The sugar scrubs you buy at the store can be quite expensive. The good thing is they are easy and cheap to make (see the simply recipe at the bottom of this article).
But why should you use sugar scrubs in the first place?
As most of you probably know, scrubs for your body, face, scalp, lips, feet, and hands exfoliate your skin, clearing away dead skin cells. This is important because…
- As you age, your skin cells don’t regenerate as fast as they used to, leaving your skin feeling dry. Exfoliating removes old cells allowing new ones to generate easier.
- As old cells build up on the surface of your body, this can clog your pores, leading to irritations and acne. Exfoliating often helps to prevent this.
But why use sugar in your body scrub?
- Sugar particles are smaller and thus less abrasive than salt, which is the exfoliant used in a lot of other scrubs. This is not only better for more sensitive skin, it avoids the microscopic tearing that salt can cause when used in a scrub.
- Sugar is better as an exfoliant because the glycolic acid in sugar breaks down the “glue” molecules that hold skin cells close together. This allows younger cells to form easier.
- Sugar scrubs hydrate your skin because sugar is a natural “humectant”—it draws moisture from the environment into your skin. Salts scrubs, by contrast, can sap moisture from the skin.
Relaxing Sugar Body Scrub
Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup lavender flowers
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
5 drops lavender essential oils
5 drops cedarwood essential oils
Food dye (optional)
Directions:
In a glass bowl mix all the ingredients together. The consistency should be moldable/sticky but not wet. If the mixture is too wet add in one tablespoon additional grapeseed oil at a time until the mixture is the correct consistency.
Portion out into glass jars.
To use the scrub, make sure to apply to WET skin. Take out a small scoop with your hand and rub on your skin.
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Thanks for the info, Trisha. I’ve heard of sugar scrubs, but hadn’t read about their benefits over scrubs with salt. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thanks for sharing! I didn’t know about the salt vs sugar either.
Have a blessed weekend!
Thanks for telling me the consistency of the scrub. I just made some, and it’s so thick that I wondered if I did something wrong. My scrub is “moldable,” but that didn’t stop it from being a good body scrub.
I tried making my own foamy scrub recipe with melted cp soap, glycerin, palm and coconut oils (for the foamy part) and plain white sugar. I whipped it for a while until it looked like whipped cream. The problem with the final product is I can’t hardly feel the sugar (it kind of blended with the soap) and it looks kind of gooey? What am I doing wrong?
Whipping it would dissolve the sugar into the liquids. That’s why you can’t feel the sugar and likely why it’s gooey. I’m not sure making a foamy scrub with sugar would work; you’d have to use something else that wouldn’t dissolve. Maybe some partially processed oats (not whole, but not powdered)?