I had extremely dry and flaky skin for years, and what absolutely solved the problem is a homemade salt scrub a friend gave me for Christmas one year. It exfoliates and makes your skin super duper soft.
She gave me the recipe, which is super easy. I happen to have written it up with all the details for another web site, so here it is:
It's basically made of Epsom salt and sweet almond oil, with a few drops of scented oil and some soap colorant. Mix the salt and the oil until you are happy with the texture -- I think I do maybe 4 parts salt to one part oil. I basically just fill a mixing bowl with salt and add dollops of oil until I'm happy with it, then add a few drops each of essential oils for fragrance, and soap colorant. The KitchenAid mixer will mix it up in no time! You can also throw in a handful of medium or coarse sea salt for a little textural interest -- not too much, though, because it can scratch!
In case anybody is interested, here's where I get my supplies:
Epsom salt: I get it at Costco -- you can also get it at Target or Rite-Aid or any big drug store.
Sea salt: I get it here: http://www.pvsoap.com/powders_liquids.asp
Sweet almond oil: I got it at http://www.selectoils.com, but they seem to be gone, so I'd go here: http://www.camdengrey.com/. 7 pounds is a gallon -- I'm just finishing my first gallon after about a year. They also have it in smaller bottles at Whole Foods but it's VERY expensive. I'd say you can get 20 jars or more out of a gallon. It can get rancid if you leave it out, so I keep it in the fridge.
Fragrance oils -- also at http://www.camdengrey.com/. They have a million of them, and the prices are wildly varied. I have been happy with Lemon Balm, Sweet Orange, French Lavendar, and Spearmint. Note they come in little bottles without droppers, so you'll need a dropper or two.
Soap colorant: The place I got it doesn't seem to have it any more, but you can google around and find it online, or at your local craft store. I got a set of six and I figure it will last me pretty much forever.
Acrylic jars: Got these here: http://www.pvsoap.com/bottles.asp . It's pretty far down the page, the "bale and wire plastic jar, 570 ml." (They have droppers on this page, too. I ended up with droppers not exactly the same size as my fragrance oils -- so be careful to make sure you match the droppers with the bottles.)
I tie a ribbon around the jar and put on a tag that reads as follows:
"MaryK's Miraculous Salt Scrub
"While still in the shower, massage all over your body and wash off with or without soap for super-soft skin.
"Ingredients: Epsom salts, sea salt, sweet almond oil, essential oils, and soap colorant."
You can also slip a small scoop under the ribbon. I found acrylic scoops at The Container Store, but unfortunately they don't seem to have the tiny ones online. You can get wooden ones on the same page as the jars: http://www.pvsoap.com/bottles.asp -- most of the way down the page.
Here's a picture of the year I made a million of them as Christmas gifts.
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