Make Your Own Sugar Scrub

Sugar Scrub for Dry Skin

Home made sugar scrub is a great way to reduce the amount (or entirely eliminate) the use of harsh, drying soap on your skin when you bath or shower.

A sugar scrub will gently exfoliate dry skin, stimulate circulation and moisturize all in one step! If you have any trouble with dry or itchy skin, I highly recommend switching from soap to sugar scrub. You won't need to apply lotion after bathing anymore!

You can buy sugar scrubs, but they are so simple and affordable to make at home!

Sugar Scrub Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
Tea tree oil
Storage container

Pour the sugar directly into your container. Add the olive oil and about 10 drops of the tea tree oil. Mix this until fully incorporated with a small whisk or a fork. Seal it up tight to prevent moisture from getting to the sugar and keep it in or near the shower.

Using sugar scrub: 

The most important thing about using sugar scrub is to turn off the shower before you open the container! I wash my hair first and get the shower stall nice and warm. Turn off the water flow completely and open up the sugar scrub. Using your fingers, scoop out a little sugar at a time and begin rubbing body parts. You can use sugar scrub everywhere except the most sensitive areas. When you have finished scrubbing, put the lid back on the container before turning the shower back on to rinse.

Sugar Scrub Container:

You'll want to choose the container you store your sugar scrub in carefully. Plastic is generally a good idea to avoid a safety hazard in the tub or shower. Glass has a tendency to break.

Make sure that the lid for your container seals tightly so unwanted moisture doesn't contaminate your sugar scrub. It doesn't take much water to ruin a batch!

Last of all, choose a small container. You may be tempted to make a big batch all at once to save time. That does seem like a practical solution, but you'll be happier with the results if you make small batches more frequently. Stick with the quantity of this recipe and the scrub will just start to get chunky as you are finishing it off. As you use the sugar scrub, water will (unavoidably) get into the container and the sugar crystals will disolve together forming chunks as they dry.

Substitutions: 

The recipe for sugar scrub is not one of precision. You can be approximate in your measurements and creative in your ingredients!

• Essential Oils - You can use almost any essential oils. Tea tree oil is very healing so it's great for dry or irritated skin but flower oils smell wonderful (rose, geranium, lavender.) Other oils I've used include clove and frankincense. Stay away from citrus oils such as grapefruit and lemon. They can burn a little.
• Sugar - Brown sugar works but you have to adjust the amount of oil you add since it is already so moist. Salt can be used instead of sugar but I don't recommend a salt scrub for regular use. Salt makes a detoxifying scrub but also tends to dry out your skin.
• Oil - Olive oil is a great moisturizer, pretty afordable, readily available and mildly scented. Other oils to try include avocado, almond and jojoba. Coconut oil is fine as well but since it gets so firm when cool, mix it with another, liquid oil to keep your scrub from setting up.

Once you begin using sugar scrub on a regular basis you may never go back to soap again!