If you love making your own beauty products at home, you've undoubtedly made your own body scrubs. Making your own scrubs is incredibly easy, satisfying, and will save you a ton of money in the long run. Today we'll show you how to make sugar scrubs at home using any type of combination you wish. All you need is sugar, oil, your favorite essential oils, and some mason jars to make some amazing and easy concoctions! These sugar scrub recipes are 100% natural and are great at sloughing off dead skin cells and revealing beautiful soft skin.
How to Make Sugar Scrubs
Before you start making any sort of sugar scrubs, it's important to remember the ratio. From there on, you can pretty much mix any type of essential oil and concoct your own, unique scent. Homemade sugar scrubs consist of 80% sugar and 20% oil. For most recipes, I use 1 cup of brown or white sugar and 1/4 cup of coconut oil, almond oil, or olive oil. Alternatively, any other type of oil will also work if you don't have either of the three.
So with that 80-20 ration in mind, now we can go ahead and make some great sugar scrub combinations! As with anything, please remember to test a small patch of skin on your arm to make sure your skin is not overly sensitive to any of the ingredients. We prefer a homemade body scrub over a store bought scrub because they're incredibly easy to make, will save you a ton of money, and they only contain natural ingredients.
Orange Sugar Scrub
This orange sugar scrub is great for mornings as the orange is super energizing and will wake up all of your senses! Mix 1 cup brown sugar, with 1/4 cup coconut oil and 7-8 drops orange essential oil.
Cucumber Mint Sugar Scrub
This cucumber mint sugar scrub is extremely refreshing and perfect for hot summers. For those with dry, itchy, and sensitive skin, this is the perfect cucumber sugar scrub! Mix a cup of sugar (white or brown), 1/4 cup coconut oil, 5 drops peppermint essential oil, and 4 drops of cucumber essential oil. Rub onto wet skin in the shower in slow, circular motions. Will leave skin feeling cool, refreshed, and oh-so-soft!
Vanilla Lavender Sugar Scrub
A soothing scrub that will calm all your senses! Perfect scrub for before bed! Mix 1 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, and 5 drops lavender essential oil. Rub the scrub onto wet skin while in the shower in slow, circular motions. Rinse off and pat dry. Can be used 1-2 times a week.
Honey and Brown Sugar Scrub
A deliciously sweet and decadent sugar scrub that's perfect for cooler days. This scrub exfoliates and moisturizes all in one, and will leave skin feel buttery soft! Mix 1 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, and 1 tsp honey.
Use the above scrubs 2-3 times a week in the shower. Grab a small amount with your hand, and rub against skin in slow, circular motions. The sugar will remove dead skin cells, revealing soft, bump free skin. The oil will hydrate dry skin, and the essential oils will give your skin a beautiful glow.
Sugar Scrubs Tips and Tricks
- For best results, use a sugar scrub at least once a week. This will ensure that you'll remove dead skin cells and also open up pores to prevent ingrown hairs. Products are able to penetrate easier into the skin, and you'll also get a much better shave!
- Moisturize every time after you exfoliate. After you've exfoliated, your skin is nice and soft, but it also needs a bit of moisture. These scrubs contain essential oils so that they don't dry out the skin, but massaging your legs with a thick body cream afterwards will leave your skin incredibly soft and hydrated!
- Prettify your scrubs! If you want, you can add a drop or two of food coloring to your scrubs to give them a beautiful color. Additionally, you can also place them in pretty mason jars and tie a nice ribbon around. Homemade gifts, anyone?
- Sugar scrubs can be stored at room temperature, or even in the refrigerator for a nice cooling effect, especially during hot summers.
- Play around with different essential oils. Don't like the smell of lavender oil? Swap it out for a different one! The essential oil is simply there to add scent and a bout of moisture to your scrub, so be creative.
- Use a sea salt scrub for rougher areas such as knees, elbows, and feet. Sea salt is coarser than sugar, and will do a better job at exfoliating rougher, harder areas. Learn how to make salt scrubs here!
These scrubs sound fantastic! Just wondering how long is the shelf life? Especially if I want to make and send to family and friends via snail mail. Thank you and I hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks Rona!
These scrubs should last for a few months actually provided that they don’t come into contact with water. Once they do, bacteria can build up, but since most of them only contain oil and sugar they’ll last for quite some time 🙂
has anyone ever used natural sucanat sugar to make scrubs? I just made a small batch with coconut oil and lavender, it also called for regular sugar. im letting it sit for a day before using. I was trying to get a little smoother consistency? or like creamier hold together kind result? will I get that result if I only use white sugar? or is there something else to add in to get it like that? the one I bought from a lady held together while scooping it from the container. mine is more like crumbly.
Hi Karla! I can’t say I’ve heard of that type of sugar, but it’s definitely worth a try! Let us know how it goes for you! As for your scrubs being crumbly, it may be because of two things:
#1. There isn’t enough oil in your scrub. Try adding a little bit more oil and see if that fixes the problem. Not enough oil can make the scrub crumbly and not as creamy.
#2. The sugar you’re using it too coarse. Use a finer sugar to change the consistency.
These are best scrubs to pamper skin. I use honey and brown Sugar mixture. It is a great combination which leaves my skin perfectly smooth and soft. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome Lisa 🙂
Should I use melted coconut oil or solid coconut oil?
I’m guessing it’s to make it more consistent and creamy/smooth so probably go with melted
Can you make the Honey and Brown Sugar Scrub without the vanilla extract?
Hi Nanya,
Sure you can! The vanilla extract is just there to give it a nice scent, but feel free to omit it. In fact, you can add any other type of scent (essential oil).