Scrub a Dub Dub

Some of Ms. New Beauty's fondest childhood memories involve spending as many minutes as possible at her grandmother's house in West Philadelphia. MNB loved sitting out on the porch and watching the people walk by, waiting for the trolley to stop on the corner to see who might be getting off, running across the street to buy candy from the corner store, and waiting for her grandmother to serve up some of the best food to ever bless tastebuds. It must be written in a Holy book somewhere that no one on earth is allowed to cook better than a black grandmother. One thing MNB did not enjoy about those trips was sitting on the edge of the tub while her grandmother pulled out a nail brush and scrubbed her knees and elbows. Convinced that their darker color was a result of playing outside, Grandma New Beauty would scrub those joints until they were sore. One day, MNB's Aunt J intervened, finally convincing Grams that knees and elbows were supposed to be dark. And, Ms. New Beauty never had her knees scrubbed again.

That fairytale ending was set to hold on in perpetuity until just a few days ago. MNB was reading about skin lightening on one of her fave blogs on beauty and life from a black woman's perspective, Afrobella, when she came upon a link to another blog discussing darkened knees and elbows. 55 Secret Street says that they can be lightened with simple exfoliating followed by sunscreen. I guess Grams was right all along. Trying to do her family proud, MNB has been religiously scrubbing her knees and elbows in the shower. And, thus we come to her new favorite body scrub.

Maryam's Shea Butter and Dead Sea Salt Glow

Until today, I had been a die hard Fresh Brown Sugar Body Scrub girl. It was that or nothing else. But, I'm going to be a Maryam devotee from now on. Chocked full of essential oils, like avocado, olive, and jojoba, Maryam's Shea Butter and Dead Sea Salt Glow moisturizes as it exfoliates, an absolute essential for dry skin. Since winter has finally hit Boston (the weather dropped 40 degrees almost overnight; this global warming is no joke), my skin is starting to dry up faster than little old ladies on Miami Beach. This scrub exfoliated me and left my skin as soft as a newborn's.

But, I must say that the Fresh body scrub does the same thing. That was one of the main reasons why I fell in love with it in the first place. So merely meeting the standard was not going to be enough to make me leave my baby. What pushed me over the edge, you ask? The texture!!!!! Maryam's scrub uses fine salt particles to scrub gently and the scrub itself is of a thicker consistency than any I've used before. Most scrubs, including Fresh, are runny and the ingredients seperate, forcing you to stir with your finger before trying to slap it on your skin as it slips through your fingers and runs down the drain. There is none of that here. This one has a thick jellylike consistency so everything stays perfectly blended and you don't end up spilling more product on the shower floor than actually gets on your skin.

I used the Ginger Cardmom scent and my bathroom smelled like heaven. It felt like being at a very relaxing spa in the South Pacific, somewhere like Bora Bora or Fiji. Let's just go with Bora Bora - it sounds more tropical to me. My ramblings about locales aside, the scent was exactly what I needed to relax me today.

I am also loving Maryam's Shea Monoi Whipped Body Butter. It was the perfect follow up to the scrub. The whipped texture is divine, and we remember how I feel about a body butter's texture right? It was so soft and smooth and melted right into my skin. After a hot shower using that scrub and following with the body butter, I just could not wait to hop on my laptop and start raving about these products. Check more of Maryam's fabulous handmade bath luxuries at Maryam's Soap Nook.

Scrub those knees ladies, do your grandmothers proud, and don't forget that Ms. New Beauty told you!