Five Homemade Sugar Scrub Recipes

Cheap, green, and effective, homemade sugar scrubs have been a skin care staple for centuries. Salon and spa treatments feature sugar scrubs that sound almost as delicious as desserts. Sugar is a natural humectant (substance that attracts water from the atmosphere) and its grainy texture acts as an exfoliant. Combine it with one or two more ingredients to make a custom scrub that moisturizes, clarifies, cleanses, or exfoliates your skin.

A sugar scrub starts out with–what else?–sugar. It’s up to you which type of sugar you prefer; brown sugar has a finer grain to it than granulated white sugar, so use light or dark brown sugar for a less abrasive scrub. (Save the powdered sugar for donuts, not scrubs.) Always do a quick skin test with any scrub recipe; you don’t want to find out that lemons make your skin red after you scrub your face with them.

All of the recipes below are for one cup of sugar of your choice. Scale the recipes up or down as needed. Aim for a texture like wet sand. Sugar scrubs are best if used within a day or two of making them, so mix them in small amounts and store unused portions in the refrigerator if they contain perishable ingredients.

Orange Sugar Scrub

3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Juice of half an orange

This orange sugar scrub smells like ambrosia and leaves your skin smooth. Orange oils found in the grated zest and citric acid in the juice help exfoliate skin along with the scrubbing action of the sugar. This scrub is especially effective for tougher parts of the body like the feet and back. It works just as well as a lemon sugar scrub if you prefer

Vanilla Yogurt Honey Sugar Scrub

1 cup plain yogurt, any type
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

While the mildly acidic yogurt acts as a chemical exfoliant, hygroscopic honey adds to the humectant action of the sugar in this scrub. It’s great for normal to dry skin and is mild enough for sensitive skin, too. Why add vanilla extract? Because it smells lovely.

Chocolate Sugar Scrub

3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup almond oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

If you rub some cocoa powder between your fingers, you’ll notice the fine gritty texture of it. That little bit of grit acts as an exfoliator along with the granules of sugar in this scrub. Other oils will work as well, but sweet, heavy almond oil makes this an ideal scrub for the body. A cocoa scrub smells good enough to eat; use that to your advantage if you’re planning a romantic evening later.

Avocado Sugar Scrub

Mash one avocado with a cup of sugar. This homemade scrub couldn’t be simpler or more effective at moisturizing dry skin. While the sugar draws moisture to the skin, avocado oil forms a barrier that holds it there. If you like, you can fancy it up with shredded cucumber, but it doesn’t really need improvement. Sometimes simple things are best.

Mint Sugar Foot Scrub

1/2 cup olive oil
3-4 drops of peppermint essential oil, or
1/2 teaspoon mint extract

Mint makes an invigorating foot scrub that can work well for your back, too. Keep it away from more delicate parts, though–it’s too icy for more sensitive skin. While it may be too powerful for sensitive spots, a peppermint sugar scrub does a great job of waking up tired feet or soothing an aching back.