A simple sugar scrub gently exfoliates your skin, rubbing away dead skin cells so new ones can replace them. Making your own sugar scrubs is a fairly simple process, and you don't need any chemicals to do it. Though some commercially available sugar scrubs use chemicals to lengthen a product's shelf life, you can whip up a simple sugar scrub with a few basic ingredients.
Sugar
It's pretty obvious, but sugar is an essential ingredient in a sugar scrub. In fact, sugar makes up about 50 percent of a sugar scrub. Regular white sugar, natural cane sugar or brown sugar work equally well, but take into consideration the size of the grains of sugar. Larger grains of sugar give a rougher scrub than finer grains, which are better for delicate facial skin. For a combination scrub, mix large- and small-grain sugars.
Oil or Glycerin
Most sugar scrubs are made up of equal parts sugar and some kind of oily substance. The oil in question might be glycerin, olive oil, sweet almond oil or avocado oil. The oil has a moisturizing effect on your skin, which soothes while the sugar exfoliates.
Essential Oils
Essential oils are added to sugar scrubs to improve their fragrance. According to the American College of Healthcare Sciences, different essential oils produce different effects. The College recommends combining several drops of geranium, lavender, sandalwood and lemon essential oils for a calming sugar scrub or adding several drops of rosemary, ginger, bay and peppermint essential oils for an invigorating sugar scrub.
Additional Ingredients
Some sugar scrubs contain additional ingredients. Add flower powders or plain food coloring to tint your sugar scrub. Dissolved vitamin C crystals in sugar scrubs promote healing and repair damaged skin. If your skin is prone to acne, add aloe vera gel or tea tree oil to combat acne-related inflammation.
References
- "Natural Beauty at Home: More Than 250 Easy to Use Recipes for Body, Bath and Hair" (revised edition); Janice Cox; 2002
- American College of Healthcare and Sciences: Aromatic Gifts for the Holidays
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