DIY Foot Scrub with Sea Salt and Peppermint Oil

If you like to pamper yourself, enjoy home spa days or are just looking for a way to show your feet some extra love, this DIY foot scrub might be a perfect addition to your usual arsenal. Especially since most of us tend to neglect taking care of our feet regularly, even though they go through a lot every single day.

Dryness, cracked heels and excess dead skin cells on the soles are pretty common beauty problems. After hours of standing and walking in often uncomfortable shoes, no wonder the bottoms of our feet are beaten up at the end of each day.

But, a bit of extra care can help you not only restore soft, smooth skin on your feet, but also relax your mind and whole body. And one of the most important parts of that relaxation ritual can be a simple, cheap but more than effective DIY foot scrub based on detoxifying sea salt and nourishing oils.

Honestly, DIY foot scrub is one of the easiest products to make at home. All you need are two ingredients, plus a third one if you want the scrub to smell really nice.

Here’s what ingredients I am using and why…

The Ingredients for a Homemade Foot Scrub:

Sea salt

While there are many great natural exfoliators you can use in your scrubs, such as sugar and coffee grounds, it seems to me that many people like myself prefer to use sea salt for DIY foot scrubs.

Sea salt is purifying, detoxifying and full of minerals that are great for our skin. But we don’t get to use it very often since salt scrubs are usually too harsh for the rest of our skin. But, that same exfoliating potential is perfect when it comes to taking care of the skin on the bottoms of your feet.

You can use sea salt, Himalayan salt, Dead Sea salt, kosher salt… I usually like to use Himalayan pink salt and sometimes to combine it with plain, white sea salt.

Coconut oil

Coconut oil is an incredibly nourishing oil I always have on hand. I love how nicely my skin absorbs it and how soft and smooth it gets after it. It is full of nourishing fatty acids that repair and restore the skin.

I know some people have problems when applying coconut oil to their face because it tends to clog their pores and cause breakouts. But, you can most definitely use it to make a homemade foot scrub because the skin on your feet can take much more than your facial skin.

Or you can replace coconut oil with any other skin-friendly oil you like. Just don’t go too fancy or expensive – it is just a foot scrub after all; keep the fancy stuff for your face.

Essential oils

I also like to add peppermint oil to my foot scrub just because I like when my foot care products smell like peppermint. But, you can replace it with any other scent you like or make your foot scrub using only sea salt and coconut oil.

My Favorite DIY Foot Scrub Recipe

Ready to make your own foot scrub? Start by measuring all the ingredients. You will need:

• 1 cup Himalayan salt (or ½ cup Himalayan + ½ cup regular sea salt)
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 5 – 10 drops peppermint essential oil

In a bowl large enough to contain everything, first put whatever sea salt you are using. (Finer-textured salts are usually better for scrubs; if your salt is too coarse, you can grind it a bit in a mortar.)

Warm up the coconut oil until it softens enough so you can easily combine it with the salt. Add it gradually to the salt while mixing – you should add just enough oil to get a consistency you prefer.

In the end, if you want, you can also add a bit of peppermint essential oil to the mixture. The exact amount depends on your taste – if you want a subtle scent, add just a few drops. Or more, for the well-known clear, fresh minty smell.

When your mixture looks well combined, transfer it to a clean glass jar. I like to always wipe the inside of the jar and the lid with some rubbing alcohol, to prolong the shelf life of my foot scrub.

How best to use your diy peppermint foot scrub:

You can use this DIY foot scrub as simply as you would any other. Just grab a small amount, rub it well into the bottoms of your feet until the dead skin starts to come off. Be a bit gentler on the upper side of your feet, because the skin there is much thinner and gentler and requires less exfoliation anyway. Then just rinse off. Simple.

But, this scrub is also a great opportunity for you to relax after a stressful day. Not only is the peppermint scent very soothing and relaxing, but the oils in the scrub can help you massage your feet while exfoliating the skin. Plus, this scrub works better anyway if you soak your feet first.

Here’s what I like to do: I take 1 or 2 tablespoons of the scrub and dissolve them in a foot tub willed with warm water. Then I soak my feet in it until the water starts to cool down.

One foot at the time, I apply a thin layer of the foot scrub and use it to gently exfoliate all the dry, rough skin while at the same time massaging my foot. I find the massage incredibly relaxing. It always makes me perfectly happy, relaxed and ready for bed.

When I’m done, I wash off the scrub well and always apply a thick, nourishing moisturizer or just some natural oil.

And that’s it – my perfect way to keep the skin on my feet soft, smooth and healthy. I really love my DIY foot scrub so much. It is a humble 2 – 3 ingredient product, but it helps me keep the neglected parts of my skin in check and it is an important part of my self care routine…