It’s not everyday that someone challenges me to make a homemade scrub, so when garden designers Floral & Hardy asked me to make a minty foot scrub I jumped at the chance. I’m no expert in homemade beauty but I figured as there was no actual cooking involved I should be able to hack it (she says). Anyway this is a modified recipe I found on the interweb, I tried a few times until I was happy with it.

So you will need:

3 chopped limes

2 – 3 tablespoons crushed sea salt (depending how scrubby you want it)

1 tablespoon sweet almond oil

20 – 25 fresh mint leaves chopped (any less and you won’t get the benefit of the minty-ness)

7 – 8 drops lime essential oil

Small hand blender or a proper grown up one if you have one to hand

Chop up the limes first (with the rind too) then pulp them with the blender until they are still firm but pliable. If you blend them too much you will just end up with lime juice. Add the rest of the ingredients but only add 1 tablespoon of salt at first, it’s easier to add then takeaway. Once all your ingredients are added blend a bit more until you are happy with the consistency but keep in mind this is a foot scrub so you don’t want to blend it into mush.

This is how my concoction ended up, I realise it looks like a marinade you’d put on fish or chicken but it works! There is just enough of the sweet almond oil to get some friction and leave your skin feeling soft without being an oily mess. The mint and limes work well together just like a mojito, and of course the salt exfoliates like a dream. I highly recommend you make this the day before you are going to use so you can pop it in the fridge and let it cool which will feel even better on your hooves after a hard days graft!

I was having a peruse of the Floral & Hardy contemporary garden design section to get some ideas for my own postage stamp size yard space and I found some good simple ideas to stop ours looking like an urban wasteland. The British are known for their amazing gardens but they really excel when it comes to making small, cramped spaces into urban sanctuaries. Americans on the other hand need several acres before they will landscape anything….

In part 2 I’ll be doing a hand scrub so watch this space!

*ingredients provided by Floral & Hardy