Body Scrubs with Massage

We incorporate Body Scrubs into our massage curriculum because we believe it’s as important to teach the spa-like aspects of a massage as it is to teach the more clinical, medical sides. Our students learn about the importance of scrubs and exfoliation; they also learn about different scrubs we carry and receive Ingredient Knowledge about each of those products. They also learn how to incorporate scrubs into their treatments, how these products can benefit them at home, and how to make their own body scrubs both for personal use and for use on their clients. This knowledge adds extra value to their bodywork offerings because it maximizes the therapeutic effects and addresses all layers of tissue.

Our massage instructor, Kimberly Thompson, shares information about Body Scrubs, along with her recipe, so you can start applying this knowledge to your weekly, self-care routine. We call Kimberly a “triple threat” around the school as she’s a Licensed Massage Therapist, a Certified Clinical Herbalist, along with a Licensed Esthetician. She’s been practicing Herbalism and Massage Therapy since 2000, and she teaches for both our massage program and our sister school herbalism program, Herbalism Roots. Here is Kim’s education on Body Scrubs:

Body scrubs can be made in a few minutes with just a few ingredients. They are so easy to make you will wonder why you haven’t made them before. Scrubs have so many therapeutic benefits from exfoliation (brightening dull skin), hydrating dry skin, increasing product absorption, detoxifying, diminishing acne, and smoothing skin appearance. Another benefit is lymphatic movement, which supports clarity of skin on the surface, and at a deeper level, supports the immune system by speeding the removal of waste products.

The bulk of a scrub is made up of an exfoliant. An exfoliant is a mechanical (physical) or chemical agent that is applied to the skin to remove dead cells from the surface. The most popular exfoliants in scrubs are salt, sugar, walnut hulls, coffee grounds, apricot kernels, and oatmeal. These are all considered mechanical or a physical exfoliants, although sugar is also a natural source of glycolic acid (chemical exfoliant), which helps promote cell turnover.

Many different types of salt are used in a salt scrub from Dead Sea salts, Hawaiian sea salt, and Himalayan salt. Each has its own unique characteristics and benefits. They are all high in trace minerals, which are absorbed into the body through the skin – essential minerals like potassium, magnesium, and calcium. Dead Sea salt contains 60 trace minerals. Himalayan Salt contains over 84 trace minerals. Trace minerals are micronutrients that we get in small amounts in our diet. Nutrient depleted soil makes these minerals difficult to get enough of in our modern culture. Some other benefits of salt include reducing stress by boosting the brains neurotransmitters, reduction of pain, and decreasing inflammation.

Sugar is a better exfoliant for sensitive skin as it’s not as strong of an exfoliant as salt. Any type of sugar may be used, but some favorites are brown sugar, turbinado sugar, cane sugar, and coconut sugar (very gentle). Walnut hulls, coffee grounds, and apricot kernels are all very strong exfoliants. Oats are probably the gentlest making them appropriate for the face.

This is a recipe we made in class with our massage students. It was so fun and easy to make. Our hope is that you and our students continue to make their own scrubs for years to come:

Body Scrub Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup Exfoliant of choice (Salt or Sugar – choose from the list above – can be mix-matched)
4 Tbsp Carrier Oil (Sunflower, Jojoba, Olive Oil, or Sweet Almond Oil)
5-10 drops of essential oil of choice (Lavender, Rose, Jasmine, Peppermint)
1 Tbsp Flower Petals (optional) (Rose, Lavender, Calendula)
2 4oz Air-tight jars with lids

Directions

1. Add Exfoliant of choice to a medium bowl.
2. Pour Carrier oil of choice over the top of your Exfoliant.
(Optional) Add a small amount of flower petals- Jasmine, Chamomile, Calendula, Lavender, or Rose.
3. Add 5-10 drops of essential oil of choice (can mix & match).
4. Enjoy in your shower or bath several times per week. 1x/week for sensitive skin and 2 – 3x/week for normal skin.

Along with teaching students how to make their own scrubs, we carry Backbar and Retail body scrubs that our students practice with at clinic. “Backbar” is a term used in the spa, beauty, and wellness industries for professional-grade and professional sizes of skincare products and tools. “Retail” are the products for sale. Our students and alumni get wonderful discounts on all our products.

Our students have many options of professional body scrubs to use on each other in clinic – both giving and receiving – so they get to feel and receive what those products do on their own skin.

One of the product lines we carry is Sanitas Skincare, which is made locally in Boulder, Colorado and focuses on very clean ingredients. The Sanitas Hydrating Sugar Scrub is one of the scrubs we have on Backbar for students to combine into their bodywork sessions at the school clinic. This is our go-to scrub for calming, moisturizing, and brightening the skin.

Another line we carry is SpaRitual, which focuses on sustainable, vegan, and clean spa-quality skincare products. The Spa Ritual Body Polish is one of our other favorite body scrubs. It’s made with coconut sugar, ginger extract, and jojoba oil. This combination is high in antioxidants and gently exfoliating for glowing skin.

We instruct our students to bring scrubs into many aspects of the massage experience. The first time they can use scrubs is with themselves for self-care, to ensure their hands and nails stay smooth. After they cleanse their skin before a student massage at our clinic, they can scrub their hands with one of our Backbar scrubs to slough off any dry, hard tissue that may feel abrasive to clients.

If the student plans to use their feet as a tool to massage, scrubs can be combined daily to help smooth dry and calloused feet. Our students are encouraged to use their feet wherever they can – when they practice Thai Massage on the Floor, Thai Massage on the Table, and any Barefoot work they do on the table.

Our students can use Body Scrubs with any massage style and sequence we teach.

The sequence:

Dry Brush (with exfoliating gloves or an exfoliating brush).
Massage the Scrub into the area.
Remove the Scrub with a hot towel.
Apply a finishing product (moisture and hydration).
Massage techniques.

As an example, if your client is Prone (face down), you could Dry Brush the entire posterior part of their body (leg, thigh, arm, back) and then massage the scrub along that entire posterior chain, remove the scrub with a hot towel, apply a finishing product like a luxurious lotion, and then follow with massage techniques. But you can also follow the above steps with one area of the body – for example, if you only want to apply the scrub to the upper and lower back, then follow the steps above but just for that area.

We also like to apply Body Scrubs after a Cupping Treatment. Some sources do not recommend using a Scrub post-Cupping, but that’s not what we’ve found through our 20 years of working with Scrubs and Cupping. We like to use a scrub post-Cupping to assist the body in movement of lymph and waste products that accumulate and are brought to the surface during the treatment. Also, if there’s a histamine response and itching that occurs during the cupping session, using a scrub post-cupping helps calm the itching sensation. We don’t recommend a salt scrub post-Cupping as that would be too irritating, but a finely ground sugar scrub is gentle and shouldn’t irritate post-Cupping tissue. The Sanitas and SpaRitual scrubs mentioned above are both perfect scrubs to use post-Cupping.

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