrub
Ingredient : Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Plantain, Salt

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About Chef

Lorraine

Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist who loves to write about the science of plants and their use in cosmetics. She is the CEO of Formula Botanica, the Organic Cosmetic ...

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