DIY Sugar Scrubs with Essential oils
Sugar scrubs are a simple and super effective way of taking care of our biggest organ our skin! And there are no better sugar scrubs than those made with natural ingredients. That’s why the DIY sugar scrub recipe with essential oils I’m about to share with you is the absolute best. It leaves your skin feeling silky smooth and you can be comforted knowing the ingredients are natural and safe with ho harsh chemicals. Read along to find out why this sugar scrub recipe is my favorite ever.
Why Is This Sugar Scrub Recipe My Favorite?
This sugar scrub recipe is my favorite for several reasons. The sugar in the recipe is naturally exfoliating so it helps to remove dead and dry skin. The grape seed oil is naturally moisturizing without leaving your skin feeling greasy. And the essential oils provide so many different benefits which I will talk about below.
A great thing about this DIY sugar scrub recipe is that it is so easily customizable. You can use any type of sugar you want. I prefer jut plain old white granulated sugar (simply for the fact that I always have it on hand), but you can substitute it for brown sugar or any other sugar of your liking. You can switch out the grape seed oil with another oil of your choice. I talk about different carrier oils in this post, so check it out if you wan to learn more about different carrier oils and how they effect your skin differently. And of course there is pretty much an endless combination of essential oils that you can use to scent your DIY sugar scrubs however you want. Plus the essential oils provide more benefits than just scenting the oils. I go over that in detail later in this post.
Why Make Your Own?
Why should you make your own sugar scrubs? Well first of all their fun to make, and you can customize the scents just the way you like them. Secondly, you can control exactly what is in them and what exactly you are putting on your body. Sugar scrubs purchased from the stores are typically made with “fragrances”.
Hidden Dangers In Fragrances
Fragrances are often times made up of unnatural harsh chemicals that are terrible for your skin and body. Did you know, that every thing you put on to your skin, gets absorbed into your skin and ultimately your blood stream where it is carried throughout your body? That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to not only what you are putting in your body but what you are putting on your body as well!
“Fragrances” can be scary and if you ever see that word used in the ingredient list of any product, put it down and walk away. Don’t use it. You see, companies use the word “fragrance” to describe the scent of their products. But what they don’t disclose is what exactly makes up that fragrance because the fragrance is considered a trade secret. According to the FDA, “FDA requires the list of the ingredients under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA). This law is not allowed to be used to force a company to tell “trade secrets.” Fragrance and flavor formulas are complex mixtures of many different natural and synthetic chemical ingredients, and they are the kinds of cosmetic components that are most likely to be “trade secrets”.
Oftentimes these fragrances can contain cancer causing ingredients, endocrine disruptors, skin irritants and more. Here’s what the Environmental Working Group (EWG) says about fragrances.
US Regulations Verses Others
And, unfortunately, the US only bans or restricts 11 ingredients from their cosmetics. The EU bans 1,328. That is scary. So now you don’t know what you are putting on your skin, even if some of the ingredients are disclosed. Along with that some of these ingredients are allowed to be used in the USA but still considered unsafe in other places. Just for reference, the Young Living make up line, Savvy Minerals, bans over 2,500 ingredients! So that should tell you something about the company and how well they care for their customers.
The Sugar Scrub Recipe
Now that we got those important details out of the way, let’s get to the fun part, the recipe for the DIY sugar scrub! This is such an easy recipe to follow, using things you likely have in your home already. And there are so many variations to this! You can substitute out different types of sugars, different types of oil (see my post on carrier oils here to pick one that is right for you) and of course you can customize the scent by choosing different essential oils.
Natural Sugar Scrub Recipe
All natural sugar scrub recipe that you can DIY with products you probably already have at home. This sugar scrub leaves your skin feeling silky smooth and smelling amazing.
Materials
- 8oz glass mason jar
- 1 cup sugar (I use white granulated but you can use whatever you prefer)
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon grape seed oil
- 15-20 drops essential oil (Young Living, grapefruit, lavender, Stress Away, Pan Away, Citrus Fresh are some examples of great ones to use)
- Wood Spoons (optional)
- Twine (optional)
Instructions
- Pour half the sugar and half the grape seed oil into your mason jar.
- Pour half your essential oil drops into the jar.
- Mix well. I just use a butter knife for this.
- Add the rest of the sugar, grape seed oil and essential oils and mix well.
- If your desired scent has been reached your done with the basics. If you want a stronger scent, add more essential oils.
Notes
If you want to make your sugar scrub extra pretty, I suggest wrapping some twine around the jar a few times, then you can tie a gift tag or label to the jar with the twine. After the twine is tied around the jar, slide the little wooden spoon between the twine and jar. This makes for a super cute gift!
The amount of grape seed oil can be increased or decreased, according to your desire. I like my sugar scrubs to be the consistency of wet snow, so that's what this recipe creates.
The Essential Oils
When picking your essential oils, I only recommend Young Living. Just like the FDA has lax regulations on what is in cosmetics, they also don’t really have strong regulations for what is in a bottle of “essential oil”. As long as there is even a tiny amount of pure essential oil in the bottle the company can label it as pure essential oil. Who knows what’s in the rest of the bottle. And if the oil wasn’t distilled properly, the valuable constituents in the oil can be lost, which decreases the effectiveness of the essential oil. Often times short cuts are taken and oils aren’t distilled properly. Here’s a post I did where I talk about why brand matters, if you want to read more about that.
