How To Make Sugar Scrub: An Easy Homemade Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is homemade sugar scrub good for skin? ›

Sugar is one of the best natural beauty ingredients to exfoliate your skin. Sugar scrubs are mild and help remove dead skin. They also help rejuvenate the skin by cleaning all the dirt from the skin pores. With all the dead skin and dirt removed, the new skin is more radiant and you have a healthier glow.

Mix 2 tablespoons of honey with 1 tablespoon of fresh citrus juice (lemon or orange work wonders) and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. The honey hydrates, the citrus brightens, and the sugar exfoliates for a radiant glow.

However, making your own sugar scrub is a great way to save a little cash. You can make a batch of my homemade sugar scrub for around $2-$3. Because this recipe contains just two inexpensive ingredients, you can even make multiple batches for the cost of one store-bought scrub.

Place sugar into a bowl. Add in 1/3 cup of oil and stir until well blended. If the sugar scrub seems too dry for your liking add more oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you get the consistency you like. Remember, this is personal preference so don't worry about “messing up.” You won't, I promise.

Add brown sugar, coconut oil, and honey to a mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, and add more coconut oil if it's too crumbly. Once you've reached the desired consistency, spoon your scrub into a container.

As long as you save your homemade body scrub in a well sealed container so no moisture or other environmental components can get in, then it can last up to six months. Be sure to add a label to the bottom with the date your scrub was made.

Jojoba oil mimics your skin's natural oil (sebum) and helps moisturize and cleanse your skin. Coconut oil is also great for your skin (it's used in Vietnam to relieve and cure dry skin all the time), while super-refined sugar sweetly scrubs away your rough patches. If you use it on your face, just be gentle!

"They can cause irritation and small scratches on the skin," Ross explains. "There isn't a sugar scrub I would recommend for the face. I think people are better off with a washcloth or a mild chemical exfoliation."

DIY Facial Sugar Scrub

Add ¼ cup sugar & 1 tablespoon honey in a bowl. *Optional: Add additional sugar if you feel your mixture is too runny. Add your choice of essential oil (lavender is my favorite of course!). I use only a few drops but you can add more or less to your liking.

This brown sugar lip scrub is only three ingredients, and it's the perfect DIY holiday party favor or homemade Secret Santa gift! Combine brown sugar, vanilla and olive oil for an exfoliating experience that will leave your lips soft and sweet.

Do DIY sugar scrubs work? ›

The bottom line. DIY sugar scrubs are a great at-home option. They're not only quick and easy, but they're more affordable than many store-bought options. Using sugar combined with other natural ingredients creates a homemade exfoliant that can cleanse, soften, and moisturize your skin when used gently.

The ratio for any simple sugar scrub recipe is 1 cup sugar to 1/4 cup oil. I prefer coconut oil, but any kind of oil can be used. To soften the coconut oil, microwave the jar for a few seconds before measuring. I literally put the whole jar of coconut oil in the microwave and heat until it's pourable.

Sugar scrubs act as a manual exfoliant, physically removing dead skin cells and helping you to reveal new, glowing skin. However, don't look for many other benefits from a sugar scrub. They're absolutely fabulous for manual exfoliation, but that's about the only purpose they serve.

Organic cane sugar will give you a more coarse scrub and fine sugar will give you fine scrub. If you want to use this on your body AND your face, I'd suggest fine or medium-coarse sugar. I like to use organic sugar because it's a little more coarse than regular sugar, but it isn't super coarse like turbinado sugar.

Oil. Olive oil, grapeseed oil, sweet almond oil, and virgin coconut oil are good choices for sugar scrubs. I generally prefer cold-pressed, organic oils for a sugar body scrub whenever possible.

If you have sensitive or dry skin, you may find sugar scrubs are better because they feel gentler on your skin and are less likely to cause irritation. However, if you want a way to detox and exfoliate, you may find that salt scrubs work better for you.