DIY Sugar Scrub Recipe (Easy Homemade Body Scrub)
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This easy DIY Sugar Scrub leaves skin soft and smooth using just sugar, oil, and optional essential oils. It’s inexpensive, customizable, and made without questionable additives found in many store-bought scrubs.
Today I'm sharing one of my favorite DIY personal care products of all time–a Homemade Sugar Scrub. Unlike most store-bought scrubs, it has no chemical additives and costs far less than store-bought scrubs.
In order to keep as many toxins out of our homes and off of our bodies, I try to make as many homemade personal care items as possible.
My First Sugar Scrub
I'd never tried a scrub until I was at an antique car show where a woman was selling beauty products and offering free scrub demonstrations.
Hesitatingly, I tried the scrub, feeling skeptical (I'm pretty skeptical about a lot of things….see my post on Are Essential Oils a Scam? ~ A Skeptic Looks at Thieves Oil for an example).
I wondered what the big deal was.
Well, I tried it and really loved how my hands felt and looked after rubbing that scrub all over my hands and rinsing it off. Smooth and revitalized and younger-looking.
However, I didn't like the price or the ingredients.
I looked online to verify what the “incriminating ingredients” were, and though the exact product I tried isn't there any longer, get a look at the list on one of their comparable products:
Ingredients in Store Bought Sugar Scrub
- butylene glycol
- sodium methyl cocoyl taurate
- polyacrylamide
- C13-14 Isoparaffin
- Laureth-7
- Fragrance (who knows what's really in that, but it almost always means artificial fragrance)
- DMDM Hydantoin
- Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate
And the price was $16.00 (marked down from $18.00) for only 6 oz.
There had to be a cheaper and less toxic way to get smooth skin.
Fast forward several years.
One day, a sweet friend from church gave me a handmade sugar scrub and I loved it so much that I decided to learn how to make my own.
Why You’ll Love This Sugar Scrub
This sugar scrub is great for so many reasons. It's
- inexpensive
- customizable
- a super easy gift
- moisturizing
- made with simple ingredients you likely have in your pantry
- no questionable ingredients
- no wasteful packaging
How Much Can You Save Making DIY Sugar Scrubs?
Here's an outline of the money savings, based on prices at the time this post was originally published:
- Granulated sugar is $2.68 for 5 lb at Aldi (that's $.54/lb)
- Grapeseed oil is $6.75/ltr at the buying club I run out of my home.
My Cost:
- Sugar: $.27
- Grapeseed Oil: $1.59
- Essential Oils: approximately $.14, depending on the oil chosen
I didn't include the container because you can reuse that unless it's for a gift.
The retail price of the above mentioned version I tested was $18 for 6 oz., but you can make a homemade sugar scrub for only $2.00!
What Oil Is Best to Use in a Sugar Scrub?
Really you can use any oil you like, but I personally like using cold pressed, organic oils for their nourishing properties. Olive oil is especially moisturizing and can possibly help to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and stretch marks. Friends of mine have touted their family's use of olive oil for ages for this reason.
This Cold Pressed Organic Olive Oil is a good option for this purpose.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Essential Oils Are Best for a Sugar Scrub?
You can really use any essential oil or blend that you like. You can even do fun combinations like those in this list of Christmas Essential Oil Blends for creative gifting options.
Do Sugar Scrubs Cause Plumbing Issues?
Although sugar dissolves easily in water, oils and butters can contribute to buildup over time in some plumbing systems, particularly in older homes. This scrub uses oils that are liquid at room temperature, which are generally less likely to solidify in pipes than heavier ingredients like coconut oil or shea butter.
Still, it’s best to use moderate amounts, wipe excess oil from skin before rinsing if desired, and run warm water down the drain after use.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar or other granulated sweetener
- 1 cup cold-pressed olive oil (organic grapeseed or avocado oil are other good mild oil options)
- 2-4 drops lavender essential oil (or other essential oil as desired. Go here to read about the company that I recommend.)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
- Stir to combine.
- Store in a glass container (essential oils will damage the plastic and metals change the properties of the oils).
Notes
To Use
1. Take a small amount of the scrub with a small spoon. 2. Rub all over your hands and fingertips (or feet, or wherever you'd like extra softness) for about 1 minute. 3. Let sit on your hands for 3-4 minutes (enjoy this time to rest in your day :-)!) 4. Rinse off and pat dry with a towel.More Frugal DIY Body Care Recipes
If you're interested in more DIY personal care options, these might be of interest.
- Homemade Facial Oil Cleanser
- Rose Water Facial Spray
- Easiest Ever Homemade Deodorant
- Easy and Moisturizing Foaming Soap
- Homemade Eye Makeup Remover
- Alcohol-Free Hairspray
- Nourishing Lip Scrub
- Nourishing Hair Rinse
- Hand and Body Cream, and
- Tooth Powder
This homemade sugar scrub makes a fabulous gift!
I've even included it in my Easy Mother's Day Gifts roundup along with other great ideas for Mom.
Don't Feel Like DIYing?
Here's one good option for buying a reasonably priced scrub if you don't feel like making your own.
- The Rowe Casa Body Scrub comes in several lovely scents including Coffee and Vanilla!
- Bubble and Bee has some great salt scrubs to choose from.
