Crunchies! This is a blast. A refreshing summer project that very easily turned into two great recipes. It is going in my Trapper Keeper forever.
It’s pretty intense, so I’ll cut with the chit-chat here. (My, though. You DO look lovely today.)
Quick notes about the recipes:
Cucumbers are soothing and moisturizing, as we learned here.
Apples are moisturizing, astringent and the pectin is effective at reducing wrinkles.
Mint is refreshing and astringent, so it helps control oil.
Vodka tones, acts as a preservative, and is best stirred, not shaken.
The spritzer/toner should be left in the refrigerator at all times, unless you’re using it. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND using it as a cooling spritz when you get all hot and sticky from the oppressive summer heat. It’s like a cool, tingly mist of hydration, and it mitigates that oily sheen that magically appears when you’re hot. But, you can also use it as a toner after washing your face. Just wet a cotton pad (or reusable facial wipe) and swipe across your face.
Refreshing Green Apple, Cucumber, and Mint Toner Spritz
- 1 cucumber, washed (not peeled or seeded)
- 1 apple, washed, cored (not peeled)
- 1 c. strong peppermint tea (use only dried peppermint leaves – most peppermint teas contain only that)
- 1/4 c. distilled water
- 3 Tbsp. vodka (the higher proof, and the “cleaner,” the better)
- 2 Tbsp. witch hazel (optional)
- Cheesecloth or very fine mesh strainer
- Spritzer bottle
Boil 1 cup of water and brew your peppermint tea. While the tea is steeping, cut the apples and cucumbers into manageable pieces and toss them in the food processor or blender. Puree just as madly as you can.
The resulting puree should be an absolutely gorgeous color of green, and it should be very watery. Once you’ve pureed the holy bejeezus out of it, drape a piece of cheesecloth (or use a fine mesh strainer) over a bowl and plop your puree in the middle. Like so:
Now squish and twist your cheesecloth until you’ve squeezed about all the juice you can get (or press firmly on the mush in the sieve) into your bowl. The resulting liquid will be the most heavenly green color and you might want to drink it. You can, but that’s not what we’re here for. Put down the vodka.
DO NOT THROW THE PULPY, JUICED MUSH AWAY. We will use that later. Put it in a jar or a baggie and tuck it in the refrigerator for now.
Also -BONUS- if you used a cheesecloth, there will be pulp stuck to it after you’ve saved the bulk of it for later. This makes a most excellent quick little face scrub. Just run the cheesecloth across your face, scrubbing ever-so lightly. Leave it on for at least 15 minutes and then rinse.
Next, pour the apple/cuke juice in a jar or into your spritz bottle, add your strained peppermint tea, water, vodka, and the witch hazel (optional). Shake well.
Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. The vodka (and the optional witch hazel) will act as a preservative, keeping this good for a while.
Spritz on your beautiful visage whenever you need a pick-me-up!
Summertime Cucumber-Apple Sugar Bath Scrub
- Pulp from the recipe above (or strained pulp from one cucumber and one apple)
- 3/4 c. sugar
- 1 c. olive oil, sweet almond, grapeseed, or jojoba oil (or a combination of any or all)
Just before you shower, recover the cucumber and apple pulp from above and put it in a bowl. Add the sugar and oil and stir well. Use as you would any normal sugar scrub (I LOVE to scrub with it just before I shave my legs – makes for soft, smooth ones that Fiance likes to absentmindedly touch.)
Note: Luckily, I made mine yesterday and tried it in the shower today. I learned that if you add sugar to the pulp and then leave it overnight, it ends up being a little gelatinous. This was easily remedied by adding more sugar – and it was still marvelous and fresh and invigorating – but I still recommend waiting to make the scrub until just before you shower.
What do you think? Sound good?
Now it’s time for a cucumber mojito (gotta break out the rum after all that vodka). Anyone have any good mojito recipes?
Cucumbers and Eyes : A Journey into Understanding
Yumm- peeping – O !
I just love everything…
My goodness you have been busy while I am gone! We are headed to the local crunchy store before leaving for picnic supplies. I see apple and cuke being added to my list!
Great recipes! I love making my own stuff and these seem pretty easy. I need to get a spritzer…
After seeing your blog, I realized that I need to do up a few of my kids’ recipes, too. I made bath cookies for all the family little ones for Christmas, and they were a huge hit! PPS (after the PS on your blog): You are really funny. Really.
Oooh! Please do some kids’ recipes! Maybe my 4 yr old could help even, she would love that. Thanks for the PS and the PPS. Now the pressure’s on to be funny. Maybe I’ll start ending my posts with a joke, just in case. Except the only joke I know is:
Q: What did the snail say on the back of a turtle? A: Wheeee! (What can I say, I have small children.)
I see that I am definitely going to need to get some extra spray bottles to keep on hand! That spritzer sounds so cool (literally) and I love that everything gets used up. As for mojitos, I’ve got a muddler and I know how to use it!
I command that you bring yourself and your muddler to Colorado immediately. I still have cucumbers.
love the way you write!
also. i am totally into spritzing up my visage. if i knew what a visage was… ?
I love this! I make my own stuff and this looks wonderful! Do you use all the scrub at once, or do you think it would be fine in the fridge for a few days?
The scrub definitely lasts more than one day. I split mine in half and gave half to my neighbor, ended up using half of my half last night – and the stuff in the fridge still looks and smells perfect. I’m about to go finish it off. You’ll have to let me know what you think!
Sounds like I need to make more room in my refrigerator…
Ha. I hear you. Since farmer’s markets have opened around here, mine is jam-packed. Don’t know what I’m ever going to do with all of it – my face can only hold so much.
I think I’ll try the scrub. I’ve been looking for a good one.
I LOVE mojitos! Never heard of a cucumber mojito. My favorite are lime.
Mmm. If you like regular mojitos, and cucumber, you’d love a cucumber mojito. They serve them all over the place, but my favorite little restaurant here in town (called Shuga’s) makes a mean one.
Definitely make the scrub – it was my favorite of the two recipes. And it’s pretty!
i’ve never made my own skincare stuff, but just reading this makes me face feel cool and tingly!
You should try! Once you start, you get hooked. And my goal (even though I’ve done a lot of really intricate, fancy face/body care stuff) is to provide easy recipes with ingredients that most people will have on hand. (Except on very special occasions when I get a little crazy.)
So hopefully one of these days, you’ll see something that really strikes your fancy. Next thing you know, you’ll be a crunchy addict. Like me. I should go ahead and start a support group.