Let’s not forget that we don’t know if the plants used in the “essential oil” were treated with pesticides before bottling too. Young Living doesn’t use any harsh chemicals on their crops. They do a lot of hand weeding and even use sheep in some of their lavender fields. You can read more about the integrity and the purity of the products at www.seedtoseal.com.
Things to Consider When Picking the Essential Oils You Are Using In Your DIY Sugar Scrubs
We all know essential oils smell amazing. But that’s not the only thing you should consider when picking which essential oils you want to put in your sugar scrubs. Consider the impact they have on your feelings, emotions, skin and any other desired effects. For instance, some essential oils can be more relaxing than others, some are better for skin support than others and some are great for muscles.
Here Are Some Of My Favorite Essential Oils To Use In Sugar Scrubs
Grapefruit Essential Oil*
Grapefruit essential oil has an uplifting and wonderfully invigorating aroma, that is different than other citrus oils, that provides an inviting atmosphere. It promotes radiant looking skin by helping your skin stay healthy and bright looking. I also noticed when I use grapefruit essential oil in my sugar scrubs I have to shave less often. So there’s that.
Peppermint Essential Oil
Peppermint essential oil is one of my all time favorite essential oils. It has an invigorating aroma and can provide a cooling sensation to the skin when applied topically. Peppermint essential oil can cool and soothe fatigued muscles. This is a great one to use for different times of the day. It’s perfect for a morning shower to wake you up and help you focus on the day ahead. Peppermint sugar scrubs are awesome after a work out or after a long hot day. This DIY sugar scrub is also a great choice to use after a strenuous workout.
Lavender Essential Oil
Lavender essential oil is probably the most popular essential oil out there. It has a floral and calming scent. Lavender is known for promoting feelings of calm and helping to fight occasional nervous tension. It’s scent is relaxing and can be calming to the mind. Lavender essential oil is also a great essential oil to support younger looking skin. It cleanses and soothes minor skin irritations, reduces the appearance of blemishes and supports aging skin. This is a great DIY sugar scrub recipe to use in the evenings after a long day when you need to wind down. Relax and treat your skin extra nice with this lavender DIY sugar scrub. It’s really good to use after a day in the sun where you may have gotten too much sun exposure on your skin as it is very soothing to the skin. You can even add some dried lavender buds to this sugar scrub to enhance this one.
Frankincense Essential Oil
Frankincense is a powerful essential oil for many different reasons. There’s a reason Frankincense was given to baby Jesus after all! Frankincense has a sweet honey-like and woody aroma. It’s often times used to promote relaxation during prayer or meditation. You can reduce the appearance of uneven skin tones, and promote the appearance of healthy, younger looking skin with Frankincense.
Tea Tree Essential Oil
Tea Tree has a clean and refreshing scent. It can reduce the appearance of blemishes, and maintains the appearance of healthy skin and nails.
Stress Away Essential Oil
Stress Away is an essential oil blend that was created to help reduce feelings of stress. It is a blend of lime essential oil and vanilla extract, along with copaiba essential oil, cedarwood essential oil, and ocotea essential oil. Stress Away promotes feelings of calm and relaxation. Along with that, because of the amazing combination of essential oils, Stress Away, can reduce the appearance of blemishes, and promote the appearance of a youthful radiant glow. It also has skin cleansing properties.
Orange Essential Oil*
Orange essential oil has such a fresh and bright citrusy aroma. Like other citrus essential oils, it is very uplifting and promotes positive feelings and emotions. Along with its amazing scent, it can help reduce the appearance of blemishes. Here’s a little trick I like to do with orange essential oil when I’m making my DIY sugar scrubs with essential oils. I add a few drops of pure Mexican vanilla extract. The one I use is clear and cold pressed. Oh my goodness, this smells just like an orange creamsicle. You know, the the awesome ice cream treat that is especially nice on hot summer days! Yummy! This is the vanilla extract I love to use for this DIY sugar scrub.
And there you have it! Some of the best natural DIY sugar scrubs with essential oils. Which one is your favorite?
*A disclaimer about citrus essential oils. Citrus essential oils are photosensitive so use caution when applying before going out into direct sun light. I don’t recommend applying citrus oils to your skin before spending a day in the sun, wait 12 hours after applying before doing so. Also, make sure to use a glass container for the sugar scrubs as the citrus oils are powerful and can leach the plastic, pulling the harsh chemicals right out of the container and putting them into your DIY sugar scrub and you don’t want that!
Still need your essential oils?
I do have to say one more time, I ONLY USE YOUNG LIVING ESSENTIAL OILS. They are 100% pure. No pesticides touch the crops. There are no additives in the oils. No watering down. Distilled at the right time of year for the specific plant. They are distilled at the right temperature, for the right amount of time (no short cuts here). To read more about Young Living and their seed to seal guarantee go to www.seedtoseal.com and you will see why I only use them. PLUS, I cannot speak to the quality of other brands and can’t guarantee they will be any good at all.
I’m giving a $20 Amazon gift card to all new members who purchase any of the Young Living Premium Starter Kits using my link! I’ll also keep in touch with you and share all about how to use essential oils (unless you want me to leave you alone, then I will lol). To order your kit click here. To learn more about the Premium Starter Kit click here.