#FashionableFruitFriday - Natural DIY Lip Sugar Scrubs Recipes

Photo Credit: .craig via Compfight cc

Cold weather can be a real pain in the peaches. Winter is a beauty battlefield and dry hair, dry skin and, of course, dry lips are the casualties. It can be hard traversing the makeup counters and pharmacies in the rainy, bitter months for a lip product that ticks all your boxes: moisturising, hydrating, cheap, long-lasting, exfoliating, natural - to name a few.

However, if you can see your office fruit box from across the room; it's sweet, delicious, natural treats just crying out to be eaten then you may be in luck - and be saving yourself from an expensive trek to the lip care aisle.

The restorative, beauty-enhancing effects of fruit have long been embraced - especially by us here at Fruit For The Office HQ! - so why shouldn't you be using them to keep dry, chapped lips at bay?


Edible Lip Sugar Scrub Recipe

• brown or white sugar
• extra virgin coconut oil
• fruit, essential oils or natural flavourings of your choice
• small airtight container to store it in

- Take whatever size container you want to store your lip scrub in and fill it halfway up with your sugar to measure.

- Remove the sugar then transfer to a mixing bowl

- Measure the coconut oil in the container as well, ensuring it also fills up to halway to get a 1:1 ratio of sugar to oil

- Transfer the measured oil to the mixing bowl then add your selected fruit, essential oils or natural flavourings at this point 

- Gently combine the sugar, oil and added ingredients together, making sure not to let the sugar granules dissolves by mixing for too long

- Spoon the scrub into your chosen container and refrigerate to keep it fresh for around 2-3 weeks, remove  from fridge five minutes before use to let soften

Flavour Ideas:

• Freshly squeezed Orange or Lemon juice and Honey 

The sweet combination of vitamin-packed citrus and soothing honey will have your lips kiss ready in no time

• Pumpkin puree and Cinnamon

Not only will your lip scrub taste like a winter dessert, pumpkin is full of skin saving Vitamin E! However, if using pumpkin puree, use it instead of the coconut oil in the recipe.

• Cranberry and Vanilla

Finely chopped dried cranberries are easy to order from your office fruit supplier and taste amazing combined with natural vanilla flavouring - just be sure not to eat the entire batch before your lips have had a pampering!



Tweet us @office_fruit and let us know your favourite winter dry skin remedies or leave them in the comments below!

As always, be sure to do a 48-hour patch test for all of these ingredients and recipes because although it's all natural, it doesn't mean it will have the same effect on everyone's skin!

DIY Fresh Fruit Face Masks for Healthy Skin

Tomáš Obšívač - ToOb on Flickr

Fruit isn't just beneficial when eaten, it's also great for the skin. Different fruits are great for different skin types and are not only a lot cheaper than buying a face mask, they're also simple to make and naturally free from chemicals, perfumes and artificial ingredients. So, when you're full up from your office fruit delivery, why not use the leftovers to give your face a treat too?

Lemon and Honey Face Mask 

• Tightens + unclogs pores
• Fades acne scars and aging spots
• Honey's natural antibacterial properties stops spots and blemishes
• Brightens skin tone
• Leaves the face glowing and radiant

How to Make:

Squeeze half a lemon into a bowl, add 2 tbsp of organic honey and mix until combined. Apply over a clean face, avoiding the eye area. Leave on for 10-15 mins, rinse away and apply moisturiser.

Strawberry and Yogurt/Cream Face Mask

• Moisturises skin
• Seeds exfoliate
• Brightens skin tone
• Fades acne scars 
• Leaves skin smoother
• Can be made for either oily or dry skin

How to Make:

Mash 5 fresh strawberries with a fork, in a bowl, until smooth. Add 1/2 tbsp of yogurt and 2 tsp of honey (for oily skin) or 1/2 tbsp of heavy cream and mix until combined. Apply mask to clean face, avoiding the eye area and leave on for 10-15 minutes. Rinse away and apply moisturiser. 

Banana and Oats Facial Mask

• Great for dry and sensitive skin
• Oats exfoliate
• Anti-aging effects
• Moistures and improves skin tone
• Smoothes skin and reduces inflammation

How to Make:

Mash 1 ripe banana with a fork in a bowl then mix in 1 tbsp of natural honey. Stir in 4 tbsp of ground oats and then add small amounts of mineral water until the mixture has a creamy consistency. Apply the mask to clean skin and leave on for 10-15 minutes before rinsing away and applying moisturiser.

Fruit Facial

Get rid of the potions and lotions, if you want a true ‘healthy glow’ fruit and veg is the way forward.

A new study by scientists at University of St Andrews  has found that those eating a better diet i.e. more fruit and veg, had more skin colouration than those that didn't.

The experiment looked at just how carotenoid – an orangey-red pigment found in fruit and veg – impacted skin tone.

The St Andrews Scientists took a sample of 35 students and monitored how the natural changes in their diets’ were reflected in their skin tone. During the six weeks, the students were not permitted to use fake tan, sunbeds or any make-up to alter their skin tone.

The scientists found that those students who improved their diet over time also achieved a more desirable golden skin tone whilst those whose diet worsened lost their golden glow.

The research therefore suggests that this healthy glow can be achieved after just a few weeks of eating two extra portions of carotenoid packed fruit and veg a day. Surely that's better than slapping on fake tan week after week - and probably much cheaper too!

Adding a few extra pieces of yellow fruit into your office fruit delivery could leave you with a healthier looking workplace in no time. Top carotenoid filled fruits are

• Apricots
• Mangoes
• Paw Paw
• Yellow Plums
• Pineapple 

The team at St Andrews hope their findings will provide extra encouragement for people to keep eating their 5 a day. Researcher Ross Whitehead states that whilst ‘most of us know we should eat plenty of fruit and veg’ some of us need more of an incentive in order to achieve it. A desirable healthy golden tan could be just the ticket, all in favour say MANGOES!