- Poofy Organics has a number of nice scents too.
Have you ever used sugar scrubs?
Hello. Thank you for posting this! I love making homemade gifts and I’m dying to make a spa gift basket for the woman in my family. I did have a question about the oils you can use, I hope you wouldn’t mind answering. I noticed that you can buy oils specifically as carriers for the essential oils. Such as grapeseed, coconut, olive, almond, etc. I have also seen in the stores that they have all the same oils in the baking department. They are for cooking though. Can those be used as well? Or do they need to be specifically for the skin? I see people use some of the coconut oils they find where the baking oils are and it confuses me. Like olive oil for instance. Thank you so very much!
They can for sure be used. I think it’s best to use things on your skin that are edible b/c so many things pass through the skin direct to the blood.
The ingredients in many skin and hair care products are absolutely disgusting and come from petrochemicals, which are the cheapest of the cheap ingredients you can find. That is why they use them. They can make products for pennies on the dollar and charge a king’s ransom to the ignorant (of which there are many)
One day I was in a Bath And Body Works store because I was curious about their products since they are so popular. When I looked on the underside label of one of their facial scrub containers, or whatever it was, I noticed the ingredient was hidden and covered with another label that had some nonsense quote or something else written on it. Needless to say, the ingredient of this overpriced $12 facial scrub were similar to the ingredients listed for the product in this article — Yucky petrochemical, endocrine disrupting nonsense. They’re a big time scam.
Based on their packaging alone, they obviously don’t want people to be educated and know what they are putting on their face or skin
Much of this stuff can be made from wholesome, healthy simple ingredients you can whip up at home. And even if you are using expensive essential oils, often times it’s still cheaper than what you will find in many stores because the ingredients are natural and healthier and don’t require as much for efficacy.
Thanks. Good information for sure :). I’m sure that’s not your real name though :).
Nope, it’s not my real name…but it’s a cute appropriate name for blog purposes
I was curious how long the sugar scrub lasts? Do you need to store in a special way? I am making a batch of 50 for my sisters baby shower favors and I want to let the guests know how long the sugar scrub stays good for.
Any help would be awesome.
Thank You,
Kellie
I’m sorry but I can’t make shelf life claims b/c of the difference in cleanliness and storing. I would think use the oil that you use as a base for how long it will keep. I keep mine in the fridge – thanks!
Love this gift idea! So I linked it up in my Homemade Gifts-in-a-Jar guest post over at Keeper of the Home! Hope it brings some new friends your way! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! 🙂 Kelly
I made this with coconut oil and essential orange oil. I like to look at this website even though I’m 11 and the name is whole new mom.
Welcome. Whole New Mom is me, but it doesn’t have to be you :).
HI I’m 12. I love looking at mom blogs lol. I like this one and mommyshorts. I even follow mom Instagram accounts?
🙂 Welcome Raina. So glad to have you here!
This is an amazing recipe, and definitely one that I’m sure my mother-in-law will love this mother’s day. Thanks SO much for sharing!
When i made sugar scrub, i made a mint one, and i got an organic mint tea and crushed it and stirred it into the sugar scrub, we tried it with earl grey tea, crushed vanilla and coffee beans, etc. It makes a nice twist on it 🙂
Neat!
Thanks for this info about making a scrub. I am trying to recreate a lemon-ginseng scrub that I get from a retailer. I am trying to find out what form of ginseng to use. The only essential oils that I can find are made in China- I don’t know how safe they are.
Do you know if ginseng extract would work well? I question if it would mix with the oil, or separate like water. I am also considering a powdered form.
Thanks for any tips!
How interesting. I wonder why ginseng oil isn’t available. Maybe there’s a good reason? Was there EO in the product you’re trying to replicate?
In the store-bought scrub they use ginseng extract, but there are about 30 other ingredients too, so I wasn’t sure how a simple combo of oil, extract, and sugar would work. I just thought it couldn’t hurt to ask 🙂
I asked the oils company that I am working with and he said he’d check into it. I would think it should work- let me know!
I am making some for my mother, and it has turned really runny and I tried some on my hands and I know have red spots all on my hands!! Is there something wrong with using vegetable oil?? Can I still give it to my mum?
Mine wasn’t runny. Not sure why that should happen. I don’t like using vegetable oil because it isn’t a good quality typically but that is my opinion. Maybe you have the red spots for some other reason? Of course if you are concerned you need to use your own judgement. Maybe try making a smaller amount w a higher quality oil? or I would try putting some veg oil on your hands for a bit and see if you get the red spots. That way, if you do it w/ each ingredient, you will figure out what is causing the spots.
Thank you for your reply, The red spots was nothing to do with it in the end. but mine has separated is that normal? should I take out some of the excess oil?
I just mix mine up and use it. If you store it in the fridge it won’t separate. Plus it lasts a lot longer that way :). It’s no fun using rancid scrub on your skin :(.
What size jar?
HI – not sure what you are asking – sorry.
What size mason jar does this recipe fill? Using your measurements above does this fill a half pint? pint?
I’m making as a gift and want to make sure I scale the recipe correctly. Thank you!
I’m so sorry for not responding and being late…I’ve been swamped. I think just look at the ingredients to determine. Did you try it?