Today I teamed up with my friend, Lizz, owner of Goodnuss, to have some fun with almonds. Lizz and I love to make our own nut milk (read more about the benefits of homemade nut milk) and were looking for something unique to do with our leftover almond pulp (after all, a girl can only eat so many almond flour cookies!).
Almond pulp can be dried and used in baking, added to smoothies and salad dressings, or just eaten on its own! Today we made an exfoliating scrub and slathered it on!
Benefits of Exfoliating
Regular exfoliation helps to slough off dead skin cells that can accumulate on the skin, trap dirt and oils, clog pores, and then lead to breakouts. By exfoliating regularly, we are assisting with the process of cell turnover, uncovering a fresh and glowing layer of skin. We’ve packed our scrub full of skin-loving ingredients to provide moisture, awaken dull skin, and help keep acne at bay.
Warning: Using this scrub may cause soft skin. It may also lead to people rubbing up on you.
Making almond milk is easy enough, but this scrub literally takes five minutes and utilizes ingredients you probably already have in your cupboard. One word of caution though – if you’ve used turmeric before, you’re aware of it’s amazing health properties as well as it’s amazing ability to stain everything yellow. We recommend washing any surfaces or wooden utensils immediately after they come into contact with turmeric. Also, using it too frequently may dry and yellow the skin, so use sparingly. If it does stain your skin, don’t fret. Combining it with honey helps it wash off more easily as does taking a warm washcloth to the skin and gently wiping it.
Benefits of Turmeric for the Skin:
- Can help clear acne, rosacea, eczema and dark circles
- Soothes skin
- Can help with wound healing
- Reduces inflammation and redness
- May soften fine lines
Benefits of Raw Honey for the Skin:
- Can help clear acne
- Antioxidant properties help fight free radical damage
- Moisturizing
- Can help with would healing
- Anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant (bam!)
Benefits of Almonds for the Skin:
- Contains Vitamin E, an antioxidant
- Moisturizing
- Makes a great granular scrub to help slough off dead skin cells
You’ll notice in our video that we don’t measure anything. We like to just throw things in and see what happens. But for those of you who like preciseness, here’s a good guide to start with (although we encourage you to experiment with ratios and adjust as you go. We believe in you!):
Golden Milk
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds (pre-soaked for 8 hours, optional)
- 24-32oz filtered water (less water will give you creamier milk)
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- Pinch of black pepper (helps the body absorb the turmeric)
- Optional: 1 inch knob of ginger, 1 tablespoon of raw honey
Instructions
- Throw everything in the blender and blend on high for about 1 minute, or until smooth.
- Strain it through a nut milk bag and squeeze the crap out of it. This is the fun part.
You can drink as is or gently heat this milk on the stove and drink warm. It makes a relaxing and soothing nightcap that can help improve digestion and decrease inflammation.
Now you have almond pulp for making your scrub!
Golden Milk Exfoliating Scrub and Mask
Ingredients
- ¼ cup almond pulp
- ¼+ cup raw honey
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon nut milk or yogurt
Instructions
- Mix together your ingredients, adding more honey until you get a sticky paste.
- Use on wet skin and gently massage in a circular motion. Gentle is always best with granular scrubs such as this one.
- You could leave this on the skin for a few minutes as a mask.
- Rinse, gently blot the skin dry and then moisturize (always!).
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. Use twice a week for smooth, glowing skin! If you experience dry skin after using this scrub, use it a little less frequently.
Note: While the ingredients in this scrub may help improve acne-prone skin, granular scrubs should not be used on active acne as it can irritate breakouts. If you have active acne, use it on your body instead (or eat it, like we did!).
Do you make your own nut milk? If so, what do you like to do with the pulp? Let us know in the comments below!
