The Joy of Soap: Gardener's Hand Scrub

A garden is a delight to the eye, and a solace for the soul ~ Sadi

Lately I have had the luxury of spending many hours outdoors tending to the garden, and so far all of the work has involved cutting, pruning and weeding. Thankfully I can say that the garden no longer looks like an emerald carpet with branches poking out here and there; I can see the earth now. In the process of cleaning through the jungle we uncovered some poor plants and bushes struggling to survive, and now hopefully they have a chance to grow stronger.

My back has been suffering throughout the garden clean out process, and my hands look and feel a bit like sandpaper. To help soothe my hands before they become cracked I am going to whip up a batch of moisturizing hand scrub. The oatmeal is a good cleanser and exfoliant. The honey moisturizes the skin, and the oil softens and cleanses too.

Gardener's Moisturizing Hand Scrub
Ingredients
1 T oatmeal
1 t honey
1 t grapeseed or jojoba oil (or other oil you may have at home)
1 T lemon juice (juice of 1/4 lemon), or more if needed
1 T herbal infusion* (Optional)

*Some people might like to add 1 tablespoon of an herbal or floral infusion. This ingredient provides an additional skin soothing benefit, and is not required if you do not have the ingredients or the time to make the infusion. For example: If I had the ingredients at home, and the time, I would make a small amount of marigold flower infusion to provide an added benefit for my dry hands.

Mix all of the ingredients together.
You can add more lemon juice if you feel the mixture is too dry.
Scrub your hands and rinse off with warm water.