The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Spice and herb club makes sugar scrubs
Participants stirred freshly-made sugar scrubs and tasted homemade simple syrups as a part of the Lorain Public Library System Main Branch’s monthly Spice & Herb Exchange Club.
The event took place Aug. 28 at the branch, 351 W. Sixth St. in Lorain.
Two of the branch’s librarians, Ramona Flores and Ana Trejos, spearheaded the event about a year ago.
It features different herbs and spices to use for baking, cooking and other household activities.
“I was thinking, ‘We need more adult programs to bring people in the community together,’” said Trejos, who has been with the Main Branch nearly 18 years. “I said, ‘I love cooking and anything with spices and herbs, so what could we do with those?’”
Although the summer has proved to be a dry spell attendance-wise, Trejos said the program, thus far, has been popular.
The Spice & Herb Exchange Club meeting began with Trejos giving a crash-course about skin exfoliants as a mechanical or chemical method of removing dead skins cells. She said that sugar, coffee and clay work as good exfoliants, since they are rough but do not cut the skin.
Trejos said that the first uses of skin exfoliants were by the ancient Egyptians.
Cleopatra was known to use goat milk and mixed alabaster in her clay mask as a chemical exfoliant, she said.
As for moisturizers, Trejos recommends avocado, grapeseed, hemp or coconut oil to rejuvenate the skin during exfoliation.
“Coconut oil is the cheapest moisturizer you can get, and it’s great for the skin,” she said.
Trejos provided recipes and brown sugar, coconut oil, cane sugar and essential oils for participants to make their own sugar scrub.
Flores, who has worked at the Library System for 17 years, brought her own homemade simple syrups made from thyme, mint, orange and lemon zest for the group to taste.
She said that these syrups often are used by bartenders and mix well with alcoholic beverages, iced tea, lemonade and iced coffee.
The simple syrups are made by boiling sugar water and adding any given flavor after being taken off of the heat.
Flores said the syrup can last for weeks in the fridge.
“There’s a lot of prep that goes into these programs,” she said. “Fortunately, we’re librarians, so we have plenty of access to the internet and books and whatever else we need to find.
“This is the best job in the world. I’m so happy to be a librarian.”
For participants like Teressa Nemeth, 62, of Lorain, the experience was a first for her.
“I have never made a sugar scrub or any kind of salt scrub before,” Nemeth said. “I was attracted to come to this because it’s wholesome, it’s natural and I have most of this stuff in my kitchen.”
Trejos said these new experiences can revitalize an old skill for many in the community.
“The way I look at it, more people want to share what they know,” she said. “I think it’s more about the knowledge they acquire and to use that knowledge or experience or tips to do whatever they already know what to do.”