Let Your Body Eat Red Chile Too

So what do I do when I'm not taking hair off of female parts or hanging up lingerie (like the adorable retro red chemise that I wish I had the boobs to wear)? Often, it's true, I'm doing boring things like clicking at my bookkeeping app or ordering glass jars for face creams. But sometimes I do the fun stuff, where I don my green patterned apron and make products.

And this one is an entirely new scrub. Entirely...depending on how you look at it. I wanted to take my brown sugar scrub and give it a New Mexican face lift. And while it is December already, the recent early fall and its Green Chiles are not a distant memory. And while I LOVE Green Chile, the thought of it in a body product is slightly nauseating and sure to generate immediate mold. In comes Chimayo Red Chile powder to the rescue, with the huge added benefit of being oh-so-colorful.

​My one concern was giving people that spicy Red Chile burn. Open wounds + Red Chile = no bueno. I was sure to buy the mild form and rather cautious in adding large amounts. And, of course, one should not use it on broken, damaged or irritated skin. Why bother with Red Chile in the first place, you may ask? Numerous health benefits: increased blood circulation (think glow), lymphatic drainage (which helps remove toxins and impurities), anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and full of anti-aging Vitamin A which helps prevent cell degeneration and stimulates cell renewal. And it's pretty. I love color. And since Christmas is coming, you can't really go wrong with anything red.

If you want to try your hand at it, I'll give you the ingredients then walk through the steps. If you don't have the time, desire or ingredients on hand you can buy one here. You might notice that this recipe would make a LOT of sugar scrub for one person, so feel free to quarter it or more. And a word on the brown sugar. The one I use is an organic brown sugar that is dark and juicy. I highly recommend finding one that has similar attributes. It will still work, it just won't be quite as lush.

2.5 cups organic raw cane sugar
2.5 cups organic brown sugar
1 cups organic sunflower oil
3/4 cup organic coconut oil
1 tsp. Chimayo red chile
3/4 tsp organic vanilla extract
1/4 tsp tea tree oil
10 drops organic frankincense EO
5 drop organic lime EO

It's rather simple. First, mix the raw cane sugar and brown sugar THOROUGHLY in a bowl. Then, add in the red Chile and make sure it's mixed well too. On the stove (if it's winter) melt the sunflower oil and coconut oil in a double boiler until the coconut oil is melted. Take off the heat then add in the vanilla extract, tea tree oil, frankincense EO and lime EO. Stir this all to combine (the vanilla extract will resist--do the best you can), then mix into the sugar bowl, stirring as you go.

What you can then pack up into containers ( I use 8 ounce amber plastic jars) is a gentle scrub wonderful for most everybody. You'll want to avoid it, due to the red chile, if you have rosacea, psoriasis or similar skin disorders. For everyone else, it's anti-bacterial, hydrating, increases skin circulation, helps prevent ingrowns and smells and feels like you're feeding your skin dessert. Which you kind of are. Enjoy!