Exfoliating is an important factor for healthy looking and feeling skin, for all skin types. Although soap cleanses the skin, a sugar scrub can remove dead skin cells and excess oil. It can help unclog pores and keep your skin nice and even. The natural ingredients in homemade sugar scrubs won’t be harsh on your skin and the oil will also help to rehydrate and moisturize. A basic sugar scrub recipe allows you to experiment and personalize your own mixture!
Start with:
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
Add whatever essential oil you prefer (I used almond). Lemon juice is also a natural exfoliator and can add an extra burst of energy! I like to put a bit of food colouring in my scrubs to make it pretty! Salt can also be substituted for sugar for a harsher scrub.
Great for skin thx msstyler
I love this basic scrub. I use raw sugar and it’s to die for.
Great blog!
Just wondering how long this will keep for and does putting the food coloring in dye your skin at all?
Awesome! Can’t wait to try.
Kendra, it’s been said that you should make enough sugar scrub to last you for a couple months! After that, the oil may go rancid. However, I usually have mine for longer and it has kept well! Also, the food colouring will not dye your skin unless you use large amounts; a couple drops should be fine! Another option is soap dye. It’s a little more expensive and you can find it at a craft store.
Hope this helps!
xx
Jessica, we love raw sugar too!
xx
I LOVE IT!! does it matter as far as sugar or salt as far as helping moisturize the skin?
Angela, the only difference between the two is that salt is a harsher exfoliator than sugar. If you have rougher skin (like me), the salt may to a better job to smooth your skin, but the oil does the moisturizing. Glad your enjoying it!!
xx
PS: Because it’s harsher, you shouldn’t use a salt scrub as often as a sugar scrub. Just a safety note!
Would extra virgin olive oil work as well as…regular olive oil?
Nichole, it would work better! Extra virgin olive oil is the least processed and thus, the most pure form of olive oil.
Cocoa Butter Lotion works better than olive oil. I’ve done it both ways & when I used the oil, it smelled like oil…even when I added my essential oil to it! I like peppermint oil the best in the morning. It really adds a boost of energy to my day. Plus, if you’re congested, peppermint oil is great to open up sinuses.
Nichole, I like using Cocoa Butter Lotion better than the olive oil. You can buy a big bottle at the Dollar Store for $1. EVOO is *expensive*.
I love using sweet almond oil in place of the olive oil. It has a lighter scent and you don’t need to add any extra fragrance oils.
Do you use before or after you shower?
Would coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil be better?
Abby, use it in the shower!
Coconut oil will smell nice, but you could use either!
I use baby oil in place of olive oil!! Smells so good!!
Hello, can you use just the olive oil and the sugar? Or, is it absolutely necessary for the lemon juice, coconut oil, etc..
Emmy, just the olive oil and sugar would work great, too. The other ingredients aren’t necessary but can be beneficial as well.
how much essential oil do we put ?
Alexis, probably around 10 drops should do the trick!